Father, we are thankful for the many years of public service that the MLA: Hon. Linda Reid has given to the people of this province. Give her great wisdom and understanding as the new legislative session begins. May she sense Your peace even in the noise and busyness of the house. We ask that You would grant her health and protection in the days ahead. Give her clear direction in the decisions and the rulings that she has to make as Speaker. Help her as she also works through the issues in her riding of Richmond East. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The Honourable Linda Reid, MLA has built her reputation in the BC Legislative Assembly on her professional background in education, management and community service. Linda’s first electoral success in 1991 represented a breakthrough for the Liberal Party of BC; and she has been re-elected to represent Richmond East ever since. Linda is the longest-serving MLA in the current parliament, making bold and steadfast efforts to drive positive change for more than 20 years.
Elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in June 2013, Linda offers a balanced perspective from her experience across multiple portfolios on both the government and opposition sides of the House. Linda served as Deputy Speaker from 2009 – 2013. She was also the Minister of State for Early Childhood Development (2001 – 2005) and for Child Care (2005 – 2009), providing the perfect opportunity to apply her solid professional credentials to these critical areas of public policy. While in Opposition, she served as Caucus Chair and held numerous key critic and committee roles. In all of these capacities, Linda has worked tirelessly to build a network of advisors outside of the political process so that the counsel and wisdom of the people she serves would guide her position in policy development.
Linda’s volunteer record in the community demonstrates a lifelong commitment to public service that informs her distinguished record in government. From her beginnings as a First Aid Cadet with St. John Ambulance and as leader of young women in the Guiding movement, through to her participation as BC Chair for the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, as a Director of the Garden City Hospice Society, and as a founding member of the Richmond Chinatown Lions Club, Linda has made a positive difference. In 2012, Linda won the Ethel Tibbits Award for Community in recognition of her leadership in Richmond, and was honoured with the inaugural award for Outstanding Leadership by the BC Youth Parliament, an organization that Linda has been passionately involved with since 1986.
Linda is also the recipient of three commemorative medals – the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Linda and her husband Sheldon live in Richmond East with their children Olivia and Will.