Vicki Huntington

Victoria Huntington
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Delta South
In office
May 12, 2009 – May 9, 2017
Preceded byVal Roddick
Succeeded byIan Paton
Personal details
Political partyIndependent
Residence(s)Ladner, British Columbia, Canada

Victoria "Vicki" Huntington is a Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2009 until 2017 as an independent for Delta South.

Education and early career

Huntington is a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, and has a degree in political science from the University of British Columbia. Much of her early career was spent in the RCMP, where she worked with the RCMP Security Service for most of the 1970s.[citation needed] Prior to joining the force, she was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Canadian Army Intelligence Corps (Res).[1]

Following her years with the Security Service, Huntington served as band manager for the Gitanmaax Indian Reserve in Hazelton. She later worked as a policy assistant to the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, as a member of the Nisga’a Task Group, and as vice chair of the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC) and its representative on the Provincial Treaty Negotiating Team.[1]

During her years in Ottawa, Huntington also served as executive assistant and acting chief of staff to the Solicitor General of Canada and to the Minister of National Revenue. She was also involved in various capacities with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She returned to British Columbia in 1988 as the director of the Federal Ministers’ Regional Offices at Canada Place in Vancouver.[1]

Huntington received an award from the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust for exceptional service.[1]

Political career

A resident of Ladner (Delta), British Columbia, Huntington was first elected in 1993 to Delta Municipal Council and returned to council at or near the top of the polls in the four subsequent municipal elections.[1] She declined to run again in 2008.

Huntington ran in the 2009 general election. She finished a close second in initial results on election night, with opponent Wally Oppal leading by a margin of just two votes over Huntington.[2] This result was subject to an automatic judicial recount because the margin of victory was fewer than one-500th of all votes cast. On May 26, 2009, the recount revealed that Huntington had defeated Oppal by 32 votes, to become the first independent MLA elected to the B.C. provincial legislature since the general election of 1949.[3]

Huntington was elected to a second term in the 2013 election with an increased plurality.[4] She was the first woman to be re-elected as an independent MLA in the province's history.[1]

Huntington had stated in May 2016, that she was "not ready to retire", but later changed her mind in January 2017 citing health concerns and decided not to seek a third term.[5][6]

Post-political career

Huntington endorsed Green Party candidate Peter van der Velden for Delta South in the 2020 election.[7]

Electoral record

2013 British Columbia general election: Delta South
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Independent Vicki Huntington 11,376 47.80 +5.17 $79,284
Liberal Bruce McDonald 8,721 36.65 −5.85 $107,153
New Democratic Nic Slater 3,700 15.55 +3.17 $35,818
Total valid votes 23,797 100.00
Total rejected ballots 97 0.41
Turnout 23,894 68.29
Source: Elections BC[8]
B.C. General Election 2009: Delta South
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
  Independent Vicki Huntington 9,977 42.63% $61,113
Liberal Wally Oppal 9,945 42.50%   $201,544
New Democratic Dileep Athaide 2,940 12.38% $30,486
Green Duane Laird 555 2.24% – $362
  Independent John Shavluk 60 0.26% $250
Total Valid Votes 23,477 100%
Total Rejected Ballots 69 0.29%
Turnout 23,546 68.59%
B.C. General Election 2005: Delta South
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Liberal Val Roddick 9,112 37.48% ?[1]
  Independent Vicki Huntington 8,043 33.08% $23,746
  NDP Dileep Joseph Anthony Athaide 5,828 23.97% $19,996
Green Duane Laird 1,131 4.65% – $1,500
Marijuana Julian Bellamy Wooldridge 139 0.57% $100
  Independent George Mann 58 0.24% $9,901
Total Valid Votes 24,311 100%
Total Rejected Ballots 88 0.36%
Turnout 24,399 70.81%

Family

Huntington's father Ron Huntington was elected to the House of Commons of Canada three times as a Progressive Conservative, in 1974, 1979, and 1980, representing the electoral district of Capilano on metro Vancouver's north shore. In 1979, he served as minister of state for small business in the government of Joe Clark.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Vicki Huntington | Legislative Assembly of BC". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  2. ^ "Oppal clinging to a two-vote lead". The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "Huntington defeats Oppal in B.C. election recount". cbc.ca, May 26, 2009.
  4. ^ "Delta South's Vicki Huntington is sole Independent elected". CBC News. May 14, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "Delta South MLA not ready to retire".
  6. ^ "Vicki Huntington not running again". Delta Optimist.
  7. ^ "Delta South candidates make their final push". Delta Optimist.
  8. ^ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Debates of the Legislative Assembly". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. September 3, 2009. p. 251. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.