Paul Reitsma (born January 22, 1948) is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, for the electoral district of Parksville-Qualicum.
[1] Reitsma served as the mayor of Port Alberni and Parksville, prior to his move to provincial politics.
In early 1998, Reitsma was accused of writing letters to newspapers under assumed names, praising himself and attacking his political opponents.
A Parksville newspaper had asked a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police handwriting expert to compare a sample of Reitsma's handwriting to that of letters to the editor submitted by a "Warren Betanko", and then ran a story entitled "MLA Reitsma is a liar and we can prove it".
However, he resigned his legislative seat on June 23, 1998, when it appeared that a recall petition led by proponent Mark Robinson had enough signatures from the electorate to recall him (thus result in a by-election to elect a new MLA).