George Abbott (born November 17, 1952 ) is a former politician and cabinet minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the riding of Shuswap from 1996 to 2013. As part of the British Columbia Liberal Party caucus, he served in several cabinet posts under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, and ran for party leadership in 2011.

Early life and career

Born in Enderby, Abbott grew up in the Shuswap community of Sicamous and attended the Okanagan College's Salmon Arm campus before transferring to the University of British Columbia, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. He then enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Victoria (UVic), completed an intern program at the provincial legislature and graduated with a Master of Arts in political science in 1978. After graduation, he returned to Sicamous to help run the family berry farm. He was also elected to the board of the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District in 1980, serving as its chair at one point, and returned to the Okanagan College's Salmon Arm campus to work as a political science instructor. He and his wife Lesley have three children; he was also involved in coaching minor hockey.

Provincial politics

Opposition and Campbell ministry

Abbott ran for the BC Liberals in the 1996 provincial election, and was elected member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Shuswap with less than 35% of the vote. While the Liberals were in opposition, Abbott served as municipal affairs and forests critic and deputy house leader. He was re-elected in that riding in the 2001 election, and was appointed Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services that June. As minister, Abbott worked with the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) to pass the Community Charter. He was later awarded a lifetime membership in UBCM for his work on the file. Abbott became Minister of Sustainable Resource Management on January 26, 2004. In this role, he worked with industry, environmental, and First Nations groups to complete the Great Bear Rainforest agreement which included a move to ecosystem-based management. As a result of his work on this file, Abbott was the only BC Liberal Candidate endorsed by the Conservation Voters of BC in the 2005 election. After the 2005 election, Abbot was appointed Minister of Health. He partnered with the BC Medical Association to introduce Electronic Health Records to BC. Abbott enshrined the five principles of the Canada Health Act, plus a sixth – the principle of sustainability – in provincial law. He also pushed for innovation in the health system and introduced the $100-million Health Innovation Fund, which funded pilot projects to reduce wait times in emergency rooms and for elective surgeries. Following the 2009 election, he became Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and government deputy house leader on June 10, 2009. As minister, Abbott worked with First Nations leaders to designate the Salish Sea and Haida Gwaii, and signed a final agreement with the Yale First Nation. He served in these roles until October 25, 2010, when he was named Minister of Education.

Campaign for Liberal leadership

On November 25, 2010, George Abbott announced he was running for the leadership of the BC Liberal Party to succeed Gordon Campbell, and resigned his cabinet post. During the campaign he stated he would move the date of the harmonized sales tax referendum from September 24, 2011 to no later than June 24 of that year, and increase the minimum wage. He called for a review or the $6 million payment made for expenses incurred by convicted Liberal aides Robert Virk and David Basi in association with the BC Rail trial. However, he refused to call for a full public inquiry in the alleged scandal involving allegations of bribes to Liberal party insiders. He placed third in the leadership election, which was won by Christy Clark.

Clark ministry

On March 14, 2011, Abbott was appointed minister of education, as a part of Clark's initial cabinet. On August 30, 2012, Abbott announced he would not be running in the 2013 election. He remained education minister until September 5, 2012.

Post-politics

In 2013, Abbott re-enrolled at the University of Victoria, where he began writing a thesis on the impact of the federal–provincial division of powers on aboriginal policy. On November 22, 2013, it was announced that Abbott would teach a course on BC's political economy at UVic. He received his PhD in 2019. In 2015, Premier Clark and her cabinet vetoed the appointment of Abbott to be Chief Treaty Commissioner of BC Treaty Commission due to her government aiming to reform the treaty process. Abbott had been working on transition with the departing commission chief and his removal was criticized by First Nations. In 2015, Abbott revealed that he had let his party membership lapse and considered himself non-partisan. He stressed that it was not a decision made by any "single thing", but several factors that lead him to be unhappy with the party.

Election results