Norm Macdonald is a Canadian politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 38th, 39th and 40th Parliament of British Columbia, from 2005 to 2017. As a member of the BC New Democratic Party, he was elected to represent the riding of Columbia River-Revelstoke in the 2005 provincial election and re-elected in the 2009 election and 2013 election. Macdonald introduced one private member bill, the British Columbia Open Mining Act, 2014 (Bill M-214), that would have amended the Mines Act to create a Public Electronic Registry to make all mine-related applications, licences, permits, and inspection reports to be publicly visible. In all those parliaments his NDP formed the official opposition and Macdonald acted as their critic on various issues, including municipal affairs, then critic for tourism, sport and arts, and then education during the 38th Parliament of British Columbia, then forests and natural resource operations in the 39th and 40th Parliaments. During the 2011 and the 2014 NDP leadership elections, Macdonald endorsed Mike Farnworth, though Adrian Dix and John Horgan became the leaders of the BC NDP.
Prior to becoming an MLA, he was principal of Nicholson Elementary School in Golden and has more than 20 years teaching experience. Macdonald was also previously a town councillor and mayor of Golden.
Background
Like his father, Macdonald worked as a teacher for most of his life. He taught at a First Nation school in Manitoba for a short time before moving to the Columbia Valley where he taught at a secondary school. Living in the small town of Golden, British Columbia, he served one term, between 1993 and 1996, as a municipal councillor and one term, between 1996 and 1999, as its mayor. He has also taught for a total of six years in Tanzania and Lesotho, Africa. Once back in British Columbia, he became the principal (as well as a teacher) at Nicholson Elementary School, a rural school south of Golden.
As the BC New Democratic Party were preparing for the up-coming 2005 provincial election, Macdonald put his name forward as a potential candidate for the Columbia River-Revelstoke electoral district. At the November 2004 nomination meeting, attended by party leader Carole James, in Windermere, Macdonald was selected, with a 75% vote, over Kimberley-resident Brent Bush to be the BC NDP candidate.
Provincial politics
With the election set for May 2005, Macdonald continued working at his teaching job while travelling on weekends to build his support network. The incumbent MLA, Wendy McMahon of the governing BC Liberals, was promoted to a ministerial position (Minister of Women's' and Seniors' Services) in December 2004 and major improvements to Kicking Horse Canyon Highway and rural roads were announced. However, Macdonald's campaign highlighted provincial services that had suffered since the 2001 election, such as the closure of several schools, the closure of the Kimberley hospital, reduced capacity at extended care facilities in Golden and Revelstoke, and the elimination of conservation officers. He also campaigned on his ability to provide better representation of local issues and was supported with campaign stops in the area, in late April, from party leader Carole James. Despite the late entrance by a Green Party candidate, who did not campaign in the riding, Macdonald won the election with over 50% of the vote, though his party lost the provincial election to the BC Liberals who formed their second majority government. Macdonald spent $38,430 on his campaign, the lowest amount of all the winning candidates.