Fin Donnelly

Fin Donnelly MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam New Westminster—Coquitlam (2009-2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office November 9, 2009
Preceded by	Dawn Black
Coquitlam City Councillor
In office December 2, 2002 – November 26, 2009
Personal details
Born	May 27, 1966 New Westminster, British Columbia
Political party	New Democrat
Spouse(s)	Lynda Donnelly
Residence	Coquitlam, British Columbia
Website	Official website

Fin Donnelly (born May 27, 1966) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a by-election on November 9, 2009, representing the electoral district of New Westminster—Coquitlam as a member of the New Democratic Party.^[1] Prior to his election as a federal MP, he served two terms on city council in his hometown of Coquitlam and was an environmental activist. He currently represents the riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam after winning his new seat in the 2015 federal election and serves as the NDP critic for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Early life and career

An environmental activist, Donnelly has been active in raising public awareness of the rivers and watersheds of his home province of British Columbia. He has made fourteen marathon swims covering 3,200 km of BC's rivers, lakes and the ocean, including twice swimming the 1,400 km length of the Fraser River, saying Donnelly, after he swam the length of the Fraser River for the second time, to a man who accompanied him in a kayak, “wouldn’t it be amazing to get a program to have an experience that I just had.”^[2] The purpose of these swims has been to draw attention to the environmental impacts on rivers, stimulate critical thought and promote community stewardship.

Donnelly founded the Rivershed Society of British Columbia in 1996. The society's vision is one of people making sustainable lifestyle choices in the Fraser River Basin. Since founding the society, he has made over 500 presentations to more than 40,000 people, and has visited 150 schools in 50 BC communities. He was elected to Coquitlam City Council as a councillor in 2002.

Federal politics

Since being elected in 2009, Donnelly has been active on a number of different issues of concern to British Columbians, particularly those focused on society, the environment, and the economy.

Alan Kurdi

On September 3, 2015, after the death of Alan Kurdi, Donnelly stated that he had handed a letter from Alan Kurdi's aunt, one of his constituents, to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander requesting that he look into the case of the Alan Kurdi's refugee application, which, according to Donnelly, was later rejected.^[3] On the same day, it was reported that the Alan Kurdi's family had not in fact applied for refugee status in Canada, and that the letter primarily concerned the family of Alan Kurdi's uncle, for whom an application had been submitted but been rejected for being incomplete.^[4][5] Donnelly subsequently faced criticism for his role in the spread of the false information regarding Alan Kurdi's family's nonexistent refugee application.^[6][7] Mulcair later defended Donnelly, saying that no apology was warranted because the letter had mentioned both families, and stated that he "couldn’t be prouder to have someone of the strength, integrity and hard work as Fin Donnelly" in caucus.^[8]

On September 10 the Ottawa Citizen reported that: "Abdullah Kurdi’s brother Mohammad and his family were named in a G5 refugee resettlement application , while simultaneously, Abdullah and his now-dead wife and children were included and named along with Mohammad’s family in a lengthy set of correspondence, over a period of months, to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander and senior CIC officials."^[9]

42nd Parliament

After the 2015 election, Donnelly was appointed the NDP critic for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.^[10]

Personal life

A graduate of the University of Victoria with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, Donnelly lives with his wife Lynda in Coquitlam.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2015: Port Moody—Coquitlam
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Fin Donnelly	19,706	36.05	-4.41	–
	Liberal	Jessie Adcock	16,888	30.89	+22.36	–
	Conservative	Tim Laidler	16,112	29.47	-17.02	–
	Green	Marcus Madsen	1,878	3.44	-0.82	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Roland Verrier	83	0.15	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			54,667	100.00		$211,255.32
Total rejected ballots			174	0.32	–
Turnout			54,841	69.69	–
Eligible voters			78,693
	New Democratic notional gain from Conservative		Swing		+6.31
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures[13]
	New Democratic	Fin Donnelly	23023	45.9	-3.7	69,420.54
	Conservative	Diana Dilworth	20806	41.5	+5.7	85,804.33
	Liberal	Ken Lee	4068	8.1	-2.2	22,734.54
	Green	Rebecca Helps	2160	4.3	+0.0	2,238.04
	Marxist–Leninist	Roland Verrier	95	0.2	+0.2	0.00
Total valid votes			–	100.00%	-

By-election on November 9, 2009 resignation of Dawn Black
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Fin Donnelly	12,129	49.6	+7.8
	Conservative	Diana Dilworth	8,753	35.8	-3.0
	Liberal	Ken Lee	2,514	10.3	-1.0
	Green	Rebecca Helps	1,046	4.3	-2.9
Total valid votes			24,442
Total rejected ballots			–
Turnout			24,442	29.9%

References

1. "Tories take two in byelections". The Globe and Mail, November 9, 2009.
2. Granger, Grant. "New Westminster News Leader – Turning the Fraser into a classroom". New Westminster News Leader. New Westminster News Leader. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
3. "Canada says it never denied a refugee application for Alan Kurdi and his family". National Post. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
4. Kestler-D’Amours, Jillian, Tonda MacCharles, and Jacques Gallant (3 September 2015). "Tima Kurdi's pleading letter to allow brother to enter Canada revealed". Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
5. "Father of Alan Kurdi, drowned Syrian boy, describes desperate ordeal to save family". CBC News. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
6. Maloney, Ryan (6 September 2015). "Fin Donnelly Bemoans 'Political Attacks' After Syrian Refugees' Deaths". Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
7. "Fin Donnelly, NDP MP, stands by attempts to help Kurdi family's refugee application". CBC News. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
8. "Mulcair stands behind Donnelly, after Kurdi family confusi". CTV News. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
9. Ottawa Citizen, Sept 10, 2015, from page “Canada's Leaders need to face to the tragedy" by Terry Glavin
10. Kirkup, Kristy (12 November 2015). "Tom Mulcair taps Nathan Cullen, Charlie Angus, Guy Caron for top critic roles". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
11. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Port Moody—Coquitlam, 30 September 2015
12. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
13. "Financial Reports – New Westminster Coquitlam – 2011 General Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 26, 2014.