Debra Toporowski
Debra Toporowski | |||||||||||
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| Qwulti’stunaat 黃德美 | |||||||||||
Toporowski in 2024 | |||||||||||
| Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Health of British Columbia | |||||||||||
| Assumed office November 18, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Premier | David Eby | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jennifer Rice | ||||||||||
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Cowichan Valley | |||||||||||
| Assumed office October 19, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sonia Furstenau | ||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Political party | NDP (since 2005) | ||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Chemainus, British Columbia | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 黃德美 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 黄德美 | ||||||||||
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Debra-Ann Patricia Toporowski (Quw’utsun: Qwulti’stunaat; traditional Chinese: 黃德美; simplified Chinese: 黄德美) is a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for the riding of Cowichan Valley. First elected in the 2024 provincial election as part of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), Toporowski succeeded outgoing member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Sonia Furstenau, who vacated the seat in order to run in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill.
First elected as a councillor for the Cowichan Tribes in 2013, Toporowski was re-elected for five terms. She ran as a candidate for the municipal council of North Cowichan in 2018 and served two terms. At the time of her election as an MLA, she was serving as a councillor in both bodies, amid other engagements including serving as acting mayor for North Cowichan and as the director for North Cowichan on the Cowichan Valley Regional District board. A member of the New Democratic Party since 2005, Toporowski previously worked as a constituency assistant for MLAs Bill Routley and Doug Routley.