Niki Sharma KC MLA 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)[3] and serves as Attorney General of British Columbia.[4]
Niki Sharma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Attorney General of British Columbia | |
| Assumed office December 7, 2022 | |
| Premier | David Eby |
| Preceded by | Murray Rankin |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Hastings | |
| Assumed office October 24, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Shane Simpson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1979 or 1980 (age 43–44)[1] Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada[2] |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Vision Vancouver (municipal) |
| Residence(s) | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Alberta |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Early life and career edit
Born in Lethbridge, Alberta,[2] Sharma grew up in Sparwood, British Columbia with her three sisters.[5][6] Her parents immigrated from India; her father Pal ran a small business in Sparwood, while her mother Rose ran for municipal council three times without being elected.[7][8]
After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law,[7] she joined Vancouver law firm Donovan & Company in 2005, specializing in aboriginal law.[2][9] Prior to her election to the legislature, Sharma served as vice-chair of the board of directors for Vancity since 2016,[10] and Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner[11] for Stand.earth, an environmental organization founded in 2000.[12]
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,[2] at one point serving as chair of the board.[8] 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,[13][14] and won the seat with 60.6% of the vote.[15] On November 26, 2020, Sharma was named Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits by Premier John Horgan.[16]
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.[7]
Electoral record edit
| 2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Niki Sharma | 13,362 | 60.56 | +0.58 | $23,640.61 | |||
| Green | Bridget Burns | 4,312 | 19.54 | +1.87 | $3,816.71 | |||
| Liberal | Alex Read | 3,885 | 17.61 | −3.88 | $4,639.54 | |||
| Libertarian | Gölök Z Buday | 321 | 1.45 | – | $550.68 | |||
| Communist | Kimball Cariou | 184 | 0.83 | −0.03 | $123.40 | |||
| Total valid votes | 22,064 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 192 | 0.86 | +0.08 | |||||
| Turnout | 22,256 | 51.37 | −8.22 | |||||
| Registered voters | 43,322 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | −0.65 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[17][18] | ||||||||
References edit
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b c d Uechi, Jenny (2011-11-16). "Meet Vision Vancouver park board candidate Niki Sharma". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "MLA: Hon. Niki Sharma". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Hui, Stephen (2014-02-26). "Park board chair Niki Sharma seeks Vision Vancouver nomination for council". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ Charlie Smith, "Vancity postpones election to its board of directors and plans "virtual" annual general meeting". The Georgia Straight, April 6, 2020.
- ^ Cleaveland, Virginia (July 7, 2020). "Stand.earth welcomes influential staff, board members to its organization" (Press release). Stand.earth. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
- ^ Rob Shaw, "B.C. NDP's top staffer set to fight lawyer backed by MLAs for Vancouver-Hastings nomination". Vancouver Sun, September 9, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "BC NDP candidates announced following nomination contests". British Columbia New Democratic Party. 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ Zussman, Richard; Little, Simon (2020-10-24). "B.C. election 2020: Vancouver-Hastings results". Global News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 9 March 2021.