Moira Stilwell

Stilwell graduated from the University of Calgary Medical School, and received further training in nuclear medicine at the University of British Columbia and in radiology at the University of Toronto. She served for several years as the head of nuclear medicine at St. Paul's Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, and Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Clinic, but left all those positions in 2009 to run for public office. Prior to that, she worked at BC Women's Hospital, where she served as co-medical director of the Breast Health Program as well as being the staff radiologist. Along with serving as a practicing physician and administrator, she was the clinical assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia.

In addition to her professional capacities, Stilwell also served as the co-chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2020 Task Force, and was past chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation/BC Yukon Chapter. She has also served on the board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance and on the BC Women's Hospital Foundation Board.

After entering the BC Liberal Party's 2011 leadership campaign, Stilwell focused her attention firmly on the importance of building a knowledge-based economy to ensure BC’s future prosperity;[3] increasing the minimum wage in BC from $8/hour to $10/hour; and reducing the interest rate that students in BC pay for loans to finance their studies [4]

Stilwell dropped out of the campaign on February 16, 2011, announcing her support for George Abbott.[5]

In 2012, Moira wrote a letter and report titled "Action Plan for Repatriating B.C. Medical Students Studying Abroad" to Mike de Jong, the Minister of Health Services, on the subject of British Columbians who wanted to return to Canada for their medical residency. [6] In her report, she admits "The Ministry of Health Services and the UBC Faculty of Medicine maintain that BC medical students studying abroad must be treated the same as immigrant physicians applying to the BC IMG program because to do otherwise would be a violation of human rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights" but Moira argued that Canadians Studying Abroad (CSAs) should be treated the same as Canadian and American trained medical school graduates i.e. preferentially treated over International Medical Graduates (IMGs). International Medical Graduates often have a very difficult time obtaining very limited residency positions in Canada. [7]

As reported in Maclean's and The Tyee, Moira had an apparent and undisclosed personal stake and conflict of interest in this issue, as her son, Kevin Lichtenstein, was studying medicine at an international university, and thus would benefit from an easier residency process. [8] [9]

On February 6 2015, The Tyee reported that, "Cardiac surgeons on a selection committee at St. Paul's Hospital manipulated the hiring process for a training position so they could hire a student who was the son of their boss and of a provincial cabinet minister [Stilwell], documents show." [10] During the selection process for residency, Dr. Cook at the University of British Columbia created an irregularity in the residency matching process where they left a spot open in during the first iteration of the matching process. Dr. Cook stated they had a candidate in mind who is a Canadian [who] studied medicine abroad and did an elective rotation with them. This candidate would not be eligible for 1st iteration but would be eligible for 2nd iteration. Dr. Wong, also with UBC, stated that the process followed was not "fair or transparent or equitable for the other CaRMS candidates," and further that "the Program's actions were not compliant with the CaRMS rules and procedures and that this irregularity could be contested to CaRMS in the future by a candidate and/or a medical school." [11]

Ultimately, the Cardiac Surgery residency slot was opened for a 2nd iteration, a CaRMS irregularity. In that 2nd iteration, over 96 applicants applied, and Kevin Lichtenstein, the son of Sam Lichtenstein and Moira Stilwell, was selected as the successful candidate. As Kevin Lichtenstein was an international medical graduate, he was not eligible to apply to the 1st iteration of the Cardiac Surgery program at UBC. However, because of the irregularity that occurred (which notably was not compliant with the CaRMS rules), Kevin Lichtenstein was able to apply and gain entrance into the program. [12]

• Moira Stilwell, MLA for Vancouver-Langara
• Moira Stilwell, BC Liberal Party profile