Bob Zimmer (born October 20, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been the member of Parliament (MP) for the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

riding of

Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies (previously Prince George—Peace River) is a federal electoral district in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography It co ...

since May 2, 2011, as a member of the Conservative Party.

Background

Zimmer was born in

Dawson Creek Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...

, British Columbia, and grew up in nearby Fort St. John. After graduating from North Peace Secondary School in 1986, he worked as a welder's assistant in the oil industry. Through the

Northern Lights College Northern Lights College (NLC) is a public college in Northern British Columbia, Canada. It currently has campuses and access centers in eight communities across the northern third of British Columbia, with Regional Administration located at the D ...

he became a journeyman carpenter and operated a small construction business between 1995 and 1998. In the 1990s, he moved to the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from th ...

to play in the

British Columbia Rugby Union The British Columbia Rugby Union (BCRU) is the provincial administrative body for rugby union in British Columbia, Canada. The BCRU consists of nine sub-unions and 65 clubs. It was originally organized in New Westminster in 1889 where Alfred St. ...

. Between 1999 and 2003 he attended

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The ...

, where he coached varsity rugby and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Human Kinetics. He completed a 12-month teaching degree at 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 ...

and moved back to Fort St. John where he accepted a teaching job at the North Peace Secondary School.

Political career

Zimmer joined the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada () was a right-wing populism, right-wing populist and conservative List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada- ...

in 1988. He has cited

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2 ...

, the former

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, and

Preston Manning Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942) is a retired Canadian politician. He was the founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000 which in tu ...

, the leader of Reform, as his political role models. While living in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...

, he campaigned for Randy White, who was elected as a Reform Party member of parliament. After he returned to Fort St. John, he joined the Conservative Party's Prince George—Peace River

Electoral District Association An electoral district association (), commonly known as a riding association () or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the electoral district (" riding") in Canadian politics. Major political parties at ...

and served as its president until 2009 when he became its secretary and CEO. After long-time Member of Parliament Jay Hill announced he would not seek re-election, the riding's Electoral District Association held an election for the riding's Conservative Party nomination. In August 2010, Zimmer resigned from his duties in the Electoral District Association and announced he would stand in the nomination election. Five other people stood in the election, including fellow Fort St. John teacher Dan Davies and the former mayor of Prince George Colin Kinsley. With 1,350 votes cast in the March 2011

preferential vote Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Any electoral system that allows a voter to indicate multiple preferences where preferences marked are weighted or used as cont ...

, Zimmer won the nomination in the sixth round.

Member of Parliament

The next federal election was held in May 2011, when Zimmer faced former provincial politician Lois Boone for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, Prince George lawyer Ben Levine for the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, and physiotherapist Hilary Crowley for the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada () is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It elected its first member of ...

. During the campaign Zimmer said he would advocate for reduced spending until the federal budget was balanced but also lobby to direct federal funds to widen Highways 2 and the

Alaska Highway