Before welcoming MLA Rob Botterell to ASK Salt Spring this Friday, May 2, 11-1, SIMS classroom, we thought it would be fun to learn more about what “excites and delights” him personally as well as professionally.  

 Rob grew up in Oak Bay, playing the alto saxophone in the high-school band and spending much of his free time sailing. When he graduated from high school in 1973, he headed off to UBC to study Economics and Political Science, eventually also receiving his MBA there. 

Idyllic as his childhood may sound, he recalls with a chuckle telling his lawyer mother when he left for college that he would never return to Victoria and never become a lawyer, both predictions which turned out to be untrue.  

With his MBA and a keen interest in economics, Rob spent the early decades of his career working for TD Bank and was quickly promoted to Comptroller. During those years, he worked in Vancouver and lived on Bowen Island with his wife, now celebrating 45 years together. 

In the early 1980s, working at TD Bank and living on Bowen Island, Rob also began his political career by being elected as its Island Trustee. Combining his fascination with economics and political science, his banking career and Trustee position were a good balance. Cognizant that today’s Islands Trustees face many extremely complicated and divisive issues, he believes that there are still many similarities between today’s Islands Trust and the one that existed in the 1980s. The need for vigorous debate and building consensus from differing perspectives, rather than divisiveness, remains imperative today. Despite all the challenges, his passion for the promise of the Islands Trust remains strong. 

Rob was promoted at TD Bank and eventually he moved to Toronto. The early 1980’s were difficult financial years for too many, and he struggled to find solutions for those who simply could not repay their loans. During these years, he spent quite a lot of time consulting with lawyers, seeking solutions. Often unsatisfied by the limited options they offered, a germ of an idea began to grow: ”What if he were the lawyer and could find the needed answers himself?”   

In the late 1980’s these musings became very real when Rob and his wife decided to return to Victoria where he earned his law degree at UVIC as well as celebrating the birth of their only child. 

While studying for his law degree, he worked for the BC Government in a variety of roles, including leading the team that developed BC’s Freedom of Information Law, as well as gaining a deep understanding of the inner workings of the BC government. 

After graduation, Rob began his second career, two decades of legal work representing Indigenous Nations and Local Governments. He started off with a Vancouver law firm but moved back to open his own law firm in Victoria. During his years representing Indigenous issues, often with the provincial and federal government, Rob was legal counsel for Cowichan Tribes for many years. He also represented a number of other BC Nations. 

When asked about his most satisfying accomplishment during these years, he recalled the success protecting sacred Cowichan lands near Duncan from a planned Cowichan Valley Regional District garbage dump. 

During the first decade of the 2000s, treaties and laws were a focus of Indigenous representation, and Rob participated in the progress of the Huu-ay-aht Tribe (https://huuayaht.org/) of the Barkley Sound region toward achieving self-government. In addition to these huge governance gains, after years of struggle and tenacious advocacy, he celebrated with them the chip-sealing of the road between Banfield and Port Alberni. 

With many successes during his year as Indigenous Legal Council, Rob still recalls with regret the inability to stop Site C (https://www.sitecproject.com/). Even after doing everything possible, this project proceeded despite adamant opposition. 

Happily living in Sidney, Rob and his wife loved their small home, lovely sunny garden, and sailing trips. Suddenly, in 2019, a five-story apartment practically sprung up, blocking their view and sunshine. Already anticipating retirement, Rob and his wife had begun to consider a Gulf Island home for their retirement. After selling their home in Sidney, they purchased a 1960s bungalow on Pender Island, one of their favourite sailing destinations.

When Rob retired in December of 2023, he and his wife planned years of sailing into the sunset, with Halifax as one of many destinations in their sights. While sailing and hiking are still Rob’s favourite ways to spend his time, long voyages and lazy days in foreign waters got postponed when our former MLA Adam Olsen announced that he would not run again. Rob laughs when he recalls that he was anchored at Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island when he learned Adam was stepping down, still bemused that he was able to get cell coverage there. 

After consulting with his family and getting their support, he made the big decision and was in! Becoming our MLA seemed the perfect culmination of decades of experience in banking and law, building consensus, and dealing with the provincial government on numerous issues – a way to give back to the communities he loves. Also, he so enjoys meeting people, engaging in vigorous debate, reaching consensus, and seeking the solutions needed. As an example, he looks forward to being with us each month at ASK Salt Spring and sees it as an opportunity to meet many interesting folks. 

When asked “What could go wrong?” Rob responded that the issues faced by BC are serious and require considering every option, implementing the changes needed, and then evaluating their effectiveness. He knows that he must be a major player in building consensus rather than fueling division. He’s committed to doing everything in his power to make these needed changes, encouraged that success is possible.  

A tangible example of progress is the recent establishment of the Democratic and Election Reform Committee (https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/committees/43rd-1stsession-dem), of which he is a member. While he does worry about what happens if everything our MLAs do to make these changes is simply not enough, with his tenacious optimism, Rob is eager to give it a try, and in his words, “Being your MLA is a dream come true.”