# Steve Thomson (politician)

Steve Thomson (born 1951 or 1952) is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Kelowna-Mission. Thomson was re-elected in 2013 and 2017 and elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on June 22, 2017. He had previously served as Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations since 2011. Thomson resigned as Speaker on June 29, 2017, after less than a week in office, immediately following the defeat of the minority Liberal government of Christy Clark on a confidence vote.
Thomson joined the cabinet in 2009 as Minister of Agriculture and Lands and has also served as Minister of Natural Resource Operations, Minister of Energy, as chair to the Environment and Land Use Committee and as a member of the Treasury Board.
In Opposition, he served as the Official Opposition Critic for Citizens' Services and for Trade.
Prior to entering politics, he was executive director of the BC Agriculture Council, general manager of the BC Fruit Growers Association and the BC Milk Producers Association, as well as director of the Kelowna Museum, the Okanagan Innovation Fund, and the BC BioEnergy Network.

## Electoral record

vte2017 British Columbia general election: Kelowna-Mission :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Steve Thomson | 15,041 | 57.18 | +0.32 | $53,316 |
| | New Democratic | Harwinder Sandhu | 5,720 | 21.24 | −4.6 | $13,757 |
| | Green | Rainer Wilkins | 3,836 | 14.24 | – | $18 |
| | Conservative | Charles Hardy | 1,976 | 7.34 | −5.33 | $8,095 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 26,933 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 112 | 0.42 | −0.24 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,045 | 57.67 | +4.09 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 46,898 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2013 British Columbia general election: Kelowna-Mission :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Steve Thomson | 13,687 | 56.86 | +2.96 | $78,163 |
| | New Democratic | Tish Lakes | 6,221 | 25.84 | −0.23 | $28,693 |
| | Conservative | Mike McLoughlin | 3,051 | 12.67 | +0.81 | $30,353 |
| | No Affiliation | Dayleen Van Ryswyk | 1,113 | 4.62 | – | $12,350 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 24,072 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 161 | 0.66 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,233 | 53.58 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
B.C. General Election 2009 Kelowna-Mission :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Steve Thomson | 11,506 | 53.90 | | $74,868 |
| | NDP | Tisha Kalmanovich | 5,566 | 26.07 | | $21,149 |
| | Conservative | Mark Thompson | 2,531 | 11.86 | | $9,931 |
| | Green | Crystal Wariach | 1,563 | 7.32 | – | $5,137 |
| | Independent | Silverado Socrates | 130 | 0.61 | | $250 |
| | Refederation | Daniel Thorburn | 51 | 0.24 | – | $360 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,347 | 100 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 115 | 0.54 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,462 | 50.68 |