# Niki Sharma

Niki Sharma KC MLA is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver-Hastings as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) and serves as Deputy Premier and Attorney General of British Columbia.

## Early life and career

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Sharma grew up in Sparwood, British Columbia with her three sisters. Her parents immigrated from India; her father Pal ran a small business in Sparwood, while her mother Rose was is a botanist by trade ran for municipal council three times without being elected.
After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, she joined Vancouver 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, an environmental organization founded in 2000.

## Politics

She ran as a Vision Vancouver candidate in the 2011 Vancouver municipal election and was elected a commissioner of the Vancouver Park Board, at one point serving as chair of the board. She then ran under the Vision banner for Vancouver City Council in the 2014 municipal election, but was unsuccessful.
With incumbent Vancouver-Hastings Member of the Legislative Assembly Shane Simpson 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. She became the first South Asian Canadian woman to serve in that cabinet post.
In 2023, the bereavement counselling group Moms Stop the Harm wrote to Niki Sharma requesting a forensic audit into the recovery industry due to an untracked number of deaths and number of other recent abuses occurring at their sites.
In 2024, Attorney General Sharma and the BC NDP unsuccessfully tried to appeal an injunction against Bill 34, The Restricting Public Consumption Act; notably, their team provided no evidence on how the injunction could be causing harm.

## Electoral record

vte2024 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Niki Sharma | 14,237 | 64.1% | +3.54 |
| | Conservative | Jacob Burdge | 5,391 | 24.3% | |
| | Green | Bridget Burns | 2,409 | 10.9% | -8.64 |
| | Independent | Zsolt Kiss | 157 | 0.7% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 22,194 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Hastings :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Niki Sharma | 13,362 | 60.56 | +0.58 | $23,640.61 |
| | Green | Bridget Burns | 4,312 | 19.54 | +1.87 | $3,816.71 |
| | Liberal | Alex Read | 3,885 | 17.61 | −3.88 | $4,639.54 |
| | Libertarian | Gölök Z Buday | 321 | 1.45 | – | $550.68 |
| | Communist | Kimball Cariou | 184 | 0.83 | −0.03 | $123.40 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 22,064 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 192 | 0.86 | +0.08 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,256 | 51.37 | −8.22 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 43,322 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | −0.65 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||