Editing Rob Fleming (section)

===40th Parliament===
With the [[2013 British Columbia general election|May 2013 election]] approaching, the 41-year-old Fleming sought re-election in the [[Victoria-Swan Lake]] riding. He defeated the BC Liberal candidate, small-business owner Christina Bates, and the BC Green candidate Spencer Malthouse.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fleming keeps his riding in NDP column once again |last=Arrais |first=Pedro |newspaper=[[Times-Colonist]] |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date= May 15, 2013 |page= B4}}</ref> Despite his win and favourable polling, Fleming's party lost the general election and again formed the official opposition. Fleming was critical of party leader Adrian Dix's positive-only campaigning during the election, partly blamed for the upset loss, saying that it allowed their opponents to define who they were and then attack that without response.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dix insists nice guys finish first |first= Ian |last=Bailey |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=September 20, 2013 |page=S1}}</ref> Dix appointed Fleming to the role of education critic, moving his previous role of environment critic to [[Spencer Chandra Herbert]].<ref>{{cite news |title=New Democrats settle back into role of opposing government; Liberals provide ready-made material for the opposition in the form of staff pay hikes and wheelchair fees |last=Palmer |first=Vaughn |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date= June 15, 2013 |page=A5}}</ref>

Upon Dix's resignation as leader of the BC NDP, Fleming was considered as a potential candidate<ref>{{cite news |title=Victoria MLAs eye NDP leadership |last=Wells |first=Kyle |newspaper=Victoria News |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date=September 23, 2013 |page= 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=NDP leader race to heat up in 2014 |last=Meissner |first=Dirk |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=December 24, 2013 |page=S2}}</ref> and actively considered seeking the role.<ref>{{cite news |title=Victoria-Swan Lake MLA Fleming considering NDP leadership |last=Slavin |first=Kyle |newspaper=Victoria News |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date=January 21, 2014 |page= 1}}</ref> However, after both [[John Horgan]] and [[Mike Farnworth]] announced their intention to run, Fleming decided he would not;<ref>{{cite news |title=Rob Fleming decides not to run for NDP leadership |last=DeRosa |first=Katie |newspaper=[[Times-Colonist]] |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date=March 23, 2014 |page=A2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2014-03-22|title=MLA Rob Fleming won’t run for leadership of B.C. NDP|url=https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/mla-rob-fleming-wont-run-for-leadership-of-bc-ndp-4607046|access-date=2023-02-11|publisher=[[Times-Colonist]]|language=en-CA|first=Katie|last=Derosa}}</ref> he later endorsed Horgan's candidacy.<ref>{{cite news |title=Greater Victoria MLAs, MPs line up behind Horgan in B.C. NDP leadership bid |newspaper=Victoria News |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date=April 17, 2014 |page=1}}</ref> Horgan went on to become the leader and kept Fleming in his education critic role.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Opposition prepares to join legislative fray; Portfolio shuffle |last=Palmer |first=Vaughn |newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]] |date=July 24, 2014 |page=B6}}</ref>

In December 2015, Fleming fired his constituency assistant who was subsequently arrested, in July 2016, for defrauding the Victoria-Swan Lake constituency office of $120,420 since March 2009.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ex-constituency aide gets house arrest; Stole $120,420.61 from office of NDP MLA Rob Fleming |last=Dickson |first=Louise |newspaper=[[Times-Colonist]] |location=[[Victoria, British Columbia]] |date=March 16, 2017 |page=A3}}</ref> Fleming sponsored the private member bill ''Youth Voter Registration Act, 2015''<ref>[https://www.leg.bc.ca/Pages/BCLASS-Legacy.aspx#%2Fcontent%2Fdata%2520-%2520ldp%2Fpages%2F40th4th%2F1st_read%2Fm205-1.htm (Bill M-205)]</ref> which sought allow provisional voter registration of people between the ages or 16 and 18, one of the recommendations of a 2011 report by the Chief Electoral Officer.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2011-CEO-Recommendations.pdf |publisher=Elections BC |title=Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on Recommendations for Legislative Change |date=November 2011 |access-date=April 26, 2017 |isbn=9780772665416 |archive-date=March 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325010801/http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2011-CEO-Recommendations.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The bill was not advanced and he re-introduced it in February 2017 as the ''Election (Increasing Youth Participation) Amendment Act, 2017''.<ref>[https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/40th-parliament/6th-session/bills/progress-of-bills (Bill M-218)]</ref> The measure was eventually adopted during the 41st Parliament as part of the ''Election Amendment Act, 2019''.