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.[2]
She is currently practising at the BC Children's Hospital and at St. Paul's Hospital where she is head of the division of nuclear medicine. She is active in resident teaching and encouraging physician engagement.[3]
With Campbell resigning as premier and Liberal leader amidst the controversial implementation of the harmonized sales tax, Stilwell resigned her cabinet post in November 2010 to run for party leadership, becoming the first declared candidate in the race.[8][9] During her campaign, Stilwell focused her attention on the importance of building a knowledge-based economy to ensure BC’s future prosperity;[10] 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.[11]
Stilwell dropped out of the campaign on February 16, 2011, announcing her support for George Abbott.[12][13] The leadership election subsequently occurred on February 26, 2011, and was won by Christy Clark. Initially without a ministerial role in Clark's cabinet, Stilwell was instead appointed parliamentary secretary for industry, research and innovation to the Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation on March 14, 2011, before becoming parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Health in March 2012.[14] She returned to the cabinet in September 2012 as Minister of Social Development.[15]
In 2012, Stilwell 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.[19] 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 she 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.[20]
As reported in Maclean's and The Tyee, she had an apparent and undisclosed personal stake in this issue, as her son, Kevin Lichtenstein, was studying medicine at an international university, and thus would benefit from an easier residency process.[20][21]
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."[22] 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 first iteration but would be eligible for second iteration. Dr. Wong, also with UBC, stated that the process followed was not "fair or transparent or equitable for the other CaRMS [Canadian Residency Matching Service] 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."[22]
Ultimately, the Cardiac Surgery residency slot was opened for a second iteration, a CaRMS irregularity. In that second iteration, over 96 applicants applied, and her son was selected as the successful candidate. As he was an international medical graduate, he was not eligible to apply to the first iteration of the Cardiac Surgery program at UBC. However, because of the irregularity that occurred (which notably was not compliant with the CaRMS rules), he was able to apply and gain entrance into the program.[22]
↑Kines, Lindsay. "Rookie MLA seeks Liberal leadership; Stilwell first to throw her hat into the ring; Chong assumes skills development portfolio". Victoria Times-Colonist, November 23, 2010. p. A4.
