For Bowinn Ma, all it took was one teacher at her East Vancouver public school to turn her life around.

The daughter of two Taiwanese immigrants, Bowinn says her parents did the best they could, but that life at home was extremely challenging when she was a teenager. You wouldn’t know it today, but the engineer, project manager, and North Vancouver-Lonsdale candidate, was at one time feeling lost and heading down the wrong path.

“I was angry, combative, getting into trouble, and my grades plummeted. It was the last day of grade 10 when my biology teacher – a cranky woman who swore a lot – came up to me in the hallway and told me, firmly, that I was failing school and needed to do better because she knew I could. The fact that she took notice and cared...it was all it took for me to turn things around.”

Though the experience left a lasting impression, it took Bill C-51 – a law introduced by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives that drew widespread criticism for its threat to our privacy – for Bowinn to get involved in politics. She organized public actions and rallies to raise awareness about the legislation.

“It didn’t take much to go from learning about Bill C-51 to learning about how other issues were impacting people, and the more I learned the worse it got – and then I couldn’t turn my political involvement off.”

Bowinn has built a home on the North Shore and intends to stay for the long run. While talking to her neighbours, Bowinn says she hears a lot about affordability and childcare.

“Nineteen percent of families in the City of North Vancouver are led by lone parents. That’s almost 1 in 5 families. Childcare is a huge issue for those families, who are struggling to get by.”

What keeps Bowinn busy when she’s not fighting for a fairer, more progressive BC?

You can find her taking advantage of our province’s pristine natural environment.

“I live beside Heywood Park. You’re in the middle of the city, but take just a few steps into the park and it can feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. North Vancouver is fantastic like that.”

Are you on the North Shore? Get involved in Bowinn's campaign.