Message from John Cummins

John Cummins

John Cummins brings to the leadership of the new BC Conservatives experience, common sense and a passion for fighting for the people of British Columbia.

For nearly 18 years John represented the people of Delta and Richmond in the House of Commons. During that time he earned a reputation for speaking his mind, standing up for his constituents and doing what was right, even if his party disagreed. He was elected six times through the evolution of Canada’s conservative movement first as a Reformer, then Canadian Alliance and finally as a Conservative MP. He fought for the people who sent him to Ottawa, for equal rights in the fisheries, for an elected Senate and for BC to have a true voice in Ottawa.

John earned a reputation as a maverick, an honest leader who tells it like it is. That’s why Rafe Mair called him “the most trusted politician in B.C.”

All that time he was in Ottawa John became more and more worried about the state of provincial politics in BC. He was concerned there was no common sense party for hard working middle class people – just two old parties who listened to the special interests. It is to give the people of BC a real choice that John decided to run for the leadership of the new BC Conservatives.

John decided to run for the leadership of the new BC Conservatives, because of a desire to give British Columbians real choice:

• a choice between transparency and deception
• a choice between listening and arrogance
• a choice between a government of the people and a government of special interests
• a choice between common sense and political correctness

John Cummins believes that “Common sense is neither left wing, nor right wing”, and that will be his approach to government.

Besides being an MP, John owned and operated two fishing boats. He gained the respect and support of many in BC’s fishing community for standing up for them, and against the race-based fisheries imposed by the federal and provincial governments.

John has worked as a teacher, at various times teaching Grade 1 and later high-school math. He first came to BC in the 1960′s to work underground on construction of the WAC Bennett Dam which now powers so much of our province. John has an MA from UBC and a BA from the University of Western Ontario. He is a proud father and grandfather, who lives in Langley with his wife Sue.