Paul Reitsma (born January 22, 1948) is a former member of 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 ...

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 ...

, for the electoral district of

Parksville-Qualicum Parksville-Qualicum is the name of a provincial electoral district in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. It was first contested in the 1991 British Columbia general election, 1991 election. Following ...

. He was born in 1948 in the

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. Reitsma served as the mayor of Port Alberni and Parksville, British Columbia, Parksville, prior to his move to provincial politics. Reitsma was elected in the 1996 British Columbia general election, 1996 BC provincial election for the British Columbia Liberal Party, BC Liberals, defeating New Democratic Party of British Columbia incumbent Leonard Krog. In early 1998, Reitsma was accused of astroturfing, writing letters to newspapers under assumed names, praising himself and attacking his political opponents. A Parksville newspaper had asked a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police handwriting expert to compare a sample of Reitsma's handwriting to that of letters to the editor submitted by a "Warren Betanko", and then ran a story entitled "MLA Reitsma is a liar and we can prove it". Reitsma was ejected from the BC Liberal caucus although he chose to remain as a member of the BC Legislative Assembly. However, he resigned his legislative seat on June 23, 1998, when it appeared that a recall election, recall petition led by proponent Mark Allan Robinson had enough signatures from the electorate to recall him (thus result in a by-election to elect a new MLA).

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reitsma, Paul Dutch emigrants to Canada British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Mayors of places in British Columbia People from Parksville, British Columbia People from Port Alberni 1948 births Living people