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Niki Sharma

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The Honourable
Niki Sharma
KC MLA
Campaign portrait, 2024
Deputy Premier of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 18, 2024
PremierDavid Eby
Preceded byMike Farnworth
Attorney General of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2022
PremierDavid Eby
Preceded byMurray Rankin
Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits of British Columbia
In office
November 26, 2020 – December 7, 2022
PremierJohn Horgan
David Eby
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMegan Dykeman
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Vancouver-Hastings
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 24, 2020
Preceded byShane Simpson
Personal details
Born1979 or 1980 (age 45–46)
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
PartyNew Democratic
Other political
affiliations
Vision Vancouver (municipal)
Alma materUniversity of Alberta
ProfessionLawyer

Niki Sharma KC MLA (born 1979 or 1980)[1] is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver-Hastings as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP)[2] and serves as Deputy Premier and Attorney General of British Columbia.[3][4]

Early life and career

[edit]

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta,[5] Sharma grew up in Sparwood, British Columbia, with her three sisters.[6][7] Her parents immigrated from India; her father Pal ran a small business in Sparwood, while her mother Rose, who is a botanist by trade, ran for municipal council three times without being elected.[8][9]

After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law,[8] she joined Vancouver law firm Donovan & Company in 2005, specializing in aboriginal law.[5][10] Prior to her election to the legislature, Sharma served as vice-chair of the board of directors for Vancity since 2016,[11] and Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner[12] for Stand.earth, an environmental organization founded in 2000.[13]

Politics

[edit]

She ran as a Vision Vancouver candidate in the 2011 Vancouver municipal election and was elected a commissioner of the Vancouver Park Board,[5] at one point serving as chair of the board.[9] She then ran under the Vision banner for Vancouver City Council in the 2014 municipal election, but was unsuccessful.[1]

With incumbent Vancouver-Hastings Member of the Legislative Assembly Shane Simpson declining to run in the 2020 provincial election, Sharma was named the BC NDP candidate for the riding,[14][15] and won the seat with 60.6 per cent of the vote.[16] On November 26, 2020, Sharma was named Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits by Premier John Horgan.[17]

On December 7, 2022, she was appointed by Premier David Eby as Attorney General of British Columbia, and therefore, automatically became a King's Counsel. She became the first South Asian Canadian woman to serve in that cabinet post.[8]

In 2023, the bereavement counselling group Moms Stop the Harm wrote to Niki Sharma requesting a forensic audit into the recovery industry due to an untracked number of deaths and number of other recent abuses occurring at their sites.[18][19]

In 2024, Attorney General Sharma and the BC NDP unsuccessfully tried to appeal an injunction against Bill 34, The Restricting Public Consumption Act; notably, their team provided no evidence on how the injunction could be causing harm.[20][21]

Electoral record

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2024 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticNiki Sharma14,23764.1%+3.54
ConservativeJacob Burdge5,39124.3%
GreenBridget Burns2,40910.9%-8.64
IndependentZsolt Kiss1570.7%
Total valid votes 22,194–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered voters
Source: Elections BC[22]
2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticNiki Sharma13,36260.56+0.58$23,640.61
GreenBridget Burns4,31219.54+1.87$3,816.71
LiberalAlex Read3,88517.61−3.88$4,639.54
LibertarianGölök Z Buday3211.45–$550.68
CommunistKimball Cariou1840.83−0.03$123.40
Total valid votes 22,064100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1920.86+0.08
Turnout 22,25651.37−8.22
Registered voters 43,322
New Democratic hold Swing −0.65
Source: Elections BC[23][24]
2014 Vancouver municipal election: City Council
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
Green(I) Adriane Carr74,07740.77Green tickY
NPA(I) George Affleck68,41937.65Green tickY
NPA(I) Elizabeth Ball67,19536.98Green tickY
NPAMelissa De Genova63,13434.74Green tickY
Vision(I) Heather Deal62,69834.51Green tickY
Vision(I) Kerry Jang62,59534.45Green tickY
Vision(I) Andrea Reimer62,31634.29Green tickY
VisionRaymond Louie61,90334.07Green tickY
Vision(I) Tim Stevenson57,64031.72Green tickY
Vision(I) Geoff Meggs56,83131.28Green tickY
NPAIan Robertson56,31930.99
NPAGregory Baker55,72130.67
NPASuzanne Scott55,48630.54
NPAKen Low54,97130.25
NPARob McDowell53,59629.50
Vision(I) Tony Tang49,41427.19
VisionNiki Sharma48,98726.96
GreenCleta Brown47,56426.18
GreenPete Fry46,52225.60
COPELisa Barrett35,23419.39
COPETim Louis31,65017.42
OneCityRJ Aquino30,05016.54
COPEGayle Gavin25,54714.06
COPEJennifer O'Keefee23,12112.72
COPESid Chow Tan20,94811.53
COPEAudrey "sχɬemtəna:t" Siegl19,25810.60
COPEKeith Higgins18,21910.02
Vancouver 1stMercedes Wong17,4939.62
COPEWilson Munoz13,7567.57
Cedar Party Glen Chernen 9,577 5.27
Vancouver 1stFederico Fuoco9,0414.98
Cedar Party Nicholas Chernen 8,724 4.80
IndependentLena Ling8,1974.51
Hotel Workers United – Local 40 Ferdinad Ramos 7,986 4.39
Vancouver 1stJesse Johl7,9534.38
Cedar Party Charlene Gunn 6,512 3.58
Vancouver 1stElena Murgoci6,1403.38
IndependentDavid Angus5,8953.24
Cedar Party Jeremy Gustafson 5,098 2.81
IndependentGrant Fraser5,0962.80
Vancouver 1stMilan Kljajic4,8812.69
IndependentAnthony Guitar4,3752.41
IndependentKelly Alm4,0382.22
Independent Democratic Electors Alliance Rick Orser 3,548 1.95
IndependentMarc Boyer3,3291.83
IndependentRajiv Pandey3,2291.78
IndependentCord Ted Copeland3,2021.76
IndependentAbraham Deocera3,1601.74
IndependentLudvik Skalicky1,7970.99
2011 Vancouver municipal election: Park Board
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
Vision(I) Constance Barnes63,95244.16Green tickY
Vision(I) Sarah Blyth62,19842.95Green tickY
Vision(I) Aaron Jasper58,34340.29Green tickY
VisionNiki Sharma58,33040.28Green tickY
NPAMelissa De Genova56,50139.01Green tickY
NPAJohn Coupar50,37534.78Green tickY
VisionTrevor Loke49,87834.44Green tickY
NPACasey Crawford49,02033.85
NPAGabby Kalaw48,60033.56
NPAJason Upton46,26131.94
NPADave Pasin46,00531.77
Green(I) Stuart Mackinnon44,76130.91
COPEBrent Granby42,76929.53
COPEDonalda Greenwell-Baker39,03326.95
Independent Democratic Electoral Alliance Jamie Lee Hamilton 19,495 13.46
IndependentJuliet Victoria Andalis12,6938.76
IndependentEleanor Hadley10,7549.37
IndependentAndrew Murray9,8196.78
IndependentTammy Truong8,9176.16
IndependentPeter Raymond Haskell5,5403.83
IndependentFreyja Pri Toor5,0623.50
Note: (I) indicates an incumbent park commissioner

References

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  1. 1 2 Uechi, Jenny (2014-10-15). "Vision candidate Niki Sharma strives to make history as first South Asian woman on city council". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  2. ↑ Charlie Smith, "B.C. NDP extends footprint over Vancouver, racking up huge gains since Gordon Campbell led B.C. Liberals". The Georgia Straight, October 25, 2020.
  3. ↑ "B.C. Premier David Eby unveils new cabinet with Niki Sharma, Katrine Conroy and Ravi Kahlon in top posts". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  4. ↑ Dickson, Courtney; DeRosa, Katie (2024-11-18). "27 cabinet ministers sworn in as B.C.'s new NDP government takes power". CBC News. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  5. 1 2 3 Uechi, Jenny (2011-11-16). "Meet Vision Vancouver park board candidate Niki Sharma". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  6. ↑ "MLA: Hon. Niki Sharma". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  7. ↑ "Sparwood's Niki Sharma named B.C.'s Attorney General". e-know.ca (East Kootenay News Online Weekly). December 8, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  8. 1 2 3 DeRosa, Katie (December 9, 2022). "Niki Sharma will draw on lessons learned as a young girl in Sparwood in new role as B.C.'s Attorney General". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  9. 1 2 Smith, Charlie (2019-03-24). "Former park board chair Niki Sharma delivers stirring speech against racism after winning award in Surrey". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  10. ↑ Hui, Stephen (2014-02-26). "Park board chair Niki Sharma seeks Vision Vancouver nomination for council". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  11. ↑ Charlie Smith, "Vancity postpones election to its board of directors and plans "virtual" annual general meeting". The Georgia Straight, April 6, 2020.
  12. ↑ Cleaveland, Virginia (July 7, 2020). "Stand.earth welcomes influential staff, board members to its organization" (Press release). Stand.earth. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  13. ↑ Rob Shaw, "B.C. NDP's top staffer set to fight lawyer backed by MLAs for Vancouver-Hastings nomination". Vancouver Sun, September 9, 2020.
  14. ↑ Shaw, Rob (2020-09-08). "B.C. NDP's top staffer set to fight lawyer backed by MLAs for Vancouver-Hastings nomination". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  15. ↑ "BC NDP candidates announced following nomination contests". British Columbia New Democratic Party. 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  16. ↑ Zussman, Richard; Little, Simon (2020-10-24). "B.C. election 2020: Vancouver-Hastings results". Global News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  17. ↑ Lindsay, Bethany (2020-11-26). "New faces join B.C.'s new cabinet, while stalwarts stay on in key roles". CBC News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  18. ↑ Moms Stop The Harm (23 November 2023). "Moms Stop the Harm Call for Forensic Audit into Private Recovery Industry, Ties to BC United". The Mainlander.
  19. ↑ "Moms Stop the Harm demands probe into B.C. funding of private drug recovery programs". CTV News. 23 November 2023. Archived from the original on November 24, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Denial of Appeal in BC court of appeal: Full ruling" (PDF).
  21. ↑ Ball, David P. (2024-03-02). "B.C. top court upholds pause on law restricting public drug use". CBC News. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  22. ↑ https://globalnews.ca/news/10779115/bc-election-2024-results-vancouver-hastings/
  23. ↑ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  24. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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