Bill Routley is a Canadian politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 39th and 40th Parliament of British Columbia, from 2009 to 2017.
21 Facts About Bill Routley
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In both parliaments his NDP formed the official opposition and Routley acted as their deputy critic on issues relating to forests and natural resource operations.
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At the union, Bill Routley helped negotiate contracts, advocated for work safety measures, campaigned against raw log exports, and fought mill closure.
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Bill Routley began a career in the forestry industry with a job at the BC Forest Product's Youbou sawmill.
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At Youbou Bill Routley was elected chairman of his local union's Safety Committee and then as chairman of its Plant Committee.
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Union members approved the merger and Bill Routley kept his position as a local president, saying "my view is we have to embrace this change".
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Also during the 2000s, Bill Routley fought against increases to raw log exports which he saw as coming at the expense of Vancouver Island mills as the raw logs were being sent to more efficient mills in the United States and Asia and he directly blamed the softwood lumber deal and legislated increased allowable raw log export quotas.
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Bill Routley campaigned for safety measures following a spike in occupational fatalities.
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Bill Routley helped stage awareness rallies and the December 2005 Forest Fatalities Summit.
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Bill Routley blamed a Labour Relations Board ruling during the 2004 contract bargaining that gave forestry companies the right to set flexible hours without consultation with employees which Routley linked to over-worked and exhausted employees.
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Bill Routley was critical of the bidding process for contractors used by forestry companies which he saw as contributing to the erosion of safety-related rules and procedures.
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Bill Routley recommended refusal of the contract but union members narrowly approved the deal.
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Bill Routley, who had announced his candidacy for the newly formed provincial electoral district of Cowichan Valley, supported the merger.
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Bill Routley resigned from his union position after he won the NDP nomination, defeating two others: health-care worker Rhoda Taylor and former Cowichan Valley Regional District rural director Richard Hughes on the first ballot.
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Bill Routley, who was the favourite to win, had a campaign focused on contrasting major projects identified with BC Liberal Party leader and Premier Gordon Campbell like the Olympics and the Sea to Sky Highway with over-crowded health care facilities.
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On Vancouver Island, after Catalyst Paper refused to pay its property taxes on its Crofton mill, Routley sided in favour of municipality saying the sawmill should pay its full property tax bill.
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Bill Routley was appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.
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Bill Routley was sharply critical of the BC Liberal Party for introducing HST and campaigned for its repeal.
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Bill Routley had remained loyal to party leader Carole James and greeted her resignation with sadness.
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Bill Routley recovered and, at the age of 64, sought re-election.
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In 2014, after Dix resigned as leader of the BC NDP and the 2014 British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership election had begun, Bill Routley endorsed John Horgan.