BC NDP candidate for MLA in Surrey-Panorama, who held the seat from 2017 to 2024 and lost it by 263 votes in 2024.
Jinny Sims is the BC NDP candidate in Surrey-Panorama. She won the district in 2017 and 2020, served as Minister of Citizens' Services from 2017 to 2019, and lost the seat to Conservative Bryan Tepper in 2024 with 48.11 percent of the vote. She was the Member of Parliament for Newton-North Delta from 2011 to 2015. Her 2026 campaign says she will tackle extortion and organized crime; in the party's announcement she spoke of lowering costs and hiring more health care workers.
A researched record of Jinny Sims's 2026 commitments, her past offices and the 2019 investigation that closed with no evidence found. She is not a sitting MLA, so there are no 2026 speeches or votes in the legislature to review.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Jinny Sims
Elections BC lists Jinny Sims as the BC NDP candidate in Surrey-Panorama. The party announced her as its candidate on September 22, 2026, the day the election was called, according to the party and the Surrey Now-Leader. The district's sitting MLA, Conservative Bryan Tepper, is running again, the Now-Leader reports.
She first won Surrey-Panorama in 2017 with 12,227 votes (50.85 percent), and won it again in 2020 with 12,336 votes (55.07 percent), according to Elections BC. In 2024 she was the sitting member and received 8,472 votes (48.11 percent). Bryan Tepper won with 8,735 votes (49.60 percent).
Premier John Horgan named her Minister of Citizens' Services in July 2017. She resigned from cabinet in October 2019, after a special prosecutor was appointed to advise the RCMP on an investigation of allegations against her. In April 2020 the BC Prosecution Service said the RCMP had found no evidence to support any of the allegations, and the special prosecutor closed his part in the matter.
The House of Commons record shows she was the Member of Parliament for Newton-North Delta from May 2, 2011 to October 18, 2015, and lost in Surrey-Newton in 2015. Before that she was president of the BC Teachers' Federation; the federation's magazine reported in September 2004 that she had become its sixth woman president.
In 2022 she ran for mayor of Surrey for the Surrey Forward party and placed fourth, according to CBC News and the Surrey Now-Leader. The party and the Now-Leader say she hosts a radio show on Swift AM 1200.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
5 commitments shown · Checked Sep 30
2026 · Public safetyCampaign pledge
Tackle extortion and organized crime
Her campaign page says she is committed to tackling extortion and organized crime, keeping streets safe, and giving young people support to stay away from gangs.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is a statement of her aims on her own campaign page. It names no program, law, number, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Which provincial measure on extortion would she push for, and how would its result be measured?
In the same statement, she said the BC NDP team will continue its work to recruit more health care workers.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The party release quotes her. She gives no number of workers, cost or date. The party's own results page lists its health care hiring; that is the party's account.
What still needs checking
How many health care workers would Surrey-Panorama gain, and by when?
The BC NDP results page lists what the party says its government has done and will do on costs, housing, health care, jobs, safety and climate. It does not name her.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This is party text with no candidate name, so it is the party's position and earns only the party reference.
What still needs checking
Which of these party plans does she repeat in her own words?
Her past roles come from Elections BC, the House of Commons, government releases and the BC Prosecution Service. The internet grant program comes from government releases that quote her as minister.
Grants paid out; government release quotes her as minister
Connecting British Columbia internet grants
As Minister of Citizens' Services, she was quoted in government releases on the Connecting British Columbia grant program. A March 2019 release announced $50 million for the program. A June 2019 release said its grants had reached people in 462 communities over two years and announced a $298,406 grant for wireless upgrades in 12 rural communities.
Scope, limits and sources
These are the government's own releases from her term as minister. The figures are the government's. The 2020 party release also credits her with expanding internet service; that is the party's claim.
The Premier's release of July 18, 2017 lists her as Minister of Citizens' Services. The Tyee reported on October 5, 2019 that she had offered her resignation from cabinet the afternoon before.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Statement on her 2026 candidacy
In the party release that named her as the candidate, she said people in Surrey-Panorama face hard challenges and spoke of lowering costs and recruiting health care workers.
In an emailed statement reported by CBC News, she thanked the police and the special prosecutor and said she was pleased that the RCMP found no evidence to support the claims.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
Official finding
RCMP investigation and resignation from cabinet
On October 4, 2019 the BC Prosecution Service appointed a special prosecutor to advise the RCMP on an investigation into allegations of criminal wrongdoing against her. She offered her resignation as minister that afternoon, The Tyee reported. CBC News reports that the BC Liberals had asked for a police investigation of allegations made by a former constituency assistant, including that she wrote visa reference letters for foreign nationals on a security watch list.
Candidate or party response
In a statement reported by The Tyee, she said she had not been given details of any allegations and was confident her name would be cleared. CBC News reports that she denied money was ever discussed.
Verified status and limits
On April 3, 2020 the BC Prosecution Service said the RCMP had found no evidence to support any of the allegations against her and had closed its investigation. No charges were laid.
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Surrey Now-Leader · Tom Zillich
Sims runs again in Surrey-Panorama
Reports her candidacy, her 2024 loss to Bryan Tepper and her fourth place in the 2022 Surrey mayoral race.
Sources checked September 30, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
The Indo-Canadian Voice article shows no publication date, so its date is the date of the party release. Her Facebook page returned no readable text to a direct request, so nothing from it is used. Her X account was readable without signing in; its recent posts comment on other parties and on the LNG Canada decision and state no commitment of her own. The party and the Surrey Now-Leader say she hosts a radio show on Swift AM 1200; voche.me has not checked this with the station. Her 2015 federal result, her vote share in the 2022 Surrey mayoral race, and her speeches and votes as MLA from 2017 to 2024 were not opened. The 2020 party release credits her with expanding high-speed internet, affordable childcare and education; only the internet grants were checked, in government releases. No all-candidates meeting in Surrey-Panorama, campaign finance report or endorsement was found on this date.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on 2026-09-30: the Elections BC candidate list, the 2024, 2020 and 2017 election results from Elections BC, her BC NDP campaign page, the party's 2026 and 2020 candidate releases and its release list and results page, her X account, the 2017 cabinet release, two 2019 government releases that quote her as minister, two BC Prosecution Service statements, the House of Commons record of her roles, a 2004 BC Teachers' Federation magazine, and reporting from the Surrey Now-Leader, Link Newspaper, the Indo-Canadian Voice, The Tyee, CBC News and Global News.
Her 2026 commitments are short: one paragraph on her campaign page and one quote in the party's announcement. No platform of her own, debate or interview from this campaign was found. An empty section records what voche.me did not find on this date.
03 / Background
Experience & community
2017 to 2024
MLA for Surrey-Panorama
Won in 2017 and 2020. Lost to Bryan Tepper in 2024 with 8,472 votes to his 8,735.
NDP member. Vice-chair of the Commons committees on citizenship and immigration and on human resources at different times, according to the House of Commons.
Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied.
What would you do as MLA about extortion against Surrey businesses, and how would you measure the result?
No response has been submitted.
Which costs for families would you work to lower first, and by how much?
No response has been submitted.
How many more health care workers should Surrey-Panorama have by the end of the next term?
No response has been submitted.
Have your own question?
Ask Jinny Sims directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one.
05 / About this page
Questions about this page
Facts voche.me can state about Jinny Sims's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Jinny Sims?
No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Jinny Sims's own campaign.
What party is Jinny Sims running with?
Jinny Sims is running for MLA with BC NDP.
Does Jinny Sims currently hold public office?
Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Jinny Sims.
How many sources does this Jinny Sims profile cite?
This profile lists 6 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Jinny Sims's page show no answer?
The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Jinny Sims in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Jinny Sims is running in?
The 2026 British Columbia election, including the MLA race, is decided on October 24, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions
Space for campaign updates
No campaign updates yet
Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added.
