Judi Tyabji
Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
In office
1991–1996
ConstituencyOkanagan East
Personal details
Born
Judeline Kim Mary Tyabji

(1965-01-02) 2 January 1965
Calcutta, India
Political partyLiberal (BC)
Progressive Democratic Alliance
Spouse(s)Gordon Wilson
Kim Sandana (ex-husband)
ChildrenKasimir, Kiri, Tanita[1]
RelativesTyabji family
Alma materUniversity of Victoria
[2][3]

Judeline Kim Mary Tyabji (born 2 January 1965)[4] is a former British Columbia politician, who was the youngest elected Member of the Legislative Assembly[5] and the ex-wife of former provincial Leader of the Opposition Gordon Wilson.

Early life

Tyabji was born on 2 January 1965 to the Tyabji family in Calcutta, India. Her family immigrated in the mid-1970s to Canada, first to Toronto then to Kelowna, where she attended Catholic elementary and high schools. Her father, Alan Tyabji, was an executive for Calona Wines, which owned Okanagan Vineyards Winery in Oliver, British Columbia. In 1986, she graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in political science, then went to work as an assistant for the federal Liberal Party.[5]

Politics

After Gordon Wilson became leader of the provincial Liberal party in 1987, Tyabji became their regional representative. Shortly after her giving birth to her first child, she was their nominee for a by-election in Boundary-Similkameen. She lost her first election to the NDP's Bill Barlee, but raised the Liberal share of vote in the riding from 2 to 11 percent.[5] After Jean Chrétien became the federal Liberal leader, she briefly switched to the NDP then returned to the provincial Liberals when they disconnected from the federal party in 1991.[5]

When she was 26 years old and pregnant with her third child, Tyabji earned what was described as a "surprise victory" in her first election win in October 1991 by defeating a Social Credit cabinet minister and a prominent NDP activist[5] to become the MLA for the newly created riding of Okanagan-East. Tyabji was the only Liberal elected in the province's Interior region that year and in the Okanagan since before World War II.[6] She was the youngest MLA on record at the time and the first to give birth while in office. She was also appointed her party's environment critic.[5]

Wilson affair

She served as an MLA for Okanagan East from 1991 to 1996, including sitting with the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1991 until 1993, when Wilson's leadership of the Liberals was challenged after it came to light that he was having an extramarital affair with Tyabji, whom he had recently named as the party's house leader. Wilson and Tyabji retained their seats in the Legislature and sat as members of a new party, the Progressive Democratic Alliance.[1] [7] Wilson and Tyabji then married in 1994,[8] the same year she lost custody of her three children to her ex-husband.[1]

In the 1996 provincial election, Wilson retained his seat, while Tyabji lost hers.[1] In 1997, Wilson crossed the floor to join the British Columbia New Democratic Party government of Glen Clark as minister of finance and minister of employment, investment and international trade.[1][7] He subsequently folded his party, the PDA.

After provincial politics

After leaving politics she hosted a daily talk show on Victoria-based CHEK-TV until suing CHEK for breach of contract in 1998.[1] Tyabji ran for municipal council for Powell River in 1999 and topped the polls, then served as councillor for two years and as director of the regional district. On Council, she was chair of the planning committee, chair of parks, recreation and culture, and chair of the Waterfront Development Committee, which oversaw the revitalization of the Westview Harbour and many other downtown amenities. She was a co-founder and CEO of a software company from 2004 to 2012 and has been a management consultant in multimedia and business development since 1996.

In 2008, Tyabji, her firm Tugboat Enterprises, and The Province newspaper were sued for defamation by Blair Wilson (no relation to Gordon Wilson) who was the federal Member of Parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country and who later lost his attempt at re-election. This multiparty litigation continued until a 56-day trial began in 2015, ending in 2016, and resulting in a complete dismissal of all allegations against both Tyabji and Tugboat in 2017 by Madame Justice Dardi.

In 2018, Tyabji's son Kaz pleaded guilty to intention to possess a controlled substance, a reduced charge from the original high-profile charge of importation of fentanyl made against him in 2015. He had been refused bail, despite having no prior record, on 'tertiary grounds' and the RCMP held a news conference announcing the importation charge while he was in the Calgary Remand Centre, where he was held without bail for almost six months.[9] He was previously charged with assault.[10] She expressed pride for his guilty plea online.[11] Kaz Tyabji is a student at UBC's Allard School of Law and following these incidents was on the Dean's list at Vancouver Island University in Powell River.

Publications

  • Political Affairs (1994), her first book on BC politics, which includes a chapter on public policy by Gordon Wilson.
  • Daggers Unsheathed: The Political Assassination of Glen Clark (2002), about the fall of former BC NDP leader Glen Clark.
  • Behind The Smile (2016), a biography of then-BC-Premier Christy Clark.[12]

All three books were national bestsellers in Canada.

Election results

1996 British Columbia general election: Okanagan East
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalJohn Weisbeck9,38238.37%
Progressive DemocratJudi Tyabji6,43226.30%
New DemocraticJanet Elizabeth Gooch5,17621.17%
ReformPaul Halonen3,11612.74%
GreenDave Cursons3471.47%
Total valid votes 24,453
Total rejected ballots 108
B.C. General Election 1991: Okanagan-East[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalJudi Tyabji8,57838.47
Social CreditLarry Chalmers7,89635.41
New DemocraticEileen M. Robinson5,82526.12
Total Valid Votes 22,299 100.00
Total rejected ballots 349
1988 By-Election: Boundary-Similkameen[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New DemocraticBill Barlee15,77852.82
Social CreditRuss Fox10,58535.44
LiberalJudi Tyabji3,14410.53
GreenRus Domer3611.21
Total Valid Votes 29,868 100.00
Total rejected ballots 87

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hunter, Jennifer (1 March 1999). "Wilson Joins BC's NDP". Maclean's Magazine. The Canadian Encyclopedia The Historica Dominion Institute. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Rayner, William (2001). "3. The Gord and Judi Show". Scandal!!: 130 years of damnable deeds in Canada's Lotus Land. Heritage House Publishing. pp. 132–136. ISBN 978-1-894384-24-7.
  3. ↑ "Afternoon Sitting, Volume 2 Number 8". Official Report of Debates of the Legislative Assembly (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 22 April 1992. p. 863. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "Women Members of the Legislature of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 2 July 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McNeil, Holly (Spring 1992). "Judi Tyabji: A Star Is Elected" (PDF). Okanagan Life: 12–15. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  6. ↑ McMartin, Will (4 April 2005). "The Okanagan, a Liberal Stronghold". The Tyee. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 Kamath, A P (18 November 1999). "More 'Desi' Connections in BC Election". Rediff.com. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  8. ↑ Bitonti, Daniel (24 May 2013). "Reviewing lessons at the school for scandal's B.C. campus". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Hixt, Nancy. "Former B.C. MLA's son pleads guilty to possessing fentanyl, importation charge dropped". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Fraser, Keith. "Son of former MLA Judi Tyabji charged with assault". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Judy Tyabji". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. ↑ MacDonald (4 June 2016). "Christy Clark bio goes beyond the smile: Former B.C. MLA Judi Tyabji pens an unauthorized biography of the B.C. Premier". Maclean's Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "B.C. Provincial Elections (1991)". ubc.ca. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "1987–2001 Election History" (PDF). electionsbc.ca. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
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