Andy Burton (born July 7, 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. Burton immigrated with his family to Canada from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1952 at the age of 10. He grew up in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 74,004 in the metropolitan area. It is often called the province's "northern capital" or sometimes the "spruce capital" because it is the hub city for ...

. In the early 1960s, he worked as a highway surveyor and then as a bulk plant manager for

Shell Petroleum Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

. He began his small business in 1964, and operated it until he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2000 federal election as the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Skeena riding. Burton entered politics in the 1970s. During his 24-year municipal career, he served as Mayor of Stewart, British Columbia for six years, and town councillor for 18 years. He joined the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...

at its formation in 1987, and remained a member of its successors, the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party of Canada. In his tenure in Parliament, Burton served variously as Canadian Alliance Critic for Public Works, Fisheries and Natural Resources and then as the Conservative Party's Fisheries and Oceans critic. On June 25, 2001, Burton was one of a dozen MPs who were expelled from or left the Canadian Alliance caucus due to their criticisms of Stockwell Day's leadership and sat as "Independent Alliance" MPs. In early September, an offer was made to the MPs that they would be readmitted to the Alliance caucus if they promised to refrain from criticizing Day's leadership. Burton accepted the offer along with four other dissident MPs, while the rest refused and formed the

Democratic Representative Caucus The Democratic Representative Caucus, also called the Democratic Representative Association, was a parliamentary group in the 37th Canadian Parliament consisting of Members of Parliament who left the Canadian Alliance in 2001 in protest against th ...

. Burton rejoined the Canadian Alliance caucus on September 10, 2001. Burton is a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

, and an opponent of

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Burton's riding was merged into the reconfigured riding of

Skeena—Bulkley Valley Skeena—Bulkley Valley is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Geography This is a mostly wilderness area comprising almost the entire northwestern ...

for the 2004 federal election, and he lost by just over 1,300 votes by Nathan Cullen of the New Democratic Party. In November 2006, Burton ran in and won a municipal by-election in Burns Lake, British Columbia.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Andy 1942 births Living people British Columbia municipal councillors Canadian anti-abortion activists Canadian surveyors Canadian Alliance MPs Conservative Party of Canada MPs English emigrants to Canada Mayors of places in British Columbia Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia People from Prince George, British Columbia Politicians from Yorkshire Real estate and property developers Reform Party of British Columbia candidates in British Columbia provincial elections Shell plc people 21st-century Canadian politicians