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Garry Begg

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The Honourable
Garry Begg
MLA
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 18, 2024
PremierDavid Eby
Preceded byMike Farnworth
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Surrey-Guildford
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 9, 2017
Preceded byRiding Established
Personal details
BornOntario[1]
Political partyNew Democratic Party
SpouseVal Begg

Garry Begg is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2017, representing the electoral district of Surrey-Guildford.[2] A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) caucus, he was named to the cabinet of Premier David Eby in 2024 as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

Biography

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Born in Ontario, Begg had a 38-year career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), eight of which was spent in Surrey;[1][3] he attained the rank of inspector with the force.[4] He previously ran in the 2015 federal election as the federal New Democratic Party's candidate in Fleetwood—Port Kells,[4] but was not elected.[5]

In the 2017 provincial election, he ran in the newly established riding of Surrey-Guildford as a BC NDP candidate against Liberal Amrik Virk, also a former RCMP inspector. Begg defeated Virk to become a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia,[2][3] and served as government caucus whip in his first term.[6][7] He retained his seat in the 2020 provincial election.[8]

Begg faced a tight race against BC Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa in the 2024 election, with initial results indicating that Randhawa was leading by 103 votes.[9] After mail-in and absentee ballots were counted, Elections BC posted updated results on October 28, with Begg winning by 27 votes;[10][11] that figure was later revised to 21 votes.[12] As the margin was less than 1/500th of the total ballots cast, an automatic judicial recount was triggered.[10][11] The recount was completed on November 8, with Begg re-elected by a margin of 22 votes, allowing the NDP to hold on to a majority government.[12][13]

He was named to the Eby ministry on November 18, 2024 to serve as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.[1][7][14]

He and his wife Val have two children.[1][6]

Electoral record

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Provincial elections

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2024 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes %
New Democratic Garry Begg 8,947 46.83
Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa 8,925 46.81
Green Manjeet Singh Sahota 824 4.32
Independent Kabir Qurban 370 1.94
Total valid votes 19,066 100.00
Source: Elections BC[15]
2020 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Garry Begg 10,403 60.59 +10.99 $40,309.39
Liberal Dave Hans 5,139 29.93 −8.21 $42,168.46
Green Jodi Murphy 1,345 7.83 −1.98 $1,281.64
Independent Sam Kofalt 282 1.64 – $1,015.24
Total valid votes 17,169 100.00 –
Total rejected ballots 148 0.85 +0.14
Turnout 17,317 45.69 −10.07
Registered voters 37,905
Source: Elections BC[16][17]
2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
New Democratic Garry Begg 9,263 49.85 $67,072
Liberal Amrik Virk 7,015 37.76 $71,381
Green Jodi Murphy 1,840 9.90 $,1838
Christian Heritage Kevin Pielak 462 2.49 $1,015
Total valid votes 18,580 100.00
Total rejected ballots 133 0.71
Turnout 18,713 55.76
Registered voters 33,561
Source: Elections BC[18][19]

Federal elections

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2015 Canadian federal election: Fleetwood—Port Kells
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Ken Hardie 22,871 46.90 +31.24 $50,601.97
Conservative Nina Grewal 14,275 29.27 -18.56 $77,785.90
New Democratic Garry Begg 10,463 21.46 -11.60 $100,039.24
Green Richard Hosein 1,154 2.37 -0.20 $3,625.85
Total valid votes/expense limit 48,763 100.00   $206,797.64
Total rejected ballots 269 0.55 –
Turnout 49,032 65.25 –
Eligible voters 75,150
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +24.90
Source: Elections Canada[20][21][22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Honourable Garry Begg". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Saltman, Jennifer; Fumano, Dan (May 10, 2017). "B.C. Election 2017: Brar, NDP take six of nine Surrey ridings". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "ELECTION 2017: In Surrey-Guildford, 'a new sheriff in town' as retired Surrey RCMP inspector Begg wins for NDP". Surrey Now-Leader. May 10, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Smith, Charlie (July 12, 2015). "Federal NDP candidate Garry Begg appears in RCMP uniform on campaign website". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  5. ^ "Profile - Fleetwood--Port Kells, British Columbia (2004-05-23 - )". Library of Parliament. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Garry Begg - Surrey-Guildford BC NDP". Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Zytaruk, Tom (November 18, 2024). "Two Surrey MLAS in NDP cabinet". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "SURREY-GUILDFORD: NDP's Garry Begg wins again". Surrey Now-Leader. October 25, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Zillich, Tom (October 24, 2024). "Elections BC denies request by NDP's Begg for recount in Surrey-Guildford". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "NDP poised to win majority after overturning Conservative lead in critical Surrey riding". CBC News. October 28, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Zillich, Tom (October 29, 2024). "'Surprised, pleased': NDP's Begg reacts to Surrey-Guildford win, judicial recount". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Burns, Anna (November 8, 2024). "It's official: NDP's Begg wins Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  13. ^ "NDP majority holds with 22-vote victory in Surrey-Guildford recount". CBC News. November 8, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  14. ^ "David Eby Cabinet: 2022-Present" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  15. ^ "Surrey-Guildford Judicial Recount Complete". Elections BC. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  17. ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  19. ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  20. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Fleetwood—Port Kells, 30 September 2015
  21. ^ Official Voting Results - Fleetwood—Port Kells
  22. ^ "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
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