Longtime NDP MLA Shane Simpson not seeking re-election

Sep 4, 2020 | 2:48 PM

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s minister of social development and poverty reduction says he won’t run in the next provincial election.

Shane Simpson, who represents Vancouver-Hastings in the legislature, says he believes it’s the right time for change.

He says in a statement that serving in the cabinet portfolio has been the “icing on the cake” of his political career, considering his own childhood growing up in a housing project in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Simpson first won the riding in 2005, replacing New Democrat Joy MacPhail after her retirement from politics.