Joan Kathleen Smallwood (born August 15, 1950) 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 ...

former politician from

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, ...

. A member of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP), she represented

Surrey-Guildford-Whalley Surrey-Guildford-Whalley was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 1986 only. The riding's predecessor was the Surrey riding, which first appeared in the 1933 election. For other historical and current ri ...

from 1986 to 1991 and

Surrey-Whalley Surrey-Whalley is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. The riding's name was resurrected from a former riding in the same area, with similar but not identical boundaries. The newly created ri ...

from 1991 to 2001 in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

. She served as a cabinet minister, in a variety of roles, in the cabinets of

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt, OC (born January 6, 1943) served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of Vancouver, BC's largest city, from 1980 to 1986. Early life and education Harcourt was ...

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 ...

, Dan Miller and

Ujjal Dosanjh Ujjal Dev Dosanjh ( pa, ਉੱਜਲ ਦੇਵ ਦੁਸਾਂਝ) (), (born September 9, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada member of ...

Early life

She was born Joan Kathleen Beech in

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 ...

, the daughter of Lester Beech. In 1970, she married Larry Smallwood. Before entering politics, Smallwood worked for Langley Family Services.

Political career

Following the NDP's victory in the 1991 election, Smallwood was appointed Minister of Social Services. In 1993, as part of a wider cabinet shuffle, Smallwood became Minister of Housing, Recreation and Consumer Services. In October 1995, as the Bingogate scandal emerged, Smallwood was tangentially involved as a member of the NDP executive during the period when the party received misappropriated funds. Smallwood said she was unaware of the scam but felt responsible enough to offer her resignation from cabinet on October 23. Harcourt refused her resignation. On October 25, Smallwood criticized Harcourt's handling of the scandal, saying "the premier has responsibilities he will have to account for." The following day, Harcourt dismissed her from cabinet, provoking outcry within caucus. Following Harcourt's resignation, she stood in the 1996 leadership election, placing third behind

Corky Evans Corky Evans (born January 2, 1948) is a Canadian former provincial politician in British Columbia, Canada. He twice ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, placing second both times. In both cases, the party forme ...

and winner

. Smallwood returned to cabinet on July 21, 1999, as Minister of Labour. After Clark's resignation, she retained her portfolio through the brief Miller ministry. On February 29, 2000, after new premier

was sworn in, she became Minister of Women's Equality. In November of that year, Dosanjh shuffled his cabinet and Smallwood returned to the labour ministry. Smallwood ran for re-election in the 2001 election, but was defeated by

Elayne Brenzinger Elayne Brenzinger (born 1951, in Scotland) was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, serving as a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 2001-2005. She was a key figure in the formation of the Democr ...

References

External links

Hon. Joan Smallwood , Members at dissolution of 36th Parliament , Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Joan 1950 births Living people British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Surrey, British Columbia Politicians from Vancouver Women MLAs in British Columbia