Carole Taylor has been in public service virtually all of her life – from her very early career as a journalist covering politics, to serving as a politician herself, to advising politicians, as well as business and community leaders.
As a young journalist, Taylor covered politics and worked as an investigative reporter at the CTV and CBC television networks. For many years she conducted the annual prime ministerial year-end interviews.
Taylor then migrated to politics herself. First, she was elected as an independent Vancouver city councillor in 1986 and she topped the polls four years later. Running provincially, she was elected as MLA for Vancouver-Langara in 2005, and was appointed finance minister, during which time she introduced four provincial budgets and oversaw the implementation of B.C.’s ground-breaking (and controversial) carbon tax.
Taylor has had to make many tough decisions in the public eye. Her colleagues describe her as an individual who can bring diverse people together, an excellent strategic thinker, and a talented communicator. Those skills came together when, as finance minister, she was able to sign up 100 per cent of B.C.’s public sector workers to new contracts before their old ones expired; a $6-billion negotiation covering more the 300,000 workers – BCGEU, HEU, and CUPE members, teachers, nurses and doctors.
Her passion (and talent) for public service is core to her as a person. She and her late husband Art Phillips, former mayor of Vancouver, were both noted for their community calling. “We all have an obligation to serve and work toward making the world a better place,” she’s been quoted as saying.
That calling continued after she left politics in 2008. Taylor went on to chair the national Economic Advisory Council at the invitation of the federal government and in 2011, she became the 10th Chancellor of Simon Fraser University.
Today, she is the Canada Chair for the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental, policy-oriented forum focused on finding solutions to geopolitical, economic and social challenges.
Taylor also served as chancellor of Victoria University at the University of Toronto, from which she graduated in 1967.
Her past services include chairing the boards of the Vancouver Board of Trade, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Vancouver Port Authority, among others, as well as serving with the B.C. Business Council.
Taylor has been recognized for her public service with numerous awards, including the Order of Canada, the SFU Distinguished Community Leadership Award, and the Peter Lougheed Public Policy Award.
She is also the recipient of four honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from Simon Fraser University and an honorary doctorate of technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The breadth and depth of Carole Taylor’s contributions throughout her life makes her most deserving of the Order of British Columbia.
