Geoff Meggs is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served on

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 2008 to 2017. He was first elected in the 2008 municipal election, and resigned his seat on city council in 2017 to accept a job as chief of staff to

John Horgan John Joseph Horgan (born August 7, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 36th premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022, and also as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022. Horgan has been the ...

, the Premier of British Columbia.

Background

Meggs was born in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and grew up in Willowdale,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and Ottawa. His father, who was trained as an Anglican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, was a broadcaster with the CBC, and his mother was a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

who retired to become a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

."Geoff Meggs: Articulate, Experienced City Council Hopeful"
, ''

Vancouver Observer ''The Vancouver Observer'' is an independent online newspaper. The site was founded in 2006 by journalist Linda Solomon as an online platform for Vancouver bloggers, writers, reporters, photographers and filmmakers. Novelist Ruth Ozeki was inv ...

'', October 20, 2008. Meggs graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. After graduating he joined the Canada World Youth exchange program and spent time in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He eventually relocated to

in 1976."About Geoff Meggs"
, ''Tideline Communications Website'', Accessed August 30, 2009. Meggs' career includes time as a journalist, a communications director in the offices of former Premier

Glen Clark Glen David Clark (born November 22, 1957) is a Canadian business executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999. Early life and education Clark attended independent Roman Catholic schools, n ...

and former Vancouver mayor

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

, an executive director of the BC Federation of Labour, and president of Tideline Communications. He is the author or co-author of four published books, including ''Salmon: The Decline of the West Coast Fishery'' (Douglas & McIntyre, 1991), which won the 1992 Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing, and ''Cork Lines and Canning Lines; the Glory Years of Fishing on the West Coast'', with Duncan Stacey (Douglas & McIntyre, 1992).

Politics

Meggs ran as part of the Vision Vancouver slate in the 2008 election."Election Results: November 15, 2008"
''Vancouver City Election Results Website'', Accessed August 30, 2009. He received 49,538 votes, in ninth place out of a field of 32 candidates for Vancouver councillor, the fewest votes among the seven elected Vision Vancouver councilors."Racism is alive and well in Vancouver municipal politics"
''

Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

, November 16, 2008. In 2011, Meggs was re-elected as a Vision Vancouver city councillor with 56,183 votes, sixth out of a field of 40 candidates. In June 2014, Meggs faced a court petition to remove him and fellow councillor

Kerry Jang Kerry Jang () is a Canadian politician. He previously served as councillor on Vancouver, British Columbia's City Council between 2008 and 2018. From 2013, he also represented the city of Vancouver on the Greater Vancouver Regional District Board ...

from office for allegedly violating rules on conflict of interest in connection with the rezoning of a public housing project.''Court petition seeks removal of Kerry Jang and Geoff Meggs from Vancouver city council''
''

'', 23 June 2014

Family

Meggs and his wife, Jan O’Brien, live with his daughter Claire in

False Creek False Creek (french: Faux ruisseau) is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown and West End neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four main bodies of water bordering Vancouver, along with Eng ...

."About Geoff"
''Geoff Meggs Website'', Accessed August 30, 2009. Their oldest daughter, Caitlin, lives and works in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Works

* 2018: ''Strange New Country: The Fraser River Salmon Strikes of 1900–1901'', 236 pages. Harbour Publishing. * 2012: ''The Art of the Impossible: Dave Barrett and the NDP in Power, 1972-1975'' (co-authored with Rod Mickleburgh), Harbour Publishing. * 1995: ''Salmon: The decline of the British Columbia fishery'', 274 pages. Douglas & McIntyre. * 1992: ''Cork Lines and Canning Lines'' (co-authored with Duncan Stacey). Douglas & McIntyre.

References

External links

Geoff Meggs
at Vancouver City Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Meggs, Geoff Living people Vision Vancouver councillors Journalists from Ontario Journalists from British Columbia 1951 births