George Heyman is a former social, environmental and labour activist and now a politician in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

in the 2013 provincial election,"Riding results: New Democrat George Heyman wins a narrow victory in Vancouver Fairview"
''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', May 14, 2013. representing the district of

Vancouver-Fairview Vancouver-Fairview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. Fairview is made up of two rectangles: one bounded by Granville Street to the east, 16th Avenue to the south, Arbutus Street to th ...

as a member of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democrati ...

Career

Heyman was head of the

British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union The British Columbia General Employees' Union (BCGEU) is a trade union in British Columbia, Canada which represents over 85,000 members. The union employs over 200 servicing and administrative staff in 12 area offices across the province and at th ...

from 1999 to 2008. He served on the governing panel of administrators of the B.C. Workers’ Compensation Board (Worksafe BC) from 1997 to 2001 and chaired the WCB’s audit committee. From 1998 to 2000 he was a federal government appointee as a governor of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. From April 2009 to December 31, 2012 Heyman served as executive director of the Sierra Club BC. He oversaw the financial and administrative health of the organization as well as being Sierra Club’s primary public spokesperson on issues regarding energy, mining, conservation of species and habitat, climate change, environmental assessment, forest management and sustainable economic alternatives. Effective January 1, 2013, he took a leave of absence to run in the provincial election.

Politics

Heyman was nominated on October 21, 2012 as the

candidate for

in the 2013 provincial election."George Heyman has right stuff to be power player for NDP if elected".
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', October 23, 2012. The nominating contest was described by Norman Ruff, professor emeritus at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

, as a "clash of titans." Heyman defeated high profile Vancouver city councillor

Geoff Meggs Geoff Meggs is a Canadian politician, who served on Vancouver, British Columbia's City Council from 2008 to 2017. He was first elected in the 2008 municipal election, and resigned his seat on city council in 2017 to accept a job as chief of sta ...

. While both candidates were considered potential cabinet material, ''

'' reported that Heyman had "the right stuff to be a power player" in an NDP government. Heyman won the seat on election day, defeating BC Liberal cabinet minister Margaret MacDiarmid. He previously served as the opposition spokesperson for the environment, green economy and technology. Until February 2016 he also held responsibility for film, television and Translink. On July 18, 2017 Heyman was appointed the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in the newly formed NDP government. Heyman was re-elected at the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

, as the NDP achieved a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

. Following the election, on November 24, 2020 he was given the additional role of Minister responsible for TransLink in the second cabinet of Premier

John Horgan John Joseph Horgan (born August 7, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 36th premier of British Columbia from 2017 to 2022, and also as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2014 to 2022. Horgan has been the ...

Electoral record

References

External links

George Heyman

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, George Canadian trade unionists Canadian environmentalists Sierra Club people Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Vancouver Simon Fraser University faculty Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian politicians