Niki Sharma is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

politician and lawyer, who was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria. Members are elected from provincial ...

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 to serve in the 42nd parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British ...

. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver-Hastings as a member of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democratic ...

(BC NDP) and serves as

Attorney General of British Columbia The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general ...

Early life and career

Born in Lethbridge,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Sharma grew up in

Sparwood Sparwood is a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the second-largest community on the Elk River. Located approximately 30 kilometres from Fernie, the District Municipality of Sparwood has approximately 4, ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

with her three sisters. Her parents immigrated from India; her father Pal ran a small business in Sparwood, while her mother Rose ran for municipal council three times without being elected. After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, she joined

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

law firm Donovan & Company in 2005, specializing in aboriginal law. Prior to her election to the legislature, Sharma served as vice-chair of the board of directors for Vancity since 2016, and Senior Oil and Gas Campaigner for

Stand.earth Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics) is a grassroots environmental organization founded in 2000. The organization protects endangered forests by transforming corporate policy and governmental laws in the United States and Canada. Stand.earth uses p ...

, an environmental organization founded in 2000.

Politics

She ran as a

Vision Vancouver Vision Vancouver is a green liberal municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election. Formation Vision was founded by former Coalition of Progress ...

candidate in the

2011 Vancouver municipal election The City of Vancouver held a municipal election on November 19, 2011, along with other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia. All local government elections were for a three-year period. The ballot elected one mayor, 10 cou ...

and was elected a commissioner of the

Vancouver Park Board The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, commonly referred to as the Vancouver Park Board, is the elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over public parks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established by sect ...

, at one point serving as chair of the board. She then ran under the Vision banner for

Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor and ten councillors elected to serve a four-year term. Monthly, a deputy mayor is appointed from among the councillors. The current ma ...

in the 2014 municipal election, but was unsuccessful. With incumbent Vancouver-Hastings Member of the Legislative Assembly

Shane Simpson Shane Lee Simpson (born 1954 or 1955) is a Canadian politician, who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. He ...

declining to run in the 2020 provincial election, Sharma was named the BC NDP candidate for the riding, and won the seat with 60.6% of the vote. On November 26, 2020, Sharma was named Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits by Premier John Horgan. On December 7, 2022, she was appointed by Premier David Eby as Attorney General of British Columbia, and therefore, automatically became a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. She became the first

South Asian Canadian South Asian Canadians are Canadians who were either born in or can trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent, which includes the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The term South A ...

woman to serve in that cabinet post.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Niki 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Women MLAs in British Columbia People from Lethbridge Politicians from Vancouver Attorneys General of British Columbia Canadian King's Counsel University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni Canadian politicians of Indian descent Canadian women lawyers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)