37th Parliament Members
at dissolution on April 19, 2005

MLA: Hon. Claude Richmond  Kamloops Speaker Elected:  2001 BRITISH COLUMBIA LIBERAL PARTY

On June 19, 2001, Claude Richmond, Member for Kamloops, was elected as the 35th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Mr. Richmond was born in Blue River, British Columbia and educated in the Kamloops area.

Prior to his first election to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in a 1981 by-election, Mr. Richmond served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked for twenty-five years in small business.

From 1974 to 1977, Mr. Richmond served two terms as a City of Kamloops councillor and from 1978 to 1982 managed CHNL radio station. Mr. Richmond was re-elected in 1983 and 1986 serving until 1991. During his three terms as Member for Kamloops, he served as Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for Expo '86, Minister of Social Services and Housing, and Minister of Forests. From 1988 to 1991, he also served as Government House Leader. In recent years, Mr. Richmond worked as a business consultant to the resource industries and markets and also held the position of managing director of the Kamloops Airport Limited.

Mr. Richmond and his wife Patricia have three children and two grandchildren. He is the bandmaster of the Kamloops Rube Band, a group of thirty-five musicians who travel the world as goodwill ambassadors for Kamloops and British Columbia. He is also an avid golfer and motorcyclist.