British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east, the territories of Yukon and the Northwest Territories to the north, and the US states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.5 million as of 2023, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada; with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver.
SkyTrain is the medium-capacity rapid transit system serving the Metro Vancouver region in British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has 79.6 km (49.5 mi) of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks running on underground and elevated guideways, allowing SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 116,569,000, or about 426,900 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2023.
TransLink, formally the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, is the statutory authority responsible for the regional transportation network of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, including public transport, major roads and bridges. Its main operating facilities are located in the city of New Westminster.
Rob Fleming is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2005 provincial election. Initially representing Victoria-Hillside, he was re-elected in subsequent elections in the renamed constituency of Victoria-Swan Lake. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party, he was named to the cabinet of British Columbia in July 2017 as Minister of Education, before assuming his current post as Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure in November 2020. Prior to entering provincial politics, he was a city councillor in Victoria, British Columbia from 1999 to 2005.
The District of North Vancouver is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada, and is part of Metro Vancouver. It surrounds the City of North Vancouver on three sides. It is largely characterized as a relatively quiet, affluent suburban hub home to many middle and upper-middle-class families. Homes in the District of North Vancouver generally range from mid-sized family bungalows to very large luxury houses. A number of dense multi-family and mixed-use developments have popped up across the district in recent years; however, the district remains a primarily suburban municipality. It is served by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, British Columbia Ambulance Service, and the District of North Vancouver Fire Department.
Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the region governed by the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), though it predates the 1966 creation of the regional district. It is often used to include areas beyond the boundaries of the regional district but does not generally include wilderness and agricultural areas that are included within the MVRD.
BC Transit is a provincial crown corporation responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside Greater Vancouver. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 22,487,400, or about 96,800 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2023.
North Vancouver-Lonsdale is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
Claire Felicity Trevena is a Canadian politician, who represented the North Island electoral district Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. During the 41st Parliament (2017-2020) she was appointed to the Executive Council to be the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. She is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party and was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election and re-elected in the 2009, 2013 and 2017 elections. In the 38th Parliament of British Columbia, she sat on the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture and the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts, as well as serving as the opposition critic on the Employment and Income Assistance ministry, followed by the critic on child care, early childhood development, and women's issues. In the 39th Parliament she acted as a deputy speaker before returning to her role as critic on the children and family development portfolio. In the 40th Parliament, she was the critic on transportation and BC Ferries and, in that role, produced a report comparing the BC Ferries system with the Washington State Ferries system and introduced the Provincial Shipbuilding Act in both 2014 and 2015 seeking to have future ferries constructed in Canada.
Naomi Yamamoto is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election. She was elected as a member of the BC Liberal Party in the riding of North Vancouver-Lonsdale. Yamamoto's party formed a majority government in the 39th Parliament and Premier Gordon Campbell included her in his cabinet, between June 2009 and October 2010, as Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations, and then as Minister of State for Building Code Renewal between October 2010 and March 2011. Following the 2011 BC Liberal leadership election, in which Yamamoto endorsed George Abbott, the new Premier, Christy Clark, promoted Yamamoto to Minister of Advanced Education.
Jane Ann Thornthwaite is a Canadian politician, who represented the North Vancouver-Seymour electoral district Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2009 to 2020. She is a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party and was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 2009 election and re-elected in the 2013 and 2017 elections. Her party formed a majority government during the 39th and 40th Parliaments during which she was appointed to be Parliamentary Secretary for Student Support and Parent Engagement (2012–17). Her party briefly formed a minority government in the 41st Parliament during which she was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Child Mental Health and Anti-Bullying (2017) but became the critic for issues relating to Mental Health and Addictions when she became part of the official opposition.
George Heyman is a Canadian politician and former social, environmental and labour activist. He has represented the district of Vancouver-Fairview in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2013 as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He currently serves as Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy of British Columbia.
Jennifer Rice is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia to represent the electoral district of North Coast. She is a member of the BC New Democratic Party. Rice was first elected as a member of legislative assembly (MLA) in the 2013 provincial election and was re-elected in the 2017 election. In the 40th Parliament of British Columbia she acted as the official opposition's critic for northern and rural economic development and deputy critic for children and family development and introduced one private member bill, the Drinking Water Protection Amendment Act regarding regularizing testing of drinking water in schools.
Jordan Sturdy is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election, for the electoral district of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky as a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party.
Andrew Wilkinson is an Australian-born Canadian politician. He is the former leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, and served as the leader of British Columbia's Official Opposition. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election and re-elected in 2017 and 2020. He represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Quilchena.
Anne Kang is a Canadian politician who has represented the electoral district of Burnaby-Deer Lake in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2017. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party caucus, she has served in the cabinet of British Columbia since 2020, currently as Minister of Municipal Affairs. Prior to her election as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Kang served as a city councillor in Burnaby for three terms.
Michael Lee is a Canadian politician who has represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Langara in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2017. A member of the BC United caucus, he serves as its Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. He ran for the party's leadership in 2018 and 2022.
The 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 42nd parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia won a majority government, making John Horgan the first leader in the history of the BC NDP to win a second consecutive term as premier. The incoming Legislature marked the first time the NDP commanded an outright majority government in BC since the 1996 election, as well as the first province-wide popular vote win for the party since 1991.
Dan Coulter is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. He represents the electoral district of Chilliwack as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party caucus. He defeated John Martin; prior to the 2020 election, Chilliwack had been considered a BC Liberal stronghold.
In 2022, the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) held a leadership election to select a new leader. The contest was prompted by John Horgan's announcement in June 2022 that he would step down as leader of the party once a new leader had been chosen. As the NDP has formed the government of the province since 2017, newly elected leader David Eby was subsequently sworn in as premier of British Columbia.
