Doug Donaldson

During the 39th Parliament he was appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services where he served as deputy chair. As part of this committee he traveled the province for public consultation on budget matters. In the first session (2009), Donaldson and the NDP supported 75% of the recommendations, dissenting on the others that related to the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Donaldson was opposed to the replacement of the Provincial Sales Tax with the HST, claiming that the BC Liberals were "wildly inflating its benefits".[18] During the second session (2010), Donaldson again traveled the province with the committee but led the NDP in withdrawing their participation after Premier Gordon Campbell announced, two weeks before the committee's report was due, that he had already allocated all the province's discretionary funding.[19] A petition asking to the HST to be repealed was circulated within his riding; the FightHST organization claimed 3,648 people (30% of voters) signed in the Stikine riding[20] and in the Summer 2011 referendum on the issue 3,300 people in the riding voted to repeal the HST.

Donaldson opened two constituency offices, one in Hazelton and the other in Smithers. On local issues, Donaldson, along with his federal counterpart Nathan Cullen, tried to stop Nav Canada from replacing flight observers with electronic monitoring devices at the Smithers Airport.[21] Donaldson initiated a writing contest supported by hockey player Dan Hamhuis, the Gitxsan Nation, and the Community Police, where youths described how sports activities helped them resist gang activity and contributed to their community.[22] Donaldson became an advocate of strong environmental assessment reviews as a means of creating investor certainty in projects.[23] His opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines angered Premier Campbell.[24][25] Donaldson was critical of the provincial government's negotiation skills with federal government on RCMP contracts and funding relating to changes in crime legislation[26] and with First Nations engagement on mining proposals.[27]

Donaldson was a supporter of BC NDP leader Carole James,[28] but after her resignation, he supported Mike Farnworth during the leadership election, citing Farnworth's view of rural economic development which includes using a triple bottom line that involves social, environmental and economic criteria.[29] Due to the leadership election, Donaldson also became the NDP critic on Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, in addition to being the deputy critic on Finance.[30] Adrian Dix eventually won the leadership and kept Ralston and Donaldson as the critic and deputy critic on Finance but moved Donaldson to deputy critic on Energy and Mines. A year later, in July 2012, Dix split the Energy and Mines critic role and appointed Donaldson to be critic of Mines, while removing him from the Finance portfolio. As critic of Mines, Donaldson questioned the government's approval of allowing 200 temporary foreign workers to fill positions in a Tumbler Ridge coal mine but was supportive of the government's refusal of a copper-gold-molybdenum mine, near Granisle, due to the adverse effects on fisheries.

Entering the May 2013 general election, Donaldson was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in December 2012 with his primary opponent Sharon Hartwell, the former mayor of Telkwa, being announced as the BC Liberal candidate in April. Also in the election, Donaldson faced Roger Benham of the BC Green Party again, as well as the former leader of the Christian Heritage Party Rod Taylor, BC Conservative Jonathan Dieleman, and independent candidate Jesse O'Leary. The polls projected Donaldson and the NDP to win the election. While Donaldson did win re-election, the NDP again formed the Official Opposition to the BC Liberals who won an expanded majority. As the 40th Parliament began, Donaldson was reassigned to be the critic for aboriginal relations and reconciliation. In July 2014, new party leader John Horgan re-assigned Donaldson to be the critic for children and family development issues[31] but upon the July 2016 announcement of Norm Macdonald not seeking re-election, Donaldson was again re-assigned to Macdonald position as critic for Energy and Mines.[32] Donaldson sponsored one private member bill, the British Columbia Oil and Gas Activities Amendment Act, 2014 which proposed to prohibit the conversion of natural gas pipelines to transmit oil or diluted bitumen. While the bill did not advance beyond first reading, its proposal was implemented by the Minister of Natural Gas Development as a regulation.[33]

Donaldson sought re-election in the 2017 provincial election, where he was challenged by Gitanyow Band Councillor Wanda Good for the BC Liberals[34] and, again, Rod Taylor of the Christian Heritage Party. While Donaldson again won the Stikine riding, his BC NDP formed the Official Opposition to a BC Liberal minority government as the 41st Parliament began. As neither opposition parties were willing to support the BC Liberal government, they lost a confidence vote and the BC NDP was offered the opportunity to form a minority government. NDP leader John Horgan became the Premier and appointed Donaldson to his Executive Council as Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.[35] In this role, he led three bills through parliament. First, Bill 37 of the 3rd session, titled Land Statutes Amendment Act, 2018, was introduced on October 1 and adopted on October 31, 2018. It amended the Land Act, Land Title Act, Strata Property Act and Property Transfer Tax Act to allow for more e-signature and e-filings technologies, and amended the Boundary Act to allow certain adjustments of the border between BC and Alberta to be made without a referendum.[36] Bill 21 of the 4th session, titled Forest and Range Practices Amendment Act, 2019 and adopted on May 16, 2019, amended the Forest and Range Practices Act to require forest companies publish Forest Operation Maps and update stewardship plans every 5 years or following a wildfire. Bill 14, the Heritage Conservation Amendment Act, 2019 and adopted on May 30, 2019, amended the Heritage Conservation Act to create a legal duty-to-report discoveries of specific sites or objects with potential heritage value and expanded the government's to amend and refuse permits and otherwise enforce the act.[37] Finally, also adopted on May 30, Bill 22 amended the Forest Act to insert consideration of the "public interest" in decision to approve the disposition of Forest Act agreements and require ministerial approval of the transferring of a timber licences between companies.[38]