Gavin Dew

Dew was born and raised in British Columbia. He currently resides in Kelowna with his wife, Erin, and their two children.^[4][5] He first moved to Kelowna in 2023 when he opened Play Area, a childcare facility and indoor playground serving young families in the Okanagan, with his wife who has a background working with children on the autism spectrum.^[2] They previously operated a childcare centre in East Vancouver.^[4]

Dew holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Oxford, specializing in corporate social responsibility.^[6][7] He is also deeply involved in his community serving on both boards of the Business Council of BC and Resource Works, an organization committed to responsible resource development.^[8] Dew was also the director of external relations at the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.^[9][10] In addition, he has served in governance roles for organizations including the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Community Futures, a rural small business lender.^[8] Dew also volunteers as an advisor to Arthritis Canada and is the chair of the board for the Veterans Transition Network, which is a national mental health charity that played a crucial role evacuating Afghan interpreters who were at risk due to the Taliban.^[8]

Dew was named by Business in Vancouver a "Forty under 40" for his leadership and community efforts.^[8]

Dew's career has spanned two decades with experience in business, public policy, and technology. He has played roles in building public understanding for complex policies and projects across Canada on topics of affordable housing, energy infrastructure, and tech clusters.^[8] He recently served as Chief Strategy Officer for a $5 billion agricultural innovation and food security project in BC.^[8]

Formerly a member of the BC Liberal Party, Dew was involved in the campaigns of Kevin Falcon and Michael Lee for party leadership in 2011 and 2018 respectively,^[4] and served as campaign manager for West Vancouver-Capilano member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ralph Sultan in the 2013 provincial election.^[11] He was also a director of the Non-Partisan Association, a municipal political party in Vancouver.^[11]

After Jenny Kwan announced she would be resigning as MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant to stand in the 2015 federal election, Dew was nominated as the Liberal candidate for the ensuing by-election,^[11] held on February 2, 2016; he came in third behind New Democratic Party candidate Melanie Mark and Green Party candidate Pete Fry.^[12][13] He also ran in the 2022 Liberal leadership election,^[4] where he was eliminated on the third ballot with 6.01% of the vote.^[2]

In August 2024, he secured the nomination BC Conservative candidate for Kelowna-Mission in August 2024 after also being approached by the BC NDP.^[9][14] He went on to win his seat in the Legislative Assembly of BC during that October's provincial election with 51.5% of the votes.^[2] Dew was named the opposition critic for jobs, economic development and innovation for the Conservative Party of BC's shadow cabinet in November 2024 where he currently serves.^[15]