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Benjamin Richard Stewart is a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
politician, who has represented the riding of Kelowna West in the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...
from 2018 until 2024 as a member of BC United (formerly the BC Liberal Party). He previously represented the riding of Westside-Kelowna from 2009 to 2013. He was first elected in the 2009 provincial election. In the 39th Parliament, as a member of the provincial government he worked as Minister of Citizens' Services (June 2009–June 2010), Minister of Community and Rural Development (June 2010–October 2010), and Minister of Agriculture (October 2010–March 2011). On September 5, 2012, he was reappointed to cabinet as Minister of Citizens' Services and Open Government.


Background

Stewart was born and raised in
Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...
, British Columbia. His grandfather, Dick Sr., had moved to the
Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...
in 1911 where he started a nursery growing fruit and shade trees. Stewart's father Dick Jr. purchased a
West Kelowna West Kelowna, formerly known as Westside and colloquially known as Westbank, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley on the west shore of Okanagan Lake. The city encompasses several neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenros ...
vineyard in 1956 which Ben would later incorporate as
Quails' Gate Estate Winery Quails’ Gate Winery is a Canadian Winery located on the shore of Okanagan Lake in Westbank, British Columbia. Situated in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Quails’ Gate produces over 50,000 cases of wine per year. Quails’ Gate are be ...
. Along with his wife, Ruth, and brother, Tony, they began making their own wine in 1989, with bottling beginning in 1990. In the first couple of years, they were producing about 4,000 cases of wine. Sufficient demand allowed them to expand numerous times so that in 1997 they produced 28,000 cases. A $4 million expansion in 1998 increased their production to 60,000 cases. The winery specialized in
pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
s. Their tasting room and wine shop was located in an historical building, built by one of the first white settlers in the area, before being replaced with a more modern facility during their 2007 expansion. Stewart was a proponent of attracting tourism to the Okanagan, as well as promoting exports of British Columbia wine. In 2006, their local Chamber of Commerce awarded Stewart their President's Award for his efforts in promoting Okanagan businesses. The next year
Quails' Gate Estate Winery Quails’ Gate Winery is a Canadian Winery located on the shore of Okanagan Lake in Westbank, British Columbia. Situated in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Quails’ Gate produces over 50,000 cases of wine per year. Quails’ Gate are be ...
was awarded the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise's regional Family Enterprise of the Year Award. Stewart also served as the marketing chair of the BC Wine Institute, chairman of the Vintners Quality Alliance, and as a member of the UBC Okanagan Advisory Council.


Politics

In 2005, following Member of Parliament Werner Schmidt's announcement that he would not stand for re-election in the next federal election, Stewart campaigned to be the next
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...
candidate in the Kelowna—Lake Country riding. While six other candidates ran, Kelowna city councillor Ron Cannan eventually won the Conservative Party nomination and went on to win the 2006 general election. In 2008, following MLA Rick Thorpe's decision not to stand in the next provincial election, and following the re-alignment of electoral boundaries to create the Westside-Kelowna riding, Stewart sought to be the B.C. Liberal Party candidate. Only two candidates stood for the nomination: Stewart and Rick de Jong, brother of then-Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Mike de Jong. Stewart won the nomination and was the B.C. Liberal candidate in the 2009 provincial election. He campaigned on an economic platform: that the BC Liberals in power would be more beneficial for the provincial economy than a New Democrat government. Stewart won the election, with 53% of the vote, over the NDP candidate and mental health worker Tish Lakes, who received 29% of the vote and stated "I was never running against Ben Stewart. I was running against the policies of iberal leader Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals." As the 39th Parliament began, BC Premier Gordon Campbell immediately promoted Stewart to the Executive Council of British Columbia as the Minister of Citizens' Services and the Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism and the Public Affairs Bureau. As minister, Stewart was immediately thrust into the spotlight as allegations against the Public Affairs Bureau arose concerning the suppression of a report, that should have been released prior to the election, showing a 50% increase in welfare enrollments in 2009. Stewart responded with the statement that the bureau was following protocol regarding the release of information during an election campaign and that the same bureau also withheld a report showing positive job growth during the month of April 2009, a month prior to the election. In December 2009 Stewart also had to defend the Ministry of Housing and Social Development who was under investigation regarding the leak of "mailed sensitive government information to someone in the United States" Stewart stated that "We don't exactly know who this other individual is, but it's believed they could be in the United States." In his October 25, 2010 cabinet re-shuffling, Campbell promoted Stewart to Minister of Agriculture. Within the first few weeks, he toured the Peace River region, which had suffered a dry summer, and spoke about improving ministry programs like Agristability and production insurance. Shortly afterwards, he was consulted by the federal agricultural minister
Gerry Ritz Gerry Ritz (born August 19, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. He served as member of the House of Commons of Canada for Battlefords—Lloydminster from 1997 until his resignation in 2017. He served as Canada's agriculture minister from 2 ...
regarding Canada farm-disaster aid. Stewart has spoken favourably about
local purchasing Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services rather than those produced farther away. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal, "buy local" or "buy locally', that parallels the phrase " think globally, act lo ...
and considered re-establishing the "Buy B.C." program. Stewart signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Gail Shea for regulating
aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...
as a "shared responsibility". In late 2010, a comprehensive review of the Agricultural Land Commission was done and recommendations submitted to Stewart who said he would review the report and discuss with fellow cabinet ministers before making it public. In the 2011 BC Liberal Party leadership election, following Campbell's resignation, Stewart endorsed
Kevin Falcon Kevin Falcon is a Canadian provincial politician who has been the leader of BC United since 2022 and was the Leader of the Opposition from 2022 to 2024. He was the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Vancouver-Quilchena ...
, noting his approval of Falcon's "support of deregulation for businesses" and his performance as Minister of Health; however,
Christy Clark Christina Joan Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a Canadian politician who served as the 35th premier of British Columbia from 2011 to 2017. Clark was the second woman to be premier of BC, after Rita Johnston in 1991, and the first female premi ...
eventually won. Clark did not include Stewart in her first cabinet, but did appoint him Government Whip. He served on the Special Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides, the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives, as well as on the BC Liberals Priorities and Planning Committee and Legislative Review Committee. Stewart was re-elected in the 2013 provincial election. Shortly after, on June 5, he resigned his seat so that Clark, who was defeated in her own riding of Vancouver-Point Grey, could contest the seat in a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
. In October 2013, Premier Clark appointed Stewart as BC Special Representative in Asia, a position based in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. He departed the $150,000 salaried position on December 30, 2016, and the position was not re-filled. In 2018, Stewart returned to politics following Clark's resignation from the legislature and ran to succeed her in a February 14, 2018 by-election in what is now Kelowna West. Ben Stewart won the riding with 56.46% of the votes. In Opposition, he has served as the Official Opposition Critic for Housing and as the Shadow Minister for Tourism and Trade. On August 1, 2019, Stewart departed from the BC Liberal Party to sit as an independent due to a matter related to an Elections BC investigation involving him exceeding his contribution limit for the year of 2019. On October 1, 2019, he was cleared by Elections BC and rejoined the Liberal caucus.


Electoral history

, - , NDP , Tish Lakes , align="right", 5,656 , align="right", 29% , align="center", ''n/a'' , align="right", $26,122 , align="center", ''n/a'' , align="right", $1,075 , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total Valid Votes !align="right", 19,379 !align="right", 100% , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total Rejected Ballots !align="right", 107 !align="right", 0.55% , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", 19,486 !align="right", 47%


References

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External links


Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
- Honourable Ben Stewart
British Columbia Liberal Party
- Ben Stewart (Westside-Kelowna) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Ben BC United MLAs Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Politicians from Kelowna Canadian winemakers 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia