A caucus member of the British Columbia Liberal Party, he served in the cabinet of Premier Gordon Campbell as Minister of Finance from 2001 to 2004.
[1] After moving to British Columbia, he attended the Fraser Valley College and graduated from the aviation diploma program;[1] he went on to become a flight instructor with that institution.
[12] In December 2004, Collins announced his decision to resign as Minister of Finance and Vancouver-Fairview MLA effective immediately, and became the CEO of Harmony Airways.
[14][15] He then became a senior vice-president with Belkorp Industries, before being named president of Coastal Contacts in August 2012.
However, he was sworn in as MLA at the 37th Parliament as "Gary Collins" later that year, after dropping his former wife's last name following their divorce.