He briefly sat in the legislature as a member of the BC Conservatives in 2012, before leaving that party later that year to serve out the remainder of his term as an independent politician.

[1] He started his dairy farm in Dewdney in 1975 before moving it to Matsqui (now part of Abbotsford), and in 1979 won election as member of the board of the Fraser Valley Milk Producers' Association.

[1][5] Following the resignation of Harry de Jong as MLA for Abbotsford in 1994, van Dongen ran in the 1995 by-election as a BC Liberal candidate, and was elected to the legislature.

[8] He was removed from the post in January 2003 while under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regarding a decision to terminate a government probe into a salmon farm,[9] but was reinstated that April.

[8][10] On April 24, 2009, van Dongen announced that the BC Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, a department for which he is responsible in the legislature, had suspended his driver's licence for a period of four months.

In an interview with CBC Radio van Dongen said the suspension was a result of his being cited twice in one year for driving in excess of 41 km/h above the posted speed limit.