Kevin Falcon | |
|---|---|
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| Leader of the Opposition in British Columbia | |
| Assumed office May 16, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Shirley Bond |
| Leader of BC United[1] | |
| Assumed office February 5, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Shirley Bond (interim) |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Quilchena | |
| Assumed office April 30, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Wilkinson |
| 12th Deputy Premier of British Columbia | |
| In office March 14, 2011 – September 5, 2012 | |
| Premier | Christy Clark |
| Preceded by | Colin Hansen |
| Succeeded by | Rich Coleman |
| Minister of Finance of British Columbia | |
| In office March 14, 2011 – September 5, 2012 | |
| Premier | Christy Clark |
| Preceded by | Colin Hansen |
| Succeeded by | Mike de Jong |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Cloverdale | |
| In office May 16, 2001 – April 16, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Bonnie McKinnon |
| Succeeded by | Stephanie Cadieux |
| Minister of Health Services of British Columbia | |
| In office June 10, 2009 – November 30, 2010 | |
| Premier | Gordon Campbell |
| Preceded by | George Abbott |
| Succeeded by | Colin Hansen |
| Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure of British Columbia | |
| In office January 26, 2004 – June 10, 2009 | |
| Premier | Gordon Campbell |
| Preceded by | Judith Reid |
| Succeeded by | Shirley Bond |
| Minister of State for Deregulation of British Columbia | |
| In office June 5, 2001 – January 26, 2004 | |
| Premier | Gordon Campbell |
| Succeeded by | Rick Thorpe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1963 (age 60–61)[2] West Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Political party | BC United |
| Residence | North Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Occupation | Financial executive |
Kevin Falcon is a Canadian provincial politician who is the leader of BC United and became the Leader of the Opposition in May 2022.[3] He is the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Vancouver-Quilchena, being elected in a byelection in April 2022.[4] He formerly served as the MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale as a member of the then BC Liberals from 2001 to 2013. He served as both the 12th deputy premier of British Columbia, and the province's minister of Finance.[5]
Born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Falcon worked in the insurance field after graduating from Vancouver College, an all-boys Catholic preparatory high school.[2] Falcon studied political science at Simon Fraser University (SFU). He was a member of the Young Socreds on campus while future Premier Christy Clark was also at SFU.[2]
After graduation, Falcon was part of a movement to that saw Doug McCallum upset incumbent mayor Bob Bose of the NDP-affiliated Surrey Civic Electors party in 1996, and the election to council of future mayor Dianne Watts.[2]
Falcon set up a communications consultancy, Access Group, in 1998.[2] He was a lead organizer of the "Total Recall" effort to recall a number of BC New Democratic Party MLA's in 1999.[6] [2]
Falcon became the BC Liberal nominee for Surrey-Cloverdale in 1999, defeating incumbent Bonnie McKinnon.[2] He was elected in the 2001 British Columbia general election, and re-elected in the 2005, and 2009 elections.[7]
Following the election of a Liberal majority in 2001, Falcon joined Gordon Campbell's cabinet. He was appointed to the newly-created position of Minister of State for Deregulation, where he cut "red tape" (ie, regulations that create costs or frustration for consumers and producers while providing little benefit to the public).[8][9] Falcon's reforms are credited with moving B.C. to among the best performing provinces: economic growth increased from 1.9% below the provincial average between 1994 and 2001 to 1.21% above the average between 2002 and 2006.[8][10]
In 2004, Falcon was elevated to Minister of Transportation, following the resignation of the then minister, Judith Reid, in the wake of the BC Legislature raids linked to the sale of BC Rail ("Railgate").[11] In that role he changed TransLink's governance structure to introduce a government-appointed board of professionals (engineers, accountants, etc.) to run day-to-day operations, and a council of mayors to deal with long term planning.[12] He also introduced the Gateway Program, a $3 billion regional transportation strategy for Metro Vancouver that launched the construction of the new Port Mann Bridge.[13]
In June 2009, Falcon was appointed as Minister of Health.[2]
On November 3, 2010, Premier Gordon Campbell 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.[14]
On December 11, the Vancouver Sun reported that Falcon's social media traffic was the highest of declared candidates.[15] Falcon's leadership campaign focused on “returning BC to a fiscally responsible path” in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.[16] On February 26, 2011, Falcon narrowly lost his bid to become the Liberal leader, and the province's Premier, to Christy Clark by a margin of 52% - 48% in the third round of voting by party members.
The new premier, Christy Clark, included Falcon in her cabinet, appointing him 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.[17]
After leaving the legislature, Falcon moved to North Vancouver and joined Vancouver-based Anthem Capital as their Executive Vice President.[18] 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.[19]
Falcon stayed involved in politics during this time. He endorsed Maxime Bernier in the 2017 Conservative Leadership Race.[20] Falcon worked with friend and real estate developer Ryan Beedie to raise $130,000 for Bernier in a single night - a record for the campaign at the time.[21]
BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson announced his resignation on 26 October 2020,[22] and officially resigned on 17 February 2021, triggering a year-long BC Liberal leadership race.[23] Falcon officially joined the race a month later.[24] In his launch speech, Falcon committed to renaming the BC Liberal Party in consultation with members to better reflect the party's values.[25]
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.[26]
Falcon won the leadership on February 5, 2022, crossing the 50% threshold required to win on the fifth ballot.[3] Following Falcon's win, Andrew Wilkinson formally resigned as an MLA to free up his seat in Vancouver-Quilchena for Falcon to run.[27] A by-election for the riding was called on April 2, 2022.[28] Falcon won the by-election, being elected MLA for the riding.[29]
In August 2022, Liberal MLA John Rustad drew criticism for suggesting that CO2 emissions were not contributing to climate change. Falcon fired Rustad from the BC Liberal Caucus, adding: “John Rustad does not speak on behalf of caucus on this issue.”[30] Rustad later joined the BC Conservatives and was acclaimed as their new leader in March 2023.[31]
Falcon unveiled the new BC United name and branding on April 12, 2023.[32]
Falcon lives in North Vancouver with his wife Jessica and daughters Josephine and Rose.[33]
