Amrik Virk

Amrik S. Virk (born 1963 or 1964) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election.[2] He represented the electoral district of Surrey-Tynehead as a member of the British Columbia Liberal Party and was appointed Minister of Advanced Education on June 10, 2013 by Premier Christy Clark. Following a compensation scandal, he was appointed Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services on December 18, 2014, dropping his responsibilities for Advanced Education.

Amrik Virk MLA
Amrik Virk in 2013
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Tynehead
In office May 14, 2013 – May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Dave Hayer
Succeeded by	riding redistributed
Personal details
Born	1963/1964 (age 56–57)[1] India
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Jatinder Virk
Children	Jusleen Virk Anisha Virk Maansi Virk
Residence	Surrey, British Columbia
Profession	Police officer, politician

Virk was born in India and moved to the Canadian city of Williams Lake at the age of five years. He has lived in Surrey since 2002 with his wife Jatinder and their three daughters.[3]

Virk holds a B.A in Economics and History.[3] from Simon Fraser University.[4]

An extensive career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) included a variety of policing duties with a substantial portion of his experience with various First Nations communities. In 2001, Virk was commissioned to the rank of Inspector and posted to Surrey where he was active in the issue of youth and gang violence in communities throughout the Lower Mainland and worked extensively with community leaders to help create the British Columbia Integrated Gang Task force. He left Surrey RCMP in 2006 while serving as the acting Officer in Charge of Operations (one of two Deputy Chief equivalents) and transferred to Langley as the Officer in Charge of Operations.

Virk was a community volunteer. In six years spent on the board of directors of the Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation, he helped raise millions of dollars for enhancing health care for Surrey residents. He also served on the board of Kwantlen Polytechnic University.[3]

In April 2014, Virk was linked to a scheme to funnel $100,000 in excess compensation to two senior Kwantlen Polytechnic University administrators, a scheme that violated government rules on executive compensation and disclosure.[5] A report on the scandal, acknowledging wrongdoing but establishing no penalty, was released on June 17, 2014, in the shadow of the release of a long-awaited and controversial decision on an Enbridge pipeline expansion project.[6] However, a revised report was released showing that Virk was aware of the compensation violations. Virk was moved from Advanced Education to Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services on the same day the revised report was released.[7]

In the 2017 provincial election, Virk was defeated by Garry Begg in the redistributed riding of Surrey-Guildford.

Recognition

In addition to the RCMP Long Service Medal and Commissioner's Commendation for Bravery, Virk has received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.[3]

Electoral record

2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Guildford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Garry Begg	9,263	49.85	$67,072
	Liberal	Amrik Virk	7,015	37.76	$71,381
	Green	Jodi Murphy	1,840	9.90	$,1838
	Christian Heritage	Kevin Pielak	462	2.49	$1,015
Total valid votes			18,580	100.00
Total rejected ballots			133	0.71
Turnout			18,713	55.76
Registered Voters			33,561
Source: Elections BC[8][9]

2013 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Tynehead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Amrik Virk	9,172	48.15
	New Democratic	Avtar Bains	7,539	39.58
	Conservative	Barry J. Sikora	2,040	10.71
	Vision	Sukhi Gill	298	1.56
Total valid votes			19,049	100.00
Total rejected ballots			176	0.92
Turnout			19,225	52.13
Source: Elections BC[10]

References

1. New inspector joins higher echelons of Langley RCMP:: [Final Edition] Hooper, Roxanne. Langley Advance [Langley, B.C] 13 Oct 2006: 21.
2. "Riding results: Marvin Hunt and Peter Fassbender carry Liberals to victory in Surrey ridings" Archived 2017-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Vancouver Sun, May 15, 2013.
3. "Meet Amrik". Official Candidate website. 2013. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
4. Kwantlen Polytechnic University (12 June 2008). "Kwantlen Board of Governors announces newly appointed board members". News Release. Archived from the original on 2008-09-12. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
5. "Liberal cabinet minister Amrik Virk linked to Kwantlen compensation scandal". April 4, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
6. "Michael Smyth: Liberal MLA Virk must step aside for Kwantlen pay probe". June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
7. "Amrik Virk moved out of advanced education ministry in B.C. government shuffle". Dec 18, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
8. "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
9. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
10. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.