Colin Hansen (born 1952) is a former politician in the Canadian province of

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 ...

. He served as member of 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 1996 to 2013, representing the electoral district of Vancouver-Quilchena. As a member of the

British Columbia Liberal Party 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 ...

caucus, he served in a variety of cabinet posts while that party was in power, including as the 11th Deputy Premier from June 2009 to March 2011, and twice as the province's Minister of Finance.

Early life and education

Hansen was born and raised in the city of

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. Port Alberni currently has a total popu ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

in 1975. He served as vice-president of finance and administration for the

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), created by an Act of Parliament in 1984, is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank on Canada's relations with Asia. Based in Vancouver, with a secondary office in Toronto, APF Canada funct ...

, before founding

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based promotional products company Image Group with his wife Laura in 1988.

Political career

Running for the

, Hansen was first elected to the

in the 1996 provincial election to serve in the riding of Vancouver-Quilchena. He was re-elected

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 Vancouver-Quilchena in the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

elections. While the Liberals formed the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

between 1996 and 2001, Hansen served as critic for health, employment and investment, and labour. Following the Liberals' landslide win in 2001, Hansen was named to

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Gordon Campbell's cabinet as Minister of Health Services in June 2001, before taking over as Minister of Finance in December 2004. He was then named Minister of Economic Development and Minister responsible for Asia-Pacific Initiative and the Olympics in June 2005, before resuming his post as Minister of Finance in 2008 in the wake of Carole Taylor's resignation. With the Liberals forming government again in 2009, he retained his portfolio in finance, and in addition was named Deputy Premier. He added Minister Responsible for Small Business to his portfolio on October 25, 2010, before being additionally appointed as Minister of Health Services on November 30 that year. On March 30, 2010, Hansen introduced legislation to bring in the

harmonized sales tax The harmonized sales tax (HST) is a consumption tax in Canada. It is used in provinces where both the federal goods and services tax (GST) and the regional provincial sales tax (PST) have been combined into a single value-added tax. Jurisdict ...

(HST), replacing the previously separate 5% federal goods and services tax and 7% provincial sales tax. However, the proposal was met with strong opposition from most members of the public. Facing low approval ratings, Campbell announced his intention to resign as Premier and Liberal leader on November 3, 2010. Hansen threw his support behind

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 ...

in the ensuing Liberal leadership election, which was won by

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 ...

in 2011; she did not name Hansen to a cabinet post. In September 2012, Hansen announced he would not seek re-election as Vancouver-Quilchena MLA in the 2013 provincial election.

Post-politics

After politics, Hansen served from 2014 to 2019 as the president of AdvantageBC, a non-government organization dedicated to promoting British Columbia as a place for international business. He continues to sit on the board of AdvantageBC following his term as president. He serves on several not-for-profit boards including serving as Chair of the Fraser Basin Council, Honorary Governor of the Vancouver Foundation, Arthritis Research Canada, Jack Austin School of Asia Pacific Business Studies and the Canada-Japan Society. Hansen has participated on a politics panel for CBC Vancouver's radio show ''CBC Early Edition''.

References

External links

Colin Hansen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Colin 1952 births Living people Ministers of finance of British Columbia Businesspeople from Vancouver BC United MLAs Ministers of health of British Columbia Canadian people of Norwegian descent Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Port Alberni Politicians from Vancouver University of Victoria alumni Deputy premiers of British Columbia 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia