# Harry Bains

Harry Bains is a Canadian politician who was the Minister of Labour in British Columbia from 2017 until 2024. He was the NDP MLA for Surrey-Newton from 2005 until 2024. His family has origins from Village Hardaspur , District Kapurthala Punjab

## Career

Bains has experience in education due to his service on the Kwantlen University College Board of Governors as board member and vice chair from 1993 and 1999. He has also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
Bains was an elected officer of Steelworkers-IWA Canada Local 2171 for over fifteen years. He has served most recently as full-time vice president of his local chapter, in which he led negotiations and helped in bargaining to improve workers wages and working conditions.

## Critic roles

Bains served as opposition critic for the 2010 winter Olympic Games, Transportation and Infrastructure, forestry. Bains also served as Jobs, Employment, Labour and Worksafe BC Critic in the NDP shadow cabinet.

## Election results

vte2020 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Newton :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Harry Bains | 8,893 | 62.64 | +5.27 | $39,066.98 |
| | Liberal | Paul Boparai | 3,911 | 27.55 | −2.38 | $0.00 |
| | Green | Asad Syed | 1,393 | 9.81 | +2.83 | $6,482.79 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 14,197 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 111 | 0.78 | +0.11 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,308 | 47.91 | –10.23 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 29,867 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Newton :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Harry Bains | 9,744 | 57.31 | +0.89 | $41,769 |
| | Liberal | Gurminder Singh Parihar | 5,099 | 29.99 | −8.08 | $73,162 |
| | Green | Richard Krieger | 1,172 | 6.89 | – | $225 |
| | No affiliation | Balpreet Singh Bal | 988 | 5.81 | – | $8,768 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 17,003 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 114 | 0.67 | −0.42 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,117 | 58.14 | +5.58 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 29,442 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2013 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Newton :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Harry Bains | 9,788 | 56.42 | −12.51 | $90,282 |
| | Liberal | Sukhminder S. Virk | 6,604 | 38.07 | +2.25 | $86,997 |
| | Conservative | Satinder Singh | 674 | 3.89 | – | $3,660 |
| | Helping Hand | Alan Saldanha | 282 | 1.63 | – | $250 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 17,348 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 191 | 1.09 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,539 | 52.56 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2009 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Newton :
| Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| New Democratic | Harry Bains | 10,709 | 68.93 | +11.04 |
| Liberal | Ajay Caleb | 4,011 | 25.82 | −9.07 |
| Green | Trevor Loke | 759 | 4.89 | +0.17 |
| Communist | George Gidora | 58 | 0.37 | – |
vte2005 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Newton :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | New Democratic | Harry Bains | 10,741 | 57.89 |
| | Liberal | Daniel Igali | 6,473 | 34.89 |
| | Green | Dan Deresh | 876 | 4.72 |
| | Democratic Reform | Harry Grewal | 268 | 1.44 |
| | Work Less | Gordon Scott | 123 | 0.66 |
| | Platinum | Jeff Robert Evans | 72 | 0.39 |
| Total | Total | Total | 18,553 | 100.00 |

## Personal life

Bains and his wife Rajvinder live in Surrey with their two children. He is an advocate for workers' rights and equality.