Marc Dalton

Marc Dalton MP is a Canadian politician. He is the current Conservative Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge after the 2019 Canadian federal election. Formerly, he was a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia following the 2009 and 2013 provincial elections, for the riding of Maple Ridge-Mission.

Marc Dalton MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge
Incumbent
Assumed office October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Dan Ruimy
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Maple Ridge-Mission
In office May 12, 2009 – May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Randy Hawes
Succeeded by	Bob D'Eith
Personal details
Born	(1960-06-03) June 3, 1960 Canadian Forces Base Baden Söllingen, Germany
Political party	Conservative
Other political affiliations	BC Liberal (provincial)
Residence	Maple Ridge, British Columbia

Biography

Dalton previously ran as a Conservative candidate in Burnaby—New Westminster in the 2006 federal election, losing to incumbent MP Peter Julian.

Previous to his time in elected office, Dalton worked as a teacher in School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows at both the elementary and high school levels. He caused much ire among fellow staff when he crossed union picket lines in 2005, midway through the BC teacher's strike.[1]

In Dalton's first term as MLA, he served as parliamentary secretary for independent schools, a position created by former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark in 2012. Having been a retired public school teacher for School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, he had this to say on the appointment. "I think this position of parliamentary secretary is a reflection of the emphasis the government places on family choice -- choice of education,”[2] On the privatization of school system's in British Columbia, Dalton further added more than 11 per cent of the student population is enrolled in independent schools, and because tuition fees are paid by parents, the education ministry saves money.[3]

Dalton was on the Experience the Fraser steering committee, a trails and tourism project.[4]

In 2012, Dalton campaigned to have the BC Liberals name changed as he felt it was confusing for voters who may not know it is a centre-right wing party. “There is still a lot of confusion with name brand. People who are federal Conservatives, such as myself, they just have a hard time voting (BC) Liberal," Dalton said, "Whether it’s the BC Liberals or some new name party, or the Christy party, or whatever it is they come up with, the people are not going to be fooled by it. They’re going to look at it and say, ‘no, that’s the same old bunch.'"[5]

In February 2015, Dalton unsuccessfully ran for the federal Conservative nomination of Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, sitting as an independent MLA in the interim.[6] Dalton rejoined the BC Liberals after the nomination serving as a backbench MLA until 2017 when he lost to British Columbia New Democratic Party challenger Bob D'Eith.[7] In 2019, he ran a third time for the federal Conservatives and won.

Controversies

While running in the 2009 British Columbia general election, an email written to a colleague from 1996 while Dalton was a schoolteacher was released by the NDP due to "disturbingly homophobic comments", according to then MLA Spencer Herbert.[8] The email was a response to concerns over overreach in proposed policy changes to address bullying in which Dalton wrote: “I am not against homosexuals as people, but I do not support their lifestyle choices." and "There are other moral issues that large segments of our society do not see eye to eye: gambling, abortion, adultery, pornography. I believe that homosexuality fits in this category.”[9] Dalton released an apology, stating he didn't intend to be offensive or hurtful.[10]

In 2014, Dalton came under fire for his comments on child poverty as MLA. While debating the topic in the B.C. Legislature, then British Columbia New Democratic Party Social Development critic Michelle Mungall says, "One MLA flat out [Dalton] said he didn’t know any children who were homeless, that there were no children who were homeless and no children were going hungry at a time when child food bank clients have increased by 30-percent.”[11][12] In the legislature, Dalton said, “I have not met children starving in British Columbia in the past 50-some years. If they were, then I think that would be, normally, willful or criminal negligence."[13]

During that year, Dalton voted against[14] an amendment to the Vital Statistics Act[15] that would allow transgender or gender non-binary individuals to change registered sex designation from their sex assigned at birth to reflect their gender identity.[16][17] Maple Ridge based Thomas Haney Secondary school teacher and staff liason for the gay-straight alliance, Kathryn Ferguson, condemned his decision stating, "Thank you, Mr. Dalton, for reminding me why we do need gay-straight alliance groups in the public school system,” Ferguson further added, "I wish we didn’t have a need for these groups, but when you have a MLA making these ignorant statements, it puts fire underneath us to keep going – because we’re still needed.”[18]

On January 3, 2020, as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton retweeted an opinion column from The Washington Examiner on Twitter titled, "The transgender movement’s message for girls: Your privacy concerns are bigotry" The article, written by freelancer Bethany Mandel alleges, "Young women know their bathrooms and locker rooms have become unsafe, but they are told to be quiet because the feelings of biological males and transgender students matter more,"[19] Dalton defended his re-posting of the article stating he’s not pushing the issue aggressively, but spoke about it previously when he was MLA. “It’s concerning for women and for children and young girls to be in a place where there’s someone undressing right in front of them … with male genitalia. I think … it has to work for everybody,” Dalton said.[20]

In his capacity as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton crafted a tweet met with controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on April 13, 2020.[21] In his post, Dalton stated regarding seniors, "Most deaths are in care homes where average life expectancy is 2 yrs & 65% usually pass in the 1st yr. Time to start moving Canada back to work?" The post was removed after being up for several minutes. When questioned about the incident by media organizations, Dalton's office responded with the following, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the hundreds of Canadians who have lost loved ones because of COVID-19. I personally have an uncle in a care home who I love dearly who has contracted coronavirus," NDP MP Scott Duvall, party critic for Senior's policy has called on Dalton to issue a public apology. "I think it's actually disgusting. It's ruthless, it's heartless and it's a disrespectful comment, I'm not sure if he would be saying that if his parents were in the same situation." Duvall said, "I just don't know where his mind was to say something as idiotic as that." As of April 14, 2020, Dalton has released no apology.

Recall Campaigns

Over Dalton's tenure as MLA for Maple Ridge - Mission, there had been two campaigns to recall and "fire" the politician from office.[22] In 2011, the group Maple Ridge FightHST, led by Wilf McIntyre and Corisa Bell[23], launched the first push garnering roughly 2500 signatures, short of the 14,882 or 40% of required voters to begin the recall process.[24] Dalton attempted to undermine the process claiming locals thought they were signing a petition to halt the passage of the Harmonized Sales Tax in BC. Then campaign organizer Wilf McIntyre said the group could have collected enough names to oust Dalton. In defense of the petition McIntyre claimed, “We were very specific because we had to be.”[25]

Four years later, Dalton faced a second recall attempt in 2015.[22] The campaign began shortly after he decided to take a failed second run for a federal seat with the Conservative Party of Canada and sit as an independent MLA. Organizer Yvonne Hale said regarding the representatives run, “I think that goes to show that he’s [Dalton] more focused on himself than his constituents." The call to remove Dalton from office ended up stalling following allegations of interference from his supporters and the B.C. Liberal Party. Recall spokesperson Jennifer Heighton says interruptions began at the Maple Ridge Home Show where people with "Marc Dalton observer" name tags would argue and scare off potential signers from their booth. Heighton further claims observers would stand close to canvassers and pretend to be part of the conversation. Claims of harassment also took place at Maple Ridge's downtown Haney Farmer's Market and other City locations where they would discourage the public from signing the petition. Heighton and the group called for an investigation by Elections B.C. regarding the matter: “Regardless of the Maple Ridge recall withdrawal, it is critically important that the legislation be respected and the right of democratic dissent be upheld. That’s why we want Elections B.C. to fully investigate this situation.” Dalton defended the use of observers and scrutineers claiming they are not mentioned in the recall act, there’s nothing that prohibits them.[24]

Personal life

He holds degrees from Simon Fraser University, specifically a BA in French and MA in Translation Studies with an emphasis on xenolinguistics. He served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves and is a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.[26]

Dalton is a resident of Maple Ridge and has been married for 30 years, with three grown children. Dalton has served his community in previous years as an elder of the Mennonite-affiliated Maple Ridge Community Church.

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election

2019 Canadian federal election: Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Marc Dalton	19,650	36.2	+4.8
	Liberal	Dan Ruimy	16,125	29.7	-4.19
	New Democratic	John Mogk	12,958	23.9	-5.73
	Green	Ariane Jaschke	4,332	8.0	+3.78
	People's	Bryton Cherrier	698	1.3	–
	Independent	Steve Ranta	468	0.9	0.03
Total valid votes/Expense limit			54,231	99.4
Total rejected ballots			298	0.5
Turnout			54,529	68.2
Eligible voters			79,960
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+4.8
Source: Elections Canada[27][28]

2017 British Columbia general election

2017 British Columbia general election: Maple Ridge-Mission
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Bob D'Eith	9,843	41.46
	Liberal	Marc Dalton	9,723	40.95
	Green	Peter Pak Chiu Tam	3,181	13.40
	Conservative	Trevor Hamilton	850	3.58
	Libertarian	Jeff Monds	144	0.61
Total valid votes			23,741	100.00
Source: Elections BC[29]

2013 British Columbia general election

2013 British Columbia general election: Maple Ridge-Mission
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Marc Dalton	10,327	46.59	+0.87
	New Democratic	Mike Bocking	8,820	39.81	–5.58
	Green	Alex Pope	1,818	8.21	+1.01
	Conservative	Chad Thompson	1,190	5.37	–
Total valid votes			22,155	100.00
Total rejected ballots			152	0.68
Turnout			22,307	57.91
Source: Elections BC[30]

2006 Canadian federal election

2006 Canadian federal election: Burnaby—New Westminster
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Peter Julian	17,391	38.79	+4.21	$71,414
	Liberal	Mary Pynenburg	13,420	29.93	-2.59	$74,580
	Conservative	Marc Dalton	12,364	27.58	-0.05	$70,006
	Green	Scott Janzen	1,654	3.68	-0.04	$1,149
Total valid votes			44,829	100.0
Total rejected ballots			144	0.32	-0.20
Turnout			44,973	60.09	+1.14
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.40

See also

• British Columbia Liberal Party

References

1. Opinion (2014-09-09). "Letters: Which is it, Mr. Dalton? on Marc Dalton crossing the picket lines in 2005". Maple Ridge News. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
2. Tieleman, Bill (2014-07-15). "Why BC Libs Push to Privatize Public Education". The Tyee. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
3. "Maple Ridge MLA Dalton to help in education". Maple Ridge News. 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
4. Experience the Fraser Project Progressing
5. "Marc Dalton calls for BC Liberal name change". Maple Ridge News. 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
6. Liberal MLA to seek federal Tory nomination in Fraser Valley riding
7. "MLA recall bid set to launch against B.C. Liberal backbencher Marc Dalton". The Georgia Straight. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
8. NDPs Spencer Herbert calls for resignation of Marc Dalton via Wayback Machine archived April 30, 2009, accessed October 11, 2019
9. Marc Dalton 1996 email via Wayback Machine archived April 30, 2009, accessed October 11, 2019
10. Liberal candidate Marc Dalton apologizes for homophobic email
11. "Liberal comments on child poverty have NDP critic fuming - NEWS 1130". www.citynews1130.com. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
12. "Liberal MLA Dalton catches flack over poverty comments". Maple Ridge News. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
13. Marc Dalton comments on poverty in the BC Legislature, retrieved 2020-04-14
14. "Marc Dalton voting record 2014 on Miscellaneous statutes amendment act, Nay to section 115". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
15. "Vital Statistics Act". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
16. "Vital Statistics Act". www.bclaws.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
17. "BCLASS-Legacy see section 115, amendment to vital statistics act". www.leg.bc.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
18. "'Why we still need gay-straight groups'". Maple Ridge News. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
19. "The transgender movement's message for girls: Your privacy concerns are bigotry". Washington Examiner. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
20. "Maple Ridge MP retweets column on transgender change rooms and 'bigotry'". Maple Ridge News. 2020-01-03. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
21. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/marc-dalton-mp-covid-19-deaths-1.5531115
22. News (2015-04-05). "Dalton facing another recall campaign". BC Local News. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
23. News (2018-07-11). "Bell won't seek third term on Maple Ridge council see FightHST campaign". Maple Ridge News. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
24. "Second Dalton recall stalls". Mission City Record. 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
25. "Dalton checking recall list". Mission City Record. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
26. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
27. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
28. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
29. "2017 Provincial General Election Preliminary Voting Results". Elections BC. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
30. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

External links

• http://www.reelyou.ca/bc-liberals-marc-dalton-reelyou.html
• Marc Dalton, MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission
• Official Biography, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
• Experience the Fraser