Don Davies

Don Davies LLB (Alberta) BA (Alberta) MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Preceded by	David Emerson
Personal details
Born	January 16, 1963 (1963-01-16) (age 48) Edmonton, Alberta
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Sheryl Palm
Residence	Vancouver, British Columbia
Profession	Lawyer

Don Davies MP (born January 16, 1963) is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party, representing the riding of Vancouver Kingsway. He is also Canada's official opposition Critic for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Life and career

Davies was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Davies earned a Bachelor of Political Science and a Law Degree (LL.B.) at the University of Alberta. Davies was employed as Researcher, Official Opposition Caucus, and Executive Assistant for Policy and Communications to the Hon. Ray Martin, Leader of the Official Opposition of Alberta from 1989-1991.

Davies and his wife moved to British Columbia in 1991. In 1992 he became the Director of legal resources for Teamsters Canada (Local 31) - a position he held until his election to the House of Commons in 2008.

Davies has served various public bodies involving occupational health and safety, employment standards and transportation policy. He was Chair on the Mount Pleasant Parent Advisory Council and serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the Meridian Cultural Society - providing public space for childcare, church and cultural events.

Davies has been active with community organizations including Tools for Peace, Vancouver Co-op Radio, Lawyers for Social Responsibility, La Quena Cooperative and the Dickens Community Group. He has also been a local hockey coach.

He has been married for 26 years to Sheryl Palm, a speech pathologist at the B.C. Children's Hospital; they have three children.

Electoral history

Davies was first elected during the 2008 federal election. He received 15,933 votes, winning the riding by 2,769 votes over his nearest competitor.

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Don Davies	15,933	35.20%	+1.7%	$81,501
	Liberal	Wendy Yuan	13,164	29.02%	-14.43%	$79,758
	Conservative	Salomon Rayek	12,419	27.43%	+8.64%	$70,829
	Green	Doug Warkentin	3,031	6.7%	+3.87%	$3,478
	Libertarian	Matt Kadioglu	309	0.68%	+0.09%	--
	Communist	Kimball Cariou	291	0.64%	+0.29%	$391
	Marxist–Leninist	Donna Peterson	149	0.33%	+0.19%
Total valid votes/Expense limit			45,296	100%		$84,758
Total rejected ballots			328
Turnout			45,624

He was re-elect in the 2011 election.

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Don Davies	23,457	50.08	-
	Liberal	Wendy Yuan	7,796	16.64	-
	Conservative	Trang Nguyen	13,157	28.09	-
	Green	Louise Boutin	1,860	3.97	-
	Communist	Kimball Cariou	-	-	-	-
	Marxist–Leninist	Donna Peterson	-	-	-	-
	Libertarian	Matt Kadioglu	275	0.59	-	-
Total valid votes/Expense limit			-	100.00%		-

Parliamentary functions

Davies is currently

• Official Opposition Critic for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism (2011)
• Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM 2011)

Earlier, Davies was the New Democrat Critic for:

• Public Safety and National Security
• Multiculturalism
• Western Economic Diversification^[1]
• He was also the NDP Deputy Critic for Citizenship and Immigration.

Legislative initiatives

Davies has introduced 15 Private Members' Bills in the House of Commons:

• Bill C-327 - To designate April 23 as 'Canadian Autism Day', to recognize the many Canadians affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Bill C-346 - To help consumers make informed choices by requiring all food to be labelled with its country of origin
• Bill C-347 - To help consumers make informed choices by requiring all fish and seafood to be labeled as either wild or farmed
• Bill C-446 - To prevent MPs from crossing the floor to join a different political party, without getting approval from voters in a by-election
• Bill C-458 - To protect our environment and our economic interest in eco-tourism by banning oil tanker traffic from ecologically sensitive waters off the coast of British Columbia
• Bill C-495 - To mandate the creation of a national office to track firefighter and emergency response statistics from across the country, to provide firefighters and emergency responders with information they need to help them protect Canadians
• Bill C-517 - To create a tax credit for members of legions and veterans' organizations to refund the cost of their membership dues, so that these organizations can raise the revenue they need to operate without placing a financial burden on their members
• Bill C-528 - To require Canada to meet its longstanding commitment to dedicate 0.7% of our GNP to foreign aid for poverty reduction in developing countries
• Bill C-529 - To create a tax incentives for Canadians to make purchases to reduce their energy consumption, save families money and protect our environment
• Bill C-543 - To change the hours of voting in federal elections in B.C. to 8 am-8 pm, so that it is easier for B.C. voters to cast a ballot after work
• Bill C-550 - To provide student loan refunds to doctors and nurse practitioners who agree to practice family medicine in an under-served area
• Bill C-578 - To provide national dental and prescription drug coverage for seniors and children under 12
• Bill C-594 - To expand voting hours across Canada in federal elections to 7 am-10 pm to improve the accessibility of the voting system
• Bill C-598 - To remove the GST/HST from the purchase of batteries for medically necessary devices
• Bill C-634 - To lower the voting age in federal elections to 16 ^[2]

He has introduced 14 Motions, including proposals to build affordable housing at the Little Mountain site in Vancouver Kingsway, improve the recognition of foreign professional credentials, and create a National Education Strategy to improve the quality and accessibility of primary, secondary and post-secondary public education in Canada.^[3]

He has also co-sponsored more than 100 Bills and Motions, put forward by Members from all 4 parties in the House of Commons.^[3]

Voting record

As a Member of the 40th Parliament, Davies has voted on a number of high-profile pieces of legislation. He voted against Conservative legislation to re-enact controversial police powers that had sunsetted from the original Anti-Terrorism Act,^[4] and voted against Conservative Bill C-42^[5] which would allow the personal information and medical data of Canadian air passengers to be shared with American security agencies, even for flights that did not land in the U.S.^[6] He also voted against Bill C-391, which sought to end the Long Gun Registry, by supporting a procedural vote which effectively killed the Bill.^[7] He has voted in favour of legislation to establish concrete targets for Canadian greenhouse gas reductions,^[8] and to create a national affordable housing strategy.^[9]

References

1. ^ NDP Shadow Cabinet.
2. ^ Don Davies MP Biography.
3. ^ ^{a b} House of Commons Order Paper, March 11 2011.
4. ^ Howdtheyvote.ca Vote Record, C-17.
5. ^ Howdtheyvote.ca Vote Record, C-42.
6. ^ Library of Parliament Legislative Summary of Bill C-42.
7. ^ Howdtheyvote.ca Vote Record, C-391.
8. ^ Howdtheyvote.ca Vote Record, C-311.
9. ^ Howdtheyvote.ca Vote Record, C-304.

External links

• Don Davies - Member of Parliament Website
• Don Davies - Parliament of Canada biography

Persondata
Name	Davies, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 16, 1963
Place of birth	Edmonton, Alberta
Date of death
Place of death