He has been an active participant in the Brandon Labour Council since 1978, a member of Brandon City Council since 1998, and an occasional board member of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba since 1997. He lives in Brandon, Manitoba. Jim Silver is a professor and chair of the Politics Department at the University of Winnipeg. He is a founding and board member of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba and is the author of "In Their Own Voices" and "Thin Ice." He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.