Tim Stevenson (born 1945) is a Canadian politician and United Church

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. He served as councillor on the Vancouver City Council, 2002 to 2018 as a member of

Vision Vancouver Vision Vancouver is a green liberal municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election. Formation Vision was founded by former Coalition of Progressive ...

. He was a founding member of Vision Vancouver.

Background

Stevenson received a B.A. from the University of British Columbia, a M.A., Spirituality from Holy Names College in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California where he studied with Matthew Fox and a

M.Div For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminary, seminarie ...

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 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

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 Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

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 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 ...

as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was the first openly gay MLA 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 and 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. He lost his provincial seat in 2001 to

Lorne Mayencourt Lorne Mayencourt (born 1957) is a Canadian politician, who formerly represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Burrard in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a member of the BC Liberal party. Career Mayencourt was first elect ...

of 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 Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

, he is known for modernizing Vancouver's entertainment and tourism industry. When gay marriage became legalized in British Columbia, 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 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

, and again in the

2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...

and the 2011 election.

Personal

Stevenson's spouse for 14 years has been Gary Paterson, another minister and former moderator of the United Church of Canada. Same sex marriage in Canada is legal, and Stevenson and Paterson were legally married in 2004.

Electoral record

References

External links

Tim Stevenson
at Vancouver City Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Tim British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Canadian clergy LGBT Protestant clergy Gay politicians Canadian LGBT people in provincial and territorial legislatures Ministers of the United Church of Canada Vision Vancouver councillors Living people Holy Names University alumni LGBT municipal councillors in Canada 1945 births Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia 20th-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians