James Atebe

James Atebe is a past mayor of Mission, British Columbia, Canada,[1] a municipality east of Vancouver in the British Columbia region known as the Fraser Valley. Atebe is a native of Ekerenyo, a village in the North Mugirango Constituency of Kenya, and grew up with four brothers and four sisters.[2] He immigrated to Canada from Kenya as a teenager. He received a master's degree in city planning from the University of Washington, Seattle.[2]

James Atebe
Mayor of Mission, British Columbia
In office December 1, 2005 – December 1, 2011
Preceded by	Abe Neufeld
Succeeded by	Ted Adlem
Member of the Mission Council
In office December 1, 1999 – December 1, 2005

Atebe began his political career in 1999 when he first ran for office.[2] He was first elected mayor in 2005, after serving as a member of the city council for six years. Atebe was re-elected in 2008 over Matt Johnson, his opponent, who received less than 20% of the vote[1] after almost being acclaimed as mayor of Mission.[3] However, in the 2011 municipal election, Atebe was defeated by opponent Ted Adlem, who captured 50% of the vote.[4]

Atebe was a roommate of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Calgary.[5] In 2009, Canadian Immigrant magazine named Atebe as "one of Canada's Top 25 immigrants" at the Citizenship and Immigration office in Vancouver as part of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.[6]