Marc Dalton
MP
Dalton in 2020
Member of Parliament
for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge
Assumed office
October 21, 2019
Preceded byDan Ruimy
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Maple Ridge-Mission
In office
May 12, 2009 – May 9, 2017
Preceded byRandy Hawes
Succeeded byBob D'Eith
Personal details
Born (1960-06-03) June 3, 1960
CFB Baden–Soellingen, Germany
Political partyConservative
Other political
affiliations		BC Liberal (provincial)
Residence(s)Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

Marc Dalton MP is a Canadian politician. He is the current Conservative Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge after the 2019 Canadian federal election. He was a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia following the 2009 and 2013 provincial elections for the riding of Maple Ridge-Mission.

Biography & Personal Life

Marc Dalton was born in the Canadian Forces Base of Baden-Soellingen in Germany. His father served in the Royal Canadian Armed Forces, and he spent much of his childhood traveling and living between different bases throughout Canada. Marc is Cree Metis on his father’s side and French Canadian on his mother’s. He is a member of Metis Nation BC. He has 5 other siblings and is the oldest of the group. In his early teenage years Marc’s family settled in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows region of British Columbia. Growing up Marc enjoyed playing sports and was a member of the student council team while in High school.

Marc went on to study at Simon Fraser University, where he obtained his Bachelor in French and History and his Master’s in Educational Leadership. Marc is a firm believer in helping the less fortunate and he actively participated in building and supporting communities in his area. At the age of 16 he volunteered with a non-profit evangelical organization that supported communities in Central America and Canadian inner cities. Through his time working with communities in Central America he learned Spanish, making him trilingual in French, English and Spanish.

Marc’s Christian faith is another important aspect of his personal life and after completing his education Marc took on the call to become a Pastor and served in the Vancouver area for a period of time. Prior to entering politics Marc married his wife Marlene and raised three children, while working as a teacher. Marc taught at both the elementary and high school levels in the 42nd Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District. He worked as a teacher for 17 years and taught primarily French Immersion and Socials Studies. He also served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves shortly after graduating and is a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.[1]

Political career

In 2009, Dalton took a break from teaching and ran as an MLA for the Maple Ridge – Mission region. He went on to win and represented the district for two complete terms as a BC Liberal. As an MLA Marc served as a Parliamentary Secretary for independent schools and was a member of the ‘Experience the Fraser’ steering committee, which was a trails and tourism project. As an MLA he also served as the Parliamentary Secondary to the Minister of Aboriginal Relations.

After getting re-elected in 2012, Marc advocated for renaming the BC Liberals, as he argued it was confusing for voters who may not know that it was a centre-right Party. He reasoned that federal Conservative voters might have a hard time voting for the BC Liberals even though they share much of the same values.  

In 2015, Marc ran for the Federal Conservative Nomination of Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadow where he lost to the long-time Conservative MP Randy Kamp. After the nomination he returned to the BC Liberals where he served as a backbench member until 2017. In 2019, Marc ran again in the federal election for the Conservative Party, this time winning and beating out the Liberal candidate Dan Ruimy by over 3000 votes. As a member of 43rd Parliament, Marc served as a Member of the Covid-19 Pandemic Committee, Public Safety and National Security Committee and the Official Languages Committees. He is also a member of numerous Parliamentary Associations and Interparliamentary Groups. Marc was re-elected again in 2021 and still serves as a member of the Official Languages Committee but now also serves as the Chair of the BC Caucus. While in office Marc has been vocal and actively involved in legislation focused on reducing the Carbon Tax.

Controversies

While running in the 2009 British Columbia general election, an email written to a colleague from 1996 while Dalton was a schoolteacher was released by the NDP due to "homophobic comments", according to MLA Spencer Herbert.[2] The email was a response to concerns over overreach in proposed policy changes to address bullying in which Dalton wrote:

"I am not against homosexuals as people, but I do not support their lifestyle choices. I believe homosexuality is a moral issue. Most of us agree on many morals: respect, honesty, kindness.”[3]

Dalton released an apology, stating he didn't intend to be offensive or hurtful.[4]

In his capacity as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton crafted a tweet met with controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on April 13, 2020.[5] In his post, Dalton stated regarding seniors, "Most deaths are in care homes where average life expectancy is 2 yrs & 65% usually pass in the 1st yr. Time to start moving Canada back to work?" The post was removed after being up for several minutes. When questioned about the incident by media organizations, Dalton's office responded with the following, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the hundreds of Canadians who have lost loved ones because of COVID-19. I personally have an uncle in a care home who I love dearly who has contracted coronavirus."

On January 3, 2020, as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton retweeted an opinion column from The Washington Examiner on Twitter titled, "The transgender movement’s message for girls: Your privacy concerns are bigotry" "[6] Dalton defended his re-posting of the article stating he's not pushing the issue aggressively, but spoke about it previously when he was MLA. “It’s concerning for women and for children and young girls to be in a place where there’s someone undressing right in front of them with male genitalia. ... it has to work for everybody,” Dalton said.[7]

Political Positions

Drug Decriminalization Policy in BC

Marc was a vocal critic of the Decriminalization Drug Policy introduced by the Trudeau Government in 2020. He highlighted that the province of British Columbia already has the highest rate of overdose and that allowing easier access and loosening enforcement on hard drugs will not help the situation. Since the policy was implemented the province of BC has seen an increase in deadly overdoses according to data provided by the BC Government.

MAiD

Marc has taken a strong stance against the expansion of Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) to Include those suffering solely from Mental Health. He believes that allowing those suffering from mental health issues to become eligible for MAiD is the wrong approach to the Mental health crisis as it provides a long-term solution to a short-term problem. Marc believes investing more resources into mental health support and recovery systems is a safer alternative.

Conversion Therapy

On June 22, 2021, Dalton along with 61 other Conservative caucus members and one independent voted against Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy).[8] This bill, if fully passed, would criminalize the act conducting conversion therapy on LGBTQ2+ individuals, even if they have consented to it.

Carbon Tax

On numerous occasions in the 44th Parliament, Marc has spoken in the House of Commons to contest and censure the carbon tax introduced by the Liberal Government in 2018. He cites that as the driving force behind the inflation and the increased cost of living. He wants to repeal the policy in order to reduce the cost of living.

LGBTQ

In 2014 as an MLA, Dalton voted against[9] an amendment to the Vital Statistics Act[10] that would allow transgender or gender non-binary individuals to change registered sex designation from their sex assigned at birth to reflect their gender identity.[11][12]

Electoral record

Federal

2021 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeMarc Dalton19,37136.7+0.5
New DemocraticPhil Klapwyk16,86931.9+8.0
LiberalAhmed Yousef13,17924.9-4.8
People'sJuliuss Hoffmann2,8005.3+4.0
IndependentSteven William Ranta4530.9±0.0
RhinocerosPeter Buddle1610.3N/A
Total valid votes 52,83399.5
Total rejected ballots 2780.5
Turnout 53,11164.4
Eligible voters 82,495
Conservative hold Swing -3.8
Source: Elections Canada[13]
2019 Canadian federal election: Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeMarc Dalton19,65036.23+4.84$89,237.08
LiberalDan Ruimy16,12529.73-4.15none listed
New DemocraticJohn Mogk12,95823.89-5.73$24,526.92
GreenAriane Jaschke4,3327.99+3.77$3,184.96
People'sBryton Cherrier6981.29–none listed
IndependentSteve Ranta4680.86-0.00$969.02
Total valid votes/expense limit 54,23199.45
Total rejected ballots 2980.55+0.32
Turnout 54,52967.74-4.22
Eligible voters 80,494
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +4.50
Source: Elections Canada[14][15][16]
2006 Canadian federal election: Burnaby—New Westminster
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticPeter Julian17,39138.79+4.21$71,414
LiberalMary Pynenburg13,42029.93-2.59$74,580
ConservativeMarc Dalton12,36427.58-0.05$70,006
GreenScott Janzen1,6543.68-0.04$1,149
Total valid votes 44,829100.0  
Total rejected ballots 1440.32-0.20
Turnout 44,97360.09+1.14
New Democratic hold Swing +3.40

Provincial

2017 British Columbia general election: Maple Ridge-Mission
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticBob D'Eith10,98941.94+2.13$68,144
LiberalMarc Dalton10,66440.70−5.89$59,214
GreenPeter Pak Chiu Tam3,46413.22+5.01$9,786
ConservativeTrevor Hamilton9353.57−1.80
LibertarianJeff Monds1480.57–
Total valid votes 26,200100.00
Total rejected ballots 1280.49
Turnout 26,32861.69
Registered Voters 42,678
Source: Elections BC[17]
2013 British Columbia general election: Maple Ridge-Mission
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMarc Dalton10,32746.59+0.87
New DemocraticMike Bocking8,82039.81–5.58
GreenAlex Pope1,8188.21+1.01
ConservativeChad Thompson1,1905.37–
Total valid votes 22,155100.00
Total rejected ballots 1520.68
Turnout 22,30757.91
Source: Elections BC[18]
B.C. General Election 2009 Maple Ridge-Mission
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalMarc Dalton8,80245.72%
  NDP Mike Bocking 8,738 45.39%
GreenMichael Gildersleeve1,3877.20%–
ReformIan Vaughan3251.69%
Total 19,252 100.00%

See also

References

  1. ↑ "BCLASS-Legacy". www.leg.bc.ca.
  2. ↑ NDPs Spencer Herbert calls for the resignation of Marc Dalton via Wayback Machine archived April 30, 2009, accessed October 11, 2019
  3. ↑ Marc Dalton 1996 email via Wayback Machine archived April 30, 2009, accessed October 11, 2019
  4. ↑ "Liberal candidate Marc Dalton apologizes for homophobic email".
  5. ↑ "Tory MP notes 'most' pandemic deaths are in care homes, asks if it's time to reopen economy | CBC News".
  6. ↑ "The transgender movement's message for girls: Your privacy concerns are bigotry". Washington Examiner. November 21, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Maple Ridge MP retweets column on transgender change rooms and 'bigotry'". Maple Ridge News. January 3, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Vote #175 on June 22nd, 2021 | openparliament.ca". openparliament.ca. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Marc Dalton voting record 2014 on Miscellaneous statutes amendment act, Nay to section 115". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Vital Statistics Act". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Vital Statistics Act". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  12. ↑ "BCLASS-Legacy see section 115, amendment to vital statistics act". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  13. ↑ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  14. ↑ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Candidate Campaign Returns". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  17. ↑ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
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