Cleta Brown was raised in Vancouver in a politically active family that strongly valued equality and social justice. Her mother was respected political leader Rosemary Brown, the first black MLA in Canada.
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Brown began her career at the Office of the Ombudsman of BC where she observed the powerful effects of governmental decision-making on ordinary citizens, businesses and organizations. Her commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability in government was crystallized in her work there.
Later, Brown worked as a Crown Counsel in provincial courts where she saw firsthand the difficult impact of policing and the justice system on disadvantaged youth, women and aboriginal persons. She was appointed an Alternate Chairperson of the BC Review Board where she presided over hearings that decided an accused person’s liberty in a forensic psychiatric context. The devastating effects of inadequate community psychiatric health services for the mentally ill abandoned in downtown centres were described daily in this forum.
“I am running for City Council to champion the rights of ordinary Vancouverites to determine the way our city changes and grows, to champion a rebalancing of corporate and community influence at City Hall, and to confront the social inequalities in our city,” she says.
Brown chose to run with the Green Party of Vancouver because it is committed to transparent, participatory democracy; economic fairness; and effective social justice.
“The Green Party listens and is unencumbered by blind partisanship or any special-interest obligation,” she says. “I am confident that Vancouverites from all walks of life and all areas of the city would be well represented by our Green Party candidates who respect their rights, their interests and their contributions to city life.”
In addition to her extensive law career and raising a family, Brown has long been involved in the volunteer sector, both on the ground and on Boards of Directors. Some of the agencies she has been involved with include the Canadian Women’s Foundation, MOSAIC, YWCA and West Coast LEAF. Currently, Brown is 1st Vice President of the University Women’s Club of Vancouver and a director of the BC Branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Brown is happily married and resides with her husband and school-aged children in Kerrisdale. She enjoys sports, piano, reading and is learning to sing (a lifelong dream!).
Facebook: facebook.com/cletabrown4van
Twitter: twitter.com/CletaBrown4Van
Website: www.votecletabrown.ca
