Julian West (politician)
Encyclopedia
Julian West is a mathematician, political and environmental activist from British Columbia
, Canada
.
in Washington, DC, USA in 1981, earning a bronze medal. After attending high school in Vancouver
, West earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology
in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in 1990, under the supervision of Richard P. Stanley
. He has taught at universities in Canada, France and the United States, and currently resides in Bristol
, England.
and the Green Party of Canada
. He ran provincially as a Green in the constituency of Cowichan-Ladysmith
in 1996, losing to NDP incumbent Jan Pullinger
. West held many high-level positions within the Green Party, notably serving as the chair of the provincial organizing committee, and later as the chair of the federal organizing committee. He was the Green Party's representative on Elections Canada
's Advisory Committee of Political Parties from 1997 until 2003.
West was associated with the left-wing progressive element of the Green Party. He left the Green Party of British Columbia after Stuart Parker
was ousted as its leader in March, 2000, and left the Green Party of Canada in 2003, citing differences with its new leader Jim Harris
.
continuously since it was founded in 2000, and has held similar positions in British Columbia organizations including Fair Voting BC.
In September 2004, West was one of nine British Columbians chosen to address the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
in plenary session. He spoke in favour of the selection of BC-STV
as a new voting system for the province. West later campaigned in favour of BC-STV in the 2005 referendum
.
in October 2003. He was an unsuccessful candidate for his party's nomination in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca for the 2004 federal election
, and in Cowichan-Ladysmith
for the 2005 BC provincial election
.
On April 21, 2007, West defeated three other candidates to win the NDP nomination in the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands for the 2008 federal election
.
On September 23, 2008, after some controversy and allegations of impropriety, West withdrew his candidacy for the Saanich—Gulf Islands
seat. Because the nomination deadline had already passed, West's withdrawal was too late for a new NDP candidate to be nominated. West's name remained on the ballot and although he ran no campaign, he garnered 5.69% of the vote.
|NDP
|Jan Pullinger
|align="right"|12,249
|align="right"|49.85%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$32,625
| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
|Ray Smith
|align="right"|7,783
|align="right"|31.68%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$14,683
|-
|BC Reform
|Tom Walker
|align="right"|2,434
|align="right"|9.91%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$14,763
|PDA
|Perry James Johnston
|align="right"|1,459
|align="right"|5.94%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$1,983
|Green
|Julian West
|align="right"|645
|align="right"|2.63%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$3,167
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|24,570
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|117
!align="right"|0.47%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|24,687
!align="right"|73.97%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|}
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...
, 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...
.
Early life and career
West moved with his family to British Columbia, Canada in 1968. As a high school student, he represented Canada in Canada's first participation at the International Mathematical OlympiadInternational Mathematical Olympiad
The International Mathematical Olympiad is an annual six-problem, 42-point mathematical olympiad for pre-collegiate students and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except in 1980...
in Washington, DC, USA in 1981, earning a bronze medal. After attending high school in 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,...
, West earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1990, under the supervision of Richard P. Stanley
Richard P. Stanley
Richard Peter Stanley is the Norman Levinson Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1971 under the supervision of Gian-Carlo Rota...
. He has taught at universities in Canada, France and the United States, and currently resides in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England.
Green Party
In 1995, West joined the Green Party of British ColumbiaGreen 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...
and the Green Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
. He ran provincially as a Green in the constituency of Cowichan-Ladysmith
Cowichan-Ladysmith
Cowichan-Ladysmith was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It made its first appearance on the hustings in the general election of 1991, and was eliminated when the legislature dissolved in advance of the 2009 election...
in 1996, losing to NDP incumbent Jan Pullinger
Jan Pullinger
Janis Margaret Pullinger is a former Canadian politician, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1989 to 2001. She was a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party....
. West held many high-level positions within the Green Party, notably serving as the chair of the provincial organizing committee, and later as the chair of the federal organizing committee. He was the Green Party's representative on Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
's Advisory Committee of Political Parties from 1997 until 2003.
West was associated with the left-wing progressive element of the Green Party. He left the Green Party of British Columbia after Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. In 2009, during the Ontario by-election to replace MPP Michael Byrant, he unsuccessfully sought the Ontario New Democratic Party nomination for the St...
was ousted as its leader in March, 2000, and left the Green Party of Canada in 2003, citing differences with its new leader Jim Harris
Jim Harris (politician)
James R. M. "Jim" Harris is a Canadian author, environmentalist, and politician. He was leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006, when he was succeeded by Elizabeth May.-Early life and Green activism:...
.
Electoral reform advocacy
West has been one of the most prominent advocates for proportional representation in Canada. He has served on the board of directors of Fair Vote CanadaFair Vote Canada
Fair Vote Canada is a nonprofit, multi-partisan advocacy group for electoral reform in Canada. It is active both federally and in those provinces where there are efforts to reform the first-past-the-post electoral system that is used in Canada...
continuously since it was founded in 2000, and has held similar positions in British Columbia organizations including Fair Voting BC.
In September 2004, West was one of nine British Columbians chosen to address the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (British Columbia)
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform is a group created by the government of British Columbia, Canada to investigate changes to the provincial electoral system...
in plenary session. He spoke in favour of the selection of BC-STV
BC-STV
BC-STV is a proposed voting system recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform for use in British Columbia, and belongs to the Single Transferable Vote family of voting systems. BC-STV was supported by a majority of the voters in a referendum held in 2005 but the government had...
as a new voting system for the province. West later campaigned in favour of BC-STV in the 2005 referendum
British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2005
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005 to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform...
.
NDP candidacies
West joined the New Democratic PartyNew Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
in October 2003. He was an unsuccessful candidate for his party's nomination in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca for the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, and in Cowichan-Ladysmith
Cowichan-Ladysmith
Cowichan-Ladysmith was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It made its first appearance on the hustings in the general election of 1991, and was eliminated when the legislature dissolved in advance of the 2009 election...
for the 2005 BC provincial election
British Columbia general election, 2005
The 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
.
On April 21, 2007, West defeated three other candidates to win the NDP nomination in the riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands for the 2008 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
.
On September 23, 2008, after some controversy and allegations of impropriety, West withdrew his candidacy for the Saanich—Gulf Islands
Saanich—Gulf Islands
Saanich—Gulf Islands is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988...
seat. Because the nomination deadline had already passed, West's withdrawal was too late for a new NDP candidate to be nominated. West's name remained on the ballot and although he ran no campaign, he garnered 5.69% of the vote.
Electoral record
|-|NDP
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...
|Jan Pullinger
Jan Pullinger
Janis Margaret Pullinger is a former Canadian politician, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1989 to 2001. She was a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party....
|align="right"|12,249
|align="right"|49.85%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$32,625
| style="width: 130px" |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...
|Ray Smith
|align="right"|7,783
|align="right"|31.68%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$14,683
|-
|BC Reform
Reform Party of British Columbia
The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...
|Tom Walker
|align="right"|2,434
|align="right"|9.91%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$14,763
|PDA
Progressive Democratic Alliance
The Progressive Democratic Alliance was a centrist political party in British Columbia, Canada founded by Gordon Wilson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Powell River—Sunshine Coast....
|Perry James Johnston
|align="right"|1,459
|align="right"|5.94%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$1,983
|Green
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...
|Julian West
|align="right"|645
|align="right"|2.63%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$3,167
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|24,570
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|117
!align="right"|0.47%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|24,687
!align="right"|73.97%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
|}