Bill Routley
| Bill Routley | |
|---|---|
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Cowichan Valley |
|
|
In office May 12, 2009 – May 9, 2017 |
|
| Preceded by | riding established |
| Succeeded by | Sonia Furstenau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1948/1949 (age 68–69) |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Charmaine |
| Children | Noah, Alisha |
| Residence | Duncan, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Mill worker, Trade union representative |
Bill Routley is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election. A member of the BC New Democratic Party, he was elected to represent the riding of Cowichan Valley. In the 39th Parliament, with his party forming the official opposition, Routley acted as the deputy critic for forests and range (and natural resource operations).
Prior to being elected as an MLA, Routley worked in Vancouver Island forest industry. He worked at the Youbou Sawmill before taking a job working for his union, the International Woodworkers of America-Canada, Local 1-80. He eventually became president of the union local, which merged with other unions to become the USW-Steelworkers Local 1-1937. At the union, Routley helped negotiate contracts, advocated for work safety measures, campaigned against raw log exports, and fought mill closure.
Routley, the son of a Pentecostal minister, was raised on Vancouver Island. He began a career in the forestry industry with a job at the B.C. Forest Product's Youbou (veneer) sawmill. A bad experience earlier in life, while working at a shoe store in Victoria, made Routley interested in worker rights. At Youbou Routley was elected chairman of his local union's Safety Committee and then as chairman of its Plant Committee. During that time he also acted as a School Trustee in Lake Cowichan In 1985 Routley accepted a 3-month position working at the union office in Duncan. The temporary job led to a permanent position at the office and in 1986 he became the vice-president of IWA-Canada, Local 1-80. In the late-1980s Routley and the union were involved in fighting against wasteful logging practises. Protest rallies were held to raise awareness of forest mismanagement by Fletcher Challenge Canada which led to fines against the company and they formed the "Woodworker's Survival Task Force" to investigate how to keep local sawmills operational following years of over-logging and waste.
...
Wikipedia