MLA: Jenny Wai Ching Kwan Vancouver-Mount Pleasant Elected: 1996, 2001 BRITISH COLUMBIA NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY |
Jenny Wai Ching Kwan graduated from the criminology department of Simon Fraser University and shortly after began working as a community legal advocate in the Downtown Eastside. She became the youngest person elected to Vancouver City Council in 1993 and served on council for three years.
At thirty, Ms. Kwan became one of the first Chinese-Canadian women to sit in the Legislative Assembly when she was elected in 1996 to represent the constituency of Vancouver-Mount Pleasant. Ms. Kwan served as Deputy Whip to the Government Caucus and was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health. She was also a member of the Select Standing Committee for Public Accounts and the Special Committee on the Response to the Gove Report.
Ms. Kwan became the first Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister in B.C. history in February 1998 when she was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs. She also served as Minister of Women's Equality from July 1999 to February 2000. Most recently she served as Minister of Community Development, Cooperatives and Volunteers from February 2000 to April 2001, where she was also responsible for the Vancouver Agreement with the federal and municipal governments to promote and support sustainable economic, social and community development.
Presently Ms. Kwan is one of only two Opposition members in the Legislature. She is a member of the Special Committee to Review the Police Complaints Process, the Select Standing Committee on Education and is Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts.