Karin Kirkpatrick 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

2020 British Columbia general election The 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Legislative Assembly to serve in the 42nd Parliament of British Columbia, 42nd parliament of the Canadian ...

. She represented the electoral district of

West Vancouver-Capilano West Vancouver-Capilano is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, representing parts of both the municipality of West Vancouver, and neighbouring Capilano within the District of North Vancou ...

as a member of

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 ...

. She served as the Official Opposition critic for Education, Children, Family Development, and Childcare. She served as the Shadow Minister for Housing, Childcare, Autism & Accessibility, Gender Equity & Inclusion. After running as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

in 2024, Kirkpatrick founded the CentreBC provincial political party after

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 ...

refused to resign as the leader of BC United. The party was registered with

Elections BC Elections BC (formally the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia) is a non-partisan office of the British Columbia legislature responsible for conducting provincial and local elections, by-elections, petitions, referendums, p ...

on March 28, 2025.

Background

On February 8, 2024, she announced she would stand down at 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 ...

. On September 16, 2024, she announced she would re-enter the campaign as an independent, citing disapproval with

's decision to suspend the BC United campaign, and endorse the

BC Conservatives 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 ...

. In the

, she was

unseated Unseating is a political term which refers to a legislator who loses their seat in an election. A legislator who is unseated loses the right to sit in a legislative chamber. A landslide victory results in many legislators being unseated. Austral ...

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 ...

candidate Lynne Block.

Electoral record

References

21st-century Canadian women politicians BC United MLAs Politicians from West Vancouver Women MLAs in British Columbia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Female Canadian political party leaders {{BCUnited-BritishColumbia-MLA-stub