Dawn in the News
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“But I know that it is time to move on,” she said in an interview, noting she wants to spend more time with her family. “It sounds so trite, but it’s true. I have seven fabulous grandchildren and three great sons with wonderful wives and I don’t want to miss any more family gatherings.”
Still, she said, “I would have loved to be a cabinet minister, federally or provincially. Sure, there’s a tinge of sadness I won’t ever achieve that, but I feel it’s the right decision.”
Globe and Mail, August 3, 2011
VICTORIA - New Democratic Party MLA Dawn Black announced Wednesday she is retiring from politics.
A former three-term Member of Parliament, Black was elected to the B.C. Legislature in 2009. She served as interim leader of the provincial party earlier this year after Carole James resigned as leader.
"Representing the people of my community in Ottawa and Victoria has been a tremendous privilege. I love the job and it's hard to leave," said Black in a statement.
The Vancouver Sun, August 3, 2011
"It's time," Black told The Record. "It's time for me to step aside, and that's why I'm announcing I won't be seeking re-election in the next provincial election."
Black started campaigning for the NDP under Dave Barrett in 1973, and she steadily moved up the ranks, most notably working as executive assistant to New Westminster-Burnaby MP Pauline Jewett and for John Cashore, provincial MLA for Maillardville-Coquitlam.
Royal City Record, August 3, 2011
The province won't release a timeline for a proposed expansion of Royal Columbian Hospital because it will be a project that will cost more than $1 billion, Health Minister Mike de Jong said in the legislature on Tuesday.
New Westminster MLA Dawn Black asked the minister for an update on the expansion because it had been a year since Fraser Health had forwarded its concept to the ministry. Most regional authorities have a response from the ministry within a couple of months, she said.
New Westminster NewsLeader, May 26th, 2011
New Westminster MLA Dawn Black is criticizing the provincial government's lack of action on expansion at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Black questioned Health Minister Mike de Jong about the expansion plans on May 24 in the Legislature in Victoria. She said there's been no action on the hospital's expansion plan, which was submitted to the government nearly a year ago.
"When can we expect a response on the concept plan?" she said. "Is everything going ahead, as far as the ministry and the minister are concerned?"
Royal City Record, May 26, 2011
"We've been having hallway medicine for a long time," said Black, who is serving as interim opposition leader while the New Democrats select a new provincial leader, "Now we've moved to a new level of coffee shop medicine, which is outrageous."
New Westminster NewsLeader, March 1, 2011
In the legislature today (February 17), the NDP Opposition once again raised the issue of questionable radiologists' scans.
Interim leader Dawn Black pointed out that a Powell River man received two letters on February 8 from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority telling him that his CT scan was read by an unqualified radiologist.
The Georgia Straight, February 17, 2011.