Mike Bernier
Canadian politician (born 1968)
Mike Bernier (born 1968) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of CentreBC since 2026. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA), representing the electoral district of Peace River South from 2013 to 2024.
01Political career
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of Peace River South as a member of the BC United. In December 2014, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Energy Literacy and the Environment for the Minister of Environment. On July 30, 2015, he was chosen to be Minister of Education in British Columbia. As Minister of Education, Bernier mandated the SOGI 123 (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) created by the ARC Foundation into all schools in the province.
On October 17, 2016, Bernier fired the Vancouver School Board for failing to pass a balanced budget.
On May 9, 2017, Bernier was re-elected in his rural riding of Peace River South with 75.63% of the vote, the highest a BC Liberal has ever been elected with in provincial history and the eleventh highest across all parties in BC history when the Conservative Party of British Columbia did not run a candidate in the riding.
Bernier was reappointed Minister of Education on June 12, 2017. Bernier sought the BC Liberal Party leadership after Christy Clark's resignation in August 2017, but dropped out of the race after two weeks.
In opposition, he has served as the opposition critic for housing and for finance.
Before being elected provincially, he served as a city councillor (2005-2008) and then the mayor (2008-2013) of Dawson Creek, BC. Before entering politics, he worked for 20 years in the natural gas industry.
In the 2024 British Columbia general election, he ran as an independent candidate but was unseated by Conservative Party of British Columbia candidate Larry Neufeld.
On July 18, 2026, Bernier was named the new leader of CentreBC.
02Electoral record
| 2024 British Columbia general election: Peace River South | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Larry Neufeld | 7,182 | 69.84 | +39.32 | $44,112.40 | |||
| Unaffiliated | Mike Bernier | 2,525 | 24.56 | -26.64 | $12,313.25 | |||
| New Democratic | Marshall Bigsby | 576 | 5.60 | -10.04 | $1,286.83 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 10,283 | 99.85 | , | $71,700.08 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 15 | 0.15 | , | |||||
| Turnout | 10,298 | 56.56 | +14.91 | |||||
| Registered voters | 18,206 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from BC United | Swing | +32.98 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC | ||||||||
| 2020 British Columbia general election: Peace River South | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Mike Bernier | 3,862 | 51.19 | −24.78 | $11,466.78 | |||
| Conservative | Kathleen Connolly | 2,303 | 30.53 | , | $0.00 | |||
| New Democratic | Corey Grizz Longley | 1,180 | 15.64 | −8.39 | $1,321.80 | |||
| Wexit | Dorothy Sharon Smith | 199 | 2.84 | , | $538.35 | |||
| Total valid votes | 7,544 | 100.00 | , | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 42 | 0.56 | ||||||
| Turnout | 7,586 | 41.66 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 18,211 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC | ||||||||
| 2017 British Columbia general election: Peace River South | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Mike Bernier | 6,637 | 75.97 | +29.24 | $26,175 | |||
| New Democratic | Stephanie Goudie | 2,099 | 24.03 | +2.79 | $8,179 | |||
| Total valid votes | 8,736 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 131 | 1.48 | ||||||
| Turnout | 8,867 | 49.97 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 17,746 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC | ||||||||
| 2013 British Columbia general election: Peace River South | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Mike Bernier | 4,373 | 46.73 | -16.35 | $107,254 | |||
| Conservative | Kurt Zane Peats | 2,546 | 27.21 | - | $26,829 | |||
| New Democratic | Darwin Wren | 1,988 | 21.24 | -5.79 | $36,616 | |||
| Independent | Tyrel Andrew Pohl | 451 | 4.82 | - | $2,668 | |||
| Total valid votes | 9,358 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 37 | 0.39 | ||||||
| Turnout | 9,395 | 49.89 | ||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | , 21.78 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC | ||||||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Mike Bernier”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Mike Bernier 2016.jpg by Province of British Columbia, CC BY 3.0
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