B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains not seeking re-election
After a 20-year political career, the minister plans to spend more time with family
Harry Bains was on Kwantlen's board of governors from 1993 to 1999. (Wikicommons)
B.C. Labour Minister and Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains announced he would not run again in the provincial election this fall, along with cabinet colleagues Rob Fleming and Bruce Ralston.
Bains has been working as a politician for almost 20 years after first getting elected as the NDP MLA for Surrey-Newton in 2005. Since 2017, Bains has served as the provincial minister of labour.
“I think now the time has come for me to spend more time with my loved ones who stood by me all those years,” he says.
During his career, Bains says he has achieved a lot — from advocating for workers and human rights to spearheading various reforms to ensure safer working conditions.
Like all organizations, Bains says it is important for the NDP to undergo review and renewal and make way for a younger audience with “a lot more energy and better ideas.”
“I think that is healthy for any organization, including politics,” he says.
One of the highlights Bains recounts during his time as an MLA is meeting a 90-year-old war veteran who was being evicted from his home after it was under consideration for redevelopment.
“[I remember] thinking these are the people who have built this country, they fought for this country so that we can enjoy a good life here,” he says.
“And now, for whatever reason, we’re not providing them support during the last years of their life.”
Bains was then inspired to introduce a bill to protect manufactured homeowners who are evicted without any support after a landlord decides to redevelop the homesite.
He is proud of accomplishments, which include making minimum wage in B.C. — $17.40 per hour — the highest out of all the provinces, offering five paid sick days to workers, removing roadblocks for workers to join unions, and offering employer successorship.
Bains also has a long connection to Kwantlen Polytechnic University after serving on the board of governors for Kwantlen University College from 1993 to 1999 and as vice-chair for three years.
He says the university has gone through huge transformation and progress since its beginnings as a college.
In terms of the growth of Surrey-Newton, Bains says the area has seen a number of changes from the creation of walking tracks and urgent care and senior centres to child-care facilities.
With the expansion of nursing seats, student spaces, and the construction of Simon Fraser University’s medical school — the first new one to be built in western Canada in more than 50 years — Bains says the “future looks brighter” for the Surrey-Newton community.
He plans to relax and travel after formally letting go of his duties following the election this October.
“I will be engaging in any kind of volunteer work that comes my way and continue to help my fellow citizens,” he says.
Bains also says his message is “the government matters,” and urges younger people to get involved to help make decisions that affect society.
“You want to make sure that either you are at that table making the decisions that you believe are right for us as a society, or have someone in there that you have faith in.”
Bains says education is key to maintaining equality in society and makes it easier to prepare for the challenges that come our way locally, nationally, and internationally.
“I’m very, very satisfied by the accomplishments that we have achieved together.”
