Rob Fleming - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rob Fleming is a Canadian politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

who represents the riding of Victoria-Swan Lake

Victoria-Swan Lake

Victoria-Swan Lake is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008. It was first contested in the 2009 election, in which New Democrat, Rob Fleming was elected its first MLA....

in 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 ....

. Fleming was elected the British Columbia New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Victoria-Hillside

Victoria-Hillside

Victoria-Hillside was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 1991 to 2009.- Demographics :- Member of Legislative Assembly :...

in the 2005 British Columbia general election

British Columbia general election, 2005

The 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...

, defeating incumbent British Columbia Liberal Party

British Columbia Liberal Party

The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...

MLA Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Victoria-Hillside in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2005...

. He was re-elected on May 12, 2009 in the renamed constituency of Victoria-Swan Lake

Victoria-Swan Lake

.

Fleming served as chair of the BC Legislature's Public Accounts Committee from 2005-09, and as a member of the Standing Committee on Education, beginning in September 2006, which reviewed adult literacy and saw the New Democrats issue a dissenting minority report. He is currently the Deputy Chair of the Legislature's committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills.

Fleming has introduced a number of private member's bills to protect consumers by regulating and licensing the payday lending industry, improved regulation of private career colleges and ESL schools to be financially accountable to students for misconduct, amending the auditor general act to require all-party support for appoinment, and, in 2009, a bill modelled on Ontario and Quebec legislation to protect human health by banning the use of cosmetic pesticides. He has also served as the New Democrat critic for Advanced Education from 2007-09 and critic for Tourism. Since July 2009, Fleming has been the party's Environment critic.

Background

Before attending the University of Victoria

University of Victoria

The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...

, Fleming spent two years (1993–95) at Camosun College

Camosun College

Camosun College is located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2009 it had over 12,500 full-time and part-time students between its Lansdowne and Interurban campuses. The Lansdowne campus provides university transfer and access programs, as well as career, technical and vocational...

which later awarded him the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award. where he was elected the president of the UVic Students' Society

University of Victoria Students' Society

The University of Victoria Students' Society , founded in 1963, is a student society that represents all undergraduate students at the University of Victoria...

. He was active in acquiring a universal access to BC Transit

BC Transit

BC Transit is a provincial crown agency responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside of Greater Vancouver...

for students through a U-Pass

Universal Transit Pass

In North America,Universal Transit Pass is a program that gives students enrolled in participating post-secondary institutions unlimited access to local transit. Programs are typically funded through mandatory fees that eligible students pay in each term in which they are registered. Fees are...

system. Fleming graduated with a bachelor of arts with a major in history. Following graduation, he started work with a communication consulting business. He stood as a candidate for Victoria City Council

Victoria City Council

Victoria City Council is the governing body of the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. The council consists of the mayor plus eight councilors. A deputy mayor is appointed monthly....

in the 1999 municipal elections as a member of the Victoria Civic Electors which ran a joint slate of seven candidates with the Green Party. Fleming finished third in voting, securing him a seat on the eight-member council. Fleming was re-elected to the council in 2002 election. He traveled to El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, in 2004, as part of a 13-member delegation of election observers to monitor the presidential election

Salvadoran presidential election, 2004

A presidential election was held in El Salvador on Sunday, 21 March 2004. The Salvadoran people elected a new president, together with his vice-president, for a five-year term.Antonio "Tony" Saca of the ARENA party won the election...

.

While on Victoria City Council, Fleming gained a reputation for being a "fiscally prudent democratic socialist". He supported the legalization of secondary suites

Secondary suites in Canada

-Coquitlam, B.C.:The City of Coquitlam permits secondary suites. It is limited in size to 40% of the total floor area of the house, and an additional parking space must be provided. -Kelowna, B.C.:...

, the construction of the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre

Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre

The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre is an indoor arena located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and is the largest arena in British Columbia outside of Vancouver. It is primarily used for ice hockey, previously the home arena of the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, and currently the home of...

(but voted against the option to have it privately operated), and amendments to bylaws to target aggressive panhandling. As a Director on the board of the Capital Regional District, Fleming was vice-chair of the CRD Housing Corporation where he advocated for an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. He sat on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission

Victoria Regional Transit System

Victoria Regional Transit System provides public transportation in the Greater Victoria region of British Columbia, Canada. Its operations are governed by the Victoria Regional Transit Commission in association with BC Transit. There were more than 25 million riders in 2010.-History:Transit service...

and has advocated for transit service expansion and light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

in the Capital Region. He was a member of the Provincial Capital Commission

Provincial Capital Commission

The Provincial Capital Commission is a government-owned Crown Agency of the province of British Columbia, Canada.Its function is to provide stewardship for historical buildings, and promote British Columbia's capital city, Victoria.-Managed Sites:...

and was the only member to vote against, due to concerns with the long-term lease agreement and risks involved, replacing the plant and animal conservatory Crystal Gardens with the multi-media tourist attraction, The B.C. Experience, which filed for bankruptcy protection three months after opening.

Provincial politics

With the 2005 BC general election still a year away, Fleming declared his interest in seeking the NDP nomination in the Victoria-Hillside

Victoria-Hillside

Victoria-Hillside was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 1991 to 2009.- Demographics :- Member of Legislative Assembly :...

riding. Within a few months, former-MLA Steve Orcherton

Steve Orcherton

Steve Orcherton is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Victoria-Hillside in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1996 to 2001. He sat as a member of the New Democratic Party....

, who had won the riding in 1996

British Columbia general election, 1996

The British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth 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 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996...

but lost in 2001

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...

, declared his candidacy for the NDP nomination. The primary was billed as a contest between the hard line "old-school union man" Orcherton versus the "new wave" moderate Fleming which was seen as the symbolic struggle that was occurring throughout the party. Fleming won the NDP nomination in January and began campaigning in April for the general election. Fleming was one of five candidates across the province who were endorsed by the Conservation Voters of British Columbia. In the May general election Fleming defeated the incumbent BC Liberal Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Victoria-Hillside in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2005...

and Green Party candidate and small business owner Steve Filipovic. Fleming resigned from his position as Victoria city councillor to become a New Democrat Member of the Legislative Assembly, as part of the Official Opposition.

38th Parliament

In the 38th Parliament

38th Parliament of British Columbia

The 38th Parliament of British Columbia sat from 2005 to 2009, replacing the 37th parliament and being succeeded by the 39th parliament. It was composed of two elements, Her Majesty The Queen represented in her absence by the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, currently the Hon...

, Fleming and chaired the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and part way through the 2nd session he was assigned to the Select Standing Committee on Education which focused on adult literacy. He introduced several pieces of legislation, including the Payday Lending Act, 2006, which sought to license payday lenders and regulate the conditions of payday loan

Payday loan

A payday loan is a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower's expenses until his or her next payday. The loans are also sometimes referred to as cash advances, though that term can also refer to cash provided against a prearranged line of credit such as a credit card...

s, including plain language

Plain language

Plain language is clear, succinct writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly and completely as possible.Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon...

rules, rights to cancellation, signage requirements. While Solicitor General John Les

John Les

John Les is a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly for British Columbia.He is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier...

stated he was in favour of many of the regulations, he felt the bill was premature and that changes to the federal Criminal Code of Canada

Criminal Code of Canada

The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...

were required before proceeding with such regulations, despite other provinces already having passed similar legislation. The bill was granted first reading on May 8, 2006 but without the government support the bill was not adopted. However, a year later, a similar bill, introduced by Les, the Business Practices and Consumer Protection (Payday Loans) Amendment Act, 2007 was introduced and adopted concurrent with federal amendments to the Criminal Code.

Fleming was assigned the role of critic for advanced education. He introduced the Private Post-Secondary Accountability and Student Protection Act, 2007 which was intended to increase the accountability of private career training institutions and increasing the enforcement abilities of the Degree Quality Assessment Board. He spoke out against deregulation that allowed diploma mills like Rutherford University

Rutherford University

Rutherford University, also known as Senior University International and Stratford International University, was an unaccredited private institution that offered degrees online...

and Kingston College

Kingston College (British Columbia)

Kingston College, was an educational institution in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada that was ordered closed in October 2006.. Before its closure by provincial authorities, it had been a private, for-profit college operating in the Vancouver area by businessman Michael Lo under Kingston Education...

which advertised to foreign students. He introduced the Restoring Credibility to Universities Act, 2008 which sought to repeal the World Trade University Canada Establishment Act
World Trade University
World Trade University is a failed private university in British Columbia, Canada. Launched in 2001, the university withdrew its application for degree-granting status in 2008 and "has yet to open"....

and portions of the 2007 Education Statutes Amendment Act concerning private post-secondary institutions. Fleming also took on the role as the NDP tourism critic and objected to Tourism Minister Bill Bennett's decision not to participate in the National Vigil Project (a light display honouring Canadians killed World War One) due to costs and, in response to funding cuts to Tourism BC

Tourism British Columbia

Tourism BC was a government-owned Crown Corporation of the province of British Columbia, Canada. Established as a crown corporation in 1997, its mandate was to promote tourism in the province. It was merged with the now-defunct Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts on April 1, 2010...

, he criticized government self-promotional advertising.

39th Parliament

While his riding was re-aligned to create Victoria-Swan Lake

Victoria-Swan Lake

, Fleming easily won re-election facing no opposition for the NDP nomination and receiving 61% of the votes in the May 2009 general election

British Columbia general election, 2009

The 39th British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...

. In the 39th Parliament

39th Parliament of British Columbia

The 39th Parliament of British Columbia is the current Parliament of British Columbia and composes of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, as elected by the general election of May 12, 2009, and Her Majesty The Queen represented by the Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point...

, his party once again formed the Official Opposition. Party leader Carole James

Carole James

Carole Alison James, MLA is a Canadian politician and former public administrator. She is the former Leader of the Opposition in British Columbia and former leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party , a social democratic political party...

assigned him the role of environment critic with the intent of re-casting the party's image on environmental issues following the party's negatively-received campaign plank of repealing the carbon tax

Carbon tax

A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel and is released as carbon dioxide when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not...

. Fleming, and the party, stopped calling for a repeal of the carbon tax and instead emphasized their more nuanced position in providing alternatives which would improve the tax. He linked planned increases in transit fares to global warming and spoke out against fee increases at provincial park campsites. In November 2009, and again in April 2010, he introduced the Cosmetic Pesticide and Carcinogen Control Act which would have prohibited the sale or use of cosmetic pesticides, other than those deemed low-risk. In the August 2009 Throne Speech

Speech from the Throne

A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...

the BC government committed to striking a task force on the topic of species-at-risk, but with no action since then, Fleming introduced his own Species at Risk Protection Act in May 2010, based on similar legislation in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. The Minister of Environment Barry Penner

Barry Penner

Barry Penner, QC is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Chilliwack-Hope. He previously served as Attorney General of British Columbia, Deputy House Leader , and Minister of Environment and Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.Born in Kitimat in 1966,...

responded in June by striking the species-at-risk task force consisting of ten members who were told to make recommendations to directly cabinet

Executive Council of British Columbia

The Executive Council of British Columbia is the cabinet of that Canadian province....

. The task force report was submitted in January 2011 but, with the government not making the report public, Fleming re-introduced his legislation in June 2011 (it was made public less than a month later). In addition, Fleming participated in two committees. In the first two sessions he was Deputy Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills. He was member of the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives, the committee that only met twice, both times in September 2010, to deal with a petition seeking the repeal of the Harmonized Sales Tax

Harmonized Sales Tax

The Harmonized Sales Tax is the name used in Canada to describe the combination of the federal Goods and Services Tax and the regional Provincial Sales Tax into a single value added sales tax in five of the ten Canadian provinces: Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, British...

; Fleming and the three other New Democratic Party members voted to recommend introducing the draft HST Extinguishment Act into the Legislative Assembly, while the five BC Liberal members voted to initiate the British Columbia sales tax referendum, 2011

British Columbia sales tax referendum, 2011

A postal referendum on sales tax was held in British Columbia from June 13 to August 5, 2011, though Canada Post workers were locked out until June 27. Voters were asked whether the Harmonized Sales Tax should be retained or split back to the original Provincial Sales Tax and Goods & Services Tax...

. During the BC NDP leadership election

British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership election, 2011

The British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership convention of 2011 was prompted by Carole James's announcement on December 6, 2010 that she would be resigning as leader of the party...

to replace Carole James, Fleming supported Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth is a New Democratic Party politician from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. He is the current MLA for the riding of Port Coquitlam....

, though Adrian Dix

Adrian Dix

Adrian Dix is a Canadian politician, currently serving as MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia and as leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election.-Aide to Glen Clark:...

eventually won.

Electoral history

British Columbia Liberal Party

Green Party of British Columbia

The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...

British Columbia Refederation Party

The B.C. Refederation Party is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada advocating direct democracy and reform to Canadian federalism...

|Bob Savage
|align="right"|174
|align="right"|0.8%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$750
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|21,675
!align="right"|100%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|153
!align="right"|0.7%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Turnout
!align="right"|21,828
!align="right"|57%
|}
|-

|New Democrat
|Rob Fleming
|align="right"|13,926
|align="right"|57%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$72,755
|-

| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal

British Columbia Liberal Party

|Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr

Sheila Orr is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Victoria-Hillside in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2005...

|align="right"|7,042
|align="right"|29%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$117,576

|Green

Green Party of British Columbia

Democratic Reform British Columbia

Democratic Reform British Columbia is a progressive–centrist political party in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.-Formation of the party:...

Work Less Party of British Columbia

The Work Less Party is a political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The party was founded in 2003 by Conrad Schmidt. It has a federal wing and also participates in municipal politics...

|Katrina Jean Herriot
|align="right"|167
|align="right"|0.7%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$100
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|24,432
!align="right"|100%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|216
!align="right"|0.9%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Turnout
!align="right"|24,648
!align="right"|63%
|}

External links

Victoria-Swan Lake MLA - Rob Fleming's blog
BC New Democratic Party - Rob Fleming
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - Rob Fleming

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