With Jewett declining to run in the 1988 federal election, Black received the NDP nomination to contest the newly established riding of New Westminster—Burnaby, and was elected the riding's MP.[2][5] In the 34th Parliament she served as the NDP's critic for the status of women from 1989 to 1993, critic for child care from 1990 to 1993, and the party's deputy caucus chair from 1990 to 1991.[5]
On April 5, 2006, during the first question period of the 39th Parliament Black asked Gordon O'Connor, then Minister of National Defence, to renegotiate the prisoner transfer agreement with the Afghan government. O'Connor refused saying "Mr. Speaker, we have no intention of redrafting the agreement. The Red Cross and the Red Crescent are charged with ensuring that prisoners are not abused. There is nothing in the agreement that prevents Canada from determining the fate of prisoners so there is no need to make any change in the agreement."[8] Black was prominent on the issue, which eventually saw the resignation of Gordon O'Connor and the negotiation of a new transfer agreement.
In the 2008 election, she defeated Conservative candidate Yonah Martin to retain her seat,[9] and kept her post as the NDP's defence critic.[5] In March 2009 she announced her resignation as MP to run for the BC NDP in the upcoming BC provincial election, aiming to succeed ailing NDP MLA Chuck Puchmayr in New Westminster.[10] She stated she would remain in federal office long enough to draft a private member's bill restricting the use of civilian armoured vehicles, a significant issue in a city dealing with gang violence.[11]
Provincial politics
Following her departure from federal politics, she was handily elected to the BC Legislature in May 2009.[12]
Following the resignation of party leader Carole James, Black was unanimously nominated by the provincial caucus to be the interim leader of the BC NDP on January 19, 2011;[13] the NDP's provincial council ratified the decision one day later.[14] Black said after the nomination: "I've done a lot of tough things in my life - I've travelled to Afghanistan...The challenge is to prove to British Columbians that we're working together. Everybody made a commitment today to expose the broken promises of the Liberal government."[15]
Her stint as interim leader ended upon the election of Adrian Dix in April 2011;[16] she was subsequently named assistant deputy speaker by Dix.[17] In August 2011 she announced she would not run again in the next provincial election; she continued to serve as MLA until the end of her term in 2013.[18]
^Austin, Ian (January 20, 2011). "Black ready to do battle". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A11. Retrieved February 13, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.