Joyce Murray

Infobox CanadianMP
honorific-prefix =
name = Joyce Murray
honorific-suffix =
MP


caption =
riding = Vancouver Quadra
parliament = Canadian
term_start1 = March 18 2008
predecessor1 = Stephen Owen
successor1 =
office2 = MLA for New Westminster
term_start2 = 2001
term_end2 = 2005
predecessor2 = Graeme Bowbrick
successor2 = Chuck Puchmayr
birth_date = 1954
birth_place = Sweitzer Reneke
residence = Vancouver, British Columbia
death_date =
death_place =
party = Liberal Party of Canada
otherparty = British Columbia Liberal Party
spouse = Dirk Brinkman
residence = Vancouver, British Columbia
profession = policy analyst, sustainability consultant, reforestation manager

Joyce Murray is a Canadian politician. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver Quadra as a Member of Parliament. Elected on March 17, 2008, during a by-election, she participated in the parliament as a member of the official opposition, the Liberal Party of Canada. During this term she sat on the Standing Parliamentary Committee on International Trade and visited Columbia and Panama to review proposed Free Trade Agreements. She was Vice-Chair the Liberal Caucus Committee on Environmental Sustainability. She presented her first private members bill C-572 (http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/bill.php?id=1448)in June 2008, proposing to exempt bikes (including electric bikes)and bike accessories, repairs and safety training from GST. As a known advocate for complementary medicine she worked to stop Bill C51 from going forward.

In 2001 she was the first Liberal in 49 years to be elected to the electoral district of New Westminster. She served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a cabinet minister from 2001 to 2005. She was defeated by Chuck Puchmayr in the 2005 election.

During her term in the Legislative Assembly, she served as Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection to January of 2004 and as Minister of Management Services until June 2005. As Minister of Water, Land, and Air Protection, she worked with environmental advocates, Tourism Associations and regional organizations to complete the protecton of Spruce Lake Park. (“During her years as BC Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection, Joyce Murray worked tirelessly in the face of fierce pressure from some of her colleagues to defend BC's park system, particularly the South Chilcotin Mountains and Spruce Lake. Joyce is strongly committed to working within the corridors of power to ensure the environment has a strong voice, and I have no doubt she will continue to be a strong advocate for parks, biodiversity and climate change." Ric Careless, BC Conservationist)

Minister Joyce Murray also raised provincial fees for industrial and municipal waste discharges by 48%.

In the first sitting of the new Cabinet, also the first televised, she secured $25 million to co-establish the Southern Gulf Islands National Park to complement funding from the Federal Minister of Environment, David Anderson. ("Joyce Murray’s commitment to the environment and her community has been beyond question, and her track record and experience in government are a testament to her outstanding ability to bring people together." The Honourable David Anderson, M.P., P.C.)

Minister Joyce Murray implemented First Nations co-management of provincial parks both along the coast of British Columbia and in its northern interior. Minister Joyce Murray also secured $18 million during fiscally difficult times and drove the purchase and protection of Burns Bog. Burns Bog is the largest domed bog in North America and especially critical for protection as it's 5000 acres sits within the municipality of Metro Vancovuer, British Columbia. Minister Joyce Murray also introduced the first comprehensive framework strategy for total Product Stewardship for recycling for all rpoducts in British Columbia. Product Stewardship regulations required producers to assume responsibility for removing their products from the waste stream. She convened the thirteen oil producers in the province and required that they develop a cooperative solution to recycle all of the waste oil, plastic (from containers) and steel wool from oil filters. At that time over 22 million litres of oil was entering the GVRD waste stream annually. She brought the electronics industry under these Product Stewardhsip framework to develop solutions for all electronics waste. Ministries of Environment from other provinces have studied this legislation and introduced similar regulations.

As the President of the Canadian Ministers of the Environment (CCME) in 2003, Minister Joyce Murray lead an initiative to put children's health and the environment onto the national CCME agenda. She also put the Total Product Stewardship of electronic products on the national CCME agenda. Minister Joyce Murray initiated the first ground water protection regulation in British Columbia.

Minister Joyce Murray introduced the first Integrated Pest Management legislation in British Columbia which required that all applications of pest control examine all alternatives to chemical use as well as determine minimum treatment levels for efficacy before undertaking pest control on Crown lands.

During Joyce Murray's tenure the Ministry of the Environment secured increased power to regulate pollution, and was freed of the previous requirement during compiance and enforcement, to secure the cooperation of any other ministries involved. chris rolf-

During Minister Joyce Murray time in Caucus and Cabinet 2001-2005 she helped set a foundation for the BC Liberal election platform commitment to "Lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management – bar none." [ [http://www.bcliberals.com/EN/1344/5484?PHPSESSID=d8ed1a763568055699e1879b5f184b8cBC Liberal Platform] ] .The BC Liberals have now implemented the leading climate action in Canada, including revenue neutral carbon tax which reduces personal income taxes. This legislation was lauded by policy analysts and economists across Canada as the best public climate policy.

Not all of Minister Murray's environmental initiatives were popular, for instance charging fire wood users in parks and charging for parking at popular parks in order to secure added revenues with which to manage parks was greeted with public opposition. [www.wildernesscommittee.org: Missing Minister - Have you seen Joyce Murray? [http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/publiclands/parks/reports/Vol21No04/murray] ]

Murray subsequently stood as the federal Liberal candidate in New Westminster—Coquitlam in the 2006 federal election, but was not elected. She was nominated as the federal Liberal candidate in Vancouver Quadra for the by-election held on March 17, 2008, following the resignation of Stephen Owen, and successfully retained the riding for the Liberals on by-election night, defeating Conservative candidate Deborah Meredith by 151 votes.

References

External links

* [http://www.joycemurray.com/ Joyce Murray]
* [http://www.liberal.ca/members_e.aspx?id=16016 Liberal Party of Canada Website]
* [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=86fed1de-3861-4448-8242-ad414073ef2e&Language=E&MenuID=Lists.Members.aspx&MenuQuery=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.parl.gc.ca%2FParlinfo%2FLists%2FMembers.aspx Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]