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Jane Shin: Biography Was A Huge Mistake

Jane Shin: Huge Mistake
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After weeks of silence, newly elected MLA Jane Shin has finally spoken out about allegations that she misrepresented her credentials on her campaign resume.

Her candidate biography suggested that Shin had graduated from UBC with a doctorate of medicine in 2007 and that she had worked as a physician, reported Burnaby Now.

“That’s a huge mistake,” Shin told Burnaby Now, Wednesday, pointing out that she has an MD from Spartan Health Sciences University in St. Lucia. “That was one of the things that was unfortunately misleading, and I do want to take responsibility and apologize for that. UBC is where I went for my undergraduate studies," she said.

Asked why she called herself “Dr.” during the campaign, despite not being a licensed doctor and having never completed a residency, Shin told Burnaby Now that she does have an MD and is entitled to use the term.

Shin hit the headlines during the B.C. provincial election when a racist comment she made online 11 years ago surfaced. The then BC NDP candidate for Burnaby-Lougheed was forced to apologize for referring to Chinese-Canadians as “chinkasauruses”.

The furor over her medical credentials – and her refusal to confront her critics - has continued to beleaguer Shin, who won her riding by a scant 315 votes, and is waiting until the final vote tallies are in next week before setting up a constituency office, Burnaby Now reported.

Her election was “impressive”, wrote Brian Hutchinson in the National Post this week, as Shin “vanished from sight” midway through the election campaign and “remained missing in action to the end. And beyond.”

This absence has continued to infuriate Shin’s critics. Notably, on election night, former Burnaby-Lougheed MLA Harry Bloy had a near-meltdown on Twitter, following a number of pointedly antagonistic Tweets during voting day.

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