Val Anderson (1929–2006) was 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, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was first 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 1991 general election, as a candidate of the BC Liberal Party, and reelected in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. In his youth, Anderson was a member of the Saskatchewan Older Boys' Parliament (now the Saskatchewan Youth Parliament). He earned a

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 ...

degree from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

from St. Andrew's College. He has a Master of

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and has completed two years on a doctoral program at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

School of

. Prior to serving as a

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. S ...

(MLA), Anderson was a minister in the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

and a former professor at the Vancouver School of Theology. He was coordinator and editor of Canadian Multi Faith Action. Anderson was active in community work. He was the founding chair of the

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 ...

Food Bank and the Pacific Youth and Family Addiction Service Society. He received the Good Neighbour Award in 1990, along with honors from the Social Justice Foundation of BC. When first elected, Anderson served as the Deputy Critic for Social Services. He served on the Government Caucus Committee on Communities & Safety, the Legislative Select Standing Committees on Aboriginal Affairs and Health, and the Multicultural Committee. He had previously served as a member of the Legislative Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct. Anderson died on 30 March 2006 after a long battle with bowel cancer.

References

External links

Val Anderson Biography
1929 births 2006 deaths British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Canadian people of Norwegian descent Deaths from colorectal cancer Members of the United Church of Canada Politicians from Saskatoon 21st-century Canadian politicians {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub, Anderson, Val