Bruce Ralston
The Honourable Bruce Ralston KC MLA | |
---|---|
Minister of Forests of British Columbia | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office December 7, 2022 | |
Premier | David Eby |
Preceded by | Katrine Conroy (Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development) |
Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation of British Columbia | |
In office November 26, 2020 – December 7, 2022 | |
Premier | John Horgan David Eby |
Preceded by | position established |
Succeeded by | Josie Osborne |
Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources of British Columbia | |
In office January 22, 2020 – November 26, 2020 | |
Premier | John Horgan |
Preceded by | Michelle Mungall |
Succeeded by | position abolished |
Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology of British Columbia | |
In office July 18, 2017 – January 22, 2020 | |
Premier | John Horgan |
Preceded by | Shirley Bond (Jobs) Jas Johal (Technology) |
Succeeded by | Michelle Mungall |
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Whalley | |
Assumed office May 17, 2005 | |
Preceded by | Elayne Brenzinger |
Surrey City Councillor | |
In office 1988–1993 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Victoria, British Columbia[1] |
Political party | New Democrat |
Spouse | Miriam Sobrino |
Children | 3 |
Residence | Surrey, British Columbia |
Alma mater | University of British Columbia University of Cambridge |
Profession | Lawyer |
Bruce Ralston KC MLA is a Canadian politician. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia, representing the riding of Surrey-Whalley since 2005. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), he has served in the cabinets of Premiers John Horgan and David Eby since 2017, currently as Minister of Forests.
Life and career
Ralston was born in Victoria and grew up in Vancouver. He has degrees in history and law from the University of British Columbia, and a degree in history from the University of Cambridge in England.[1][2] He was called to the bar in 1982,[3] and has lived in Surrey since 1990,[2] where he ran his own law firm.[1]
Ralston served on the Surrey City Council from 1988 to 1993.[4] He was a member of the board of directors of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union from 1995 to 2006.[1] Between 1996 and 2001, he served as president of the BC NDP.[5]
He ran in the 2001 provincial election as the NDP candidate in Surrey-Panorama Ridge, finishing a distant second behind Liberal candidate Gulzar Cheema.[6] In the 2005 election he instead contested the riding of Surrey-Whalley, winning the seat with 55% of the vote.[2] He kept his seat in the 2009 election, growing his vote share to 66.5%,[2] and was re-elected in 2013, 2017 and 2020.[1] He replaced John Horgan as NDP house leader in March 2014, allowing Horgan to contest the party leadership.[7]
In July 2017, Ralston was named Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology in the NDP minority government.[8] He swapped portfolios with Michelle Mungall in January 2020, becoming Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.[9] His post was modified to Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation and Minister Responsible for the Consular Corps of British Columbia in November 2020,[10] and he was appointed Queen's counsel in December of the same year.[3] He was subsequently named Minister of Forests in the Eby ministry on December 7, 2022, while retaining the role of Minister Responsible for the Consular Corps.[11]
Electoral results
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
New Democratic | Bruce Ralston | 10,994 | 70.94 | +12.32 | $21,604.97 | |||
Liberal | Shaukat Khan | 4,052 | 26.15 | −3.93 | $28,029.77 | |||
Vision | Jag Bhandari | 228 | 1.47 | – | $0.00 | |||
Communist | Ryan Abbott | 223 | 1.44 | +0.9 | $123.40 | |||
Total valid votes | 15,497 | 100.00 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 236 | 1.50 | +0.62 | |||||
Turnout | 15,733 | 40.59 | −10.96 | |||||
Registered voters | 38,764 | |||||||
New Democratic hold | Swing | +8.13 | ||||||
Source: Elections BC[12][13] |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
New Democratic | Bruce Ralston | 10,315 | 58.62 | −2.81 | $59,997 | |||
Liberal | Sargy Chima | 5,293 | 30.08 | +0.54 | $75,151 | |||
Green | Rita Anne Fromholt | 1,893 | 10.76 | – | $322 | |||
Communist | George Gidora | 96 | 0.54 | – | $0 | |||
Total valid votes | 17,597 | 100.00 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 157 | 0.88 | −0.56 | |||||
Turnout | 17,754 | 51.55 | +5.27 | |||||
Registered voters | 34,440 | |||||||
Source: Elections BC[14][15] |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||||
New Democratic | Bruce Ralston | 10,405 | 61.43 | $112,496 | ||||
Liberal | Kuljeet Kaur | 5,004 | 29.54 | $34,568 | ||||
Conservative | Sunny Chohan | 1,110 | 6.55 | $40,961 | ||||
Vision | Jag Bhandari | 420 | 2.48 | $9,375 | ||||
Total valid votes | 16,939 | 100.00 | ||||||
Total rejected ballots | 248 | 1.44 | ||||||
Turnout | 17,187 | 46.28 | ||||||
Source: Elections BC[16] |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||||
New Democratic | Bruce Ralston | 10,453 | ||||||
Liberal | Radhia Benalia | 4,083 | ||||||
Green | Bernadette Kennan | 1,189 |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
New Democratic | Bruce Ralston | 8,903 | 55.00 | |||||
Liberal | Barbara Steele | 4,949 | 30.57 | |||||
Green | Roy Whyte | 1,238 | 7.65 | |||||
Democratic Reform | Elayne Brenzinger | 607 | 3.75 | |||||
Marijuana | Melady Belinda Earl | 302 | 1.87 | |||||
Independent | Joe Pal | 139 | 0.86 | |||||
Platinum | Neil Gregory Magnuson | 50 | 0.31 | |||||
Total | 16,188 | 100.00 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 9,590 | 58.94 | – | |
NDP | Bruce Ralston | 3,240 | 19.91 | – | |
Green | Sunny Athwal | 1,437 | 8.83 | – | |
Unity | Heather Stilwell | 1,123 | 6.90 | – | |
Marijuana | Randy Caine | 424 | 2.61 | – | |
Reform | Shirley Ann Abraham | 408 | 2.51 | – | |
Action | Ed Weiland | 50 | 0.30 | – | |
Total Valid Votes | 16,272 | 100.00 | |||
Total Rejected Ballots | 128 | 0.79 | |||
Turnout | 16,400 | 69.04 |
References
- ^ a b c d e "MLA: Hon. Bruce Ralston, Q.C." Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Kupchuk, Rick (April 23, 2013). "B.C. VOTES: Surrey-Whalley candidates on the record". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "2020 Queen's counsel appointees". British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General. December 30, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "Hon. Bruce Ralston". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ Diakiw, Kevin (January 14, 2011). "Ralston will not seek leadership". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "Statement of Votes - 37th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Zytaruk, Tom (March 20, 2014). "Ralston named house leader for NDP". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ Zussman, Richard; McElroy, Justin (July 18, 2017). "B.C.'s new NDP government sworn into office". CBC News. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "B.C. premier fills Jinny Sims vacancy, swaps jobs in cabinet tweak". The Canadian Press, via CBC News. January 20, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ Lindsay, Bethany (November 26, 2020). "New faces join B.C.'s new cabinet, while stalwarts stay on in key roles". CBC News. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
- ^ "New cabinet ready to take action on cost of living, health care, housing, climate" (Press release). Office of the Premier of British Columbia. December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
- ^ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
External links
- Media related to Bruce Ralston at Wikimedia Commons
British Columbia provincial government of David Eby | ||
Cabinet post (1) | ||
---|---|---|
Predecessor | Office | Successor |
Katrine Conroy | Minister of Forests December 7, 2022- | Incumbent |
British Columbia provincial government of John Horgan | ||
Cabinet posts (3) | ||
Predecessor | Office | Successor |
position established | Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation November 26, 2020-December 7, 2022 | Josie Osborne |
Michelle Mungall | Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources January 22, 2020-November 26, 2020 | position abolished |
Shirley Bond Jas Johal | Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology July 18, 2017–January 22, 2020 | Michelle Mungall |