Tim Louis (born August 13, 1958) is a lawyer and municipal politician in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. He was elected to the Vancouver Park Board in 1990 and 1993, and later to Vancouver City Council as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) in 1999 and 2002.

Education, advocacy and professional life

Tim Louis graduated South Delta Secondary School (class of 1976), and went on to attend

Langara College Langara College (snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ in ''Halkomelem'') is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves more than 19,000 students annually. Langara College started in 1965 as part of Vancouver Community ...

(class of 1979) and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

where he graduated from law school in 1983. While a student at UBC, he co-founded the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a consumer watchdog nonprofit. He articled with lawyer and then-city councillor Harry Rankin in 1984. He also served on the board of

BC Transit BC Transit is a provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside Greater Vancouver. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, Bri ...

's paratransit service and was chair of the Vancouver Public Library Board.

Political career

In 1990, Louis was elected to the Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation and re-elected in 1993. First elected to Vancouver City Council in 1999, Louis became known for his pointed questions aimed at addressing issues of social justice in the city of Vancouver. He was re-elected in 2002. Louis proudly showed off his progressive beliefs, often appearing at public functions in a red

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

shirt. Louis has been a critic of large government projects, including the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit project and the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, but always in the spirit of protecting community priorities. He also takes a public stance on local and international causes; for example he has been an open critic of the U.S blockade of Cuba and the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In the 2005 municipal election, Louis attracted attention when he told the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

'' editorial board that he favoured establishing a city-owned non-profit

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

to help protect sex-trade workers. He lost his council seat in that election, finishing 17th with 43,349 votes. In 2008, Louis ran for a nomination for city council within COPE, as part of a 'Keep It COPE' slate; he narrowly lost by six votes to Ellen Woodsworth. She along with David Cadman went on to become elected to council as part of COPE's combined slate with the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and Vision Vancouver. Louis sought re-election as a Vancouver city councillor in the municipal election of 2011 but lost, coming in 17th, with 43,926 votes.

Personal life

Louis' long-time partner is Penny Parry, an artist and community advocate. They live in

Kitsilano Kitsilano ( ) is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano, Kitsilano is located along the southern shore of English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay between Fairview, Vancou ...

, a West Side neighbourhood of Vancouver.

References

External links

Tim Louis & Company

Tim Louis's website

COPE website
Coalition of Progressive Electors councillors Lawyers in British Columbia Living people 1958 births Langara College people 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors {{BritishColumbia-politician-stub