Wally Oppal | |
---|---|
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Fraserview | |
In office May 17, 2005 –May 12, 2009 | |
Preceded by | Ken Johnston |
Succeeded by | Kash Heed |
Attorney General of British Columbia | |
In office June 16,2005 –June 10,2009 | |
Premier | Gordon Campbell |
Preceded by | Geoff Plant |
Succeeded by | Michael de Jong |
Minister responsible for Multiculturalism of British Columbia | |
In office June 16,2005 –June 10,2009 | |
Premier | Gordon Campbell |
Preceded by | Patrick Wong |
Succeeded by | Ben Stewart |
Personal details | |
Born | Wallace Taroo Oppal 1940 (age 84) [1] Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada |
Political party | BC Liberal |
Occupation | lawyer,judge |
Wallace Taroo "Wally" Oppal, OBC KC (born 1940) is a Canadian lawyer,former judge and provincial politician. Between 2005 and 2009,he served as British Columbia's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism,as well as Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview as part of the BC Liberals.
The elder of two sons of Gurdial Kaur Oppal,Oppal was born in Vancouver to Sikh immigrant parents from India. [2] The whole family moved to the Lake Cowichan area after his father co-founded a sawmill with a partner there. After his father died when he was 10 years old,his mother worked as a housekeeper. [2] He attended Lake Cowichan High School where he served as student council president in his senior year,and graduated in 1958. [2] [3]
After briefly working as a radio announcer,he began attending the University of British Columbia (UBC),supplementing his income by working at sawmills during the summer. He graduated with a B.A. from UBC in 1963,followed by a law degree from the UBC Faculty of Law in 1966. [2] [3] He was called to the bar in 1967 and began working at Thompson McConnell,eventually starting a private practice in South Vancouver with friend John Campbell. [2] [3]
At the recommendation of then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia Allan McEachern,Oppal was appointed to the County Court of Vancouver in 1981,and to the BC Supreme Court in 1985. In 2003,he was appointed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal where he served until he resigned to seek election to the provincial legislature. [3] He was appointed to lead a commission of inquiry into policing in British Columbia in June 1992,and published a report in 1994,leading to policing reforms in the province. [2] [4]
At a meeting with then Prime Minister Paul Martin,Oppal was asked to run in a federal election for the Liberal Party of Canada,but declined for family reasons. [5] He later entered provincial politics instead,when he announced his candidacy for the BC Liberals in the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview in April 2005. [6] He was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) at the 2005 provincial election,and was appointed the province's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism that June, [7] becoming BC's second Indo-Canadian Attorney-General (the first being Ujjal Dosanjh). [1] He became Queen's Counsel upon his appointment as Attorney General. [4]
For the 2009 provincial election,Oppal switched to the riding of Delta South where he lives. [8] In initial results on election night,Oppal led in Delta South by a margin of just two votes over independent candidate Vicki Huntington. [9] [10]
On May 26,2009,a recount revealed that Huntington had defeated Oppal by only 32 votes. [11] A judicial recount on June 2 confirmed Huntington's victory. [12]
In 2010,Oppal was appointed to lead the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry into the Robert Pickton murders. [13] [14] The commission released its final report to the public in December 2012,including 63 recommendations. [15]
Oppal served as the Chancellor of the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops from 2011 to 2018,and was named Chancellor Emeritus upon the end of his terms. [16] [17] [18] In 2019 he was appointed to chair a committee to oversee the creation of a new municipal police force in the city of Surrey,which would replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. [19]
Oppal was appointed to the Order of British Columbia on November 30,2017. [20]
He is senior counsel at Boughton Law. [21]
Oppal is married with two children. [2] [7] He announced in March 2007 that he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. [22] By the end of the month,Oppal was declared cancer free by his doctor.[ citation needed ]
The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam,on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm,the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former British Columbia residents for conspicuous achievements in any field,being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the British Columbia Crown.
Stephen Douglas Owen was a Canadian lawyer,administrator and politician. From 2000 to 2007 he served as Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Vancouver Quadra,encompassing the western end of the City of Vancouver. As part of the Liberal Party of Canada caucus,he was a member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's government,serving in cabinet as Minister of Public Works and Government Services from 2003 to 2004,and as Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State for Sport from 2004 to 2006. He left parliament to join the University of British Columbia (UBC) as the vice-president of External,Legal and Community Relations,serving in that role until 2012.
Gabriel Yiu is a Hong Kong-born Canadian award-winning journalist,social activist and businessman.
Vancouver-Fraserview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia,Canada.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is the police force in Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.
The British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) was the provincial police service of British Columbia,Canada,between 1858 and 1950.
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Robert William Pickton,also known as the Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher,was a Canadian serial killer and pig farmer. After dropping out of school,he left a butcher's apprenticeship to begin working full-time at his family's pig farm,and inherited it in the early 1990s.
The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry was a commission in British Columbia ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on September 27,2010,to evaluate the response of law enforcement to reports of missing and murdered women. The commission concluded its Inquiry in December 2012,and outlined 63 recommendations to the Provincial government and relevant law enforcement. The Inquiry itself received criticism from various civil society group and Indigenous communities,regarding its investigative structure,as well as,the lack of government action after the Inquiry to fulfill its recommendations.
Geoff Plant,is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician known for his interest in citizen's legal and electoral rights and aboriginal rights. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia,representing Richmond-Steveston from 1996 to 2005. A caucus member of the British Columbia Liberal Party,he served in the cabinet of Premier Gordon Campbell as Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Treaty Negotiations from 2001 to 2005.
The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General,a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system,within the province of British Columbia,Canada. The attorney general is a member of the provincial cabinet,typically a member of Legislative Assembly who is chosen by the premier of British Columbia and formally appointed by the lieutenant governor of British Columbia.
Steven Lewis Point,(Xwelíqwetel) is a Canadian academic administrator,criminal lawyer,and jurist. He is the current chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the chair of the advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women,a committee that provides community-based guidance to the implementation of the recommendations from the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
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