Andrew Wilkinson

As the 40th Parliament of British Columbia began, Premier Christy Clark appointed Wilkinson as the Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services on June 10, 2013.[18] In the role, he was responsible for the selloff of government land.[19] Amongst the sales was 5750 Panorama Drive in Surrey to Fairborne Lands LTD that had been previously earmarked as the site for a new hospital by premier Gordon Campbell.[20][21][22] Wilkinson also oversaw the designing of the BC Services Card to combine drivers' licenses and CareCards.[23] On December 17, 2014, Premier Clark had Wilkinson and Amrik Virk exchanged Ministries and Wilkinson became the new Minister of Advanced Education.[24] In this role, he introduced his first two bills, both on February 11, 2015. The Chartered Professional Accountants Act (Bill 4) merged chartered accountants, certified general accountants and management accountants into one professional regulatory body. The Private Training Act (Bill 7) repealed the 37th Parliament's Private Career Training Institutions Act and moved regulation to the Private Training Institutions Branch of the Ministry of Advanced Education, ending the industry's ability to self-regulate.[25] In 2016, he introduced one final bill before the parliament ended, the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy Act which requires all public post-secondary institutions establish a sexual misconduct policy.[26]

Following a January, 2017 article in The New York Times entitled "British Columbia: The 'Wild West' of Canadian Political Cash"[27] Wilkinson was delegated to speak on behalf of the BC Liberal party, saying: "No one gets special treatment by being a campaign donor," and "It's a system that works." B.C. has since banned corporate and Union donations. During the 41st Parliament Wilkinson sponsored several private member bills. On September 13, 2017, he introduced the Election Amendment Act, 2017 (Bill M-201) which proposed to ban corporate and union political donations, impose a $5,000 annual limit for political contributions by individuals, ban loans except from Canadian banks or credit unions and ban in-kind donations of staff.

In the 2017 BC election Wilkinson again ran for office with the BC Liberal Party in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding and was reelected with 56% of the vote. The BC Liberal Party won the largest number of seats on election night but not enough to form a majority government. Wilkinson was appointed as Attorney General and Minister of Justice on June 12, 2017 but the BC Liberals were defeated on a confidence vote on June 29, 2017.[28] The NDP and the BC Greens came to an agreement to allow the NDP to form government. Incoming Premier John Horgan appointed NDP Vancouver MLA David Eby to replace Wilkinson as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

Once the BC Liberal Party leadership election was underway to replace Christy Clark, who had announced her resignation on July 28, 2017, Wilkinson announced his candidacy on September 25. He made the announcement at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Coal Harbour with fellow BC Liberal MLAs Michelle Stilwell, Mary Polak and John Rustad, Doug Clovechok and Tom Shypitka endorsing him.[29] He was eventually endorsed by 13 MLAs, the most of any candidate. On the initial ballot he placed third, behind Dianne Watts and Michael Lee, but the contest was decided by ranked voting so that by the fifth and final ballot Wilkinson won with 53% and became leader of the BC Liberal Party and the official opposition on February 3, 2018.[30] At its subsequent annual convention, the party under Wilkinson unveiled a new brand identity with the slogan "Opportunity for All of B.C." to replace Clark's "Today's BC Liberals".[31]

In the 2018 British Columbia electoral reform referendum, the BC Liberal Party under Wilkinson's leadership registered third-party advertising sponsors to support retaining the existing First-past-the-post voting system and reject a proportional representation system.[32] On November 8 he participated in a province-wide televised debate against Premier John Horgan who argued in favour of proportional representation.[33] The result of the referendum was 61% in favour of continuing with the current first-past-the-post voting system.

Wilkinson came under harsh criticism for his comments about renting in British Columbia, stating "It was part of growing up and getting better. We’ve all done it. It’s kind of a wacky time of life, but it can be really enjoyable."[34] Some accused Wilkinson of being "out-of-touch" with rental situation and housing crisis in BC, and the comments were reported as being "dismissive" of the struggles of BC renters.[35]

During the 41st Parliament Wilkinson sponsored several private member bills. On September 13, 2017, he introduced the Election Amendment Act, 2017 (Bill M-201) which proposed to ban corporate and union political donations, impose a $5,000 annual limit for political contributions by individuals, ban loans except from Canadian banks or credit unions and ban in-kind donations of staff. While the bill did not proceed, the provisions were adopted in a more comprehensive government bill, Election Amendment Act, 2017 (Bill 3) that same year.[36] On May 14, 2018, he introduced the Strata Pre-Sale Contract Flipping Tax Act, 2018 (Bill M-217) which sought to make 50% of the profit made in selling a condominium before it is available for occupancy subject to income tax. Again, while the bill did not proceed, the government, in Real Estate Development Marketing Amendment Act, 2018 (Bill 25), that same year made these contracts subject to the property transfer tax.[37][38]

On October 10, 2020, the host of This is Vancolour, Mo Amir, released footage of a BC Liberal fundraiser involving Andrew Wilkinson and other BC Liberal candidates.[39] On the leaked footage, BC Liberal candidate Jane Thornthwaite can be seen making sexist comments of BC NDP candidate Bowinn Ma while Wilkinson and other BC Liberal candidates laugh.[40][41] The video caused widespread condemnation online and in media prompting Wilkinson, Thornthwaite and other BC Liberal Candidates to issue public apologies.[42][43]