Harry Lali
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Fraser-Nicola
In office
May 12, 2009 – May 14, 2013
Preceded byRiding established
Succeeded byJackie Tegart
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Yale-Lillooet
In office
May 17, 2005 – May 12, 2009
Preceded byDavid Chutter
Succeeded byRiding dissolved
In office
October 17, 1991 – May 16, 2001
Preceded byJames Rabbitt
Succeeded byDavid Chutter
Minister of Transportation and Highways of British Columbia
In office
February 18, 1998 – February 15, 2001
PremierGlen Clark
Dan Miller
Ujjal Dosanjh
Preceded byLois Boone
Succeeded byHelmut Giesbrecht
Merritt City Councillor
In office
December 1988 – October 17, 1991
Personal details
Born
Harbhajan Singh Lali

(1955-08-10) August 10, 1955
Jullundur, Punjab, India
Political partyBritish Columbia New Democratic Party
Residence(s)Merritt, British Columbia

Harbhajan Singh "Harry" Lali (born August 10, 1955) is a former MLA in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Biography

Lali spent eleven summers working in the forestry industry, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and South Asia Area Studies from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia, where he helped establish the Chair of Punjabi and Sikh Studies. He served one term as City Councillor in Merritt starting in 1988, and was an employment counsellor for the Merritt Outreach Program from 1986 until 1991.[1]

He is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party and the longest serving South Asian Member of a Legislative Assembly in Canadian history, surpassing his former colleague Moe Sihota in June 2010.[2][3][4]

Provincial politics

In the 1991 election he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as MLA for Yale-Lillooet, and was re-elected in 1996. Lali served as the Minister of Transportation and Highways from 1998 to 2001 under three different Premiers.[3] For the 2001 election, he chose not to run for re-election.

He returned to the Assembly by winning his riding in the 2005 election ahead of BC Liberal Party candidate Lloyd Forman and Green Party candidate Michael McLean. Lali ran again elected in the newly created riding of Fraser-Nicola in the 2009 election and was re-elected over BC Liberal Party candidate Ella Brown.

Following the party's loss in the 2009 election, Lali was one of the "baker's dozen" of MLAs who opposed NDP leader Carole James' continued leadership.[5] The caucus revolt was successful, and James resigned as leader on December 6, 2010.[6] On January 7, 2011, Lali announced he would be a candidate in the subsequent leadership election.[7] Less than a month later, Lali dropped out of the race, saying that he was unable to come up with the funds necessary to mount a credible campaign.[8]

In the 2013 election, Lali ran for re-election in his riding of Fraser-Nicola, but suffered a surprising defeat to BC Liberal candidate Jackie Tegart. Lali blamed his defeat on both a poorly-run provincial campaign, and on local NDP voters staying home because he was considered a shoo-in.[9]

On May 17, 2016, Lali announced he would run for the NDP nomination for Fraser-Nicola in a bid to reclaim his seat.[10] He was challenged by Aaron Sam, a Lower Nicola Indian Band chief. NDP leader John Horgan preferred Sam and tried to persuade Lali to drop out in his favour, but Lali declined.[11][12] Lali won the nomination but lost his re-match with Tegart.

On May 11, 2023, Lali announced he was joining BC United (formerly the BC Liberals), saying that the NDP had become focused on urban interests to the exclusion of rural issues.[13]

Electoral record

2017 British Columbia general election: Fraser-Nicola
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJackie Tegart6,59741.79−2.35$47,914
New DemocraticHarry Lali6,07338.47−1.15$51,363
GreenArthur Alexander Green2,51915.96+6.30$17,214
Social CreditMichael Henshall5963.78–$5,848
Total valid votes 15,785100.00
Total rejected ballots 690.44
Turnout 15,85464.04
Source: Elections BC[14]
2013 British Columbia general election: Fraser-Nicola
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalJackie Tegart6,00244.14+1.42$87,325
New DemocraticHarry Lali5,38839.62−9.5$79,802
GreenJohn Kidder1,3149.66+3.13$2,035
ConservativeMichael Beauclair8956.58–$2,628
Total valid votes 13,599100.00
Total rejected ballots 510.37
Turnout 13,65061.52
Source: Elections BC[15]

References

  1. ↑ "39th Parliament Members at dissolution on April 16, 2013". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  2. ↑ Guide Parlementaire Canadien. 1994. ISBN 9780921925545.
  3. 1 2 "MLA: Harry Lali". Member Biography. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  4. ↑ "Lali, longest-serving South Asian MLA". Merritt Herald. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Hunter, Justine (3 December 2010). "Baker's Dozen to give ultimatum to NDP leader". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  6. ↑ Hunter, Justine (6 December 2010). "B.C. NDP leader resigns over party infighting". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Fortems, Cam (7 January 2011). "Lali to run for Opposition leader". Kamloops Daily News. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "B.C. MLA Harry Lali drops out of NDP race". CBC.ca. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Potestio, Michael (4 May 2016). "Lali Seeking NDP Nomination". Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Roden, Barbara (26 May 2016). "Harry Lali to seek NDP nomination". Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  11. ↑ Palmer, Vaughn (24 January 2017). "Former NDP cabinet minister Lali gears up for nomination battle". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Palmer, Vaughn (3 March 2017). "Lali won't step aside for leader's choice in Fraser-Nicola". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Switching sides: Former NDP MLA joins BC United party". Global News. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Statement of Votes – 41st Provincial General Election – May 9, 2017" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
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