Rob Fleming

In the 38th Parliament, Fleming and chaired the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and part way through the 2nd session he was assigned to the Select Standing Committee on Education which focused on adult literacy.

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.

In the 40th Parliament Fleming was appointed to be the NDP's education critic.

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.

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.

Within a few months, former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Steve Orcherton, who had won the riding in 1996 but lost in 2001, declared his candidacy for the NDP nomination.

The primary was billed as a contest between the hard line "old-school union man" Orcherton versus the "new wave" moderate Fleming which was seen as the symbolic struggle that was occurring throughout the party.

Fleming won the NDP nomination in January and began campaigning in April for the general election.

Fleming was one of five candidates across the province who were endorsed by the Conservation Voters of British Columbia.

In the May general election Fleming defeated the incumbent BC Liberal Sheila Orr and Green Party candidate and small business owner Steve Filipovic.

Fleming resigned from his position as Victoria city councillor to become a New Democratic MLA, as part of the Official Opposition.

Prior to entering provincial politics, he was a city councillor in Victoria, British Columbia from 1999 to 2005.

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.

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.

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.

While on Victoria City Council, Fleming gained a reputation for being a "fiscally prudent democratic socialist".

He supported the legalization of secondary suites, the construction of the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (but voted against the option to have it privately operated), and amendments to bylaws to target aggressive panhandling.

As a director on the board of the Capital Regional District (CRD), Fleming was vice-chair of the CRD Housing Corporation where he advocated for an Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

He sat on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission and has advocated for transit service expansion and light rail in Greater Victoria.

He was a member of the Provincial Capital Commission and was the only member to vote against, due to concerns with the long-term lease agreement and risks involved, replacing the plant and animal conservatory Crystal Gardens with the multi-media tourist attraction, The B.C. Experience, which filed for bankruptcy protection three months after opening.

With the 2005 BC general election still a year away, Fleming declared his interest in seeking the NDP nomination in the Victoria-Hillside riding.

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.

He introduced several pieces of legislation, including the Payday Lending Act, 2006, which sought to license payday lenders and regulate the conditions of payday loans, including plain language rules, rights to cancellation, signage requirements.

While Solicitor General John Les stated he was in favour of many of the regulations, he felt the bill was premature and that changes to the federal Criminal Code were required before proceeding with such regulations, despite other provinces already having passed similar legislation.

The bill was granted first reading on May 8, 2006, but without the government support the bill was not adopted.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Born in Windsor, Ontario, Fleming and his family moved to BC when he was three years old, settling on Greater Vancouver's North Shore.