Kevin Falcon (born 1963
) 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 ...
financial executive and a provincial politician who is the leader of the
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia genera ...
as of 2022, and the
Leader of the Opposition as of May 2022.
He is the
member of the Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. ...
(MLA) for the district of
Vancouver-Quilchena
Vancouver-Quilchena is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. According to the 2006 Census, this riding is the second-wealthiest in British Columbia with an average family income of $91,822, b ...
, being elected in a byelection in April 2022. He formerly served as the MLA for
Surrey-Cloverdale
Surrey-Cloverdale is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
Demographics
Geography
1999 Redistribution
Changes to Surrey-Cloverdale include
*removal of northwesternmost half to Surrey- ...
as a member of the
BC Liberals
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...
from 2001 to 2013. He served as both the 12th
deputy premier of British Columbia The deputy premier of British Columbia is the representative of the premier of British Columbia in the Canadian province of British Columbia when the current premier is unable to attend functions executed by the premier.
Mike Farnworth has been th ...
, and the province's minister of Finance. On April 30, he was elected as MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena in a by-election.
Personal life
Born in
North Vancouver,
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, ...
, Falcon worked in insurance after graduating from a private Catholic high school
Vancouver College
Vancouver College (abbreviated informally to VC) is an independent university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent Catho ...
. Falcon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...
(SFU).
He lives in North Vancouver with his wife Jessica and daughters Josephine and Rose.
Early political career (1980s–2013)
After being involved with the
Social Credit (Socred) party in the 1980s, Falcon decided to study
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
at SFU. He was a member of the Young Socreds on campus while future Premier
Christy Clark
Christina Joan Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a former Canadian politician who was the 35th premier of British Columbia (BC), from 2011 to 2017. Clark was the second woman to be premier of BC, after Rita Johnston in 1991, and the first female ...
was also at SFU.
After graduation, he was part of a movement to revitalize the right-wing municipal party in Surrey that saw
Doug McCallum
Doug McCallum (born April 19, 1944) is a Canadian politician who was mayor of Surrey, British Columbia, from 1996 to 2005 and from 2018 to 2022. McCallum was first elected to a seat on Surrey City Council in 1993.(2004).Mayor Doug McCallum, Surr ...
upset incumbent mayor
Bob Bose
Robert J. Bose (born 1932) is a Canadian politician. He served as Mayor of Surrey, British Columbia from 1988 until 1996. Bose was a member of the NDP affiliated Surrey Civic Electors party. Bose lost in the 1996 elections Doug McCallum
D ...
of the NDP-affiliated
Surrey Civic Electors
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
party in 1996 and the election to council of future mayor
Dianne Watts
Dianne Lynn Watts (born October 30, 1959) is a former politician in British Columbia, Canada. She won her first federal election campaign in October 2015 to become a federal Member of Parliament for South Surrey—White Rock. In 2017 she resigne ...
.
Falcon then set up a communications consultancy (Access Group) in 1998. His major step into provincial politics was as a lead organizer of the "Total Recall" effort to
recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning
* Recall (memory)
* ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
a number of
BC 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 ...
MLA's in 1999.
After replacing incumbent
Bonnie McKinnon as the Liberal nominee, he was first
elected in 2001 as a BC Liberal to represent the riding of
Surrey-Cloverdale
Surrey-Cloverdale is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
Demographics
Geography
1999 Redistribution
Changes to Surrey-Cloverdale include
*removal of northwesternmost half to Surrey- ...
, and re-elected in the
2005, and
2009 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2009.
* Electoral calendar 2009
* 2009 United Nations Security Council election
Caribbean
* 2009 Antiguan general election
* 2009 Aruban general election
* 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...
.
His first cabinet appointment was in the newly created position of Minister of State for Deregulation which earned kudos from business and industry for cutting government 'red tape.' In January 2004, after police "
raided" the legislature to investigate corruption in the sale of
BC Rail
BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...
, Falcon replaced
Judith Reid
Judith Reid (born 1954 or 1955)Meet the candidates: Judith Reid: Liberal Nanaimo-Parksville: inal EditionBennett, NelsonView Profile. Nanaimo Daily News anaimo, B.C11 May 2001: A4. is a politician in British Columbia, Canada. She is a for ...
as
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
As transport minister, Falcon changed the governance structure of
TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to:
* TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada
* Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...
to reduce the oversight by municipal representatives. He also introduced the
Gateway Program
The Gateway Program is a C$3.0 billion regional transportation project for Metro Vancouver that is being managed by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation. The ministry introduced the Gateway Program on January 31, 2006, as a means to ...
, a $3 billion regional transportation strategy for
Metro Vancouver
The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...
that launched the construction of the new
Port Mann Bridge
The Port Mann Bridge is a 10-lane cable-stayed bridge in British Columbia, Canada that opened to traffic in 2012. Carrying 10 lanes of traffic with space reserved for a light rail line, it is the second widest bridge, after the San Francisco-O ...
.
In June 2009, Falcon was appointed as
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
.
On November 3, 2010, Premier
Gordon Campbell
Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011.
He was the leader of the British Co ...
announced that he would step down as Premier of British Columbia once his successor was chosen. On November 30, 2010, Falcon launched his campaign for the
2011 BC Liberal Party leadership.
On December 11, the ''Vancouver Sun'' reported that Falcon's social media traffic was the highest of declared candidates. Falcon's leadership campaign focused on “returning BC to a fiscally responsible path” in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.
On February 26, 2011, Falcon narrowly lost his bid to become the Liberal leader, and the province's Premier, to
Christy Clark
Christina Joan Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a former Canadian politician who was the 35th premier of British Columbia (BC), from 2011 to 2017. Clark was the second woman to be premier of BC, after Rita Johnston in 1991, and the first female ...
by
a margin of 52%-48% in the third round of voting by party members.
Christy Clark, the new Premier, included Falcon in her new cabinet by appointing him as Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier. In August 2012, expecting the birth of his second daughter Rose, Falcon indicated he would not run in the 2013 election.
Break from politics (2013–2021)
After leaving the legislature, Falcon joined Vancouver-based Anthem Capital as their Executive Vice President. Additionally, Falcon took on a number of volunteer roles with non-profit organizations including the Canuck Place Foundation, Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and the Streetohome Foundation. He was also named as an honorary director of the Surrey Board of Trade.
Return to politics (2021–present)
BC Liberal Leader
Andrew Wilkinson announced his resignation on October 26 2020. He officially resigned on February 17 2021, triggering a year-long
BC Liberal leadership race. Falcon officially joined the race a month later. In his launch speech, Falcon committed to renaming the BC Liberal Party in consultation with members to better reflect the party's values.
On October 31, 2021, Diamond Isinger, campaign manager for fellow leadership candidate
Michael Lee, shared a statement about an "incident of sexual & personal harassment" with a Falcon campaign staffer. Insinger said she went public with her allegations "due to the lack of action taken" after addressing her concerns privately with the Falcon campaign. Falcon fired the staffer the day after Isinger's statement.
Falcon won the leadership on February 5, 2022, crossing the 50% threshold required to win on the fifth ballot.
Following Falcon's win, Andrew Wilkinson formally resigned as an MLA to free up his seat in Vancouver-Quilchena for Falcon to run. A by-election for the riding was called on April 2, 2022. Falcon won the byelection, being elected MLA for the riding.
See also
*
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia genera ...
*
2022 British Columbia Liberal Party leadership election
References
External links
Official Biography, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Kevin
1963 births
Living people
Businesspeople from British Columbia
British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs
Finance ministers of British Columbia
Health ministers of British Columbia
Canadian financial businesspeople
Canadian real estate businesspeople
Deputy premiers of British Columbia
Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia
People from North Vancouver
People from Surrey, British Columbia
Simon Fraser University alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians