Tim Stevenson

Tim Stevenson
MLA for Vancouver-Burrard
In office 1996–2001
Preceded by	Emery Barnes
Succeeded by	Lorne Mayencourt
Vancouver City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office 2002
Personal details
Born	1945 West Vancouver
Political party	New Democratic Vision Vancouver
Spouse(s)	Gary Paterson
Residence	Vancouver, British Columbia
Occupation	Minister
Religion	United Church of Canada

Tim Stevenson (born in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian politician and United Church minister. He is currently an elected member of the Vancouver City Council as a member of Vision Vancouver. He was a founding member of Vision Vancouver. He is an openly gay City Councillor.

Background

Stevenson received a B.A. from the University of British Columbia, a M.A., Spirituality from Holy Names College in Oakland, Californiawith Matthew Fox and a M.Div from the Vancouver School of Theology. In 1992 he was ordained by the British Columbia Conference of the United Church of Canada. Stevenson was the first openly gay person to be ordained in Canada . In 1993 he began his ministry at St. Paul's United Church in Burnaby, He also served as a board member at the First United Church in the Downtown Eastside for 10 years.

Stevenson has worked in the Philippines and South Africa. In 1991 he was a Canadian representative at the African National Congress Conference in Durban when Nelson Mandela was elected ANC party president. In 1994 he was an International Observer in South Africa's first election after the fall of apartheid. Also in South Africa he has worked with the Black Liberation Gay and Lesbian Movement and other organizations that focus on social injustices.

Political career

In the 1996 Provincial election he was elected in Vancouver-Burrard to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was the first openly gay M.L.A. elected in British Columbia. He served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health as well as the Deputy Speaker of the House. Between 2000-2001 he held a Cabinet position as Minister for Employment and Investment. He was the first openly gay Cabinet Minister (either Provincial or Federal)in Canada. Cabinet Minister in Canada. He lost his Provincial seat in 2001 to the B.C. Liberals.

In 2002 he was elected to the Vancouver City Council in British Columbia. As a member of the City Council and board member of Tourism Vancouver, he is known for modernizing Vancouver's entertainment and tourism industry. When gay marriage became legalized in British Columbia, Tim Stevenson performed the first legal gay weddings in the Province. In 2014 Stevenson represented the City of Vancouver as Deputy Mayor at the Sochi Olympics. He met with the President's Office of the International Olympics Committee urging them to add "sexual orientation" to the Olympic Charter. They subsequently did so.

Stevenson was a candidate in the 2005 B.C. Provincial Election, again in Vancouver-Burrard. Conflicting results throughout election night had both Stevenson and Mayencourt declared the victor at different times, and the uncertainty continued for several weeks. In the official count of regular ballots, Stevenson was declared the winner by 17 votes. However, when absentee ballots were counted on May 30, 2005, Mayencourt was declared the winner by a margin of 18 votes. After a judicial recount, Mayencourt was declared the victor by 11 votes.

Stevenson won re-election as a City Councillor in the 2005 Vancouver municipal election as a member of Vision Vancouver, and again in the 2008 election^[1] and the 2011 election.

Personal

Stevenson's spouse for 34 years has been Gary Paterson, another minister and former Moderator of the United Church of Canada.^[2] Same sex marriage in Canada is legal, and Stevenson and Paterson were legally married in 2004.

Electoral record

British Columbia general election, 1996: Vancouver-Burrard
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Tim Stevenson	10,646	49.70%	−1.23	$43,534
	Liberal	Duncan Wilson	7,975	37.23%	+2.00	$50,880
	Progressive Democrat	Laura McDiarmid	1,014	4.73%	–	$1,072
	Green	Imtiaz Popat	563	2.63%	+0.32	$155
	Reform	Aletta Buday	671	3.13%	–	$100
	Libertarian	John Clarke	458	2.14%	–
	Natural Law	Wayne A. Melvin	93	0.43%	–	$100
Total valid votes			21,420	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			257	1.19%
Turnout			21,677	62.68%

British Columbia general election, 2001: Vancouver-Burrard
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Lorne Mayencourt	11,396	48.11%	+10.88	$46,939
	New Democratic	Tim Stevenson	7,359	31.07%	−18.63	$45,493
	Green	Robbie Mattu	3,826	16.15%	+13.52	$1,029
	Marijuana	Marc Emery	906	3.82%	–	$394
	Unity	Gregory Paul Michael Hartnell	290	1.15%	–	–
	Independent	Boris Bear	136	0.57%	–	$157
	People's Front	Joseph Theriault	40	0.17%	–	$57
	Independent Rhinoceros	Helvis	25	0.11%	–	$100
Total valid votes			23,688	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			123	0.52%
Turnout			23,811	63.67%

British Columbia general election, 2005: Vancouver-Burrard
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Lorne Mayencourt	12,009	42.16%	−5.94	$161,227
	New Democratic	Tim Stevenson	11,998	42.12%	+11.04	$67,587
	Green	Janek Patrick John Kuchmistrz	3,698	12.98%	−3.21	$8,237
	Libertarian	John Clarke	388	1.36%	–	$100
	Work Less	Lisa Voldeng	170	0.60%	–	$1,855
	Sex	John Gordon Ince	111	0.39%	–	$100
	Democratic Reform	Ian McLeod	82	0.29%	–	$400
	Platinum	Antonio Francisco Ferreira	27	0.09%	–	$100
Total Valid Votes			28,483	100%
Total Rejected Ballots			196	0.69%
Turnout			28,679	51.95%

References

1. "Election summary", City of Vancouver archives, Accessed September 24, 2009.
2. "Vancouver reverend elected United Church of Canada's first openly gay moderator". Ottawa Citizen. August 20, 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-22.

External links

• Tim Stevenson at Vancouver City Council