Penny Priddy (born March 5, 1944 in

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 ancho ...

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 Ca ...

) is a 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, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Priddy is the only woman in Canadian history to be elected to school board, city council, a provincial legislature and the House of Commons. Originally a nurse, she moved from Ontario to

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

in 1981 where she worked as a nursing educator. After five years as a school trustee on Surrey's school board, she ran in the 1991 provincial election as a

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democrati ...

(NDP) candidate in

Surrey-Newton Surrey-Newton is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. The riding was first created out of the two-member Surrey district in 1986, which had been in existence since 1966. Surrey had always b ...

, defeating Premier

Rita Johnston Rita Margaret Johnston (born April 22, 1935; née Leichert) is a Canadian politician in British Columbia. Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th premier of Bri ...

to win the riding by over 10 points. She subsequently served in several cabinet posts including Women's Equality, Tourism and Culture, Health, Labour and Children and Families in the NDP governments 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 ...

. In 1996, she was treated for breast cancer and made a full recovery. She did not run in the 2001 British Columbia election, but returned to politics in 2002 when she was elected to

Surrey City Council The Surrey City Council is the governing body of the City of Surrey, 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 dive ...

. From 2006 to 2008, she was the federal

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the riding of

Surrey North Surrey North was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. It covered the northern part of Surrey. It was home to 106,904 residents in 2001, more than 46 pe ...

, which was represented by independent

Chuck Cadman Charles Cadman (February 21, 1948July 9, 2005) was a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2005, representing the riding of Surrey North in Surrey, British Columbia. Originally a Canadian Alliance MP, Cadman won re-e ...

until his death from cancer. Priddy had been friends with Cadman and his wife,

Dona Dona may refer to: * Feminine form for don (honorific) (Spanish: doña, Portuguese: dona; Italian: donna), a Spanish, Portuguese, southern Italian, and Filipino title, given as a mark of respect * Feminine form for dom (title), titled nobility in ...

, for many years despite their sharp political differences. Dona Cadman later endorsed Priddy for the Surrey North seat, considered by some to be the deciding factor in her victory over Conservative candidate David Matta. Priddy did not run in the

40th Canadian federal election The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General of ...

."NDP's Penny Priddy says she won't run again"
, ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', July 16, 2008. In 2001, Priddy was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from

Kwantlen University College Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institution ...

for her service to the people of BC. She is past co-chair of the Women's Campaign School and she is a member of the Canadian Women Voters Congress and Canadian Women of Municipal Government. Priddy is currently a member of the board of directors for

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo, facilitating trade between Canada and more than 170 world economies. The port is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, whic ...

and a member of the Heritage Advisory Commission for the City of Surrey.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Priddy, Penny 1944 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Education ministers of British Columbia Health ministers of British Columbia Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Toronto Surrey, British Columbia city councillors Tourism ministers of British Columbia Women MLAs in British Columbia Women municipal councillors in Canada Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada