Jinny Jogindera Sims (born June 7, 1952) is an

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n-born

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politician, who was elected as a

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of the

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in the 2017 provincial election in Surrey-Panorama and represented the riding until 2024. She previously was elected to the

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in the 2011 election. She represented the electoral district of Newton—North Delta as a member of the

. Sims was also a candidate for Mayor of Surrey in the October 2022 civic elections. She placed fourth with 12.58% of the vote. In the 2024 British Columbia general election, she was unseated by Bryan Tepper from the BC Conservative Party.

Early life

Born to a Sikh family, Sims emigrated to England from

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

, at the age of nine. She earned a Bachelor of Education degree at the Victoria University of Manchester (now the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

). Sims and her husband moved to Canada in 1975, spending two years in Quebec before moving to

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where she was a high school teacher until the early 2000s.

BCTF president

She was elected president of the BC Teachers' Federation in 2004 and served in that role until 2007. In her role as president of the BCTF, she was involved in the May 2005 provincial election when the BC Liberal Party, a week before the election, accused the BCTF of having a "secret plan" to strike two days after the election; the organization subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit. When the teachers, who had been working for over a year without a contract, did provide strike notice in September 2005, the provincial government immediately extended, by legislation, the last contract to June 2006 and made a potential strike illegal. Regardless, Sims led the teachers in job action, culminating in a two-week strike. The Labour Relations Board determined the strike illegal and the BC Supreme Court found the BCTF in civil contempt of court, fined the BCTF $500,000 and ordered the BCTF to not pay the teachers a strike pay. The strike ended when the membership voted to accept a $150-million mediated settlement which both the government and the BCTF executive had endorsed. Sims's BCTF successfully negotiated a five-year contract in June 2006.

Accusations

In October, 2019 allegations of misconduct were made against Sims, resulting in her resignation as Minister of Citizens Services. A special prosecutor, Richard Peck, was appointed to investigate the charges. Sims was accused of writing support letters for travel visas and of telling her staff to bypass freedom of information laws by using personal email and

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rather than official email addresses. In April, 2020 the special prosecutor reported that he and the RCMP had found no evidence to support the charges against her and had cleared her of any wrongdoing.

Electoral record

Provincial elections

Federal elections

References

External links

*
Official NDP SiteHow'd They Vote Summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Jinny 1952 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia New Democratic Party MPs Indian emigrants to Canada British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Canadian people of Punjabi descent Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada People from Surrey, British Columbia Women MLAs in British Columbia 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia