Kerry-Lynne Findlay
Kerry-Lynne Donna Findlay is a Canadian politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Surrey—White Rock from 2019 to 2025, and previously represented the riding of Delta—Richmond East in the House of Common from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she had served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, Associate Minister of National Defence, and Minister of National Revenue while that party was in power under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Early life and legal career
Findlay was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, and lived in Nanaimo and Victoria; her brother Greg Findlay was a linebacker for the BC Lions Canadian football team. After graduating from Crofton House School in Vancouver, she attended the University of British Columbia, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science in 1975, and a law degree in 1978.She articled at Kowarsky and Company in Vancouver, then worked there as an associate for two years before briefly serving as in-house counsel for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. She established her own practice in 1981, then joined Connell Lightbody in 1987 before switching to Watson Goepel Maledy in 1996. During her legal career, Findlay has been active in both the national and B.C. provincial branch of the Canadian Bar Association. She held various positions in that organization including national and provincial chair of the Constitutional Law Section and member of the National Task Force on Canadian Court Reform, and she was acclaimed president of the B.C. Branch for the 1997–1998 term. Findlay was appointed a Queen's Counsel in March 1999 by the Attorney General of British Columbia, and served a five-year term as a Member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by appointment of the Federal Minister of Justice.
Political career
Findlay ran in the 2000 federal election as a Canadian Alliance candidate in the riding of Vancouver Quadra, but lost to Liberal candidate Stephen Owen.She was named the Conservative Party's candidate for Delta—Richmond East in March 2011, and won the seat in that year's federal election. During the 41st Parliament, she served as member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and sat on a selection panel to help choose a replacement for Marie Deschamps of Quebec, who retired as puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice in May 2011, and as Associate Minister of National Defence on February 22, 2013. She then served as the Minister of National Revenue from July 15, 2013, until November 4, 2015.
She contested the reconstituted riding of Delta in the 2015 election, but lost to Liberal candidate Carla Qualtrough. She then ran for the Conservatives in the 2017 South Surrey—White Rock 2017 [South Surrey—White Rock federal by-election|by-election], but was defeated by the Liberal's Gordie Hogg, taking 42.1% of the vote to Hogg's 47.5%.
In a re-match at the 2019 election, Findlay unseated Hogg by taking 42.6% of the vote. She served as shadow minister for Environment and Climate Change from November 2019 to September 2020. She received backlash in August 2020 after retweeting another user's Twitter post trying to connect Chrystia Freeland with George Soros. She voted in support of Bill C-233 - an act to amend the Criminal Code, which would make it an indictable or a summary offence for a medical practitioner to knowingly perform an abortion solely on the grounds of the child's genetic sex.
She was re-elected in 2021 by defeating Gordie Hogg again, and served as shadow minister for National Defence from November 2021 to October 2022. Following Erin O'Toole's ouster as Conservative leader in February 2022, Findlay announced her intention to run for interim party leader; Candice Bergen was ultimately chosen for the role. On September 13, 2022 Findlay was named Chief Opposition Whip by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, becoming the first woman to serve in this role for the Conservatives.
She lost re-election in the 2025 election. Some observers attributed her loss to comments made by her husband Brent Chapman, who is the MLA for Surrey South.
In early 2026, following the resignation of John Rustad, she launched a bid to become 2026 [Conservative Party of British Columbia leadership election|leader of the BC Conservative Party]. In her , the former Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister framed the leadership contest by arguing that: "This race is a simple choice: a reliable conservative, or a liberal takeover." Kerry-Lynne Findlay is the only candidate in the race so far that has served as a Cabinet Minister in a Conservative Federal Government.