Rob Fleming (born November 11, 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2005 provincial election. Initially representing Victoria-Hillside, he was re-elected in subsequent elections in the renamed constituency of Victoria-Swan Lake. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), he was named to the cabinet of British Columbia in July 2017 as Minister of Education, before assuming his current post as Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure in November 2020. Prior to entering provincial politics, he was a city councillor in Victoria, British Columbia from 1999 to 2005.
In the 38th Parliament Fleming was the New Democrat critic for Advanced Education, sat on the Select Standing Committee on Education, and introduced two education-related private member bills: the Private Post-Secondary Accountability and Student Protection Act, 2007 and the Restoring Credibility to Universities Act, 2008. He was also assigned to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and introduced the Payday Lending Act, 2006 which sought to regulate the conditions of payday loans and led to the government adopting the Business Practices and Consumer Protection (Payday Loans) Amendment Act a year later.
In the 39th Parliament Fleming became the NDP's environment critic. He introduced the Cosmetic Pesticide and Carcinogen Control Act and sat on the subsequent Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides which investigated potential bans or regulations on pesticides used for cosmetic purposes. Fleming also introduced the Species at Risk Protection Act, after the government delayed a promise to review its species-at-risk legislation, and the Sustainable Development Indicators and Reporting Act, 2011 which sought to create a Sustainable Development Board to report on provincial sustainability-related indicators. Fleming sat on the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives which considered the petition seeking the repeal of the Harmonized Sales Tax.
In the 40th Parliament Fleming was appointed to be the NDP's education critic. He introduced the private member bill Youth Voter Registration Act that would have allowed provisional voter registration of people between the ages of 16 and 18, a measure that was later adopted in 2019.
Background
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Fleming and his family moved to BC when he was three years old, settling on Greater Vancouver's North Shore. In the 1988 federal election, he assisted in the New Democratic Party's campaign in the riding of Capilano—Howe Sound. From 1993 to 1995 he attended the university transfer program at Camosun College in Saanich, which later awarded him the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award. While at Camosun, Fleming served as communications coordinator for the student society.
He then enrolled in the University of Victoria (UVic), where he majored in history. As president of the UVic Students' Society, he was active in acquiring universal access to BC Transit for students through a U-Pass system. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 2002, he started work with a communication consulting business.
He met his wife Maura Parte while attending UVic; they have two children together.
Municipal politics
While still at university, he stood as a candidate for Victoria City Council in the 1999 municipal elections as a member of the Victoria Civic Electors, which ran a joint slate of seven candidates with the Green Party. Fleming finished third in voting, securing him a seat on the eight-member council. He was re-elected councillor in 2002, this time receiving the second highest vote count. He traveled to El Salvador in 2004, as part of a 13-member delegation of election observers to monitor the presidential election.