Andrea Reimer
Encyclopedia
Andrea Reimer is a Canadian
politician, currently serving on Vancouver
, British Columbia
's
City Council
. She was first elected in 2002 to the Vancouver School Board as a Green Party candidate. She was defeated as a Green Party candidate in her re-election campaign in 2005
and then joined the Vision Vancouver
party to support Gregor Robertson
's mayoral campaign. She subsequently ran for and won a council seat in the 2008 municipal election
.
people.
Reimer was born in Saskatoon
and put into foster care
. When she was 8 months old she was adopted
by a couple from Vancouver who subsequently relocated to Calgary
prior to her starting school. Reimer's adoptive parents divorce
d when she was a pre-teen.
Reimer smoked
her first cigarette
and took her first drink at the age of 10, and started to experiment with illicit drugs at the age of 11, and LSD at the age of 12. She drifted into a life on the streets from the ages of 14-19 which included extensive worldwide travel to places throughout Canada
, the United States
, Asia
, Central America
, Europe
and North Africa
. During this period she dumpster-dived
, got arrested several times, got involved in hard drugs and developed addictions. When she was 18, Reimer worked in El Salvador
at a low income housing project, which she later cited as the catalyst for her environmental awareness.
Although an atheist, at 19 Reimer enrolled at Concordia University
to major in religious studies
. She subsequently dropped out
during her first year, after six weeks of classes, and moved to Vancouver with her boyfriend at the time, who was a cocaine addict. He kicked the habit after arriving in Vancouver. In Vancouver Reimer joined a government sponsored job training program and started working with Gordon Neighbourhood House Youth Works. She was then sent for a practicum to the Western Canada Wilderness Committee
. After Reimer started working her boyfriend fell back into the cocaine addiction and they broke up.
Reimer eventually worked her way up to become the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, where she was paid approximately $2000 a month. While executive director of the Wilderness Committee, Reimer supported the creation of a carbon tax
by the BC Provincial Government. It was subsequently passed. In 2007, she was chosen by Al Gore
to deliver the Inconvenient Truth presentation to local audiences, which she delivered to over 10,000 people.
Reimer has volunteered with many community organizations including serving as:
She currently serves as a Director of Environmental Education Action Project, and sits on the Vancouver Foundation
’s Health and Social Development Advisory Committee.
in 1996, and volunteered on the 1996 provincial election, the 1999 civic election, the 2000 federal by-election and the 2001 provincial election. She has held internal elected office as Communication Chair, Green Party of BC (1999–2002) and Chair, Green Party of Vancouver (2002–2008). Reimer was the first Green Party candidate ever elected to a school board seat in Canada, when she was elected in 2002. She ran for re-election as a Green Party candidate in 2005 yet was defeated.
party to support Gregor Robertson's mayoral campaign, which she co-chaired. She subsequently ran for and won a council seat in the 2008 municipal election
.
In January 2003, she supported the Green Party's position against bringing the Olympics to Vancouver in 2010 due to concerns about the money it would require. In 2008 she characterized her position as still ambivalent about the money spent on the Olympics but prepared to put her full energy into ensuring the Games were as good as possible.
. Reimer introduced a motion, which passed unanimously, to allow Vancouver residents to keep hens
in their backyards. The motion was opposed by the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Vancouver Humane Society, and the BC Poultry Association. The proposal was brought forward as a result of a recommendation from the City of Vancouver's Food Policy Council.
Reimer's other appointments on Vancouver City Council include:
Reimer also sits on the Metro Vancouver Regional District board and has been appointed to the Regional Planning Committee, Agricultural Committee, Electoral Area A Committee and GVRD/UBC Joint Committee.
regarding the British Columbia Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman
's weight in response to provincial legislation proposed by Coleman to bring homeless people to shelters during extreme weather, even against their will. Reimer posted that instead of police bringing homeless people to shelters during extreme weather that she was thinking of introducing legislation to have the police bring Coleman to Jenny Craig, an international weight loss company, on his next visit to Vancouver. Coleman responded by calling the comment amateurish and from a Councilor that "doesn't know any better." Reimer later apologized for the posting.
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician, currently serving on Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
's
City Council
Vancouver City Council
Vancouver City Council is the governing body of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The city is governed by the Vancouver Charter, not the Community Charter and the Local Government Act which are used for other municipal governments...
. She was first elected in 2002 to the Vancouver School Board as a Green Party candidate. She was defeated as a Green Party candidate in her re-election campaign in 2005
Vancouver municipal election, 2005
The City of Vancouver, along with the rest of British Columbia, held its triennial municipal elections on November 19, 2005. Canadian citizens who were over 18 years of age at the time of the vote, and had been a resident of Vancouver for the past 30 days and a resident of B.C...
and then joined the Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver is one of three parties represented on Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election.-Formation:...
party to support Gregor Robertson
Gregor Robertson (politician)
Gregor Angus Bethune Robertson is a Canadian politician who has been the 39th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, since 2008. He was elected as part of the Vision Vancouver party slate...
's mayoral campaign. She subsequently ran for and won a council seat in the 2008 municipal election
Vancouver municipal election, 2008
The 2008 Vancouver municipal election was held on November 15, 2008, filling seats on the Vancouver School Board, the Parks Board, the Vancouver City Council, and the position of Mayor of Vancouver. It was held at the same time as municipal elections throughout the province...
.
Background
Reimer grew up with adversity, a background she shares openly to inspire others, and prompt concern about homelessHomelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
people.
Reimer was born in Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
and put into foster care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
. When she was 8 months old she was adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
by a couple from Vancouver who subsequently relocated to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
prior to her starting school. Reimer's adoptive parents divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d when she was a pre-teen.
Reimer smoked
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
her first cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
and took her first drink at the age of 10, and started to experiment with illicit drugs at the age of 11, and LSD at the age of 12. She drifted into a life on the streets from the ages of 14-19 which included extensive worldwide travel to places throughout Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. During this period she dumpster-dived
Dumpster diving
Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but that may be useful to the dumpster diver.-Etymology and alternate names:...
, got arrested several times, got involved in hard drugs and developed addictions. When she was 18, Reimer worked in El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
at a low income housing project, which she later cited as the catalyst for her environmental awareness.
Although an atheist, at 19 Reimer enrolled at Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
to major in religious studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
. She subsequently dropped out
Dropping out
Dropping out means leaving a group for either practical reasons, necessities or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves....
during her first year, after six weeks of classes, and moved to Vancouver with her boyfriend at the time, who was a cocaine addict. He kicked the habit after arriving in Vancouver. In Vancouver Reimer joined a government sponsored job training program and started working with Gordon Neighbourhood House Youth Works. She was then sent for a practicum to 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...
. After Reimer started working her boyfriend fell back into the cocaine addiction and they broke up.
Reimer eventually worked her way up to become the executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, where she was paid approximately $2000 a month. While executive director of the Wilderness Committee, Reimer supported the creation of a carbon tax
Carbon tax
A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel and is released as carbon dioxide when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not...
by the BC Provincial Government. It was subsequently passed. In 2007, she was chosen by Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
to deliver the Inconvenient Truth presentation to local audiences, which she delivered to over 10,000 people.
Reimer has volunteered with many community organizations including serving as:
- Past President of the CCEC Credit Union
- Past President Canadian Women’s Voters Congress
- former Vice-Chair of Your Local Farmer’s Market Society
- former Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver’s Food Policy Council
- Director of Toxic Free Canada
She currently serves as a Director of Environmental Education Action Project, and sits on the Vancouver Foundation
Vancouver Foundation
]Vancouver Foundation helps people give back to the communities they care about, in a way that is simple, convenient and lasting.Vancouver Foundation is the largest of Canada's 174 community foundations and have been around since 1943. Their focus is on improving our communities—the places where we...
’s Health and Social Development Advisory Committee.
Green Party
Reimer joined the Green PartyGreen 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...
in 1996, and volunteered on the 1996 provincial election, the 1999 civic election, the 2000 federal by-election and the 2001 provincial election. She has held internal elected office as Communication Chair, Green Party of BC (1999–2002) and Chair, Green Party of Vancouver (2002–2008). Reimer was the first Green Party candidate ever elected to a school board seat in Canada, when she was elected in 2002. She ran for re-election as a Green Party candidate in 2005 yet was defeated.
Vision Vancouver
Reimer joined the Vision VancouverVision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver is one of three parties represented on Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election.-Formation:...
party to support Gregor Robertson's mayoral campaign, which she co-chaired. She subsequently ran for and won a council seat in the 2008 municipal election
Vancouver municipal election, 2008
The 2008 Vancouver municipal election was held on November 15, 2008, filling seats on the Vancouver School Board, the Parks Board, the Vancouver City Council, and the position of Mayor of Vancouver. It was held at the same time as municipal elections throughout the province...
.
School Board
As a School Trustee, Reimer supported efforts to remove vending machines and corporate logos from schools. She pushed for getting school garden programs into schools.In January 2003, she supported the Green Party's position against bringing the Olympics to Vancouver in 2010 due to concerns about the money it would require. In 2008 she characterized her position as still ambivalent about the money spent on the Olympics but prepared to put her full energy into ensuring the Games were as good as possible.
City Council
As City Councillor, Reimer is a member of Gregor Robertson's Greenest City Team. The team is tasked with catalyzing immediate action on green issues, a ten year action plan to become the world's greenest city and creating an environment supportive of green economic development in the city of Vancouver. Reimer introduced a motion, which passed, to open Vancouver city data to the public and endorse the principles of open sourceOpen source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
. Reimer introduced a motion, which passed unanimously, to allow Vancouver residents to keep hens
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
in their backyards. The motion was opposed by the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Vancouver Humane Society, and the BC Poultry Association. The proposal was brought forward as a result of a recommendation from the City of Vancouver's Food Policy Council.
Reimer's other appointments on Vancouver City Council include:
- Chair, Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
- Vancouver Economic Development Commission
- Joint Childcare Council
- Family Court-Youth Justice Committee
Reimer also sits on the Metro Vancouver Regional District board and has been appointed to the Regional Planning Committee, Agricultural Committee, Electoral Area A Committee and GVRD/UBC Joint Committee.
Twitter controversy
In October 2009, Reimer posted on TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
regarding the British Columbia Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman
Rich Coleman
Rich Coleman is British Columbia's Minister of Energy and Mines, minister responsible for Housing and MLA for the riding of Fort Langley-Aldergrove...
's weight in response to provincial legislation proposed by Coleman to bring homeless people to shelters during extreme weather, even against their will. Reimer posted that instead of police bringing homeless people to shelters during extreme weather that she was thinking of introducing legislation to have the police bring Coleman to Jenny Craig, an international weight loss company, on his next visit to Vancouver. Coleman responded by calling the comment amateurish and from a Councilor that "doesn't know any better." Reimer later apologized for the posting.
Family
Reimer and her husband have a daughter. They live near Trout Lake in East VancouverEast Vancouver
East Vancouver is a region within the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Geographically, East Vancouver is bordered to the north by Burrard Inlet, to the south by the Fraser River, and to the east by the city of Burnaby...
.
External links
- Andrea Reimer at Vancouver City Council