Bob Zimmer

Bob Zimmer MP
Member of Parliament forPrince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Prince George—Peace River (2011–2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Jay Hill
Personal details
Born	(1968-10-20)October 20, 1968 Dawson Creek,British Columbia
Political party	Conservative
Other political affiliations	Reform
Spouse	Val Zimmer
Children	4
Residence	Fort St. John, British Columbia
Alma mater	Northern Lights College Trinity Western University University of British Columbia
Profession	Teacher (North Peace Secondary School)

Bob ZimmerMP(born October 20, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been themember of Parliament(MP) for theBritish ColumbiaridingofPrince George—Peace River—Northern Rockiessince May 2, 2011, as a member of theConservative Party.

Background

Zimmer was born inDawson Creek,British Columbia, and grew up in nearbyFort St. John.After graduating fromNorth Peace Secondary Schoolin 1986, he worked as a welder's assistant in the oil industry.Through theNorthern Lights Collegehe became a journeyman carpenter and operated a small construction business between 1995 and 1998. In the 1990s, he moved to theFraser Valleyto play in theBritish Columbia Rugby Union.Between 1999 and 2003 he attendedTrinity Western University,where he coachedvarsityrugby and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Human Kinetics.He completed a 12-monthteaching degreeat theUniversity of British Columbiaand moved back to Fort St. John where he accepted a teaching job at the North Peace Secondary School.

Political career

Zimmer joined theReform Party of Canadain 1988. He has citedRalph Klein,the formerpremierofAlberta,andPreston Manning,the leader of Reform, as his political role models.While living inAbbotsford, British Columbia,he campaigned forRandy White,who was elected as a Reform Party member of parliament.After he returned to Fort St. John, he joined the Conservative Party's Prince George—Peace RiverElectoral District Associationand served as its president until 2009 when he became its secretary and CEO.After long-time Member of ParliamentJay Hillannounced he would not seek re-election, the riding's Electoral District Association held an election for the riding's Conservative Party nomination. In August 2010, Zimmer resigned from his duties in the Electoral District Association and announced he would stand in the nomination election.Five other people stood in the election, including fellow Fort St. John teacher Dan Davies and the former mayor ofPrince GeorgeColin Kinsley. With 1,350 votes cast in the March 2011preferential vote,Zimmer won the nomination in the sixth round.

Member of Parliament

Thenext federal election was held in May 2011,when Zimmer faced former provincial politicianLois Boonefor theNew Democratic Party,Prince George lawyer Ben Levine for theLiberal Party of Canada,and physiotherapist Hilary Crowley for theGreen Party of Canada.During the campaign Zimmer said he would advocate for reduced spending until the federal budget was balanced but also lobby to direct federal funds to widenHighways 2and theAlaska Highwayto four lanes between the Alberta border and Fort St. John.He noted that he believed pensions for former politicians were too high and that he would seek pension reform.Zimmer won the election with 62.12 per cent of the vote.

During the2015 federal election,Zimmer opposed another study into murdered and missing Aboriginal women during a heated local candidates debate, saying 42 previous studies had already been done and that a primary problem, as stated in theRoyal Canadian Mounted Policereport, was economic status or lack of a job.After the debate, theUnion of British Columbia Indian Chiefscalled for Zimmer to step down as a candidate. Zimmer had stated that, "One of the major drivers of missing and murdered aboriginal women is the lack of economic activity, or simply put, the lack of a job.… Ultimately, when people have a job, they're not in despair. They can stay on reserve, and that's where we want them to be, we want them to be happy where they live." Grand Chief Stewart Philip, the president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, characterized Zimmer's remarks as "simplistic" and "unacceptable".Zimmer later clarified his comments, stating that he was referencing the RCMP's report on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women which lists employment status as one of the risk factors of murdered Aboriginal women.Zimmer went on to say that, "I absolutely care about missing and murdered Aboriginal women and want to see it stopped. I have a wife and a daughter and a mother and it is a tragedy that we need to fix."

Zimmer was re-elected with over 50% of the vote,and his Conservative Party formed theOfficial Oppositionfor the42nd Canadian Parliament.After outgoingPrime MinisterStephen Harperresigned as leader of the Conservative Party,Rona Ambrosetook over as acting leader; she appointed Zimmer to be thedeputy criticofFamilies, Children and Social Development(toKaren Vecchio). In May 2016, Zimmer sponsored and brought forward in the House of Commons a petition with 25,000 signatures advocating for the de-restriction of theAR-15semi-automaticmodern sporting rifle.A month later, when that weapon was used in theOrlando nightclub shooting,the petition and Zimmer's advocacy were criticized.

In the May 2017Conservative Party leadership election,Zimmer endorsedAndrew Scheer.Following Scheer's victory, he reassigned Zimmer to be deputy critic of theTreasury Board.On April 6, 2017, Zimmer introduced his firstprivate member's bill,Bill C-346An Act to amend the Firearms Act (licences)which would eliminate the expiry of firearms licences, with a mandatory provision that the licence holder update his or her relevant information every 10 years. The bill was debated butdefeatedat the second reading stage in November 2017, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour.

InOctober 2019he was re-elected again, this time with just shy of 70% of the vote. On November 29, 2019, Andrew Scheer named him to theShadow Cabinetas Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs and Northern Economic Development Agency.

Conversion therapy controversy

On October 28, 2020, Zimmer was one of seven Members of Parliament who voted against a bill (C-6) to add the following offences to the Criminal Code:

(a) causing a person to undergoconversion therapyagainst the person's will;

(b) causing a child to undergo conversion therapy;

(c) doing anything for the purpose of removing a child from Canada with the intention that the child undergo conversion therapy outside Canada;

(d) advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy; and

(e) receiving a financial or other material benefit from the provision of conversion therapy.

Zimmer faced backlash from constituents on social media and subsequently blocked those who publicly criticized him, reinvigorating the use of the #BlockedByBob hashtag created when Zimmer blocked constituents who criticized him previously over his actions on Twitter.Numerous studies show that conversion therapy leads to consequences including depression and suicidal thoughts.Zimmer has defended his vote against Bill C-6 because he said it "leaves open the possibility that voluntary conversations between individuals and their parents, family members, pastors, teachers, or their counsellors may be criminalized."However, Bill C-6 does not criminalize voluntary conversations about sexuality and sexual orientation.

Electoral results

2021 Canadian federal election:Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Zimmer	29,882	60.7	-9.1	$71,706.36
	New Democratic	Cory Grizz Longley	6,647	13.5	+4.3	$6,918.81
	People's	Ryan Dyck	5,138	10.4	+7.2	$25,911.91
	Liberal	Amir Alavi	4,236	8.6	-3.0	$0.00
	Green	Catharine Kendall	1,661	3.4	-2.9	$7,821.16
	Maverick	David Jeffers	1,580	3.3	—	$25,911.91
	Canada's Fourth Front	Phil Hewkin	53	0.1	—	$0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit			49,197	99.13	-0.46	$138,271.14
Total rejected ballots			430	0.87	+0.46
Turnout			49,627	62.1	-7.7
Eligible voters			79,952
	Conservativehold		Swing		-11.0
Source:Elections Canada

2019 Canadian federal election:Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Zimmer	38,473	69.8	+17.30	$77,720.06
	Liberal	Mavis Erickson	6,391	11.6	-13.30	$15,885.38
	New Democratic	Marcia Luccock	5,069	9.2	-6.30	none listed
	Green	Catharine Kendall	3,448	6.3	+1.10	none listed
	People's	Ron Vaillant	1,748	3.2	-	$5,312.80
Total valid votes/expense limit			55,129	100.0
Total rejected ballots			283
Turnout			55,412	69.8
Eligible voters			79,397
	Conservativehold		Swing		+15.30
Source:Elections Canada

2015 Canadian federal election:Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Zimmer	27,237	52.52	-9.33	$94,031.80
	Liberal	Matt Shaw	12,913	24.90	+19.74	$4,485.98
	New Democratic	Kathi Dickie	8,014	15.45	-10.40	$3,712.11
	Green	Elizabeth Biggar	2,672	5.15	-0.91	$2,593.07
	Libertarian	W. Todd Keller	559	1.08	–	–
	Progressive Canadian	Barry Blackman	464	0.89	–	–
Total valid votes/expense limit			51,859	100.00	–	$260,780.28
Total rejected ballots			197	0.38	–
Turnout			52,056	68.21	–
Eligible voters			76,312
	Conservativehold		Swing		-14.53
Source:Elections Canada

2011 Canadian federal election:Prince George—Peace River
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Zimmer	23,946	62.12	−1.47	$81,669
	New Democratic	Lois Boone	9,876	25.62	+8.04	$38,397
	Green	Hilary Crowley	2,301	5.97	−4.44	$11,625
	Liberal	Ben Levine	2,008	5.21	−3.20	$9,197
	Pirate	Jeremy Cote	415	1.08	–
Total valid votes			38,546	100.0
Total rejected ballots			125	0.32	−0.03
Turnout			38,671	54.08	+5
Eligible voters			71,507
	Conservativehold		Swing		−4.76

External links

• Official Website
• Bob Zimmer – Parliament of Canada biography