Russell Fraser

Russell Gordon Fraser (March 1, 1934 – May 23, 2024) was a Canadian politician and engineer who represented the constituency of Vancouver South in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1983 to 1991. A member of the British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socred) caucus, he served as cabinet minister under premiers Bill Bennett, Bill Vander Zalm and Rita Johnston.

Biography Born in Vancouver, Fraser graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1958 with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree, and served as president of the Association of Professional Engineers of British Columbia in 1979. He was a commissioner on the Vancouver Park Board from 1976 to 1982, serving as chair from 1980 to 1981.

He ran in the 1983 provincial election as a Social Credit candidate in Vancouver South, and was elected as one of two members of the legislative assembly (MLA) for the riding alongside Stephen Rogers. Initially a backbencher, he was named to Premier Bill Bennett's cabinet in February 1986 as Minister of Post-Secondary Education, and retained that role after Bill Vander Zalm took over as premier that August.

He was re-elected MLA in the October 1986 election, He returned to the cabinet in November 1989 as Solicitor General, and additionally became Attorney General in July 1990 following the resignation of Bud Smith; he stayed on as Solicitor General until that December. he remained as Attorney General in Johnston's cabinet. With the riding of Vancouver South being dissolved ahead of the October 1991 election, Fraser ran for re-election in the newly established constituency of Vancouver-Langara, but finished in third place as part of the Socreds' electoral collapse.

Fraser died on May 23, 2024, at the age of 90.

Electoral record