MLA Claire Trevena Member for North Island

Creator:  I pray today for Claire Trevena and ask for extra support for her in her work. Help her to see the challenges of each day as tasks You have purposefully set before her. Help her to find inner resources and ideas beyond what she thought she possessed. And at the end of every day, give her rest, peace and a sense of accomplishment. This is asked in the name of the one who loves us best. Amen.

Claire Trevena was first elected in May 2005 and was re-elected on May 12, 2009.

Claire is a former journalist, community activist and human rights worker.

In the early 1990s, Claire came to Canada as the BBC's Canadian correspondent.

Awarded the Canadian Civilian Peacekeeping Medal, she's worked on democratic development projects overseas and in Canada.

Claire was an active trade unionist in her professional life. Since moving to BC she has been involved in a number of community initiatives, including a weekly community kitchen on Quadra Island as well as various environmental initiatives.

She was elected to the board of the Quadra Community Association and held a seat on the Regional District of Comox Strathcona Regional Area J Advisory Planning Committee.

Prior to the 2005 election, Claire ran a small communications business on Quadra Island with her husband, Mike McIvor.

MLA Jane Thornthwaite Member for North Vancouver - Seymour

Our gracious and loving heavenly Father we come to You on behalf of MLA Jane Thornthwaite who has given unstintingly of her time and treasure to serve both her own constituents and as well all of the citizens of the province of British Columbia. We pray a special blessing upon her this day and all the days she spends in the legislature and on many important committees.  May she sense Your guiding hand in all that she endevours to do.  Grant her physical well being and spiritual insight. May she realize she may call upon the Lord of the Universe to guide her every precious moment of every day.We thank You now Lord for this gracious lady.  Amen

Jane Thornthwaite was elected MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour in the 2009 general provincial election.

Since 2005, Jane was a School Trustee for the North Vancouver Board of Education and topped the polls in both the 2005 and 2008 municipal elections. She was elected Chair of the North Vancouver Board of Education in December 2008 and resigned from the Board June 2009 after being elected to the Legislature.

Previously, Jane was a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (B.Sc., B.H.E.) with a 22-year career in health care. Jane’s work experience includes positions in hospital dietetics and community health, an instructor for a third year required Nutrition course at UBC, a Corporate Nutritionist for an international Health Food Chain and a National Sales Representative for an international pharmaceutical firm.

Her writing has been published in a wide variety of publications and she has been a guest presenter and lecturer at numerous colleges and universities.

As a former self-employed health consultant, Jane has experience operating a small business and supporting a family as a mother of three kids.

Jane has an extensive volunteer career on the North Shore and has lived in North Vancouver for over 19 years.

MLA Hon. Steve Thomson Kelowna-Mission Minister of Agriculture and Lands

Thank You Lord for putting the Honorable Steve Thomson in this leadership position over Kelowna-Mission.  Please protect his health and the health of his family.  Lord, allow him to feel Your presence as he leads others. Continue to bring more opportunities into his life to serve You and this province.
In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Steve Thomson was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Lands on June 10, 2009. He was elected to represent the riding of Kelowna-Mission on May 12, 2009.

Born and raised in Kelowna, Steve comes from a pioneer family who continue to operate the original family farm established in 1896.

Steve is the former executive director of the BC Agriculture Council and has developed his career and experience working on behalf of British Columbia farmers and ranchers. He has served as General Manager of the BC Fruit Growers Association and the BC Milk Producers Association.

He has been selected for many leadership roles and advisory positions dedicated to the continuous improvement of our province. Steve brings to his role of MLA for Kelowna Mission extensive leadership expertise, experience in economic development and a clear understanding of how to get things done in government. He has served the community and province as president of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and chair of the BC Chamber of Commerce and has represented those organizations and others on provincial government task forces focused on red tape reduction and small business development.

He has also served as a director of the Kelowna Museum, the Okanagan Innovation Fund and the BC BioEnergy Network.

He has a great love of sports and had a long career in rugby including the opportunity to play for the Canadian National Rugby Team. Current interests include golf, gardening and being an ardent rugby fan.

Steve is a husband, father and grandfather. He is married to Brenda and has three children and five grandchildren.

MLA Ralph Sultan Member for West Vancouver-Capilano

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the work that Ralph Sultan gives to his province and the man that he is to his family.  We pray for inspiration and strength for him to become all that You have created him to be.  Help him grow daily in You as You fulfill the vision You have for his life and career and the furthering of a Godly nation.  This we ask and pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Ralph Sultan was elected to the BC Legislature to represent the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano in 2001, 2005 and 2009. He has served on the Government Caucus Committee for the Economy and the Legislature's Public Accounts Committee, and the Caucus Liaison for the Ministry of Finance. Ralph previously served as the Chair for the Government Caucus Committee for the Economy and the B.C. Mining Task Force.

Ralph is an economist, educator and businessperson who also maintains registration as a professional engineer (P.Eng.). Prior to attending university, he worked as a tree faller, as a lineman on the construction of the Kemano-Kitimat transmission line, as surveyor's helper on the Lillooet and Bridge River hydroelectric projects, and was an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers permit member.

Graduating from UBC in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Ralph worked as a technical sales representative for a major international company before earning MBA, MA, and Ph.D. (Economics) degrees from Harvard University. He completed those degrees in 1965. He then served as Assistant and Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, for nine years. He was then employed by The Royal Bank of Canada for almost ten years as Chief Economist; then Senior Vice President, Marketing in Montreal, and subsequently Senior Vice President, Global Energy and Minerals Group in Calgary. He was retained by the J. W. McConnell Foundation, Canada's largest philanthropic fund, as investment advisor.

In 1974 and 1975 Harvard University Press published his two-volume study of price fixing in the electrical industry.

Between 1980 and 2000, Ralph held senior officer and director positions in a variety of financial, mining, forestry and technology sector companies, and owned and operated his own investment company. In the mining sector, he was Executive Vice President of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company, a subsidiary of Anglo American Corporation, and was Chair of Curragh Resources in the Yukon, and held other executive positions.

In the 1990's, after returning home to British Columbia , Ralph served as President of a joint venture with a major American corporation, engaged in the development of a fibreboard mill in Williams Lake.

Ralph was the Eagle Harbour Yacht Club executive secretary and was an Augustana Lutheran Church Councilor. He was Chair of the Financial Research Foundation (1984-1985), Chair, Queen's University Business School Advisory Committee (1981-84), Economic Council of Canada member (1979-83), and Harvard Business School fundraiser (1968-1994). Ralph arranged for the endowment of a UBC professorship in mining engineering (1990) and served on Harvard's Graduate School Arts & Science Advisory Committee (1993-1996). Ralph has received academic awards, including graduation from the Harvard Business School with High Distinction, UBC's Cayley Prize, the Engineering Institute of Canada Prize, Harvard's designation as Baker Scholar and Ford Foundation designation as Fellow. Ralph is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia.

Born in 1933, Ralph was raised in a family of ten in the Mt. Pleasant District of East Vancouver. He has lived on Vancouver's North Shore since returning to B.C. His wife of 43 years, Shirley, a surgical nurse and rehabilitation clinic entrepreneur, died suddenly in 1999. He has four children and four grandchildren. He enjoys boating, skiing and gardening.

MLA Dr. Moira Stillwell Member for Vancouver-Langara

Dear Father, teacher and healer we bring to You this day our MLA: Hon. Dr. Moira Stilwell. We ask that You would bless her as she oversees our Province’s Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. We ask that You would give her great wisdom as she considers many good ideas to find the best strategies for her portfolio. We ask that You would bless her family and bring them health and contentment. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.

Dr. Moira Stilwell was appointed Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development on June 10, 2009.

Minister Stilwell was elected MLA for Vancouver-Langara in the 2009 provincial general election.

Dr. Moira Stilwell is a radiologist and nuclear medicine physician who has been working at BC Women’s Hospital for nearly a decade. Prior to being elected, Moira was Head of Nuclear Medicine at St. Paul’s Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Abbottsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Clinic. She was also the Co-Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2020 Task Force. She previously worked at BC Women’s Hospital where she was Co-medical director of the Breast Health Program and staff radiologist. She was a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology in the Faculty of Medicine at University of British Columbia.

She is the past Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation/BC Yukon Chapter, has served on the Board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, as well as on the BC Women’s Hospital Foundation Board.

In addition to her active involvement in promoting a healthy community, both as a volunteer and physician, Moira has been actively involved in her children’s schools and local community.

Moira has three grown children and currently lives in Vancouver with her husband Dr. Sam Lichtenstein

MLA Hon. Ben Stewart Westside-Kelowna Minister of Agriculture

Our prayers go out for Hon. MLA Ben Stewart, as he takes on the new portfolio as Minister of Agriculture. We give thanks for his excellent qualifications and valuable experience in this field which he will bring to this important portfolio. We pray You will bless him in his decision-making as to the innovative changes needed to be made in the future, for the good of all. Dear Lord, may You bless him with vision, guidance and grace in all he endeavours, to bring excellence to the work you have called him to do. Grant him wisdom in time management, priorities, and balancing family needs. Keep his family well and safe, and fill them with Your joy and peace .Thank You for answering our prayer, in the Name of Jesus.

Ben Stewart is currently the Minister of Community and Rural Development. His past portfolios include Ministry of Citizens' Services and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism and the Public Affairs Bureau. He was elected MLA for Westside-Kelowna on May 12, 2009.

An entrepreneur, Ben founded and built Quails’ Gate into one of Canada’s leading estate wineries.

Ben has 30 years of extensive experience serving the community and is a founding director of a Venture Capital Fund for local business development. He was on the board of the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation and has been active in the fundraising and establishment of the Brookhaven Extended Care Facility Campaign, Southern Interior Cancer Centre Campaign, and the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

Ben was chair of the BC Grape Marketing Board where they successfully negotiated with provincial and federal governments on agricultural stabilization. Additionally, he was chairman of the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee for the Thompson Okanagan, as well as a member of the Presidents Community Advisory Council at UBC Okanagan.

His other experience includes having served as the past chair of VQA Canada, where they successfully resolved a number of significant international issues such as trademark protection, international mutual recognition agreements including national wine and health standards. As vice-chair of the Canadian Vintners Association, he oversaw the establishment of new national wine association offices in Ottawa and the hiring of their first CEO.

Ben has been recognized as Business Leader of the Year in Kelowna in 1998, received the Westbank Chamber of Commerce President’s Award in 2006, and recognized as Family Business of the Year by Grant Thornton in 2007. He also received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for Community Service. He was a Kinsman, a scout leader and a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol.

Ben lives in Westside with Ruth his wife of 30 years and has three grown children.

MLA John Slater Member for Boundary - Simikameen

Father God we come to You humbly today to ask for blessing and gifting to be bestowed upon the member of the BC Legislature for the riding of Boundary - Simikameen. John has given of himself freely to his community in various capacities over many years. Now he has taken upon himself even greater responsibilities and we ask that You will enable and empower him to redeem the time so that he can accomplish the most good for the most people while he is yet able. May he realize that the Lord God of heaven is interested in all his activities and wants only the best for him as he carefully full fills his mandate to serve all the people all of the time. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

John Slater was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Water Supply and Allocation to the Minister of Environment on June 10, 2009. He was elected as MLA for Boundary-Similkameen on May 12, 2009. He will also be serving on the Environment and Land Use Committee.

He currently owns and operates Desert Edge Nursery, a retail/wholesale operation selling vegetable and nursery products.

John is a well-known proactive community leader in the South Okanagan having served Osoyoos for twelve years on city council and then six years as Mayor.

For nearly 30 years in Osoyoos, John has been actively involved in the community. For more than 20 years he coached youth basketball, soccer, hockey and baseball. He was a Kinsman as well as serving as Director for the Osoyoos & District Recreation Commission, Chair of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, the Osoyoos Child & Youth Committee, the Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce, the Okanagan Regional Library, the Interior Vegetable Marketing Agency & Greenhouse Growers Association, and was a Director of the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission.

Born and raised in Kelowna, John studied at the University of Victoria but soon returned to the Okanagan moving to Osoyoos in 1980. Over the years, he has owned and operated tourism and service industry businesses. He established a nursery and greenhouse business specializing in vegetable production where he became very involved in agricultural issues and organizations.