Kerry-Lynne Findlay

Kerry-Lynne Donna Findlay (born January 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for South Surrey—White Rock from 2019 to 2025, and previously represented the riding of Delta—Richmond East in the House of Common from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she had served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, Associate Minister of National Defence, and Minister of National Revenue while that party was in power under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Early life and legal career

Findlay was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and lived in Nanaimo and Victoria; her brother Greg Findlay was a linebacker for the BC Lions Canadian football team. After graduating from Crofton House School in Vancouver, she attended the University of British Columbia, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science in 1975, and a law degree in 1978.

She articled at Kowarsky and Company in Vancouver, then worked there as an associate for two years before briefly serving as in-house counsel for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. She established her own practice in 1981, then joined Connell Lightbody in 1987 before switching to Watson Goepel Maledy in 1996. During her legal career, Findlay has been active in both the national and B.C. provincial branch of the Canadian Bar Association. She held various positions in that organization including national and provincial chair of the Constitutional Law Section and member of the National Task Force on Canadian Court Reform, and she was acclaimed president of the B.C. Branch for the 1997–1998 term. Findlay was appointed a Queen's Counsel in March 1999 by the Attorney General of British Columbia, and served a five-year term as a Member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by appointment of the Federal Minister of Justice (2006–2011).

She has also been recognized with the Vancouver YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in the category of Management, Professions and Trades (May 2001) and the national Cecilia I. Johnstone Award (2011) that recognizes women who have achieved professional excellence in their field and influenced other women to pursue legal careers, supported other women in career advancement or opened doors for women lawyers in a variety of job settings that historically were closed to them.

Political career

Formerly a supporter of the federal Liberal Party, Findlay ran in the 2000 federal election as a Canadian Alliance candidate in the riding of Vancouver Quadra, but lost to Liberal candidate Stephen Owen.

She was named the Conservative Party's candidate for Delta—Richmond East in March 2011, and won the seat in that year's federal election. During the 41st Parliament, she served as member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and sat on a selection panel to help choose a replacement for Marie Deschamps of Quebec, who retired as puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice in May 2011, and as Associate Minister of National Defence on February 22, 2013. She then served as the Minister of National Revenue from July 15, 2013, until November 4, 2015.

She contested the reconstituted riding of Delta in the 2015 election, but lost to Liberal candidate Carla Qualtrough. She then ran for the Conservatives in the 2017 South Surrey—White Rock by-election, but was defeated by the Liberal's Gordie Hogg, taking 42.1% of the vote to Hogg's 47.5%.

In a re-match at the 2019 election, Findlay unseated Hogg by taking 42.6% of the vote. She served as shadow minister for Environment and Climate Change from November 2019 to September 2020. She received backlash in August 2020 after retweeting another user's Twitter post trying to connect Chrystia Freeland with George Soros; she deleted the tweet and apologized shortly after. She voted in support of Bill C-233 - an act to amend the ''Criminal Code'' ( sex-selective abortion), which would make it an indictable or a summary offence for a medical practitioner to knowingly perform an abortion solely on the grounds of the child's genetic sex.

She was re-elected in 2021 by defeating Gordie Hogg again, and served as shadow minister for National Defence from November 2021 to October 2022. Following Erin O'Toole's ouster as Conservative leader in February 2022, Findlay announced her intention to run for interim party leader; Candice Bergen was ultimately chosen for the role. On September 13, 2022 Findlay was named Chief Opposition Whip by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, becoming the first woman to serve in this role for the Conservatives.

Community

Findlay's volunteer posts, in addition to the Canadian Bar Association, have included chair of the Vancouver City Planning Commission, board member of Science World, executive member of the Junior Leagues of Canada, president of Delta Zeta chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta International Fraternity, and honorary counsel for the Chinese Benevolent Association of Canada. In 2016, she was named a Distinguished Citizen by Alpha Gamma Delta.

Family

Findlay was married to lawyer A. Boyd Ferris, with whom she had two children. After Ferris died from a heart attack in 1989, she met actor Brent Chapman. The two married in 1993 and had two more daughters together; they also have seven grandchildren. Chapman was elected as the provincial MLA for Surrey South in the 2024 British Columbia general election.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, Kerry-Lynne
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia
Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
Living people
Women in British Columbia politics
1955 births
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry
Women government ministers of Canada
Canadian Alliance candidates for the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian King's Counsel
Canadian women lawyers
Lawyers in British Columbia
Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni
University of British Columbia alumni
21st-century Canadian women politicians
People from Surrey, British Columbia
21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada