Marc Dalton

This article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Please help by to make improvements to the overall structure. (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article may require copy editing for WP:LASTNAME. You can assist by . (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Marc Dalton MP
Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge
Incumbent
Assumed office October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Dan Ruimy
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Maple Ridge-Mission
In office May 12, 2009 – May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Randy Hawes
Succeeded by	Bob D'Eith
Personal details
Born	(1960-06-03) June 3, 1960 (age 61) Canadian Forces Base Baden Söllingen, Germany
Political party	Conservative
Other political affiliations	BC Liberal (provincial)
Residence	Ottawa, Ontario

Marc Dalton MP is a Canadian politician. He is the current Conservative Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge after the 2019 Canadian federal election. Formerly, he was a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia following the 2009 and 2013 provincial elections, for the riding of Maple Ridge-Mission.

Biography[]

Marc Dalton was elected in 2019 as the Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge. Previously, he represented Maple Ridge-Mission as a provincial MLA between 2009 and 2017.

Dalton was born in Germany when his father was stationed there with the Royal Canadian Air Force and grew up on military bases across Canada.

Dalton served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves and is a member of the local Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 88. Dalton believes in a well-equipped and effective armed force especially in light of the rapid rise of a militaristic Communist China and Russia.

Dalton is a self-identified Metis and is proud of his Indigenous ancestry. He is a member of Metis Nation BC and locally of Golden Ears Metis Society (GEMS).

On his mother’s side, Dalton is French-Canadian and is fluent in French. He also converses in Spanish.

Dalton is a public-school teacher by profession and has taught for many years at both the secondary and elementary levels in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, SD 42. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and History and a Master’s in Educational Leadership both from Simon Fraser University.

Dalton has been a strong advocate for residents of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge and has worked to secure funding for a new MRI machine at Ridge Meadows Hospital, another ambulance, a new school in Albion, four-laning Lougheed Highway, the sound barrier wall in Pitt Meadows as well as other infrastructure projects.

Dalton recently placed Motion-88 before Parliament proposing a Federal Framework to help address the opioid crisis. Marc’s motion seeks to provide supports for treatment and recovery to help set free those in the grip of addiction, which greatly benefits themselves, their families, and the community.

Dalton and Marlene have three adult children and two grandchildren. They have lived and worked in both Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge since 1994.

^[1]

Controversies[]

While running in the 2009 British Columbia general election, an email written to a colleague from 1996 while Dalton was a schoolteacher was released by the NDP due to "disturbingly homophobic comments", according to then MLA Spencer Herbert.^[2] The email was a response to concerns over overreach in proposed policy changes to address bullying in which Dalton wrote:

"I am not against homosexuals as people, but I do not support their lifestyle choices. I believe homosexuality is a moral issue. Most of us agree on many morals: respect, honesty, kindness.”^[3]

Dalton released an apology, stating he didn't intend to be offensive or hurtful.^[4]

In 2014, Dalton came under fire for his comments on child poverty as MLA. While debating the topic in the B.C. Legislature, then British Columbia New Democratic Party Social Development critic Michelle Mungall says, "One MLA flat out [Dalton] said he didn’t know any children who were homeless, that there were no children who were homeless and no children were going hungry at a time when child food bank clients have increased by 30-percent.”^[5][6] In the legislature, Dalton said, “I have not met children starving in British Columbia in the past 50-some years. If they were, then I think that would be, normally, willful or criminal negligence."^[7]

During that year, Dalton voted against^[8] an amendment to the Vital Statistics Act^[9] that would allow transgender or gender non-binary individuals to change registered sex designation from their sex assigned at birth to reflect their gender identity.^[10][11] Maple Ridge based Thomas Haney Secondary school teacher and staff liaison for the gay-straight alliance, Kathryn Ferguson, condemned his decision stating, "Thank you, Mr. Dalton, for reminding me why we do need gay-straight alliance groups in the public school system,” Ferguson further added, "I wish we didn’t have a need for these groups, but when you have a MLA making these ignorant statements, it puts fire underneath us to keep going – because we’re still needed.”^[12]

On January 3, 2020, as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton retweeted an opinion column from The Washington Examiner on Twitter titled, "The transgender movement’s message for girls: Your privacy concerns are bigotry" The article, written by freelancer Bethany Mandel alleges, "Young women know their bathrooms and locker rooms have become unsafe, but they are told to be quiet because the feelings of biological males and transgender students matter more,"^[13] Dalton defended his re-posting of the article stating he's not pushing the issue aggressively, but spoke about it previously when he was MLA. “It’s concerning for women and for children and young girls to be in a place where there’s someone undressing right in front of them … with male genitalia. I think … it has to work for everybody,” Dalton said.^[14]

In his capacity as Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge, Dalton crafted a tweet met with controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on April 13, 2020.^[15] In his post, Dalton stated regarding seniors, "Most deaths are in care homes where average life expectancy is 2 yrs & 65% usually pass in the 1st yr. Time to start moving Canada back to work?" The post was removed after being up for several minutes. When questioned about the incident by media organizations, Dalton's office responded with the following, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the hundreds of Canadians who have lost loved ones because of COVID-19. I personally have an uncle in a care home who I love dearly who has contracted coronavirus."

Recall campaigns[]

Over Dalton's tenure as MLA for Maple Ridge - Mission, there had been two campaigns to recall and "fire" the politician from office.^[16] In 2011, the group Maple Ridge FightHST, led by Wilf McIntyre and Corisa Bell,^[17] launched the first push garnering roughly 2500 signatures, short of the 14,882 or 40% of required voters to begin the recall process.^[18] Dalton attempted to undermine the process, claiming locals thought they were signing a petition to halt the passage of the Harmonized Sales Tax in BC. Then, campaign organizer Wilf McIntyre said the group could have collected enough names to oust Dalton. In defense of the petition, McIntyre claimed, “We were very specific because we had to be.”^[19]

Four years later, Dalton faced a second recall attempt in 2015.^[16] The campaign began shortly after he decided to take a failed second run for a federal seat with the Conservative Party of Canada and sit as an independent MLA. Organizer Yvonne Hale said regarding the representatives run, “I think that goes to show that he’s [Dalton] more focused on himself than his constituents." The call to remove Dalton from office ended up stalling following allegations of interference from his supporters and the B.C. Liberal Party. Recall spokesperson Jennifer Heighton says interruptions began at the , where people with "Marc Dalton observer" name tags would argue and scare off potential signers from their booth. Heighton further claims that harassment also took place at Maple Ridge's downtown Haney Farmer's Market and other City locations where they would discourage the public from signing the petition. Heighton and the group called for an investigation by Elections B.C. regarding the matter: “Regardless of the Maple Ridge recall withdrawal, it is critically important that the legislation be respected and the right of democratic dissent be upheld. That’s why we want Elections B.C. to fully investigate this situation.” However, according to Elections B.C., the actions of the observers didn't contain any threats of violence, so they don't contravene Sec. 157 of the recall act, and the act also doesn't regulate the actions of observers. Dalton defended the use of observers and scrutineers, claiming they are not mentioned in the recall act, there's nothing that prohibits them. "They were being watched and being respectful... if they did talk to voters, it would have happened very infrequently." Jillian Stead, spokesperson for the B.C. Liberal Party, said the observers "were asked only to monitor the proponent's behaviour to ensure they were being honest in their solicitations, and to interfere only to correct misinformation." She said under Sec.157 of the Recall and Initiative Act, no one can interfere with someone's right to sign a petition and the observers took that seriously. This recall campaign only drew less than 10 percent of the required 15,410.^[18]

Political views[]

On June 22, 2021, Dalton along with 61 other Conservative caucus members and one independent voted against Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy).^[20] This bill, if fully passed, would criminalize the act of forcing upon and conducting conversion therapy on LGBTQ2+ individuals. In the same session, Mr. Dalton voted against Bill C-12, An Act respecting transparency and accountability in Canada's efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.^[21][22] Mr. Dalton voted against the bill on the Conservative line, despite having a history of semi-support for environmental policy, including the introduction of a carbon tax in British Columbia when he served as MLA for Maple Ridge - Mission.

Dalton has long claimed to be of Cree-Metis Indigenous heritage and touted this lineage.^[23] However, in parliament he voted against Bill C-15, An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples^[24] on four occasions, April 15, 2021; April 19, 2021; May 14, 2021; and May 25, 2021.^[25][26][27] This Bill would have implemented the recommendations put forward by UNDRIP.^[28]

In 2020, the Member of Parliament for Pitt Meadows - Maple Ridge threw his full support behind the future leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Erin O'Toole. The to be anointed leader posed himself as a hardline Conservative. Upon O'Toole's win, Dalton claimed, "I was pleased he won. I felt he was the strongest in a very strong field," going on to further add that he [O'Toole] is "a unifier" for the Party.^[29]

Personal life[]

He served in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves and is a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.^[30]

Dalton has served his community in previous years as an elder of the Maple Ridge Community Church.

Electoral record[]

Federal[]

Provincial[]

See also[]

• British Columbia Liberal Party

References[]

External links[]

• http://www.reelyou.ca/bc-liberals-marc-dalton-reelyou.html
• Marc Dalton, MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission
• Official Biography, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
• Experience the Fraser