Charles Puchmayr (born 1953 or 1954) is a retired

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 served as

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

from 2005 to 2009, as part of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party 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 ...

(BC NDP) caucus.

Biography

Prior to his election to the legislature, Puchmayr was a city councillor in

from 1996 to 2005. He was involved in the founding of the New Westminster Food Bank and the Unemployment Action Centre, and served as director for the Westminster Legal Services Society. At the 2005 provincial election, Puchmayr ran as the BC NDP candidate in the riding of

, and defeated incumbent

BC Liberal 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 ...

candidate

Joyce Murray Joyce Catherine Murray (born July 11, 1954) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons as a member of the Liberal Party from 2008 until 2025. She was re-elected in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd, ...

. He served as the NDP's labour critic in the 38th Parliament. He disclosed his liver cancer diagnosis in January 2009, and announced that he would not run in that May's provincial election. He received a liver transplant in the same month, and served out the remainder of his term as MLA. Puchmayr returned to New Westminster City Council in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

following a successful run for councillor, and was re-elected in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. He ran for mayor of the city in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, but came in third place behind winner Patrick Johnstone and runner-up Ken Armstrong; he subsequently announced his retirement from politics.

Electoral record

Provincial

Municipal

References

External links

Profile
at 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 ...

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 1950s births British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs New Westminster city councillors Politicians from New Westminster 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Liver transplant recipients {{NDP-BritishColumbia-MLA-stub