Gavin Dew (born January 1st, 1984) 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 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of

Kelowna-Mission Kelowna-Mission is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. Demographics Geography As of the 2020 provincial election, Kelowna-Mission comprises the southeastern portion of the Regional Dist ...

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

Dew was born and raised in British Columbia. He currently resides 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 ...

with his wife, Erin, and their two children. He first moved to

in 2023 when he opened Play Area, a childcare facility and indoor playground serving young families in the Okanagan, with his wife who has a background working with children on the

autism spectrum Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

. They previously operated a childcare centre in

East Vancouver East Vancouver (also called East Van or the East Side) is a region within the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Geographically, East Vancouver is bordered to the north by Burrard Inlet, to the south by the Fraser River, and to the ea ...

. Dew holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and an MBA from

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, specializing in corporate social responsibility. He is also deeply involved in his community serving on both boards of the Business Council of BC and Resource Works, an organization committed to responsible resource development. Dew was also the director of external relations at the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. In addition, he has served in governance roles for organizations including the

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public undergraduate degree-granting polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institutions b ...

, and Community Futures, a rural small business lender. Dew also volunteers as an advisor to Arthritis Canada and is the chair of the board for the Veterans Transition Network, which is a national mental health charity that played a crucial role evacuating Afghan

interpreters Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

who were at risk due to the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

. Dew was named by

Business in Vancouver ''Business in Vancouver'' (''BIV'') is a weekly business news journal co-founded in 1989 by Peter Ladner in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Published on Tuesdays it receives about 62,000 readers per week with a print circulation of about 1,8 ...

a "Forty under 40" for his leadership and community efforts. Dew's career has spanned two decades with experience in business, public policy, and technology. He has played roles in building public understanding for complex policies and projects across Canada on topics of affordable housing, energy infrastructure, and tech clusters. He recently served as Chief Strategy Officer for a $5 billion agricultural innovation and food security project in BC.

Political career

Formerly a member of the BC Liberal Party, Dew was involved in the campaigns of

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 ...

and Michael Lee for party leadership 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 ...

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 ...

respectively, and served as campaign manager for West Vancouver-Capilano

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) Ralph Sultan in the 2013 provincial election. He was also a director of the

Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist British Columbia CCF, Co-operative Commonwe ...

, a municipal political party in

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 ...

. After Jenny Kwan announced she would be resigning as MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant to stand in the 2015 federal election, Dew was nominated as the Liberal candidate for the ensuing by-election, held on February 2, 2016; he came in third behind

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate Melanie Mark and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidate

Pete Fry Pete Fry is a Canadian politician and business owner in Vancouver, British Columbia, who has served as councillor on the Vancouver City Council since 2018. He is a member of the Green Party of Vancouver. Owner of a graphics and communications ag ...

. He also ran in the 2022 Liberal leadership election, where he was eliminated on the third ballot with 6.01% of the vote. In August 2024, he secured the nomination BC Conservative candidate for

in August 2024 after also being approached by the BC NDP. He went on to win his seat in the Legislative Assembly of BC during that October's provincial election with 51.5% of the votes. Dew was named the opposition critic for jobs, economic development and innovation for the Conservative Party of BC's shadow cabinet in November 2024 where he currently serves.

Early life and career

Political career

Electoral record

References

See also