Judi Tyabji Wilson

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Judeline Tyabji (aka Judi Tyabji Wilson) (born circa 1965) is a former political figure in British Columbia, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Victoria. Born in Kolkata, India, her family immigrated to Canada and settled in British Columbia while she was a child.

Tyabji first became active as a Young Liberal in university, attending national conventions on policy. Tyabji first ran for election in a by-election in Penticton as a British Columbia Liberal Party candidate in opposition to Bill Vander Zalm's government. At the time she was a 23 year old single mother of a two month old boy. In the 1991 provincial election she ran again and was elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for the interior riding of Okanagan East. She was 26 years old, the second youngest MLA ever elected, MLA Frank Mitchell being the youngest elected in 1951 at just 25 years old, however she was the first Indo-Canadian female. She was five months pregnant and the following spring was the first MLA in BC to give birth while holding office.

At election, she was appointed to three critic portfolios by Leader of the Opposition Gordon Wilson: Environment, Agriculture, and Women's Equality. In the fall of 1992 she was appointed House Leader for the Official Opposition.

After a controversy in which her romantic relationship with Wilson became public – Tyabji and Wilson were both married to other people at the time – and Wilson's loss in a subsequent Liberal leadership election, she and Wilson left the provincial Liberal Party in 1993 to found the Progressive Democratic Alliance. Tyabji was defeated in her bid for re-election in 1996 by her former brother-in-law John Weisbeck. Wilson and Tyabji were married in 1994.

After she lost custody of her three young children in 1994, Tyabji spoke out strongly for reform of the family justice system. Her case was featured in family law reviews citing bias against career mothers. She appeared in many media outlets, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, in an attempt to win back custody of her children.

From 1996 to 1998 Tyabji hosted a weekday current events talk show Tyabji on Victoria television station CHEK. She also hosted the live radio program The Judi Tyabji Show in Kelowna while serving as MLA. She produced and hosted a multimedia online current events program, The Westerly, in 2001/2002 and continues to be involved in multimedia production.

She was elected to the local government in Powell River and served as a municipal councillor and regional district director from 1999 to 2001.

Tyabji is currently CEO of a software company in British Columbia.

[edit] Books

In 1994 she wrote Political Affairs (Horsdal and Schubart) about BC politics and the story behind the headlines during Gordon Wilson's leadership. In 2002 she wrote Daggers Unsheathed (Heritage House) about the rise and fall of BC Premier Glen Clark and some of the disturbing stories behind his downfall.