David Oliver is a politician in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. In 2005, he was nominated as the candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 for the riding of Abbotsford

Abbotsford (electoral district)

Abbotsford is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.-Demographics:...

 in the 2006 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2006

The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

. He is also known for his defamation lawsuit against the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 (NDP).

Oliver was born August 30, 1956 in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, where his grandparents were wheat farmers. As a teacher, he has designed curriculum and taught grades 3-12 in a federal prison, on reserve in a First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 community, and in public schools; he has also started and successfully operated several businesses; he has managed wholesale and retail operations, and he has been a journeyman painter with many years of experience both working for others and contracting on his own. Oliver is a member of the Shriners

Shriners

The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...

, who fundraise for and operate 22 hospitals for sick and needy children in North America. Politically, he was riding president of Fraser Valley Federal Liberal Association prior to redistribution, president of Abbotsford FLA, member of South Fraser Federal Liberal Action Group (FLAG), and member of the Liberal Party of Canada BC Policy Committee.

On January 13, 2006, he was dropped as the Liberal candidate after the NDP candidate Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson alleged that Oliver had offered him a job in exchange for his support against Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 candidate Ed Fast

Ed Fast

Edward D. "Ed" Fast, is a Canadian politician, currently the Member of Parliament for Abbotsford, and serving as the Minister for International Trade and as Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway.-Biography:...

 in the election. Hansen-Carlson filed a formal complaint with Elections Canada

Elections Canada

Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...

. His complaint was later dismissed by the agency, several months after the election. Oliver's name still appeared on the ballot for the January 23 election, and had he won, he would have sat as an independent. He lost, however, to Ed Fast.

Oliver has initiated a defamation lawsuit against Hansen-Carlson and the NDP. Although the lawsuit is still pending, Hansen-Carlson apologized to Oliver and stated that he now believes his earlier interpretation of events was mistaken. The NDP apologized for posting Hansen-Carlson's notarized statement of complaint on the party website. On Thursday, December 7, 2007, NDP House leader Libby Davies

Libby Davies

Libby Davies is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party , representing the riding of Vancouver East in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2007, she was named Deputy Leader of the federal NDP, jointly with Thomas Mulcair.-Background:Davies was born in Aldershot, England and...

issued a formal apology to Oliver in the House of Commons on behalf of her party.