Barry Penner

Barry Penner, QC is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Chilliwack-Hope. He previously served as Attorney General of British Columbia, Deputy House Leader (2005–2009), and Minister of Environment and Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.

Born in Kitimat in 1966, Penner was first elected an MLA in 1996 (the riding of Chilliwack) and was re-elected in 2001 and 2005 (the riding of Chilliwack-Kent) with some of the highest margins of victory in the province. He was re-elected in the 2009 British Columbia general election to represent the reconfigured Chilliwack-Hope constituency with more than 53% of votes cast.

Penner has also served as President of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) beginning in June 2002.

Penner has a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby and a law degree from the University of Victoria. He has worked as a park ranger and is known as an advocate for small-hydro, wind power and other alternative energy sources.

In June 2007, Penner announced that he would continue working as a Minister while receiving treatment for leiomyosarcoma, a type of cancer.

In 2008 Barry Penner married Daris LaPointe, on top of a mountain in Manning Park where they both previously worked as Park Rangers years earlier. They have one daughter, Fintry, named after a Provincial Park on Okanagan Lake.

In August 2011, Barry Penner stepped down as B.C.’s Attorney-General but remained as the MLA for Chilliwack-Hope. On November 24, 2011 he told the Legislature that he would resign in early 2012 as he had accepted a position with the national law firm of Davis LLP. He officially resigned his seat on January 9, 2012.