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Niki Sharma

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The Honourable
Niki Sharma
KC MLA
Attorney General of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2022
PremierDavid Eby
Preceded byMurray Rankin
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Vancouver-Hastings
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 24, 2020
Preceded byShane Simpson
Personal details
Born1979 or 1980 (age 44–45)[1]
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada[2]
Political partyNew Democratic
Other political
affiliations		Vision Vancouver (municipal)
Residence(s)Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Alberta
ProfessionLawyer

Niki Sharma KC MLA is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver-Hastings as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP)[3] and serves as Attorney General of British Columbia.[4]

Early life and career

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Born in Lethbridge, Alberta,[2] Sharma grew up in Sparwood, British Columbia with her three sisters.[5][6] Her parents immigrated from India; her father Pal ran a small business in Sparwood, while her mother Rose was is a botanist by trade ran for municipal council three times without being elected.[7][8]

After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law,[7] she joined Vancouver law firm Donovan & Company in 2005, specializing in aboriginal law.[2][9] Prior to her election to the legislature, Sharma served as vice-chair of the board of directors for Vancity since 2016,[10] and Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner[11] for Stand.earth, an environmental organization founded in 2000.[12]

Politics

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She ran as a Vision Vancouver candidate in the 2011 Vancouver municipal election and was elected a commissioner of the Vancouver Park Board,[2] at one point serving as chair of the board.[8] She then ran under the Vision banner for Vancouver City Council in the 2014 municipal election, but was unsuccessful.[1]

With incumbent Vancouver-Hastings Member of the Legislative Assembly Shane Simpson declining to run in the 2020 provincial election, Sharma was named the BC NDP candidate for the riding,[13][14] and won the seat with 60.6% of the vote.[15] On November 26, 2020, Sharma was named Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits by Premier John Horgan.[16]

On December 7, 2022, she was appointed by Premier David Eby as Attorney General of British Columbia, and therefore, automatically became a King's Counsel. She became the first South Asian Canadian woman to serve in that cabinet post.[7]

In 2023, the bereavement counselling group Moms Stop the Harm wrote to Niki Sharma requesting a forensic audit into the recovery industry due to an untracked number of deaths and number of other recent abuses occurring at their sites [17][18]

In 2024, Attorney General Sharma and the BC NDP unsuccessfully tried to appeal an injunction against Bill 34, The Restricting Public Consumption Act; notably, their team provided no evidence on how the injunction could be causing harm[19]

Electoral record

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2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Niki Sharma 13,362 60.56 +0.58 $23,640.61
Green Bridget Burns 4,312 19.54 +1.87 $3,816.71
Liberal Alex Read 3,885 17.61 −3.88 $4,639.54
Libertarian Gölök Z Buday 321 1.45 – $550.68
Communist Kimball Cariou 184 0.83 −0.03 $123.40
Total valid votes 22,064 100.00 –
Total rejected ballots 192 0.86 +0.08
Turnout 22,256 51.37 −8.22
Registered voters 43,322
New Democratic hold Swing −0.65
Source: Elections BC[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Uechi, Jenny (2014-10-15). "Vision candidate Niki Sharma strives to make history as first South Asian woman on city council". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  2. ^ a b c d Uechi, Jenny (2011-11-16). "Meet Vision Vancouver park board candidate Niki Sharma". Vancouver Observer. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  3. ^ Charlie Smith, "B.C. NDP extends footprint over Vancouver, racking up huge gains since Gordon Campbell led B.C. Liberals". The Georgia Straight, October 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "B.C. Premier David Eby unveils new cabinet with Niki Sharma, Katrine Conroy and Ravi Kahlon in top posts". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  5. ^ "MLA: Hon. Niki Sharma". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  6. ^ "Sparwood's Niki Sharma named B.C.'s Attorney General". e-know.ca (East Kootenay News Online Weekly). December 8, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  7. ^ a b c DeRosa, Katie (December 9, 2022). "Niki Sharma will draw on lessons learned as a young girl in Sparwood in new role as B.C.'s Attorney General". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Charlie (2019-03-24). "Former park board chair Niki Sharma delivers stirring speech against racism after winning award in Surrey". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  9. ^ Hui, Stephen (2014-02-26). "Park board chair Niki Sharma seeks Vision Vancouver nomination for council". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  10. ^ Charlie Smith, "Vancity postpones election to its board of directors and plans "virtual" annual general meeting". The Georgia Straight, April 6, 2020.
  11. ^ Cleaveland, Virginia (July 7, 2020). "Stand.earth welcomes influential staff, board members to its organization" (Press release). Stand.earth. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  12. ^ Rob Shaw, "B.C. NDP's top staffer set to fight lawyer backed by MLAs for Vancouver-Hastings nomination". Vancouver Sun, September 9, 2020.
  13. ^ Shaw, Rob (2020-09-08). "B.C. NDP's top staffer set to fight lawyer backed by MLAs for Vancouver-Hastings nomination". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  14. ^ "BC NDP candidates announced following nomination contests". British Columbia New Democratic Party. 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  15. ^ Zussman, Richard; Little, Simon (2020-10-24). "B.C. election 2020: Vancouver-Hastings results". Global News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  16. ^ Lindsay, Bethany (2020-11-26). "New faces join B.C.'s new cabinet, while stalwarts stay on in key roles". CBC News. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  17. ^ Moms Stop The Harm (23 November 2023). "Moms Stop the Harm Call for Forensic Audit into Private Recovery Industry, Ties to BC United". The Mainlander.
  18. ^ "Moms Stop the Harm demands probe into B.C. funding of private drug recovery programs". CTV News. 23 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Denial of Appeal in BC court of appeal: Full ruling" (PDF).
  20. ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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