Blair Lekstrom is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician, currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

. He has represented the riding of Peace River South

Peace River South

Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the Constitution Amendment Act, 1955, which split the old riding of Peace River into northern and southern portions for the 1956 B.C....

 since the 2001 election

British Columbia general election, 2001

The British Columbia general election of 2001 was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001...

.

He formerly served as the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Products in the government of Gordon Campbell, before resigning from the BC Liberal caucus over the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on June 11, 2010, a policy that Lekstrom had previously endorsed. Following the election of Christy Clark

Christy Clark

Christina Joan "Christy" Clark, MLA is a Canadian politician, the 35th and current Premier of British Columbia, Canada...

 as the party's new leader in the 2011 leadership election

British Columbia Liberal Party leadership election, 2011

The British Columbia Liberal Party leadership election of 2011 was prompted by Gordon Campbell's announcement on November 3, 2010 that he would be resigning as Premier of British Columbia and had asked the BC Liberal Party to hold a leadership convention "at the earliest possible date." The...

, Lekstrom rejoined the Liberals on March 3, 2011.

He was born in 1961 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 and moved to Dawson Creek, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

later that year. He graduated from the South Peace Secondary School, and worked with BC Tel starting in 1979 as an installer-repairman until his election in 1996.

Prior to provincial politics, he served as mayor of Dawson Creek for two terms, and was a city councillor for three years prior. Lekstrom was the president of the North Central Municipal Association for the 1999-2000 term.