Jessica Van der Veen was born in Vancouver and moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from the age of 8 until 16 when she returned to Vancouver to finish high school. Van der Veen’s belief system was formed and informed by seeing the extremes of wealth and poverty on her travels in Europe, Africa and Asia. It became obvious that Canadian and European social systems of public health, education and services were crucial to the social and economic stability of any society. A family culture of social inquiry and critical thought rounded out her education.
Van der Veen studied acting at the Banff School of Fine Arts and Simon Fraser University, completing her BA in Theatre at UBC in 1987. She acted and directed in film, television, and theatre and had a successful career as an acting teacher in Vancouver. As a business person, Jessica managed her artistic and teaching career and became Director of Part-time Studies at Gastown Actors’ Studio overseeing 17 staff and 200 students.
In 1979 Jessica met Daniel Laskarin. They will celebrate their 32nd anniversary this year. Laskarin chairs the Visual Arts Department at University of Victoria. He has also worked as a helicopter pilot/engineer in the forest and mining industries. He founded one of the earliest recycling programs in Canada in Grimsby Ontario in 1970.
In 1994 Van der Veen gave birth to a beloved daughter and in 2000 the family moved to Victoria. This move coincided with an increasing interest in politics, economics and social justice and in 2006 Van der Veen received her Master of Public Administration from the University of Victoria. The MPA afforded the opportunity to work in co-ops at the Ministry of Advanced Education and the Office of the Auditor General. Van der Veen focused on transparency and accountability and wrote her Master’s report on School Board governance disclosure practices in BC.
After a family sabbatical in Europe, Van der Veen returned to Victoria and immediately began working to stop the sale of public school lands. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of the Mary Manning Centre – Child Abuse Prevention and Counselling Society and actively supported the board’s decision to go public about waitlists for treatment across BC. In response to the sell-off of public school lands, Van der Veen founded LANDS (Let’s Agree Not to Dispose of Schools) and continues to communicate with a network of activists province-wide, strategizing protection of public lands using legal and public recourse at all jurisdictional levels.The past year has seen Van der Veen expand LANDS to include protection of hospital lands and seniors' care facilities--most notably in her campaign to stop the sale of OakBay Lodge and Mt. Tolmie Hospital. Recently, Van der Veen was appointed to the Capital Regional District Arts Advisory Council.
“More than anything else, it is the sell-off and privatization of public assets, services and resources that motivates me to run for office. We can balance a healthy economy with stewardship of our resources and public goods like health care and education. Environmental, Economic and Social sustainability is the most important priority for British Columbia, for our children and for the planet.”
