Jennifer Whiteside
Canadian politician and trade unionist
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Jennifer Whiteside MLA is a Canadian politician and trade unionist who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) since 2020.[1] A member of the New Democratic Party, she was first elected in the electoral district of New Westminster. After the district’s redistribution in 2024, she was re-elected in the newly formed electoral district of New Westminster-Coquitlam. She has served in Cabinet since 2020 under both Premier John Horgan and David Eby.[2]
Jennifer Whiteside | |
|---|---|
Campaign portrait, 2024 | |
| Minister of Labour of British Columbia | |
| Assumed office November 18, 2024 | |
| Premier | David Eby |
| Preceded by | Harry Bains |
| Minister of Mental Health and Addictions of British Columbia | |
| In office December 7, 2022 – November 18, 2024 | |
| Premier | David Eby |
| Preceded by | Sheila Malcolmson |
| Succeeded by | Office redistributed |
| Minister of Education of British Columbia | |
| In office November 26, 2020 – December 7, 2022 | |
| Premier | John Horgan David Eby |
| Preceded by | Rob Fleming |
| Succeeded by | Rachna Singh (Minister of Education and Child Care) |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for New Westminster-Coquitlam New Westminster (2020–2024) | |
| Assumed office October 24, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Judy Darcy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Party | BC NDP |
| Education | Simon Fraser University |
| Occupation | trade unionist |
Biography
Born and raised in New Westminster, Whiteside went to New Westminster Secondary School before finishing secondary studies at Burnaby South.[3] She then attended Douglas College before enrolling at Simon Fraser University, graduating with a degree in history.[4][5]
Prior to entering politics, Whiteside held a variety of positions within the labour movement. She had worked as a researcher with the Hospital Employees' Union (HEU) in BC, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Conseil provincial des affaires sociales in Quebec,[6] before re-joining the HEU in 2015 as secretary-business manager, also covering duties including chief spokesperson and lead negotiator.[4][7]
With incumbent Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for New Westminster Judy Darcy declining to seek re-election in 2020, Whiteside decided to contest the BC NDP nomination for the riding.[8] After securing the nomination,[9] she was elected MLA for New Westminster on October 24, 2020 with 60% of the popular vote.[10]
On November 26, 2020, Whiteside was appointed Minister of Education in the second cabinet of Premier John Horgan.[11][12] On December 7, 2022 she was named Minister of Mental Health and Addictions by Premier David Eby.[13]
In the 2024 British Columbia general election, she stood in the new district of New Westminster-Coquitlam.[14]
Election history
| 2024 British Columbia general election: New Westminster-Coquitlam | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Whiteside | 12,757 | 59.13 | –2.0 | $38,961.23 | |||
| Conservative | Ndellie Massey | 6,438 | 29.84 | +26.6 | $2,659.09 | |||
| Green | Maureen Curran | 2,380 | 11.03 | –7.3 | $2,982.41 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 21,575 | 99.74 | – | $71,700.08 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 56 | 0.26 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 21,631 | 54.05 | – | |||||
| Registered voters | 40,020 | |||||||
| New Democratic notional hold | Swing | -14.3 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[15][16] | ||||||||
| 2020 British Columbia general election: New Westminster | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Whiteside | 15,903 | 60.25 | +8.32 | $31,579.21 | |||
| Green | Cyrus Sy | 5,020 | 19.02 | −6.05 | $18,803.70 | |||
| Liberal | Lorraine Brett | 4,291 | 16.26 | −4.94 | $9,107.81 | |||
| Conservative | Benny Ogden | 912 | 3.46 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Libertarian | Donald Wilson | 269 | 1.02 | +0.30 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 26,395 | 100.00 | – | $66,123.96 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 146 | 0.55 | +0.16 | |||||
| Turnout | 26,541 | 56.20 | –7.41 | |||||
| Registered voters | 47,226 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +7.19 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[17][18] | ||||||||