Ian Paton (politician)

Other political
affiliationsBC United (until 2024)

Alma materUniversity of British Columbia

Ian Paton MLA

Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Delta South
Incumbent
Assumed office May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Vicki Huntington

Personal details
Party	BC Conservative
Other political affiliations	BC United (until 2024)
Alma mater	University of British Columbia
Profession	Auctioneer, farmer

Ian Paton MLA is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) representing the electoral district of Delta South since 2017.^[1] Initially elected as a member of the BC Liberal Party (later BC United), he crossed the floor in 2024 to the Conservative Party.

Paton has lived in Delta all his life, now residing on his family farm in Ladner with his wife Pam.^[2] He is a third generation farmer and has over 30 years of experience running a dairy farm and a farm auction business.^[3]^[4] His community involvement includes serving as the past president of the East Delta Community Hall Society and as a volunteer firefighter at Hall 4.^[2] He also has contributed to local organizations such as the Delta Hospital Foundation, REACH Child and Youth Development Society, and the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust.^[2]

Political career

Delta City Councillor

In 2010, Paton was elected as Delta city councillor where he chaired committees including the Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Dikes and Drainage Committee.^[2]^[3] He spent seven years as a city councillor.^[4]

BC Liberals/United

Paton was first elected in 2017, after Vicki Huntington, and independent MLA, stepped down after two terms.

After party leader Christy Clark resigned, interim leader Rich Coleman, with his party now forming the Official Opposition, appointed Paton to be co-critic for the Ministry of Agriculture along with former Minister of Agriculture (2012–2017) Norm Letnick.^[5] During the ensuing 2018 British Columbia Liberal Party leadership election Paton endorsed Todd Stone,^[6] though Andrew Wilkinson won the race. Wilkinson kept Paton as the agriculture critic.

Paton sponsored two private member bills. The Preserving Brunswick Point for Agriculture and Migrating Waterfowl Habitat Act (Bill M-221) Archived 2019-08-20 at the Wayback Machine was introduced May 27, 2019, and sought to require Crown Land in Delta's Brunswick Point area not be transferred or sold and be used only for farming.^[7] The Home-Based Craft Food Act (Bill M-228) Archived 2019-08-20 at the Wayback Machine was introduced on October 28, 2019, and proposed to create a category of lower risk foods, such as baked goods, candy and fruit pies, that could be produced in a dwelling's kitchen without being first inspected by a local health authority.^[8]

Paton was re-elected to the legislature in 2020, winning 52% of the vote.

Conservative Party of BC

Six days after BC United suspended their election campaign, on September 3, 2024, Ian Paton was officially announced as the candidate for the Conservative Party of British Columbia in Delta South.^[9] He went on to win his seat again, defeating NDP candidate Jason McCormick with 55.1% of the vote share.^[10] Paton is now serving his third term in the legislature and has been appointed the critic for Agriculture, Fisheries and Agricultural Land Commission.^[2]

v t e 2024 British Columbia general election: Delta South
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Ian Paton	14,491	55.07	–	$42,172.84
	New Democratic	Jason McCormick	11,822	44.93	+10.4	$4,990.71
Total valid votes/expense limit			26,313	99.62	–	$71,700.08
Total rejected ballots			101	0.38	–
Turnout			26,414	65.04	–
Registered voters			40,611
	Conservative notional gain from BC United		Swing		N/A^{[n 1]}
Source: Elections BC^[11]^[12]

v t e 2020 British Columbia general election: Delta South
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ian Paton	12,828	51.70	+7.6	$41,976.94
	New Democratic	Bruce Reid	8,404	33.87	+13.15	$4,625.74
	Green	Peter van der Velden	3,581	14.43	+5.12	$0.00
Total valid votes			24,813	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered voters
Source: Elections BC^[13]^[14]

v t e 2017 British Columbia general election: Delta South
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ian Paton	11,123	44.10	+7.45	$52,639
	Independent	Nicholas Wong	6,437	25.52	–	$14,182
	New Democratic	Bruce Reid	5,228	20.72	+5.17	$4,570
	Green	Larry Colero	2,349	9.31	–	$389
	Action	Errol Edmund Sherley	88	0.35	–	$0
Total valid votes			25,225	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			68	0.27	−0.14
Turnout			25,293	71.79	+3.50
Registered voters			35,234
Source: Elections BC^[15]^[16]

Ian Paton (politician)

Political career

Delta City Councillor

BC Liberals/United

Conservative Party of BC

Electoral history

References

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