Raj Chouhan

Raj Chouhan MLA is an Indian-born Canadian politician and trade unionist who has served as the 40th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2020. A member of the New Democratic Party, he was first elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in 2005 representing the electoral district of Burnaby-Edmonds. In 2024, he was re-elected in the newly formed district of Burnaby-New Westminster. He previously served as the Assistant Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2013 to 2017 and as the Deputy Speaker from 2017 to 2020. While in opposition he served as the critic for Mental Health; Human Rights, Immigration and Multiculturism and Labour. He was re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2020. Born in the state of Punjab in India, Chouhan was the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and served as a director of the Hospital Employees' Union. He also served as a member of the Labour Relations Board of B.C. and the Arbitration Bureau of B.C. A founding member of the B.C. Organization to Fight Racism, Chouhan has worked to promote human rights and racial equality. He has served as the Vice President of B.C. Human Rights Defenders since 2003, and has taught courses on Human Rights, the B.C. Labour Code and collective bargaining since 1987.

Canadian politician

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The Honourable Raj Chouhan MLA
Campaign portrait, 2024
40th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office December 7, 2020
Preceded by	Darryl Plecas
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby-New Westminster Burnaby-Edmonds (2005–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office May 17, 2005
Preceded by	Patty Sahota
Personal details
Born	Punjab, India
Party	New Democratic
Occupation	Politician, union leader

Raj Chouhan MLA is an Indian-born Canadian politician and trade unionist who has served as the 40th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2020. A member of the New Democratic Party, he was first elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in 2005 representing the electoral district of Burnaby-Edmonds. In 2024, he was re-elected in the newly formed district of Burnaby-New Westminster. He previously served as the Assistant Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2013 to 2017 and as the Deputy Speaker from 2017 to 2020. While in opposition he served as the critic for Mental Health; Human Rights, Immigration and Multiculturism and Labour. He was re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2020.

Born in the state of Punjab in India, Chouhan was the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and served as a director of the Hospital Employees' Union. He also served as a member of the Labour Relations Board of B.C. and the Arbitration Bureau of B.C.

A founding member of the B.C. Organization to Fight Racism, Chouhan has worked to promote human rights and racial equality. He has served as the Vice President of B.C. Human Rights Defenders since 2003, and has taught courses on Human Rights, the B.C. Labour Code and collective bargaining since 1987.

Electoral history

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v t e 2024 British Columbia general election: Burnaby-New Westminster
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Raj Chouhan	10,647	59.99	-3.4	$48,886.34
	Conservative	Deepak Suri	6,161	34.71	+33.3	$15,841.58
	Independent	Daniel Kofi Ampong	940	5.30	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			17,748	99.50	–	$71,700.08
Total rejected ballots			89	0.50	–
Turnout			17,837	51.26	–
Registered voters			34,794
	New Democratic notional hold		Swing		-18.4
Source: Elections BC[1][2]

v t e 2020 British Columbia general election: Burnaby-Edmonds
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Raj Chouhan	11,063	62.01	+7.76	$38,987.91
	Liberal	Tripat Atwal	4,754	26.65	−5.43	$62,427.04
	Green	Iqbal Parekh	2,023	11.34	−2.33	$889.57
Total valid votes			17,840	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			196	1.10
Turnout			18036	44.36
Registered voters			40655
Source: Elections BC[3][4]

v t e 2017 British Columbia general election: Burnaby-Edmonds
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Raj Chouhan	10,827	54.25	+2.82	$47,595.75
	Liberal	Garrison Duke	6,404	32.08	−6.55	$42,998.98
	Green	Valentine Wu	2,728	13.67	+4.93	$2,758.14
Total valid votes			19,959	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			156	0.78	−0.34
Turnout			20,115	53.81	+4.81
Registered voters			37,385
Source: Elections BC[5][6]

v t e 2013 British Columbia general election: Burnaby-Edmonds
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Raj Chouhan	9,253	51.43	-0.51	$79,346
	Liberal	Jeff Kuah	6,950	38.63	+0.27	$20,696
	Green	Wyatt Tessari	1,573	8.74	+2.00	$600
	Excalibur	Nicholas Edward D'Amico	215	1.20	–	$341
Total valid votes			17,991	100.00
Total rejected ballots			203	1.12
Turnout			18,194	49.00
Source: Elections BC[7]

B.C. General Election 2009 Burnaby-Edmonds

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Raj Chouhan	8,647	51.94%	+20.52%	$75,002
	Liberal	Lee Rankin	6,385	38.36%	-7.71%	$80,469
	Green	Carrie McLaren	1,122	6.74%	-3.17%	$383
	Libertarian	Dan Cancade	493	2.96%	+2.96%	$643
Total valid votes			16,647	100%
Total rejected ballots			178	1.06%
Turnout			16,825	49.07%

B.C. General Election 2005: Burnaby-Edmonds

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Raj Chouhan	10,337	46.71%	+5.23%	$71,644
	Liberal	Patty Sahota	9,599	43.38%	-5.02%	$109,119
	Green	Suzanne Deveau	2,192	9.91%	–	$1,754
Total valid votes			22,128	100%
Total rejected ballots			155	0.70%
Turnout			22,283	57.70%

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References

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1. ^ "Statement of Votes – 43rd Provincial General Election – October 19, 2024" (PDF). Elections BC. April 17, 2025. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
2. ^ "2024 Provincial General Election Financing Reports Available". Elections BC. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
3. ^ "2020 Provincial General Election Final Voting Results". electionsbcenr.blob.core.windows.net. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
4. ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
5. ^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
6. ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
7. ^ "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.

External links

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• Raj Chouhan – New Democrat – Official Opposition
• Records of Raj Chouhan are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books

This article about a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

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