We’re heartbroken today at the loss of one of the brightest, warmest and most passionate people in our movement. Kim Manton passed away on Friday from cancer, but her spirit shone brightly right up the end. We’re so much poorer for her loss, and so much richer for having known her.
Anyone who ever walked a picket line with her knows the remarkable energy she brought to everything she did – and how she could see the good and hope in everything and everyone. Her trademark jazz hands and cries of “WOOT WOOT!” were more than just enthusiasm in the moment; they came from the deepest places in her heart, and they were irresistibly contagious.
Kim was just as at home at a municipal meeting in her long, successful campaign to get sewage treatment for Victoria as she was in the halls of the BC Legislature, helping to deliver on a progressive agenda province-wide. From her long service with CUPE Local 50 to her four years as labour coordinator with the Greater Victoria United Way, Kim lived her values as a believer in the strength and power of community.
We’ll be announcing the details soon of a scholarship in Kim’s honour, created in partnership with the Victoria Labour Council. (For information, contact Sussanne Skidmore at sskidmore@bcfed.ca). For now, though, our sympathies and solidarity to everyone who is grieving the loss of Kim Manton, a great labour activist and a dear, dear friend to so many.