Selina Mae Robinson (born 1964) 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 Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

in the 2013 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Coquitlam-Maillardville as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP). She has served in the cabinet of British Columbia since 2017, currently as Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills.

Biography

Born in Montreal as Selina Dardick, she moved with her parents to Richmond, British Columbia in 1978. After graduating from Simon Fraser University with a master's degree in counselling psychology, she joined the Jewish Family Service Agency, eventually becoming its associate executive director. A resident of Coquitlam since 1994, she worked as a family therapist before entering politics as a member of Coquitlam City Council. In September 2012, Robinson announced her intention to seek the

BC NDP The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democracy, 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 feder ...

nomination for Coquitlam-Maillardville in the next provincial election; she was acclaimed the NDP's candidate for the riding in November that year. She was initially declared defeated on election night in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, with Steve Kim of the BC Liberals deemed winner by 105 votes. However, once absentee ballots were counted, she pulled ahead to win the riding by a 35-vote margin over Kim. A judicial recount confirmed Robinson's victory by a final margin of 41 votes. She served as critic for mental health and addictions, seniors, local government and sports in the NDP shadow cabinet. In the 2017 provincial election, Robinson once again faced Steve Kim, this time winning by more than 2400 votes. She was subsequently appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in the new BC NDP government under

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 governm ...

John Horgan. Following the resignation of

Jinny Sims Jinny Jogindera Sims (born June 7, 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian politician, who was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2017 provincial election in Surrey-Panorama. She previously ...

from cabinet in October 2019, Robinson briefly assumed the role of Minister of Citizens' Services, until Anne Kang took over the position in January 2020. Following her re-election in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, she was appointed Minister of Finance. After Horgan announced his retirement as premier and party leader in 2022, Robinson considered running to replace him before deciding otherwise. On December 7, 2022 she was appointed Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills by Premier David Eby.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Selina British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Women government ministers of Canada Women MLAs in British Columbia Finance ministers of British Columbia Coquitlam city councillors Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 1964 births 21st-century Canadian women politicians Female finance ministers Simon Fraser University alumni