From Wikipedia - Reading time: 10 minTracy Gray MP | |
|---|---|
![]() | |
| Member of Parliament for Kelowna—Lake Country | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office October 21, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen Fuhr |
| Kelowna City Councillor | |
| In office November 15, 2014 – October 20, 2018 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1969 or 1970 (age 52–53)[1] Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Larry Gray[2] |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence(s) | Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Alma mater | University of Calgary |
| Profession | Small Business Owner Business Executive |
Tracy Gray MP is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Kelowna—Lake Country in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[3] Prior to her election in the House of Commons, she was a city councillor for Kelowna City Council.
Prior to entering public service, Gray had worked extensively in the British Columbia liquor industry. She served in senior managerial capacities at several breweries and wineries in the Okanagan Valley, including Mission Hill Winery and Granville Island Brewing.[4][5] She ran the Retail and Hospitality department at Mission Hill when it was awarded the International Wine and Spirit Competition Avery Trophy for Best Chardonnay in the World.[6]
In 2003, Gray launched a chain of VQA wine stores in the British Columbia Interior.[5] Throughout its operation, the chain included the highest ranked wine store in British Columbia in terms of sales,[7] and carried over 800 varieties of local British Columbia wine.[8] Gray has guest lectured at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and Okanagan College about entrepreneurship and has been an advocate and mentor for women in business.[8][9] Gray hosted a weekly wine lifestyle segment on Global Okanagan and has also served as a judge at several international wine competitions.[10]
Gray was a director on the Okanagan Film Commission, an organization which promotes regional economic development in film and animation.[11] She was also a board member for Prospera Credit Union. Gray was on the board when Prospera merged with Westminster Savings, the largest credit union merger in Canadian history, making the new organization the 6th largest credit union in Canada.[12] She also served as a director on the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.[13]
Gray was appointed by British Columbia's cabinet to serve on the Passenger Transportation Board.[14]
Gray was elected as a Kelowna City Councillor following the 2014 municipal election. While on City Council, Gray was also elected as Chair of the Okanagan Basin Water Board,[15] and spearheaded the region's flood mitigation strategy and invasive Quagga mussel prevention campaign.[15] In April 2017, the provincial government responded to the concerns raised by Gray and the Water Board about invasive mussels by hiring more conservation officers and providing funding for two more boat inspection stations in the area.[16] She was also appointed as a Trustee on the Okanagan Regional Library board.[17]
She also served at the regional government level as a director on the Central Okanagan Regional District board.[12]
On September 6, 2018, Gray announced she would seek the federal Conservative nomination for the electoral district of Kelowna—Lake Country,[18] stating she felt compelled to run following the Liberal government's proposed small business tax changes.[19] She won the contested nomination on April 6, 2019.[20] Gray was elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding on October 21, defeating Liberal incumbent Stephen Fuhr.[2] She is the first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament for the riding.[2]
Gray was named to the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet in November 2019 as Shadow Minister for Interprovincial Trade.[21] Following the election of Erin O'Toole as Conservative party leader, in September 2020 Gray became Shadow Minister for Export Promotion and International Trade.[22] In her capacity as Shadow Minister for International Trade, Gray moved and passed a motion in the House of Commons to establish the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States,[23][24] composed of members from recognized parties to study trade issues between the two countries.[25]
She was re-elected for a second term in September 2021.[26] Following the election, Gray was re-appointed to Shadow Cabinet in a new role as Shadow Minister for Small Business Recovery and Growth.[27]
Gray voted against a bill that would prohibit compelling people to undergo conversion therapy intended to alter their sexual orientations.[28]
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has identified Gray as anti-abortion.[29] Gray voted in support of Bill C-233 - An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sex-selective abortion) which would make it an indictable offence for a medical practitioner to knowingly perform an abortion solely on the grounds of the child's genetic sex.[30][31]
Source: [32]
Gray is married with one adult son.[2][8] She was born in Edmonton and grew up in Lethbridge, moving to Kelowna in 1989.[1] She is a graduate of the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.[33]
In her free time, Gray enjoys skiing and used to sing in a volunteer community rock band composed of elected officials in the Kelowna-area.[34][8]
In 2006, Gray was named RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.[35]
In 2008, she was named by the Women's Enterprise Centre as one of 100 'New Pioneers' in British Columbia involved in entrepreneurship.[36]
In 2015, she was named as a 'Woman to Watch' by the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and Kelowna Capital News for her work in the local wine industry and on city council.[9]
| 2021 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 2021 general election will be held on September 20. | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Tracy Gray | 30,409 | 45.29 | |||||
| Liberal | Tim Krupa | 17,767 | 26.46 | |||||
| New Democratic | Cade Desjarlais | 12,204 | 18.18 | |||||
| People's | Brian Rogers | 4,688 | 6.98 | |||||
| Green | Imre Szeman | 2,074 | 3.09 | |||||
| Total valid votes | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | ||||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[37] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Kelowna—Lake Country | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Tracy Gray | 31,497 | 45.57 | +5.82 | $118,425.23 | |||
| Liberal | Stephen Fuhr | 22,627 | 32.74 | -13.42 | $103,263.61 | |||
| New Democratic | Justin Kulik | 8,381 | 12.13 | -1.96 | $12,410.64 | |||
| Green | Travis Ashley | 5,171 | 7.48 | – | $6,745.70 | |||
| People's | John Barr | 1,225 | 1.77 | – | $7,213.32 | |||
| Independent | Daniel Joseph | 152 | 0.22 | – | none listed | |||
| Independent | Silverado Socrates | 67 | 0.10 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 69,120 | 99.56 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 305 | 0.44 | +0.08 | |||||
| Turnout | 69,425 | 68.39 | -2.26 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 101,507 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.62 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[38][39][40] | ||||||||
| Kelowna Municipal Election (2014) Top 8 candidates elected | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Council candidate | Vote | % | |
| Independent | Luke Stack (X) | 16,524 | 9.20 | |
| Independent | Gail Given (X) | 15,559 | 8.66 | |
| Independent | Maxime DeHart (X) | 15,522 | 8.64 | |
| Independent | Mohini Singh (X) | 15,415 | 8.58 | |
| Independent | Brad Sieben | 12,587 | 7.01 | |
| Independent | Tracy Gray | 11,515 | 6.41 | |
| Independent | Ryan Donn | 9,565 | 5.32 | |
| Independent | Charles Hodge | 9,444 | 5.26 | |
| Independent | Beryl Itani | 8,119 | 4.52 | |
| Independent | Laura Thurnheer | 7,71 | 4.33 | |
| Independent | Alan Monk | 6,185 | 3.44 | |
| Independent | David Mossman | 5,262 | 2.93 | |
| TaxPayersFirst | Graeme James | 4,835 | 2.69 | |
| TaxPayersFirst | Michael Gorman | 4,391 | 2.44 | |
| Propser Kelowna | Mike McLoughlin | 4,327 | 2.41 | |
| Propser Kelowna | Sean Upshaw | 3,909 | 2.18 | |
| TaxPayersFirst | Carol Gran | 3,803 | 2.12 | |
| Independent | Bobby Kennedy | 3,107 | 1.73 | |
| Independent | Mo Rajabally | 3,024 | 1.68 | |
| TaxPayersFirst | Dale Olson | 2,491 | 1.39 | |
| Independent | Dayleen Van Ryswyk | 2,294 | 1.28 | |
| TaxPayersFirst | Billie Aaltonen | 2,191 | 1.22 | |
| Independent | Leslie Lendall | 2,071 | 1.15 | |
| Independent | Rawle James | 1,739 | 0.97 | |
| Independent | Connor P.J. O'Reilly | 1,493 | 0.83 | |
| Independent | Ken Chung | 1,474 | 0.82 | |
| Independent | Gwen Miles | 1,272 | 0.71 | |
| Independent | Ken Finney | 1,263 | 0.70 | |
| Independent | Cal Condy | 989 | 0.55 | |
| Independent | Krista Jessacher | 773 | 0.43 | |
| Independent | Red Somer | 751 | 0.42 | |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)