42nd Parliament of British Columbia
The 42nd Parliament of British Columbia was chosen in the 2020 British Columbia general election.[1] All 87 seats were up for election.[2]
| 42nd Parliament of British Columbia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Majority parliament | |||
| December 7, 2020 – present | |||
 | |||
| Parliament leaders | |||
| Premier | Hon. John Horgan July 18, 2017 – present | ||
| Leader of the Opposition | Shirley Bond November 23, 2020 – present | ||
| Party caucuses | |||
| Government | New Democratic Party | ||
| Opposition | Liberal Party | ||
| Unrecognized | Green Party | ||
| Legislative Assembly | |||
 Seating arrangements of the Legislative Assembly | |||
| Speaker of the Assembly | Hon. Raj Chouhan December 7, 2020 – present | ||
| Government House Leader | Hon. Mike Farnworth July 18, 2017 – present | ||
| Opposition House Leader | Peter Milobar December 7, 2020 – present | ||
| Members | 87 MLA seats | ||
| Sovereign | |||
| Monarch | HM Elizabeth II February 6, 1952 – present | ||
| Lieutenant Governor | HH Hon. Janet Austin April 24, 2018 – present | ||
| Sessions | |||
| 1st Session December 7, 2020 – April 12, 2021 | |||
| 2nd Session April 12, 2021 – present | |||
| |||
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
| Affiliation | House members | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 election results | Current | ||
| New Democratic | 57 | 57 | |
| Liberal | 28 | 28 | |
| Green | 2 | 2 | |
| Total members | 87 | 87 | |
| Total seats | 87 | ||
Election and appointments
The members of the legislative assembly were elected in the 42nd general election, held on October 24, 2020.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
First session
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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8][9][10]
Officeholders
Speaker
- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly: Raj Chouhan, NDP (December 7, 2020 – present)
Other chair occupants
- Deputy speaker: Spencer Chandra Herbert, NDP (December 7, 2020 – present)
- Assistant deputy speaker: Norm Letnick, Liberal (December 7, 2020 – present)
- Deputy chair, Committee of the Whole: Ronna-Rae Leonard, NDP (December 7, 2020 – present)
Leaders
- Premier of British Columbia:
- John Horgan, NDP (July 18, 2017 – present)[11]
- Leader of the Opposition:
- Andrew Wilkinson, Liberal (February 3, 2018 – November 23, 2020)
- Shirley Bond, Liberal (interim; November 23, 2020 – present)
- Green Party leader:
- Sonia Furstenau (September 14, 2020 – present)
House leaders
- Government House Leader: Mike Farnworth, NDP
- Opposition House Leader: Peter Milobar, Liberal
Members of the 42nd Parliament
- 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
Party standings
| Affiliation | Members | |
| New Democratic | 57 | |
| Liberal | 28 | |
| Green | 2 | |
| Total | 87 | |
| Government majority | 27 | |
References
- "B.C. election results: Live, real-time results from the provincial election". Global News. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
- "Poll shows B.C. NDP retains large lead over Liberals as election day looms". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
- "B.C. NDP will form decisive majority government, CBC News projects". CBC News. October 24, 2020.
- "Recount affirms B.C. Liberal narrowly beats Green in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky". CBC News. November 17, 2020.
- Shaw, Rob (November 26, 2020). "B.C. Premier John Horgan unveils his new cabinet". Vancouver Sun.
- Bennett, Nelson (December 7, 2020). "Throne speech promises more pandemic spending". Times Colonist.
- "B.C. targets gang and drug violence in new gun bill". CBC News. March 3, 2021.
- DeRosa, Katie (March 26, 2021). "Legislative session wraps up with new legislation on firearms and ICBC fairness officer". Vancouver Sun.
- "BCREA: BC Government Proposes Changes to Real Estate Services Act Paving Path for Single Regulator". Business Examiner. March 5, 2021.
- Fletcher, Tom (March 4, 2021). "B.C. Liberals, NDP sing in harmony on local election reforms". Surrey Now-Leader.
- Shaw, Rob (July 19, 2017). "B.C. NDP Cabinet 2017: Metro Vancouver MLAs handed key cabinet roles". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved October 27, 2017.