Penny Priddy

Penny Priddy (born March 5, 1944) is a politician from British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, she was originally a nurse before moving to Surrey, British Columbia with her husband in 1981, where she worked as a nursing educator.

She was first elected to the Surrey School District as a trustee in 1986 under the Surrey Municipal Electors slate, before becoming part of the NDP-affiliated Surrey Civic Electors.

After five years as a school trustee, she ran in the 1991 provincial election as a BC NDP candidate in Surrey-Newton, defeating Premier Rita Johnston to win the riding.

She was subsequently named to the cabinet that November, serving as Minister of Women's Equality during the premiership of Mike Harcourt.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 1995, and underwent surgery and radiation therapy shortly thereafter.

After Glen Clark took over as premier in February 1996, Priddy was appointed Minister of Labour.

She was re-elected in the May 1996 provincial election, and briefly assumed the Small Business, Tourism and Culture portfolio that June.

She was re-assigned as Minister of Children and Families in September 1996, before assuming the roles of Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for Seniors in February 1998.

She retained both portfolios during Dan Miller's term as premier and interim NDP leader.

She then went through chemotherapy after the 1996 provincial election, and made a full recovery.

She was named Minister of Education in February 2000 by new Premier Ujjal Dosanjh.

With the NDP trailing in the polls, she announced on October 30, 2000 that she would not run in the following year's provincial election, and was dropped from the cabinet a few days later.

In 2001, Priddy was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Kwantlen University College for her service to the people of BC.

She is a member of the Canadian Women Voters Congress, Canadian Women of Municipal Government, and the Heritage Advisory Commission for the City of Surrey.

Prior to that, she was a Surrey city councillor (2002–2005), a member of the BC legislature representing Surrey-Newton (1991–2001), and a trustee with the Surrey School District (1986–1991).

She is the only woman in Canadian history to be elected to school board, city council, a provincial legislature and the House of Commons.

During her time in the BC legislature, she served in several cabinet posts in the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) governments of Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh, including as minister of labour, health and education.

She returned to politics in 2002 when she was elected to Surrey City Council, serving one term as councillor.

She served as member of Parliament (MP) from 2006 to 2008, representing the electoral district of Surrey North in the House of Commons of Canada.

Following the death of independent Surrey North MP Chuck Cadman, Priddy entered the race for the riding as a federal NDP candidate in the 2006 election.

Priddy had been friends with Cadman and his wife Dona for many years despite their sharp political differences, and later received Dona Cadman's endorsement for the Surrey North seat.

Priddy went on to defeat Conservative candidate David Matta and became the riding's MP, serving as the NDP's health critic from 2006 to 2007, then as the party's public safety critic and assistant justice critic from 2007 to 2008.

She declined to run in the 2008 federal election.

She and her husband Robert have two adult children.

She is a past co-chair of the National Women's Campaign School, and served for three terms as a municipal representative to the board of directors for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority from 2011 to 2020.