Doug Donaldson
Encyclopedia
Doug Donaldson is 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 ....

 and a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the riding of Stikine
Stikine (provincial electoral district)
Stikine is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008. It came into effect upon the dissolution of the BC Legislature in April 2009, and was first contested in the 2009 provincial election...

 in the 2009 provincial 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 of British Columbia
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...

, he served as deputy chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services which did public consultation regarding government budget and spending priorities. For the NDP he has been as the deputy critic on Finance since June 2009 and the deputy critic on Energy since April 2011.

Prior to becoming an MLA, Donaldson had lived in numerous towns in British Columbia, including Field, British Columbia
Field, British Columbia
Field is an unincorporated settlement of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia,Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park....

 where he worked in Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide in southeastern British Columbia. Yoho NP is bordered by Kootenay National Park on the southern side and Banff National Park on the eastern side...

, Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...

, Telkwa
Telkwa, British Columbia
Telkwa is a village located along British Columbia Highway 16, nearly 15 km southeast of the town of Smithers and 350 km west of the city of Prince George, in northwest British Columbia, Canada....

, Houston
Houston, British Columbia
Houston is a forestry, mining and tourism town in the Bulkley Valley of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its urban population is approximately 3600 people, with approximately 2000 in the surrounding rural area. It is known as the "Steelhead Capital" and it has the world's largest...

, and Smithers
Smithers, British Columbia
Smithers is a town located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers is located in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako....

. He eventually settled in Hazelton
Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...

 where he worked with the Gitxsan Nation
Gitxsan Nation
Gitxsan Nation is one of Canada's First Nations and is a name used when referring to the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitxsan, which is the formal governing body of the Gitxsan people. Their territories are located in the Skeena Watershed of British Columbia, Canada, covering 30,000...

 and ran a non-profit organization, the Storytellers Foundation, which focused on community-level economic development. He spent ten years as a municipal councilors, having been elected or acclaimed in the 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2009 local government elections.

Background

With his father working in the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

, Doug Donaldson was born in 1957 at the Canadian Forces' Zweibrücken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base was a NATO air base in West Germany . It was located 35 miles SSW of Kaiserslautern and 2 miles mi SE of Zweibrücken. It was assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Forces in Europe during its operational lifetime.The facility was closed in...

 in Germany. Donaldson completed a Bachelors Degree in Biology and moved to Field, British Columbia
Field, British Columbia
Field is an unincorporated settlement of approximately 300 people located in the Kicking Horse River valley of southeastern British Columbia,Canada, within the confines of Yoho National Park....

 where he worked in Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park
Yoho National Park is located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide in southeastern British Columbia. Yoho NP is bordered by Kootenay National Park on the southern side and Banff National Park on the eastern side...

 for 8 years before leading private guided tours of the area. After completing a Masters in Journalism he had numerous articles published in the Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...

and The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...

but moved to Smithers
Smithers, British Columbia
Smithers is a town located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers is located in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako....

 where he wrote for a local newspaper, The Interior News. He took a job in Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...

 with the CBC Morning Show but moved back to the Bulkley Valley area, living in Telkwa
Telkwa, British Columbia
Telkwa is a village located along British Columbia Highway 16, nearly 15 km southeast of the town of Smithers and 350 km west of the city of Prince George, in northwest British Columbia, Canada....

 as a technologist in the forestry industry before moving to Houston working as a manager at Northwest Community College
Northwest Community College
Northwest Community College is a post-secondary educational institution that serves the residents of northwest British Columbia. NWCC was first established in Terrace in 1975..-Campus:...

. Finally, Donaldson settled in Hazelton
Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...

 where he became the communications officer for the Gitxsan Treaty Office
Gitxsan Treaty Society
The Gitxsan Treaty Society handles Treaty negotiations in the BC Treaty Process for a number of First Nations in northwestern British Columbia-Membership:*Gitanmaax Band Council*Gitsegukla Indian Band...

. In 1992, he starting teaching journalism at the Gitxsan Wet'suwet'en Education Society. In 1994, he co-founded the non-profit group Storytellers Foundation which focuses on civic literacy and economic development on the community-level.

He got involved in municipal politics in 1999 when he became a member of the Hazelton municipal council. He retained his seat in the 2002 local government elections, and won re-election in November 2005. For the May 2005 provincial election, Donaldson put his name forward to represent the BC New Democratic Party in the Bulkley Valley-Stikine
Bulkley Valley-Stikine
Bulkley Valley-Stikine was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 1991 to 2009.- Demographics :-MLAs:*Frank Arthur Calder, CCF/NDP ; Social Credit *Al Passarell, NDP...

 constituency. In the nomination race he defeated three other candidates, including the former MLA Bill Goodacre
Bill Goodacre
Bill Goodacre is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Bulkley Valley-Stikine in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1996 to 2001. He was a member of the New Democratic Party.- References :...

. This riding was expected to be competitive as it had traditionally supported the NDP but was being held by BC 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...

 member Dennis MacKay
Dennis MacKay
Dennis MacKay is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Bulkley Valley-Stikine in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2009....

. Donaldson was supported party leader Carole James who visited the riding during the campaign but had to defend party campaign promises that appeared to mean removing provincial funding for major upgrades to a Smithers ice arena and a Houston swimming pool. Also, during the election campaign, Elections BC
Elections BC
Elections BC is a non-partisan office of the Legislature responsible for conducting elections in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

 identified third-party advertising violations at Donaldson’s campaign office where they were distributing B.C. Government Employees Union-sponsored lawn signs; Elections BC told the campaign office to cease the distribution and account for the signs as part of their own campaign expenditures. Mackay, a retired provincial coroner, won re-election by defeating Donaldson.

Donaldson would again be the NDP nominee for the 2009 provincial 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...

, but in the years between the election he continued to being active on the Hazelton council. He led the council and the Union of B.C. Municipalities to adopted a resolution asking the province to place a moratorium on new fish farm licences until the report by the provincial Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture was made public. Donaldson also supported efforts which called for a suspension of the Klappan Coalbed Methane Project
Klappan Coalbed Methane Project
The Klappan Coalbed Methane Project is a gas project owned by Shell Canada that looks to develop the coalbed methane from an area in northern British Columbia, near the source of three rivers: the Skeena River, Nass River, and Stikine River, and also the namesake Klappan River...

 in the Sacred Headwaters
Sacred Headwaters
The Sacred Headwaters is the simon given to a subalpine basin in northern British Columbia that is the source of three wild salmon rivers: the Skeena River, Nass River and Stikine River. It is also referred to as the Klappan Valley, although the Klappan—a tributary of the Stikine River—is only one...

.

Provincial politics

For the May 2009 provincial 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...

 Donaldson won the NDP nomination in March and campaigned throughout April and May. 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...

 visited the riding to support Donaldson. The incumbent, Dennis MacKay
Dennis MacKay
Dennis MacKay is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Bulkley Valley-Stikine in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2009....

, had retired but Donaldson faced two new opponents: vehicle service manager Scott Groves for the BC Liberals and Smithers
Smithers, British Columbia
Smithers is a town located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers is located in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako....

 HVAC
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...

 engineer Roger Benham for the BC Green 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...

. While Donaldson won the riding, the BC Liberals were re-elected to form another majority government. The BC NDP formed the official opposition and Bruce Ralston
Bruce Ralston
Bruce Ralston is the current MLA for Surrey-Whalley in the Canadian province of British Columbia.He 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...

 was named Finance critic with Donaldson as his deputy. During 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...

 he was appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services where he served as deputy chair. As part of this committee he traveled the province for public consultation on budget matters. In the first session (2009), Donaldson and the NDP supported 75% of the recommendations, dissenting on the others that related to the introduction 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...

 (HST). Donaldson was opposed to the replacement of the Provincial Sales Tax with the HST, claiming that the BC Liberals were "wildly inflating its benefits". During the second session (2010), Donaldson again traveled the province with the committee but led the NDP in withdrawing their participation after Premier Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell
Gordon Muir Campbell, is a Canadian diplomat and politician, who is currently serving as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He previously served as the 34th Premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011...

 announced, two weeks before the committee's report was due, that he had already allocated all the province's discretionary funding. A petition asking to the HST to be repealed was circulated within his riding; the FightHST organization claimed 3,648 people (30% of voters) signed in the Stikine
Stikine (provincial electoral district)
Stikine is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008. It came into effect upon the dissolution of the BC Legislature in April 2009, and was first contested in the 2009 provincial election...

 riding and in the Summer 2011 referendum
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...

 on the issue 3,300 people in the riding voted to repeal the HST.

Donaldson opened two constituency offices, one in Hazelton and the other in Smithers. On local issues, Donaldson, along with his federal counterpart Nathan Cullen
Nathan Cullen
Nathan Cullen is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley in the Canadian House of Commons. He is a candidate for the federal leadership of the NDP. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Cullen is fluent in English, French and Spanish and is married with young twin sons...

, tried to stop Nav Canada
NAV CANADA
Nav Canada is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system .The company employs approximately 2,000 air traffic controllers , 800 flight service specialists and 700 technologists...

 from replacing flight observers with electronic monitoring devices at the Smithers Airport
Smithers Airport
Smithers Airport, , is located north of Smithers, British Columbia, Canada.-Runways:Originally the runway was , but it has been expanded to so that the airport can land larger aircraft. The extension was completed by in late 2008. Once the expansion of the ski areas is complete, there would then...

. Donaldson initiated a writing contest supported by hockey player Dan Hamhuis
Dan Hamhuis
Daniel Hamhuis is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League ....

, the Gitxsan Nation
Gitxsan Nation
Gitxsan Nation is one of Canada's First Nations and is a name used when referring to the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitxsan, which is the formal governing body of the Gitxsan people. Their territories are located in the Skeena Watershed of British Columbia, Canada, covering 30,000...

, and the Community Police, where youths described how sports activities helped them resist gang activity and contributed to their community. Donaldson became an advocate of strong environmental assessment reviews as a means of creating investor certainty in projects. His opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project is a proposal to construct two pipelines running from Bruderheim, Alberta, to Kitimat, British Columbia. The eastbound pipeline would import natural gas condensate and the westbound pipeline would export crude oil...

 angered Premier Campbell.

Donaldson was a supporter of BC NDP 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...

, but after her resignation, he 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....

 during the 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...

, citing Farnworth's view of rural economic development which includes using a triple bottom line
Triple bottom line
The triple bottom line captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational success: economic, ecological, and social...

 that involves social, environmental and economic criteria. Due to the leadership election, Donaldson also became the NDP critic on Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, in addition to being the deputy critic on Finance. 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 the leadership and kept Ralston and Donaldson as the critic and deputy critic on Finance but moved Donaldson to deputy critic on Energy.

Election history

|NDP
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...


|Doug Donaldson
|align="right"|4,274
|align="right"|50%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$43,322

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


|Scott Groves
|align="right"|3,829
|align="right"|45%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$81,572

|Green
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...


|Roger Benham
|align="right"|375
|align="right"|4%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$692
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|8,478
!align="right"|100%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|94
!align="right"|1%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Turnout
!align="right"|8,572
!align="right"|65%
|}
|style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
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...


|Dennis MacKay
|align="right"|6,279
|align="right"|48%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$96,735

|NDP
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...


|Doug Donaldson
|align="right"|5,177
|align="right"|40%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$50,561

|Green
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...


|Leanna Mitchell
|align="right"|769
|align="right"|6%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$3,466

|Democratic Reform BC
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:...


|Nipper Kettle
|align="right"|354
|align="right"|3%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$2,899

|Marijuana
British Columbia Marijuana Party
The British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....


|Reginald Bruce Gunanoot
|align="right"|205
|align="right"|2%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$100

|British Columbia Party
British Columbia Party
The British Columbia Party is a right-wing political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia, founded in 1998 as a populist party by John Motiuk, a North Vancouver lawyer.The party did not nominate candidates in the 2001 provincial election...


|Jack Kortmeyer
|align="right"|175
|align="right"|1%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$344

|People's Front
People's Front (British Columbia)
The People's Front is the British Columbia, Canada wing of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada.In the 2001 British Columbia election, it nominated 11 candidates, received a total of 720 votes...


|Frank Martin
|align="right"|41
|align="right"|0.3%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|$540
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|13,000
!align="right"|100%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|60
!align="right"|0.5%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Turnout
!align="right"|13,060
!align="right"|69%
|}

External links

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