Robin Austin, 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 ...

businessman and former politician. Austin served as the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

MLA for Skeena in the province of

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, ...

. Austin was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election. Austin was re-elected in the 2009 election. He declined to seek re-election in 2017.

Life history

Austin was born in London, England on April 9, 1958, but at the age of six weeks he returned with his family to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, where he remained until he was ten years old. At age ten he was sent to a British boarding school, because his father, who worked for an international company in the resource industry, moved the family frequently, and they wanted him to have some stability in his schooling. After graduating, he attended

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

where he received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with a specialization in hotel management. His first job out of university was at a hotel on

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles ( ...

, in the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

. It was there that Austin met his wife Colleen, who was from

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

. It wasn't long before they fell in love and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where Austin worked for The Four Seasons, Hilton, and Renaissance Hotels. After several years in Toronto, Colleen began to miss the West Coast, so they decided to return to British Columbia, and make a life in Victoria. It was here that their son, Graeme, was born. While living in Victoria, Robin opened Camille's Restaurant. When Graeme was only a year old Austin was offered a position as catering manager at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. He took the job and the family moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

where they stayed from 1990 to 1995. It was in 1995 that the couple decided to try life in a smaller city, believing that it would offer their son the opportunity to grow up in a more healthy environment than either Vancouver or Victoria could offer. After much deliberation, the two of them finally decided to move to

Terrace, British Columbia Terrace is a city located near the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The community is the regional retail and service hub for the northwestern portion of British Columbia. With a current population of over 12,000 within municipal boundarie ...

. Austin initially began working at the Terrace Best Western Hotel as food service manager, but within six weeks he had been promoted to relief manager. This position continued until 1999, when he was laid off due to the overall economic downturn in the area. Consequently, Austin decided to return to school, choosing to complete a Bachelor of Social Work from the

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a small, research-intensive public university in British Columbia, Canada. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Quesnel, and ...

. Soon after moving to Terrace, Robin and Colleen decided to become

foster parents Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family memb ...

, and when Graeme was only six years old they began caring for another child, who was eight. They have continuously cared for foster children since then, many of them teenagers of first nations descent. Austin also connects with his supporters through Facebook.

Political beginnings

Austin's decision to go into politics was partially motivated by his belief that the BC Liberal government had a lack of concern for people in the Northwest who were affected by the economic downturn at the beginning of the millennium. Having lost his own job because of a sagging economy linked to the softwood lumber dispute and low commodity prices, Austin was frustrated by the province's lack of support for economic development in the North. As a result, in 2004 he sought the BC NDP nomination for the Skeena constituency. He won the nomination after three ballots, and stood as the NDP candidate, narrowly winning the 2005 election. On May 12, 2009, Austin was re-elected winning with the clear majority.

Fisheries

Austin is the Fisheries Critic for the NDP shadow cabinet. As chair of the

Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

, Robin has travelled extensively through the province, listening to concerns about the social, economic and environmental impacts of aquaculture. Members of Austin's constituency depend on a healthy wild

salmon run ''Salmon Run'' is a 1982 video game for the Atari 8-bit family created by Bill Williams and distributed via the Atari Program Exchange. ''Salmon Run'' was the first game in Williams's career, followed by a string of successes noted for their o ...

for tourism, and for both sport and commercial fishing. Consequently, the large body of evidence suggesting that open net fish farms may lead to a decline in the population of wild salmon in river and ocean systems where they are located has led to widespread antagonism towards open net fish farming in Northern British Columbia, and particularly in the Skeena area. The Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture, which was chaired by Austin, tabled its final report in May 2007. The report included 55 recommendations on how to manage the British Columbia

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

industry in a way that was both economically feasible and environmentally responsible. The report drew widespread criticism from the aquaculture industry because it called for the industry to move to ocean-based closed containment within five years. According to the report, open net fish farms may contribute to the decline of wild

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

populations through the spread of parasitic

sea lice Sea lice (singular: sea louse) are copepods (small crustaceans) of the family Caligidae within the order Siphonostomatoida. They are marine ectoparasites (external parasites) that feed on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host fish. Th ...

and diseases from the farmed fish to migrating salmon fry. The industry claims that moving to closed-containment is tantamount to ending finfish aquaculture off the British Columbia coast.

Electoral record

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NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

, Robin Austin , align="right", 5,865 , align="right", 50.77 , align="right", +2.47 , align="right", $68,501 ,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, Michael Brousseau , align="right", 893 , align="right", 7.73 , align="right", , align="right", $6,594 , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Total Valid Votes !align="right", 11,553 !align="right", 100% , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Total Rejected Ballots !align="right", 64 !align="right", 0.7% , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Turnout !align="right", 11,617 !align="right", 55% , - ,

, Robin Austin , align="right", 6,166 , align="right", 48.12% , align="right", , align="right", $56,311 , - , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Total Valid Votes !align="right", 12,813 !align="right", 100% , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Total Rejected Ballots !align="right", 89 !align="right", 0.7% , - style="background:white;" ! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3", Turnout !align="right", 12,902 !align="right", 63%

External links

Robin's NDP Caucus PageRobin's Flickr Picture Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Robin 1958 births British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Living people Alumni of the University of Strathclyde University of Northern British Columbia alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians