I’m a Scottish immigrant, raised in a blue collar family with four younger brothers, my Mom’s youngest brother, and my Dad — a lot of testosterone for my poor Mom to manage, but she rose to the challenge with humour and grace. We immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Glasgow when I was ten. After graduating from High School I worked at an accounting firm in Winnipeg for a year until I turned seventeen and joined the Navy. I spent time on the East Coast for basic training before being posted to a destroyer escort based out of CFB Esquimalt in Victoria for the next two years.
After I left the Navy I enrolled at Okanagan College, as my family had moved to Kelowna after visiting me and falling in love with British Columbia. Despite having travelled to Japan, Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska while in the Navy, I still had “itchy feet” and, after completing my first year at Okanagan College, I spent the next few years travelling extensively throughout the United States, Europe and North Africa. In Europe, I worked for an organization which helped political and religious dissidents behind the so-called “iron curtain,” and in North Africa I did literacy work with Muslims in Sudan and Egypt. These were formative experiences which still underpin my deep concerns about the fragility of our democracy — we should never take our political, religious and social freedoms for granted!
I probably would have continued to work and travel oversees if I hadn’t become gravely ill in Sudan and was forced to come home to recuperate. I immediately enrolled at Okanagan College again and received a Diploma in General Studies with Honours before heading to the University of Victoria where I completed a Bachelor’s Degree in History followed by a second Bachelor’s in Biology. After obtaining a Professional Teaching Certificate, I relocated to Quesnel in 1985 with my new bride, Trish. We met at UVic, where we were both Senior Residence Advisors.
Trish and I had been lucky enough to get teaching positions in Quesnel (Trish’s hometown) in a very tight labour market. I taught High School science, while Trish taught at the Elementary level. After taking a number of years off to focus on raising our two children, Trish returned to teaching and continues to teach Grade 7 today. And, if I might be so bold, she is a wonderful teacher who epitomizes the hard work and dedication of so many people who give their lives to public service.
In the early 1990s I dabbled in freelance writing. I wrote a weekly column in the local newspaper on sustainability issues (including climate change) and was an Associate Editor and feature writer for a national environmental magazine called Earthkeeper. My thoughts on sustainability and the need to take a more systematic approach to complex issues brought me to the attention of the Mulroney government and I was appointed by then Environment Minister Jean Charest to the fledgling Fraser River Start Up Committee which was the founding group for the current Fraser Basin Council.
After teaching for seven years, including a stint as Science Department Head, I left the profession and established a consulting business, a training company, opened a new retail store in Quesnel, and, with a partner, bought another retail venture in downtown Quesnel. My adventure in retail was an eye-opener; it was an exhausting, frustrating and challenging experience which left me with a lasting and deep respect for small business operators. I was much more successful with my consulting and training businesses and this success created an opportunity for me with Weldwood of Canada, a forest products company. I worked for Weldwood for the next nine years and eventually became Corporate Manager for Organizational Development and Training, assisting the company’s operations throughout BC and Alberta to improve their organizational systems to meet the company’s strategic objectives.
In 2004 I became concerned about the direction the Province was going in and decided it was time to get more directly involved in the political process to see if I could be a change agent from within. I was elected as an NDP MLA in 2005 and again in 2009 in two very close elections. I served as the NDP’s Forestry Critic in my first term and as their Critic for Aboriginal Relations after the 2009 election.
In the fall of 2010, I left the NDP to sit as an Independent. I believe that over the past few decades, political parties have garnered too much control over our democratic institutions to the detriment of good governance. We are now locked in a cycle of perpetual electioneering which has created cynicism among citizens and undermines our ability to embrace the complex and time sensitive challenges confronting us. I’m committed to working with my constituents and British Columbians to get better government through democratic reform and by using my freedom from the constraints of a political party to propose public policy alternatives that will benefit everyone, especially future generations.
Oh, and I love sailing, cycling, kayaking and cross country skiing. I was National and Provincial Triathlon Champion in my age group in 2002 and was named BC’s Male Triathlete of the year that year by Triathlon BC. I am also learning how to play guitar and, if my life as an Independent politician doesn’t work out … well it might be fun to try a whole new adventure as a travelling troubadour! As you should be able to tell if you stuck through my whole tale … I’ll have lots to sing about!