Maurine Karagianis

Maurine Karagianis
Maurine Karagianis
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly; for Esquimalt-Royal Roads; Esquimalt-Metchosin (2005-2009)
	In office; May 17, 2005 – May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Arnie Hamilton
Succeeded by	Mitzi Dean
Personal details
Political party	New Democrat
Residence(s)	Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	businessperson, municipal councillor

Maurine Karagianis (born August 17, 1950) is a Canadian politician, formerly the New Democratic Party MLA for the riding of Esquimalt-Royal Roads in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

After being defeated in the 2001 provincial election, she was first elected in the 2005 election to the constituency of Esquimalt-Metchosin, garnering almost 50 percent of votes cast and 2,895 more votes than the next closest candidate.^[1] She was re-elected in 2009 to the new constituency of Esquimalt-Royal Roads and again in 2013.

In August 2007, Karagianis was appointed the Official Opposition Critic for the Ministry of Transportation in New Democrat leader Carole James' shadow cabinet. She had previously served as the Official Opposition Critic for the Ministry Children and Family Development, and, prior to that, the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue. Following the 2009 election, Maurine was again appointed as the Official Opposition Critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. In January 2011, Maurine was elected as Official Opposition Caucus Whip and served in that position until her retirement. In June 2014, Maurine was appointed as Advocate for Seniors, Women & Childcare & Early Learning.

Karagianis retired from provincial politics in May 2017. Prior to serving as an MLA, she was elected as a municipal councillor in Esquimalt in 1996, and re-elected in 1999 and again in 2002. She is currently keeping bees, blogging about that and other topics, and once again doing some work in the affordable housing sector. In August 2018, she was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the Knowledge Network and retired from that role in 2022.

Starting in 1998, she served three years with the provincial government as assistant to three NDP cabinet ministers – first in the Social Services ministry and then in Transportation and Highways. From 2001 to 2005, she ran a consulting company working with non-profit organizations and First Nations to create seniors housing in BC.

Prior to entering politics she was an entrepreneur, opening her own retail fashion store, operating a wholesale venture and a successful import/export business. She was also a co-founder of the Sunshine Folkfest in Powell River, BC.

Electoral results[edit]

v t e 2013 British Columbia general election: Esquimalt-Royal Roads
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Maurine Karagianis	10963	48.20
	Liberal	Chris Ricketts	6511	28.63
	Green	Susan Christina Low	4928	21.67
	Independent	Joshua Steffler	343	1.51
Total valid votes			22745	100.00
Total rejected ballots			113	0.49
Turnout			22858	58.23
Source: Elections BC^[2]

v t e 2009 British Columbia general election: Esquimalt-Royal Roads
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Maurine Karagianis	11,514	52.92
	Liberal	Carl Ratsoy	6,579	30.24
	Green	Jane Sterk	3,664	16.84

v t e 2005 British Columbia general election: Esquimalt-Metchosin
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Maurine Karagianis	11,939	49.65
	Liberal	Tom Woods	9,226	38.37
	Green	Jane Sterk	2,489	10.35
	Democratic Reform	Graeme Rodger	392	1.63

v t e 2001 British Columbia general election: Esquimalt-Metchosin
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Arnie Hamilton	9,544	45.79	$41,647
	New Democratic	Maurine Karagianis	6,258	30.03	$19,636
	Green	Marilyn Sundeen	3,685	17.68	$3,878
	Marijuana	Christopher John Davies	534	2.56	–
	Conservative	Bill Clarke	322	1.55	$941
	Unity	Bob Ward	268	1.29	$367
	Independent	Rick Berglund	105	0.50	$117
	Independent	Scott Attrill	68	0.33	$100
	Independent	Gerry McVeigh	57	0.27	$116
Total valid votes			20,841	100.00
Total rejected ballots			86	0.41
Turnout			20,927	69.49

References[edit]

^ "Esquimalt-Metchosin: Electoral District Voting Results" (PDF). 2005 General Election Statement of Votes. Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2007.
^ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.

External links[edit]

[1] "Esquimalt-Metchosin: Electoral District Voting Results" (PDF). 2005 General Election Statement of Votes. Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2007.

[2] "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.

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