Lana Popham - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lana Popham is Canadian politician representing the riding of Saanich South

Saanich South

Saanich South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created by 1990 legislation dividing the previous two-member district of Saanich and the Islands which came into effect for the 1991 B.C...

in the 39th Parliament of British Columbia

39th Parliament of British Columbia

The 39th Parliament of British Columbia is the current Parliament of British Columbia and composes of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, as elected by the general election of May 12, 2009, and Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point...

. She was elected as the British Columbia New Democratic Party candidate in the British Columbia general election, 2009

British Columbia general election, 2009

The 39th British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...

and has served on the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and as the Official Opposition Critic for the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. Popham owns and operates the organic grape orchard, Barking Dog Vineyard, on Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

. Her background in community work has included participating in campaigns to reduce excessive automobile driving and to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags within the Capital Regional District.

Background

Though born in Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Lana Popham was raised on Quadra Island

Quadra Island

Quadra Island is an island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, part of the Discovery Islands. It is separated from Vancouver Island by Discovery Passage, and from Cortes Island by Sutil Channel...

, one of the Discovery Islands

Discovery Islands

The Discovery Islands are the islands in the Discovery Passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland in British Columbia. These islands are sometimes considered to be part of the Northern Gulf Islands....

off the central-east coast of Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

. She graduated from the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

with a bachelor of arts in geography and a major in urban planning. She married an Oak Bay

Oak Bay, British Columbia

Oak Bay is a municipality located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian Province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Capital Regional District, it is a community east of and adjacent to the City of Victoria...

firefighter and together they had a son. In 1997, they developed Barking Dog Vineyard, which, in 2000, became the first certified organic vineyard on Vancouver Island.

She has participated in numerous organizations, including the Island Organic Producers Association, the Peninsula Agricultural Commission. In 2005, she served as president of the Wine Islands Growers Association. She has been a member of several District of Saanich

Saanich, British Columbia

The District of Saanich is a municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It is located north of the provincial capital, Victoria. It has a population of 108,265 people, making it the most populous municipality on Vancouver Island, and the seventh most populous in the province...

committees, including planning, transportation, and economic development committees. In 2007 she engaged in the "100 km Less" campaign challenging people to eliminate 100 kilometres from their weekly driving. In 2008 she campaigned to reduce or ban plastic shopping bag

Plastic shopping bag

Plastic shopping bags, carrier bags or plastic grocery bags are a type of shopping bag made from various kinds of plastic, and are common worldwide. These bags are sometimes called single-use bags, referring to carrying items from a store to a home...

s in the Capital Regional District, in favour of reusable bags.

Politics

Popham was a candidate in the 2005 Saanich municipal elections

British Columbia municipal elections, 2005

The Canadian province of British Columbia held its triannual municipal elections on November 19, 2005. Voters in each of BC's 157 municipalities elected mayors and councillors, and rural voters elected directors for their regional district electoral area...

, but did not win a seat on council. She began campaigning for the 2008 municipal elections

British Columbia municipal elections, 2008

Municipal elections were held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on November 15, 2008.The following is a list of mayoral races in selected municipalities.-Abbotsford:-Burnaby:-Campbell River:-Castlegar:-Central Saanich:-Chilliwack:...

but withdrew to run for the provincial NDP nomination in the Saanich South

Saanich South

riding. The MLA

Member of the Legislative Assembly

A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

, New Democrat David Cubberley

David Cubberley

David Cubberley is a Canadian politician, active in municipal, regional and provincial issues since 1990. He is a prominent advocate of cycling trail networks for commuters and recreation, protection of farmland, sustainable transportation and awareness of Lyme Disease...

, had announced he would not run in the next election and party rules required that his successor be female. Being unopposed, Popham was acclaimed the NDP candidate in Saanich South for the 2009 provincial general election

British Columbia general election, 2009

. The Saanich South election was expected to be one of the closest in the province with Popham facing former CHEK-TV

CHEK-TV

CHEK-DT, channel 6.1, is a television station based in Victoria, British Columbia and broadcasting to all of southwestern BC...

reporter and news anchor and BC Liberal

British Columbia Liberal Party

The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...

candidate Robin Adair, lawyer and Western Canada Concept Party

Western Canada Concept Party of British Columbia

The Western Canada Concept Party of BC is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It was the British Columbia branch of the Western Canada Concept, a political party that operated at the federal level, advocating the separation of the four western provinces of Canada and the...

leader Doug Christie

Doug Christie (lawyer)

Douglas Hewson "Doug" Christie, Jr. is a Canadian lawyer and far-right political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia.-Career:...

, and Green Party

Green Party of British Columbia

The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...

candidate Brian Gordon. Popham was one of four candidates in the province endorsed by the Conservation Voters of BC. Popham won the May 12 election by 482 votes and her party formed the official opposition.

In the 39th Parliament

39th Parliament of British Columbia

she served as a member on the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and was the NDP agriculture and lands critic. To understand provincial agricultural issues better, in the summer 2009, Popham and Cariboo North

Cariboo North

Cariboo North is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created by 1990 legislation dividing the previous two-member district of Cariboo which came into effect for the 1991 B.C. election....

MLA Bob Simpson toured the BC Interior

British Columbia Interior

The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...

where they met with agricultural organizations and local producers. She joined with fellow NDP MLAs Scott Fraser and Claire Trevena

Claire Trevena

Claire Trevena is the current MLA for North Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. She was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election and re-elected in the 2009 election. She is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party...

, in conjunction with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee

Western Canada Wilderness Committee

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is a non-profit environmental education organization that aims to protect Canada's wild spaces and species. Paul George, the founding director, formed the Wilderness Committee in the province of British Columbia in 1980...

, in lobbying for the stop to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. In August 2011, while Popham was out of town, her constituency office experienced a roof fire.

In November 2010, Popham became one of thirteen NDP caucus members to call for a leadership review of Carole James. During the subsequent leadership election

British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership election, 2011

The British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership convention of 2011 was prompted by Carole James's announcement on December 6, 2010 that she would be resigning as leader of the party...

Popham endorsed Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth is a New Democratic Party politician from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. He is the current MLA for the riding of Port Coquitlam....

, though Adrian Dix

Adrian Dix

Adrian Dix is a Canadian politician, currently serving as MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia and as leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election.-Aide to Glen Clark:...

won. Dix kept Popham as the agriculture critic and together they advocated for health authorities to use local food in hospitals, reinstating the Buy B.C. program,
easing the regulations that restrict meat processing sales, and lobbied the Province of Ontario for compatible labeling laws in support of a proposed federal law that would allow inter-provincial sales of wine.

Electoral history

|-

|New Democrat

New Democratic Party of British Columbia

The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...

British Columbia Liberal Party

Green Party of British Columbia

Western Canada Concept Party of British Columbia

|Douglas Christie

Doug Christie (lawyer)

Douglas Hewson "Doug" Christie, Jr. is a Canadian lawyer and far-right political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia.-Career:...

|align="right"|235
|align="right"|1%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$250
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|24,811
!align="right"|100%
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|164
!align="right"|0.7%
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|24,975
!align="right"|66%
|}

External links

Inside Saanich South - Lana Popham's blog
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - Lana Popham
BC New Democratic Party - Lana Popham
The Land Conservancy of British Columbia - Barking Dog Organic Vineyard (Conservation Partner)

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