party office term_start residence article_title name occupation
new democrat mla for esquimalt-royal roads 2005 esquimalt , british columbia maurine karagianis
 maurine karagianis businessperson , municipal councillor
maurine karagianis

maurine karagianis -lrb- born august 17 , 1950 -rrb- is a canadian politician , currently the new democratic party mla for the riding of esquimalt-royal roads in the legislative assembly of british columbia .
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 .
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 presently continues to serve in this position .
in june 2014 , maurine was appointed as advocate for seniors , women & childcare & early learning .
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 .
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 .
she is 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 .
