Carole Taylor

Carole Taylor, OC (born Carol Goss in 1945) is a Canadian school chancellor, journalist and former politician. She also served as the Chancellor of Simon Fraser University from June 2011 until June 2014. She previously served as British Columbia's Minister of Finance from 2005 until 2008 in the government of Liberal premier Gordon Campbell.

Taylor was Miss Toronto 1964, and co-hosted CFTO-TV's After Four, a show for teenagers. She later appeared on several other CFTO shows, including Toronto Today, Topic, and her own Carole Taylor Show. She and Percy Saltzman were the first co-hosts of Canada AM when the show premiered on CTV in 1972. She has also been the host of W-FIVE and Pacific Report. Her career in journalism lasted for over 20 years.

In Vancouver, she served as an independent member of Vancouver City Council from 1986 to 1990. She served as chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade from 2001 to 2002.

She was chair of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from July 16, 2001, until March 14, 2005, when she resigned in order to seek the nomination of the British Columbia Liberal Party in that province's 2005 election. On May 17, 2005, she was elected to Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2005 election as the member representing Vancouver-Langara. On June 16, 2005, she was named Minister of Finance.

As the Minister of Finance, she signed up 100% of all BC public sector contracts before they were set to expire. Perhaps her most controversial achievement was the introduction of the first carbon tax anywhere in North America.

On November 30, 2007, she announced that she would not be running for re-election in the 2009 election. In one of her last acts as Finance Minister, Carole Taylor ended the corporate capital tax on banks—$100 million a year in government revenue. Upon leaving government, Taylor joined the TD Bank board where she stands to earn $145,000 to $300,000 per year. She was courted to run for mayor of Vancouver in the 2008 municipal election, she announced on January 8, 2008 that she would not run.

On December 18, 2008, she announced her resignation from the Legislative Assembly after accepting an appointment to a federal Ministry of Finance advisory panel.

She is the widow of the late Art Phillips, former Vancouver mayor.

Carole Taylor graduated from Weston Collegiate Institute in 1964. She later attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto and graduated with a BA in English.

• Doctor of Laws honoris causa – Justice Institute of British Columbia, 2009

• Carole Taylor and Dr. Peter Ransford recognized for their contribution to British Columbia with JIBC Honorary Degrees