Gary Collins (born August 22, 1963), known as Gary Farrell-Collins until 2001, is a former

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 a

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) of

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, representing

Fort Langley-Aldergrove Fort Langley-Aldergrove was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created for the 1991 election from the dual member Langley riding and abolished in 2017 into Langley East, Abbotsford ...

from 1991 to 1996, Vancouver-Little Mountain from 1996 to 2001, and

Vancouver-Fairview Vancouver-Fairview is a former provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada in use from 2001 to 2024. Fairview is made up of two rectangles: one bounded by Granville Street to the east, 16th Avenue ...

from 2001 to 2004. A caucus 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 ...

, he served in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

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Gordon Campbell as Minister of Finance from 2001 to 2004. He was also the chief executive officer of

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

Harmony Airways Harmony Airways was a Canadian airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. It operated holiday flights from Canada to Mexico, Hawaii and Las Vegas. Its main base was Vancouver International Airport.Flight Interna ...

from 2004 to 2006.

Biography

He was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

to Jack and Kay Collins. After moving to British Columbia, he attended the Fraser Valley College and graduated from the aviation diploma program; he went on to become a flight instructor with that institution. In addition, he studied economics and political science at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

. He ran in the 1991 provincial election as a

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 in the riding of

, and was elected MLA by a margin of 2,636 votes. For the 1996 election he moved to the riding of Vancouver-Little Mountain, and was re-elected with 50.3% of the vote. In opposition, he served as Official Opposition House Leader and held a variety of critic roles, including labour, investment and finance. With the Little Mountain riding dissolved and redistributed ahead of the 2001 provincial election, he ran in the newly established riding of

, and was re-elected by a margin of 7,813 votes. The Liberals formed government following that election, and Collins was appointed to the cabinet that June by Premier Gordon Campbell to serve as Minister of Finance; he was also named Government House Leader. For his first budget, Collins raised the

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by half a percentage point to 7.5%, and increased tobacco tax and medicare premiums; a $4.4 billion deficit was forecast for that fiscal year. He went on to announce the Liberal government's first balanced budget in 2004. In December 2004, Collins announced his decision to resign as Minister of Finance and Vancouver-Fairview MLA effective immediately, and became the CEO of

. He left that position in December 2006; the airline ceased operations a few months later. He then became a senior vice-president with Belkorp Industries, before being named president of Coastal Contacts in August 2012.

Personal life

He was first elected under the name Gary Farrell-Collins, and appeared on the ballot in the 2001 provincial election by that name. However, he was sworn in as MLA at the 37th Parliament as "Gary Collins" later that year, after dropping his former wife's last name following their divorce. He later married Wendy Cox, a reporter with

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...

. They have three children together, son Thomas, daughters Claire and Rachel.

Electoral record

References

External links

Legislative Assembly biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Gary 1963 births Living people BC United MLAs Canadian airline chief executives Canadian flight instructors Ministers of finance of British Columbia Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Moose Jaw Politicians from Vancouver 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia