Judi Tyabji
| Judi Tyabji | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia | |
|
In office 1991–1996 |
|
| Constituency | Okanagan East |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Judeline Kim Mary Tyabji 1965 (age 51–52) Calcutta, India |
| Political party |
Liberal (BC) Progressive Democratic Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Kim Sandana (ex-husband) Gordon Wilson |
| Children | Kasimir, Kiri, Tanita |
| Alma mater | University of Victoria |
Judeline Kim Mary "Judi" Tyabji (born 1965) is a former British Columbia politician, who was the youngest elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, and the wife of former provincial Leader of the Opposition Gordon Wilson.
Tyabji was born in Calcutta, India in 1965 to English and Indian parents who immigrated their family in the mid-1970s to Canada, first to Toronto then to Kelowna, where she attended Catholic elementary and high schools. Her father Alan Tyabji was an executive for Calona Wines then owned Okanagan Vineyards Winery in Oliver, British Columbia. In 1986, she graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Political Science then went to work as an assistant for the federal Liberal party.
After Gordon Wilson became leader of the provincial Liberal party in 1987, Tyabji became their regional representative. Shortly after her giving birth to her first child, she was their nominee for a by-election in Penticton. She lost her first election to the NDP agriculture minister Bill Barlee but raised the Liberal share of vote in the riding from 2% to 11%. After Jean Chretien became the federal Liberal leader, she briefly switched to the NDP then returned to the provincial Liberals when they disconnected from the federal party in 1991.
When she was 26 years old and pregnant with her third child, Tyabji earned what was described as a "surprise victory" in her first election win in October 1991 by defeating a Social Credit cabinet minister and a prominent NDP activist to become the MLA for the newly created riding of Okanagan-East.Tyabji was the only Liberal elected in the province's Interior region that year and in the Okanagan since before World War Two. She was the youngest MLA on record at the time and the first to give birth while in office. She was also appointed Environment Critic by the Liberals.
She served as an MLA for the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1991 until 1993 when Wilson's leadership of the Liberals was challenged after it came to light that he was having an extramarital affair with Tyabji, whom he had recently named as the party's House Leader. Wilson and Tyabji retained their seats in the Legislature and sat as members of a new party, the Progressive Democratic Alliance. Wilson and Tyabji then married in 1994, the same year she lost custody of her three children to her ex-husband.
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