23 Facts About Lana Popham

Lana Popham is a Canadian politician representing the riding of Saanich South in the Legislature of British Columbia.

Lana Popham was first elected in the 2009 provincial general election to the 39th Parliament and then re-elected in 2013,2017 and 2020 to the 40th, 41st and 42nd Parliaments.

Lana Popham graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts in geography.

Lana Popham married an Oak Bay firefighter and together they had a son.

Lana Popham has been a member of several District of Saanich committees, including planning, transportation, and economic development committees.

Lana Popham was a candidate in the 2005 Saanich municipal election, but did not win a seat on council.

Lana Popham began campaigning for the 2008 municipal election but withdrew to run for the provincial NDP nomination in the Saanich South riding.

The Saanich South election was expected to be one of the closest in the province, with Lana Popham facing former CHEK-TV reporter and news anchor and BC Liberal candidate Robin Adair, lawyer and Western Canada Concept Party leader Doug Christie, and Green Party candidate Brian Gordon.

Lana Popham was one of four candidates in the province endorsed by the Conservation Voters of BC.

Lana Popham won the May 12,2009 election by 482 votes and her party formed the official opposition.

Lana Popham joined with fellow NDP MLAs Scott Fraser and Claire Trevena, in conjunction with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, in lobbying for the stop to old-growth logging on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

In November 2010, Lana Popham became one of 13 NDP caucus members to call for a leadership review of Carole James.

Lana Popham endorsed Mike Farnworth in the subsequent leadership election, which saw Adrian Dix come out on top.

Under Dix, Lana Popham remained agriculture critic and they advocated for health authorities to use local food in hospitals, reinstating the Buy BC program, easing the regulations that restrict meat processing sales, and lobbied the Province of Ontario for compatible labeling laws in support of a proposed federal law that would allow inter-provincial sales of wine.

Lana Popham was featured in the 2011 Canadian documentary film Peace Out, in which she spoke about the food supply ramifications of flooding the Peace River Valley for the controversial Site C dam proposal.

Lana Popham opposes the commercial production of the genetically engineered Arctic Apple, arguing it could negatively affect the reputation of BC fruit.

Lana Popham is a leading proponent of increased protection for native pollinators and honey bees on Vancouver Island, maintaining a blog on the subject.

Lana Popham delivered an overview of the BCNDP's agriculture plan on March 4 and 5,2013 to the BC Legislature.

Lana Popham contested the May 14,2013 provincial election and was re-elected.

In May 2016, Lana Popham introduced the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act which would have implemented the National Farm Animal Care Council's code of practice for farmed mink.

Lana Popham introduced the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2018 and the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2019 which, among other items, undid the previous parliament's division of the Agricultural Land Reserve into two zones with different regulations and reduced the amount of housing permitted on agricultural land.

Lana Popham's NDP formed a majority government in the ensuing 42nd Parliament and Premier Horgan kept Popham in the Executive Council, but renamed her role to Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

Lana Popham was reassigned as Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport by Premier David Eby on December 7,2022.