Donegal Wilson
Canadian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donegal Wilson MLA is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) representing the electoral district of Boundary-Similkameen since 2024. She is a member of the Conservative Party.[1]
Donegal Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Boundary-Similkameen | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Roly Russell |
| Personal details | |
| Party | BC Conservatives |
Early life and career
Wilson was born in Summerland, British Columbia, and raised on a cattle ranch in the Otter Valley near Tulameen.[2] She attended Princeton Secondary School before attending community college in Northwest BC, beginning a career in administration shortly after.[2]
Her career in administration began with small businesses and non-profit organizations.[3] Before founding Direct Performance with her husband, she worked for Central Mountain Air.[3] In 2012, Wilson became the executive director of the B.C. Snowmobile Federation, leading efforts to strengthen organized snowmobiling by collaborating with government, industry, and community organizations.[2][4][5][6] During her time with the federation she sat on ministerial committees, helped develop the Off-Road Vehicle Act, and worked with government as a stakeholder for 12 years.[7] Her community service experience includes being a long-time advocate for outdoor recreation. She lived in Smithers for 15 years before moving back to the Similkameen Valley.[7] Wilson currently lives with her husband in Keremeos. Together, they operate a small engine business.[2]
Political career
In August 2024, Wilson was announced as the BC Conservatives candidate for the riding of Boundary-Similkameen in the 2024 provincial election.[6] When the election was held, Wilson defeated BC NDP incumbent Roly Russell, who had been the MLA for the riding since 2020, as well as Green candidate Kevin Eastwood and Independent Sean Taylor.[8] She currently serves in the official opposition's shadow cabinet as the Critic for Water, Land, Resource Stewardship and Wildlife Management.[3]
Electoral record
| 2024 British Columbia general election: Boundary-Similkameen | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Donegal Wilson | 11,935 | 48.39 | +37.21 | $33,102.59 | |||
| New Democratic | Roly Russell | 10,497 | 42.56 | −7.29 | $60,076.63 | |||
| Green | Kevin Eastwood | 1,454 | 5.89 | – | $574.99 | |||
| Independent | Sean Taylor | 779 | 3.16 | – | $1,380.30 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 24,665 | 99.85 | – | $71,700.08 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 36 | 0.15 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 24,701 | 62.74 | +5.90 | |||||
| Registered voters | 39,371 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from New Democratic | Swing | +22.25 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[9][10] | ||||||||
