Bryan Tepper is a Canadian politician who was elected to 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 ...

in the

2024 British Columbia general election The 2024 British Columbia general election was held on October 19, 2024, to elect 93 members (MLAs) of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Legislative Assembly to serve in the 43rd parliament of the Provinces and territories of Cana ...

. He represents the electoral district of Surrey-Panorama as a member of the

Conservative Party of British Columbia The Conservative Party of British Columbia, commonly known as the BC Conservatives and colloquially known as the Tories, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is the main rival to the governing British Columbia New Demo ...

Early life and career

Tepper has resided in the community of Ocean Park in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

for 2 decades with his wife Rona and their three children. He worked as a

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

police officer and was transferred to the city of Surrey in 2004. During his career, he led a watch in District 3 in Newton/Panorama. He retired by the time of the

. Beyond his professional roles, Tepper and his wife are active volunteers in multiple organizations in their community including the Ocean Park Community Association, Crescent Beach Property Owners Association, the Crescent Beach Swim Club, Surrey Orcas Water Polo, and Crescent Beach Yacht Club. During his career as an

officer he served as the treasurer of the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC). As treasurer he played an integral role in securing the right to associate for

members, paving the way for representation for

members, by winning a landmark lawsuit against the federal government.

Political career

2024 Conservative Nomination

Tepper sought the Conservative Party nomination to be a candidate in the

2017 South Surrey—White Rock federal by-election A by-election was held in the federal riding of South Surrey—White Rock in British Columbia on December 11, 2017 following the resignation of Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative MP Dianne Watts. The seat was gained for the Liberals by Gord ...

but lost to

Kerry-Lynne Findlay Kerry-Lynne Donna Findlay (born January 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for South Surrey—White Rock from 2019 to 2025, and previously represented the riding of Delta—Richmond East in the ...

. Tepper was originally nominated as the

candidate in neighbouring

Surrey-White Rock Surrey-White Rock is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. During the 2008 re-distribution of riding boundaries, Surrey-White Rock kept the majority of its existing region. Demographics ...

for the 2024 provincial election. However, after

BC United BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

abruptly ended its campaign to collaborate with the Conservatives, Tepper was moved to Surrey-Panorama to allow

Trevor Halford Trevor Halford is a Canadian politician who currently serves as member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia for the electoral district of Surrey-White Rock. First elected in the 2020 British Columbia general election as a membe ...

, the incumbent BC United to run as the party's candidate in Surrey-White Rock.

2024 Election and Conservative Leadership

On election night, he defeated

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...

incumbent Jinny Sims with 49.6% of the votes, a slim margin of 263 votes. He currently serves as the Critic for Community Safety and Integrated Services, as his time in law enforcement has provided him with invaluable insight on community safety and crime prevention.

Policy positions

Healthcare reform stands as one of Tepper's pivotal main priorities. Whether it be addressing recruitment and retention challenges, emergency room closures, or delayed patient care, his vision focuses on ensuring BC's healthcare system is robust and accessible for all British Columbians. He believes that reducing administrative burdens such as cutting

red tape Red tape is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making. The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but a ...

to enhance efficiency will make BC a more attractive place for medical professionals. As the Critic for Community Safety and Integrated Services, Tepper uses his expertise in the public safety field to forward an approach that emphasizes collaboration on agencies and integrated community services. He believes that effective drug policy should include a tough-on-crime approach to tackling the issue of

drug diversion Drug diversion is a medical and legal concept involving the transfer of a legally- prescribed controlled substance from the individual for whom it was prescribed to another person for any illicit use. The definition varies slightly among different ...

, and also must include a plan for compassionate rehabilitation. His top three priority issues are: crime and drug addiction, health care reform, and economy and affordability.

Political controversies

On March 4, 2025, amid a trade war between Canada and the US started by US president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, Tepper introduced the YouTuber Jasper Sunshine, better known as MisterSunshineBaby, to the Legislative Assembly house as a guest. The

BC NDP The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

immediately criticized the invitation of Sunshine, who has espoused

pro-Trump Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and political ideology, ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing p ...

views on his social media.

Electoral record

References

External links

*
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia profile
Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British Columbia Conservative Party MLAs Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia {{Conservative-BritishColumbia-MLA-stub