Michael de Jong was re-elected in 2020 as the MLA for Abbotsford West, an area he has represented since first being elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in a 1994 by-election. He currently serves as Shadow Minister for the Attorney General.
In the past, he has served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, Attorney General, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services, and Minister of Forests. In addition, he served as Government House Leader.
He has chaired the Treasury Board and the Legislative Review Committee and was a member of the Cabinet Working Group on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the Priorities and Planning Committee, and the Cabinet Working Group on Core Review.
Before he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1994, de Jong served two terms as a school trustee for Abbotsford School District 34 and was a practising lawyer with his own Abbotsford firm. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University in Ottawa and a law degree from the University of Alberta.
Michael has also been involved with the Abbotsford-Matsqui Arts Council and the Matsqui Youth Commission and holds the rank of Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces Air Force Reserve.
Still an avid hockey player, in his teen years de Jong was a member of the Abbotsford Pilots Junior B hockey team. He attended Mouat Secondary School and still lives on the Matsqui Prairie farm where he grew up.
