Rob Howard (born 1954 or 1955) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the 39th Parliament of British Columbia as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the riding of Richmond Centre.
As chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, Howard supported Premier Gordon Campbell's efforts at establishing the Harmonized Sales Tax.
Prior to his election to the legislature, Howard worked in property management, and served as a city councillor in Richmond, British Columbia for seven years.
While on council he advocated in favour of casino expansion, locating the Olympic speed-skating oval in Richmond, and developing a convention centre.
[2] While his mother had served as an alderwoman in Richmond,[citation needed] Howard's political career began with a civic by-election in October 2001.
[9] On local issues, Howard was an advocate of opening Richmond to gambling facilities, which led to the establishment of the River Rock Casino Resort.
He introduced one piece of legislation, a private members bill, the Trustee Board of the Church of God, Richmond Municipality, B.C.
[51] In March 2012, Premier Clark promoted Howard to a parliamentary secretary position under the Ministry of Transportation and directed to focus on air services agreements[52] where he served until September.
[53] Following a summer of deliberations on his future, Howard cited "personal reasons" including a desire to spend more time with his wife, in his September 2012 announcement that he would not seek re-election in the up-coming May 2013 provincial election.
[56] By the end of the year, two candidates announced their intention to run: school trustee Grace Tsang and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer Gary Law.
[57][58] While Tsang withdrew her nomination to accept a position on a political advisory committee,[57] Law alleged he was harassed to drop out[58] and requested an RCMP investigation.
After finishing his term as MLA, Howard founded the non-profit organization OpenSkies4Canada to advocate for open sky agreements to allow more airline competition in Canadian international airports.