Bhutila Karpoche
{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Bhutila Karpoche
| image = File:Bhutila Karpoche at 2022 Campaign Office Opening.jpg
| caption = Karpoche in 2022
| honorific-suffix =
| office1 = Official Opposition Critic for
Early Childhood Development and Child Care
| term_start1 = February 2, 2021
| term_end1 = January 28, 2025
| leader1 = Peter Tabuns
Andrea Horwath
| office2 = Deputy Opposition Whip
| term_start2 = August 23, 2018
| term_end2 = August 30, 2019
| successor2 = Doly Begum
| leader2 = Andrea Horwath
| parliament2 =
| term_start3 = June 7, 2018
| term_end3 = January 28, 2025
| predecessor3 = Cheri DiNovo
| successor3 = Alexa Gilmour
| riding3 = Parkdale—High Park
| party = NDP (federal)
Ontario NDP (provincial)
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|34|2018|6|7}}
| birth_place = Kathmandu, Nepal
| residence = Toronto
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|epidemiologist}}
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater = University of British Columbia (B.Sc.)
University of Toronto (M.P.H.)
| parliament3 = Ontario Provincial
| website = {{URL|https://www.bhutilakarpoche.ca}}
| office 3 =
| office = Official Opposition Critic for
GTA Issues
| leader = Peter Tabuns
| termstart = July 13, 2022
| termend = January 28, 2025
}}
Bhutila Tenzin Karpoche{{cite tweet |user=ONPARLeducation|number=1547261235305058304|date=July 13, 2022 |title=Within the halls of the Legislature are walls that contain the names of every Member of Provincial Parliament elected to Ontario's Legislature since 1867. The names for the 42nd Parliament were recently added. For the first time a Member's name was inscribed in Oji-Cree syllabics }} ({{IPAc-en|b|uː|ˈ|t|ɪ|l|ə|_|ˌ|k|ɑː|r|p|ə|ˈ|tʃ|eɪ}} {{Respell|boo|TILL|ə|_|KAR|pə|CHAY}};{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/BhutilaKarpoche/videos/live-conversation-on-mutual-aid/252076096147436/|title=Live Conversation on Mutual Aid|website=Facebook |access-date=November 11, 2020}} {{bo|t=བུ་ཁྲིད་ལ་དཀར་པོ་ཆེས།}}, born {{birth based on age as of date|34|2018|6|7|noage=1}}) is a Canadian politician who served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Parkdale—High Park from 2018 to 2025, as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). Born in Nepal, Karpoche is the first person of Tibetan descent ever elected to public office in North America.
Early life and education
Karpoche was born in Nepal and is the second of four children. Her name was chosen by the 14th Dalai Lama, whom she later met when she was 16, and means "Mother of 10,000 children." All her parents and grandparents were Tibetan refugees who fled Tibet with the Dalai Lama after the 1959 Tibetan uprising and settled in Nepal. In an interview, Karpoche said that she was born stateless despite her birth in Nepal and had no pathways to legalize her status there, as the Nepalese government systematically excludes Tibetans as refugees due to political reasons.{{cite news |title=Transcript: Bhutila Karpoche: Refugee to MPP |url=https://www.tvo.org/transcript/129007/bhutila-karpoche-refugee-to-mpp |access-date=September 30, 2024 |work=TVO |publisher=TVO |date=May 6, 2019}}
In 2002, Karpoche, then 18, left Nepal with her entire family in haste amid the escalation of the Nepalese civil war, which saw large-scale fightings between Nepali forces and the Communist Party of Nepal in rural areas. Her family first entered the United States, briefly staying in New York City, before arriving in Canada a day prior to Canada Day through Fort Erie, Ontario. They joined their relatives and settled in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale, where Little Tibet is situated.{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Brendan |date=June 7, 2018 |title=NDP's Bhutila Karpoche wins Parkdale-High Park, becoming first Tibetan ever elected to public office in North America |newspaper=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/06/07/karpoche-makes-history-with-ndp-win-becoming-the-first-tibetan-ever-elected-to-public-office-in-north-america.html |access-date=June 8, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Paling |first=Emma |date=December 27, 2018 |title=Bhutila Karpoche, Ontario's 1st Tibetan MPP, Wants Ontario To Be A Place Where Immigrants Thrive |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/12/23/bhutila-karpoche-ontario-s-1st-tibetan-mpp-wants-ontario-to-be-a-place-where-immigrants-thrive_a_23624129/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227171224/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/12/23/bhutila-karpoche-ontario-s-1st-tibetan-mpp-wants-ontario-to-be-a-place-where-immigrants-thrive_a_23624129/ |archive-date=December 27, 2018 |access-date=April 20, 2021 |work=Huffington Post Canada}} She became a Canadian citizen in 2008, thus ending her statelessness.
Karpoche started her university education in January 2003. She attended University of British Columbia for her undergraduate studies, earning a bachelor of science degree. She also holds a master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and was a PhD candidate in public health policy at Toronto Metropolitan University, although she said in 2019 that she has put it "on hold."{{Cite web|title=About Bhutila|url=https://www.bhutilakarpoche.ca/about|website=Bhutila Karpoche|language=en|access-date=May 22, 2020}}
Karpoche's first language is Tibetan and she learned English while living in Nepal. In addition, she also speaks Nepali and has taken lessons in Spanish and French.
Political career
Prior to her election, Karpoche worked for Cheri DiNovo, her predecessor as MPP for Parkdale—High Park, first in DiNovo's constituency office and more recently as her executive assistant at Queen's Park.{{cite web |date=September 20, 2017 |title=NDP politician Cheri DiNovo may be leaving politics, but her work on LGBT issues isn't over |url=https://www.dailyxtra.com/ndp-politician-cheri-dinovo-may-be-leaving-politics-but-her-work-on-lgbt-issues-isnt-over-79398 |work=Daily Xtra}} She also served on the board of directors of the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, and on the steering committee of the International Tibet Network.{{cite web |date=June 8, 2018 |title=First Tibetan, Bhutila Karpoche Wins Election in Canada |url=http://www.tibetanjournal.com/first-tibetan-bhutila-karpoche-wins-election-canada/ |work=Tibetan Journal}}
In November 2024, she was nominated as the federal NDP candidate for Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park.{{Cite news |title=Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park NDP (@tphpndp) on X |url=https://x.com/tphpndp/status/1860745705096139142 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241126160751/https://x.com/tphpndp/status/1860745705096139142 |archive-date=November 26, 2024 |access-date=December 15, 2024 |work=X (formerly Twitter) |language=en}}
= Member of Provincial Parliament =
On September 14, 2017, the Parkdale—High Park NDP riding association nominated Karpoche as the party's candidate in the 2018 general election.{{Cite web|title=Canada Tibet Committee {{!}} Library {{!}} WTN|url=https://www.tibet.ca/en/library/wtn/13793|website=www.tibet.ca|access-date=May 22, 2020}} She won the election on June 7, 2018, and her party won the second most seats, becoming the Official Opposition.
Following her election, NDP leader Andrea Horwath appointed Karpoche as deputy opposition whip and mental health and addictions critic. In a shadow cabinet shuffle on August 30, 2019, the deputy opposition whip was passed to Doly Begum.
In 2019, she was voted Toronto's Best Local Politician by Toronto Star readers.{{Cite web|title=Readers' Choice|url=https://www.thestar.com/readerschoice-toronto/categories/people-professionals/subcategories/local-politician|website=www.thestar.com|language=en|access-date=May 22, 2020}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She was voted Best MPP by Now Magazine readers in 2019, 2020 and 2021.{{Cite web|title=Readers' Choice|url=https://nowtoronto.com/readerschoice2019|website=NOW Magazine|language=en-us|access-date=May 22, 2020|archive-date=May 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513161211/https://nowtoronto.com/readerschoice2019|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |date=November 11, 2021 |title=Readers' Choice 2021: Toronto's best activists, politicians and public spaces |url=https://nowtoronto.com/news/readers-choice-2021-torontos-best-activists-politicians-and-public-spaces |access-date=April 7, 2022 |website=NOW Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Photos|url=https://embed-720475.secondstreetapp.com/embed/eeabcacc-6ac4-4b78-b40b-d04dd99f2aef/gallery/?group=358978|access-date=November 25, 2020|website=embed-720475.secondstreetapp.com}}
Karpoche was re-elected in the 2022 election with 53.97% of the popular vote.{{Cite web |last=Ontario |first=Elections |date=June 7, 2022 |title=Election Results |url=https://www.elections.on.ca/en/resource-centre/elections-results.html#accordion2022ge |access-date=July 30, 2022 |website=www.elections.on.ca}}
Following the selection of Interim Leader Peter Tabuns, Karpoche retained her critic portfolio of early childhood development and children, and was assigned the additional portfolio of GTA issues.{{Cite web |title=Interim Official Opposition Leader Peter Tabuns names NDP deputy leaders, critics |url=https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/interim-official-opposition-leader-peter-tabuns-names-ndp-deputy-leaders-critics |access-date=July 30, 2022 |website=Ontario NDP |language=en}} On July 15, 2022, it was announced that the Ontario NDP would be nominating Karpoche as a Deputy Speaker in the 43rd parliament.{{Cite web |title=NDP puts forward history-making appointments for deputy speakers |url=https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/ndp-puts-forward-history-making-appointments-deputy-speakers |access-date=July 30, 2022 |website=Ontario NDP |language=en}}
Karpoche introduced two private member's bills in 2022; Bill 25, Rent Stabilization Act and Bill 55, Four-Day Work Week Act. Neither bill was voted on by the Legislature before it was dissolved for the 2025 provincial election.{{cite web |author= |date=2022-12-07 |title=Bill 55, Four-Day Work Week Act, 2022 |url=https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-55 |website=ola.org |location=Toronto |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |access-date=2025-04-01}}{{cite web |author= |date=2022-10-06 |title=Bill 25, Rent Stabilization Act, 2022 |url=https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-25 |website=ola.org |location=Toronto |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |access-date=2025-04-01}}
As of August 11, 2024, she serves as the Official Opposition's critic for Affordability and for GTA issues.
In September 2024, Karpoche announced she would not seek re-election in the 2025 Ontario general election so that she could run in the 2025 Canadian federal election in the federal constituency of Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park.{{cite news |last=Patel |first=Raisa |date=2024-09-29 |title= Third NDP MPP hopes to swap Queens Park for Ottawa in the next federal election|url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/third-ndp-mpp-hopes-to-swap-queens-park-for-ottawa-in-the-next-federal-election/article_0f457058-7cfc-11ef-b677-dfc82e1e6644.html |work=Toronto Star |location=Toronto |publisher= |access-date=2025-01-31}}
Electoral record
{{2025 Canadian federal election/Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park}}
{{Ontario provincial election, 2022/Parkdale—High Park}}
{{Ontario provincial election, 2018/Parkdale—High Park}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karpoche, Bhutila}}
Category:Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs
Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians
Category:Women MPPs in Ontario
Category:Canadian people of Tibetan descent
Category:Politicians from Toronto
Category:Nepalese emigrants to Canada
Category:Tibet freedom activists
Category:Politicians from Kathmandu
Category:University of British Columbia Faculty of Science alumni
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:New Democratic Party candidates in the 2025 Canadian federal election