Garry Begg

Garry Begg
MLA
Campaign portrait, 2024
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia
In office
November 18, 2024 – July 17, 2025
PremierDavid Eby
Preceded byMike Farnworth
Succeeded byNina Krieger
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Surrey-Guildford
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 9, 2017
Preceded byRiding Established
Personal details
Born
Ontario[1]
PartyNew Democratic Party
SpouseVal Begg

Garry Begg is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2017, representing the electoral district of Surrey-Guildford.[2]

Biography

Born in Ontario, Begg had a 38-year career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), eight of which was spent in Surrey;[1][3] he attained the rank of inspector with the force.[4] He previously ran in the 2015 federal election as the federal New Democratic Party's candidate in Fleetwood—Port Kells,[4] but was not elected.[5]

In the 2017 provincial election, he ran in the newly established riding of Surrey-Guildford as a BC NDP candidate against Liberal Amrik Virk, also a former RCMP inspector. Begg defeated Virk to become a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia,[2][3] and served as government caucus whip in his first term.[6][7] He retained his seat in the 2020 provincial election.[8]

Begg faced a tight race against BC Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa in the 2024 election, with initial results indicating that Randhawa was leading by 103 votes.[9] After mail-in and absentee ballots were counted, Elections BC posted updated results on October 28, with Begg winning by 27 votes;[10][11] that figure was later revised to 21 votes.[12] As the margin was less than 1/500th of the total ballots cast, an automatic judicial recount was triggered.[10][11] The recount was completed on November 8, with Begg re-elected by a margin of 22 votes, allowing the NDP to hold on to a majority government.[12][13]

He was named to the Eby ministry on November 18, 2024 to serve as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.[1][7][14] He was succeeded by Nina Krieger in July 2025.[15]

He and his wife Val have two children.[1][6]

Electoral record

Provincial elections

2024 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes%
New DemocraticGarry Begg8,94746.83
ConservativeHonveer Singh Randhawa8,92546.81
GreenManjeet Singh Sahota8244.32
IndependentKabir Qurban3701.94
Total valid votes 19,066100.00
Source: Elections BC[16]
2020 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticGarry Begg10,40360.59+10.99$40,309.39
LiberalDave Hans5,13929.93−8.21$42,168.46
GreenJodi Murphy1,3457.83−1.98$1,281.64
IndependentSam Kofalt2821.64–$1,015.24
Total valid votes 17,169100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1480.85+0.14
Turnout 17,31745.69−10.07
Registered voters 37,905
Source: Elections BC[17][18]
2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes%Expenditures
New DemocraticGarry Begg9,26349.85$67,072
LiberalAmrik Virk7,01537.76$71,381
GreenJodi Murphy1,8409.90$,1838
Christian HeritageKevin Pielak4622.49$1,015
Total valid votes 18,580100.00
Total rejected ballots 1330.71
Turnout 18,71355.76
Registered voters 33,561
Source: Elections BC[19][20]

Federal elections

2015 Canadian federal election: Fleetwood—Port Kells
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalKen Hardie22,87146.90+31.24$50,601.97
ConservativeNina Grewal14,27529.27–18.56$67,464.21
New DemocraticGarry Begg10,46321.46–11.60$97,936.69
GreenRichard Hosein1,1542.37–0.20$3,625.85
Total valid votes/expense limit 48,76399.45–$206,797.64
Total rejected ballots 2690.55+0.02
Turnout 49,03265.25+12.39
Eligible voters 75,150
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +24.90
Source: Elections Canada[21][22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Honourable Garry Begg". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Saltman, Jennifer; Fumano, Dan (May 10, 2017). "B.C. Election 2017: Brar, NDP take six of nine Surrey ridings". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "ELECTION 2017: In Surrey-Guildford, 'a new sheriff in town' as retired Surrey RCMP inspector Begg wins for NDP". Surrey Now-Leader. May 10, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Charlie (July 12, 2015). "Federal NDP candidate Garry Begg appears in RCMP uniform on campaign website". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Profile - Fleetwood--Port Kells, British Columbia (2004-05-23 - )". Library of Parliament. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Garry Begg - Surrey-Guildford BC NDP". Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Zytaruk, Tom (November 18, 2024). "Two Surrey MLAS in NDP cabinet". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  8. ↑ "SURREY-GUILDFORD: NDP's Garry Begg wins again". Surrey Now-Leader. October 25, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ Zillich, Tom (October 24, 2024). "Elections BC denies request by NDP's Begg for recount in Surrey-Guildford". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "NDP poised to win majority after overturning Conservative lead in critical Surrey riding". CBC News. October 28, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  11. 1 2 Zillich, Tom (October 29, 2024). "'Surprised, pleased': NDP's Begg reacts to Surrey-Guildford win, judicial recount". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  12. 1 2 Burns, Anna (November 8, 2024). "It's official: NDP's Begg wins Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  13. ↑ "NDP majority holds with 22-vote victory in Surrey-Guildford recount". CBC News. November 8, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ "David Eby Cabinet: 2022-Present" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Oak Bay MLA moved out of jobs portfolio, Victoria MLA steps into public safety". Times Colonist. July 17, 2025. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Surrey-Guildford Judicial Recount Complete". Elections BC. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  19. ↑ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Forty-Second General Election 2015 — Poll-by-poll Results: Fleetwood—Port Kells". elections.ca. Elections Canada. 2015.
  22. ↑ Canada, Chief Electoral Officer (2015). "Candidate Campaign Returns, 2015 General Election: Part 4 – Campaign Financial Summary – Total election expenses subject to the limit". elections.ca. Elections Canada. Expenses are reported "as amended" where amendments have been filed; otherwise, they are reported "as submitted".
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.