James Peter Teitsma MLA is a Canadian provincial politician, who was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the riding of Radisson in the 2016 election.
[1] He is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and defeated New Democratic Party (NDP) challenger Preet Singh.
In February 2020, Teitsma faced backlash for posting opposition to a proposed program to provide breakfast to all schoolchildren in Manitoba schools,[2] stating that it would be better for families if children could eat meals at home.
In January 2021, James Teitsma faced public criticism for his disregard of Manitoba provincial COVID-19 guidelines which directed that people “avoid all non-essential travel”, and took his family on a 10-day driving trip through Western Canada during the December 2020 holiday season.
[3] In the 2023 election, the NDP defeated the PCs at the provincewide level to form government, and Teitsma lost his seat to NDP candidate Jelynn Dela Cruz by approximately 1147 votes.