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42nd Parliament of British Columbia

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42nd Parliament of British Columbia
Majority parliament
7 December 2020 – 21 September 2024
Parliament leaders
PremierJohn Horgan
18 Jul 2017 – 18 Nov 2022
David Eby
18 Nov 2022 – present
CabinetsHorgan (2nd)
Eby (1st)
Leader of the
Opposition
Shirley Bond
23 Nov 2020 – 16 May 2022
Kevin Falcon
16 May 2022 – present
Party caucuses
GovernmentNew Democratic Party
OppositionBC United
RecognizedConservative Party
Green Party
Legislative Assembly

Seating arrangements of the Legislative Assembly
Speaker of the
Assembly
Raj Chouhan
7 Dec 2020 – present
Government
House Leader
Mike Farnworth
18 Jul 2017 – present
Opposition
House Leader
Todd Stone
7 Dec 2020 – present
Members87 MLA seats
Sovereign
MonarchElizabeth II
6 Feb 1952 – 8 Sep 2022
Charles III
8 Sep 2022 – present
Lieutenant
Governor
Janet Austin
24 Apr 2018 – present
Sessions
1st session
December 8, 2020[1] – April 12, 2021
2nd session
April 13, 2021[2] – February 8, 2022
3rd session
February 9, 2022[3] – February 6, 2023
4th session
February 7, 2023[4] – September 21, 2024
← 41st → 43rd

The 42nd Parliament of British Columbia was chosen in the 2020 British Columbia general election.[5] All 87 seats were up for election.[6]

The 41st Parliament of British Columbia was dissolved on September 21, 2020. The 42nd Parliament convened for its first session on December 7, 2020.

Party standings

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Standings in the 42nd British Columbia Parliament
Affiliation House members
2020 election results Dissolution
New Democratic 57 55
BC United 28 20
Conservative 0 8
Green 2 2
Independent 0 2
Total seats 87
Changes in seats held (2020–2024)
Seat Before Change
Date Member Party Reason Date Member Party
Vancouver-Quilchena February 7, 2022 Andrew Wilkinson  Liberal Resigned[7] April 30, 2022[8] Kevin Falcon  Liberal
Surrey South April 30, 2022 Stephanie Cadieux  Liberal Resigned[9] September 10, 2022[10] Elenore Sturko  Liberal
Nechako Lakes August 18, 2022 John Rustad  Liberal Removed from caucus[11]  Independent
February 16, 2023  Independent Crossed the floor[12]  Conservative
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant February 22, 2023 Melanie Mark  New Democratic Resigned[13] June 24, 2023 Joan Phillip  New Democratic
Langford-Juan de Fuca March 31, 2023 John Horgan  New Democratic Resigned[14] June 24, 2023 Ravi Parmar  New Democratic
   BC Liberals become BC United (April 12, 2023)
Abbotsford South September 13, 2023 Bruce Banman  United Crossed the floor[15]  Conservative
Parksville-Qualicum September 17, 2023 Adam Walker  New Democratic Removed from caucus[16]  Independent
Coquitlam-Maillardville March 6, 2024 Selina Robinson  New Democratic Left caucus[17]  Independent
Cariboo-Chilcotin May 31, 2024 Lorne Doerkson  United Crossed the floor[18]  Conservative
Surrey South June 3, 2024 Elenore Sturko  United Crossed the floor[19]  Conservative
Richmond North Centre July 29, 2024 Teresa Wat  United Crossed the floor[20]  Conservative
Delta South September 3, 2024 Ian Paton  United Crossed the floor[21][22]  Conservative
Kamloops-North Thompson September 3, 2024 Peter Milobar  United Crossed the floor[21][22]  Conservative
Surrey-White Rock September 3, 2024 Trevor Halford  United Crossed the floor[21][22]  Conservative

Election and appointments

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The members of the legislative assembly were elected in the 42nd general election, held on October 24, 2020.[23] The election resulted in an absolute majority for the BC NDP, and after a judicial recount in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky the final results had 57 BC NDP members, 28 BC Liberals, and 2 BC Greens being certified.[24] As leader of the BC NDP, John Horgan continued from the previous parliament as premier. Even though BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson won his riding in Vancouver-Quilchena, he resigned as leader of the Opposition prior to the new parliament commencing, with Shirley Bond assuming that position and being interim leader of the BC Liberals. In replacing members of his Executive Council that had retired, Horgan added newly elected MLAs Jennifer Whiteside as minister of Education, Murray Rankin as minister of Indigenous Relations, and Josie Osborne as minister of Municipal Affairs, as well as Nathan Cullen as minister of state for Lands and Natural Resources. Continuing in their roles from the previous parliament, Adrian Dix continued as minister of Health, David Eby as attorney general, George Heyman as minister of Environment, Harry Bains as minister of Labour, Lana Popham as minister of Agriculture, and Mike Farnworth as solicitor general.[25]

First session

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The first session of the 42nd parliament began on December 17, 2020, with the speech from the throne delivered by Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin on behalf of Premier Horgan and the BC NDP government.[26] The first session only lasted four months, with all bills receiving royal assent by the end of March. Among the legislation adopted, the Firearm Violence Prevention Act (Bill 4) repealed and replaced the Firearm Act and included new measures as recommended in the 2017 report from a previous parliament's Illegal Firearms Task Force, such as a prohibition on the sale of imitation and low-velocity guns to youth.[27] Bill 5 created the position of the Fairness Officer at ICBC to replace the corporation's Fairness Commissioner; Bill 8 brought the Real Estate Council of BC and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate under the regulatory authority of the BC Financial Services Authority; and Bill 9 amended how local government elections are conducted by regulating activities during a defined pre-campaign period, limiting sponsorship contributions and creating a registry of elector organizations.[28][29][30]

Second session

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The second session began on April 12, 2021, with a new speech from the throne delivered by Lieutenant Governor Austin. There were no changes to the membership of the Executive Council, though Mike Farnworth was named deputy premier in October after Horgan was diagnosed with throat cancer.[31] Budget measures were implemented in Bill 4 and included freezing the carbon tax for one year, creating the BC Recovery Benefit as a one-time payment of $500 per individual on income assistance, creating the temporary Increased Employment Incentive program for employers to hire new employees, extending the book publishing tax credit by 5 years, and increasing the tobacco tax.[32] COVID-related legislation included a new entitlement for employees to receive paid leave to receive a vaccination against COVID-19,[33] prohibiting until July 2023 any conduct that disrupts access to COVID-19 vaccination sites or hospitals with emergency rooms,[34] making permanent several temporary measures allowing electronic local government council meetings, and extending the COVID-19 Related Measures Act to December 31, 2022.

New acts adopted with all-party support included the Accessible British Columbia Act, to allow accessibility-related regulations to be implemented affecting the built environment, delivery of government services, and in the health and education sectors;[35] and the Early Childhood Educators Act, to create oversight of early childhood educators.[36] With all-party support, the Early Learning and Child Care Act repealed and replaced the Child Care BC Act and the Child Care Subsidy Act. With the BC Liberal Party voting to oppose, the InBC Investment Corp. Act was adopted to create a new Crown corporation to administer a new small business investment fund.[37]

Significant amendments to existing legislation, with all-party support, included adding "Indigenous identity" to the BC Human Rights Code[38] and adding "single-use product" (i.e. plastics) to the list of packaging materials that may be regulated or prohibited. On division, with the BC Liberal Party opposed, the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act was amended to increase the number of electoral districts from 87 to 93 and remove the provisions that required a certain number to be located in the North, the Cariboo-Thompson and the Columbia-Kootenay regions despite population factors;[39] and forestry-related legislation was amended to require forestry companies to publicly disclose where operations will occur, replace forest stewardship plans with forest landscape plans with a new set of objectives, require licence holders maintain inventories of ecosystems, recreation-visual resources, reduce annual allowable cuts for purposes of redistribution to small businesses and create a new designation for non-timber production purpose.[40] With both Liberals and Green Party MLAs voting against, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act was amended to allow data-hosting outside of BC and allow disclosure of personal information outside Canada and to create a fee to apply for a freedom-of-information request.[41]

Officeholders

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Speaker

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Other chair occupants

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Leaders

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House leaders

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Members of the 42nd Parliament

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  • The name in bold and italics, with "††", is the premier
  • The names in bold, with "†", are cabinet ministers and ministers of state
  • The name in italics, with "‡" is the leader of the Official Opposition
  • The names in italics are party leaders
  • The name with "*" is the Speaker of the Assembly
Member Party Electoral district
Pam Alexis New Democratic Abbotsford-Mission
Bruce Banman Conservative[a] Abbotsford South
Mike de Jong United Abbotsford West
Roly Russell New Democratic Boundary-Similkameen
Anne Kang New Democratic Burnaby-Deer Lake
Raj Chouhan* New Democratic Burnaby-Edmonds
Katrina Chen New Democratic Burnaby-Lougheed
Janet Routledge New Democratic Burnaby North
Lorne Doerkson Conservative[a] Cariboo-Chilcotin
Coralee Oakes United Cariboo North
Dan Coulter New Democratic Chilliwack
Kelli Paddon New Democratic Chilliwack-Kent
Doug Clovechok United Columbia River-Revelstoke
Fin Donnelly New Democratic Coquitlam-Burke Mountain
Selina Robinson Independent[b] Coquitlam-Maillardville
Ronna-Rae Leonard New Democratic Courtenay-Comox
Sonia Furstenau Green Cowichan Valley
Ravi Kahlon New Democratic Delta North
Ian Paton Conservative[a] Delta South
Mitzi Dean New Democratic Esquimalt-Metchosin
Jackie Tegart United Fraser-Nicola
Peter Milobar Conservative[a] Kamloops-North Thompson
Todd Stone United Kamloops-South Thompson
Norm Letnick United Kelowna-Lake Country
Renee Merrifield United Kelowna-Mission
Ben Stewart United Kelowna West
Tom Shypitka United Kootenay East
Katrine Conroy New Democratic Kootenay West
Ravi Parmar New Democratic Langford-Juan de Fuca
Andrew Mercier New Democratic Langley
Megan Dykeman New Democratic Langley East
Bob D'Eith New Democratic Maple Ridge-Mission
Lisa Beare New Democratic Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
Josie Osborne New Democratic Mid Island-Pacific Rim
Sheila Malcolmson New Democratic Nanaimo
Doug Routley New Democratic Nanaimo-North Cowichan
John Rustad Conservative[a] Nechako Lakes
Brittny Anderson New Democratic Nelson-Creston
Jennifer Whiteside New Democratic New Westminster
Jennifer Rice New Democratic North Coast
Michele Babchuk New Democratic North Island
Bowinn Ma New Democratic North Vancouver-Lonsdale
Susie Chant New Democratic North Vancouver-Seymour
Murray Rankin New Democratic Oak Bay-Gordon Head
Adam Walker Independent[c] Parksville-Qualicum
Dan Davies United Peace River North
Mike Bernier United Peace River South
Dan Ashton United Penticton
Mike Farnworth New Democratic Port Coquitlam
Rick Glumac New Democratic Port Moody-Coquitlam
Nicholas Simons New Democratic Powell River-Sunshine Coast
Mike Morris United Prince George-Mackenzie
Shirley Bond United Prince George-Valemount
Teresa Wat Conservative[a] Richmond North Centre
Aman Singh New Democratic Richmond-Queensborough
Henry Yao New Democratic Richmond South Centre
Kelly Greene New Democratic Richmond-Steveston
Adam Olsen Green Saanich North and the Islands
Lana Popham New Democratic Saanich South
Greg Kyllo United Shuswap
Ellis Ross United Skeena
Nathan Cullen New Democratic Stikine
Mike Starchuk New Democratic Surrey-Cloverdale
Jagrup Brar New Democratic Surrey-Fleetwood
Rachna Singh New Democratic Surrey-Green Timbers
Garry Begg New Democratic Surrey-Guildford
Harry Bains New Democratic Surrey-Newton
Jinny Sims New Democratic Surrey-Panorama
Elenore Sturko Conservative[a] Surrey South
Bruce Ralston New Democratic Surrey-Whalley
Trevor Halford Conservative[a] Surrey-White Rock
George Heyman New Democratic Vancouver-Fairview
Brenda Bailey New Democratic Vancouver-False Creek
George Chow New Democratic Vancouver-Fraserview
Niki Sharma New Democratic Vancouver-Hastings
Mable Elmore New Democratic Vancouver-Kensington
Adrian Dix New Democratic Vancouver-Kingsway
Michael Lee United Vancouver-Langara
Joan Phillip New Democratic Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
David Eby New Democratic Vancouver-Point Grey
Kevin Falcon United Vancouver-Quilchena
Spencer Chandra Herbert New Democratic Vancouver-West End
Harwinder Sandhu New Democratic Vernon-Monashee
Grace Lore New Democratic Victoria-Beacon Hill
Rob Fleming New Democratic Victoria-Swan Lake
Karin Kirkpatrick United West Vancouver-Capilano
Jordan Sturdy United West Vancouver-Sea to Sky

By-elections

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Was elected as a member of the BC Liberal Party and subsequently crossed the floor
  2. ^ Elected as member of the NDP, resigned from caucus on March 6, 2024[44]
  3. ^ Elected as member of the NDP, removed from caucus following an internal investigation.

References

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  1. ^ "Orders – No. 2 – Tuesday, December 8, 2020 – 1.30 p.m." www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  2. ^ "Orders – No. 1 – Tuesday, April 13, 2021 – 10 a.m." www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  3. ^ "Orders – No. 1 – Wednesday, February 9, 2022 – 1.30 p.m." www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  4. ^ "Orders – No. 1 – Tuesday, February 7, 2023 – 10 a.m." www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "B.C. election results: Live, real-time results from the provincial election". Global News. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "Poll shows B.C. NDP retains large lead over Liberals as election day looms". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "Former B.C. Liberal leader vacating seat to make room for new leader, Kevin Falcon". CTV News. February 7, 2022.
  8. ^ "2022 Vancouver-Quilchena By-election". Elections BC. April 2, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Veteran B.C. Liberal Stephanie Cadieux resigns seat, takes federal accessibility post". Victoria Times-Colonist. April 4, 2022.
  10. ^ Steacy, Lisa (September 10, 2022). "BC Liberals win Surrey South byelection". CTV News.
  11. ^ "Longtime B.C. Liberal MLA removed from caucus after questioning climage change science". CBC News. August 18, 2022.
  12. ^ "Ex-B.C. Liberal MLA John Rustad crosses floor to join B.C. Conservatives". CBC News. February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  13. ^ Larsen, Karin (February 22, 2023). "Melanie Mark, 1st First Nations woman to serve in B.C. Legislature, delivers tearful resignation". CBC News.
  14. ^ "Former B.C. premier John Horgan officially resigns seat in legislature". CTV News. March 31, 2023.
  15. ^ "BC United MLA Bruce Banman defects to provincial Conservatives". CTV News. The Canadian Press. September 13, 2023.
  16. ^ "Parksville-Qualicum MLA Adam Walker ousted from NDP caucus". Victoria Times-Colonist. September 18, 2023.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference robinson-independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ "MLA Lorne Doerkson departs B.C. United, joins B.C. Conservatives". Salmon Arm Observer. May 31, 2024.
  19. ^ "Rob Shaw: MLA Elenore Sturko defects to Conservatives in stunning blow to BC United". The Orca. June 3, 2024.
  20. ^ Gangdev, Srushti; Brockman, Charles (July 29, 2024). "BC United MLA Teresa Wat defects to BC Conservatives". CityNews Vancouver.
  21. ^ a b c Rustad, John (September 3, 2024). "Uniting for a Stronger Future". Conservative Party of British Columbia. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  22. ^ a b c "Current Party Standings". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
  23. ^ "B.C. NDP will form decisive majority government, CBC News projects". CBC News. October 24, 2020.
  24. ^ "Recount affirms B.C. Liberal narrowly beats Green in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky". CBC News. November 17, 2020.
  25. ^ Shaw, Rob (November 26, 2020). "B.C. Premier John Horgan unveils his new cabinet". Vancouver Sun.
  26. ^ Bennett, Nelson (December 7, 2020). "Throne speech promises more pandemic spending". Times Colonist.
  27. ^ "B.C. targets gang and drug violence in new gun bill". CBC News. March 3, 2021.
  28. ^ DeRosa, Katie (March 26, 2021). "Legislative session wraps up with new legislation on firearms and ICBC fairness officer". Vancouver Sun.
  29. ^ "BCREA: BC Government Proposes Changes to Real Estate Services Act Paving Path for Single Regulator". Business Examiner. March 5, 2021.
  30. ^ Fletcher, Tom (March 4, 2021). "B.C. Liberals, NDP sing in harmony on local election reforms". Surrey Now-Leader.
  31. ^ Mangione, Kendra (October 28, 2021). "B.C. premier has growth in throat, undergoing surgery this week". CTV News.
  32. ^ "Budget 2021 supports people now while building the foundation for strong recovery". British Columbia Ministry of Finance. April 20, 2021.
  33. ^ "B.C. guarantees workers 3 hours paid leave for COVID-19 vaccine appointments". CBC News. April 28, 2021.
  34. ^ "New act protects important services from disruption". British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General. November 15, 2021.
  35. ^ Woodrooffe, Sophie (June 25, 2021). "Province passes Accessible British Columbia Act". Coast Reporter.
  36. ^ Cordasco, Lisa (June 8, 2021). "B.C. to make child care registry public in move to improve accountability, transparency". Vancouver Sun.
  37. ^ Leyne, Les (May 18, 2021). "B.C. Liberals see too much NDP influence in proposed $500M investment fund". Times Colonist.
  38. ^ Grinder, Haley (December 2, 2021). "Bills to uphold Indigenous rights given royal assent". Toronto Star.
  39. ^ Pilon, Dennis; Phillips, Stephen (May 25, 2021). "Making B.C. electoral boundaries commissions more independent". The Georgia Straight.
  40. ^ Yunker, Zoë (November 9, 2021). "How B.C.'s long-awaited forestry law updates leave gaps around protecting old-growth and Indigenous Rights". The Narwhal.
  41. ^ Leyne, Les (October 19, 2021). "Bill would allow B.C. citizens' personal data to be sent out of country". Times Colonist.
  42. ^ "Fraser-Nicola MLA named as BC's new Assistant Deputy Speaker – Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal". www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com. February 16, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  43. ^ Shaw, Rob (July 19, 2017). "B.C. NDP Cabinet 2017: Metro Vancouver MLAs handed key cabinet roles". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  44. ^ "Former cabinet minister Selina Robinson resigns from NDP caucus". CBC News. March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.