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Andrew Petter
Andrew J. Petter CM OBC KC (born 1953) is a former academic and provincial politician in British Columbia, Canada. He represented the electoral district of Saanich South in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1991 to 2001. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) caucus, he served in various cabinet posts under premiers Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh, including as Attorney General of British Columbia from February to November 2000.
After politics, he worked as the dean of the University of Victoria Faculty of Law from 2002 to 2008, then served two terms as president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University from 2010 to 2020. He served as board chair of provincial Crown agency Innovate BC from 2021 to 2024 and as director of Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union from 2024 to 2026. He has written extensively about the role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its effect on government powers and decision making. Since 2021, he has practiced law as Counsel with Arvay Finlay LLP.
Andrew Petter was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1953, and grew up in the adjacent suburb of Oak Bay. His grandfather Ernest Petter was an English industrialist who unsuccessfully ran for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on three occasions before moving to the Vancouver Island town of Comox in 1938; he then lived for a while in Saanich before moving back to the UK in 1954.
Andrew's Jewish mother Elizabeth graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in the 1930s, then joined the Tanzgruppe Bodenwieser as a dancer. She was on tour in London when she met Ernest Petter's son Gordon; the couple married in Vienna and lived there until the Anschluss. After escaping Austria, the couple and Andrew's three elder siblings moved to Vancouver Island in 1946 to join Ernest.
In the 1960s the family moved to the interior city of Nelson, where Gordon Petter taught history at the now defunct Notre Dame University College. Andrew graduated from the city's L.V. Rogers Secondary School as valedictorian, then pursued undergraduate studies at Notre Dame. He also hosted an open-line show at radio station CKKC, interviewing figures such as then-premier Dave Barrett and former premier W.A.C. Bennett, before leaving the station to work as an executive assistant to Nelson-Creston member of the Legislative Assembly Lorne Nicolson.
He began studying political science at the University of Victoria (UVic) in 1976, then entered the school's law program in 1978, graduating with an LL.B. in 1981 and winning the Law Society of British Columbia gold medal for his top-of-class standing. He subsequently attended Cambridge University on a Commonwealth Scholarship, receiving an LL.M. in 1982 and graduating with first class honours.
Petter briefly worked at the Saskatchewan Department of Justice, serving as the Constitutional Branch's adviser. He then taught at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto as an assistant professor between 1984 and 1986, before joining his alma mater, the University of Victoria Faculty of Law in 1986, becoming associate professor in 1988.
Recruited by BC NDP leader Mike Harcourt to enter politics, Petter was twice elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the provincial elections of 1991 and 1996, representing the riding of Saanich South. His constituency work included establishing the Galloping Goose Regional Trail for cyclists.
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Andrew Petter
Andrew J. Petter CM OBC KC (born 1953) is a former academic and provincial politician in British Columbia, Canada. He represented the electoral district of Saanich South in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1991 to 2001. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) caucus, he served in various cabinet posts under premiers Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, Dan Miller and Ujjal Dosanjh, including as Attorney General of British Columbia from February to November 2000.
After politics, he worked as the dean of the University of Victoria Faculty of Law from 2002 to 2008, then served two terms as president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University from 2010 to 2020. He served as board chair of provincial Crown agency Innovate BC from 2021 to 2024 and as director of Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union from 2024 to 2026. He has written extensively about the role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its effect on government powers and decision making. Since 2021, he has practiced law as Counsel with Arvay Finlay LLP.
Andrew Petter was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1953, and grew up in the adjacent suburb of Oak Bay. His grandfather Ernest Petter was an English industrialist who unsuccessfully ran for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on three occasions before moving to the Vancouver Island town of Comox in 1938; he then lived for a while in Saanich before moving back to the UK in 1954.
Andrew's Jewish mother Elizabeth graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in the 1930s, then joined the Tanzgruppe Bodenwieser as a dancer. She was on tour in London when she met Ernest Petter's son Gordon; the couple married in Vienna and lived there until the Anschluss. After escaping Austria, the couple and Andrew's three elder siblings moved to Vancouver Island in 1946 to join Ernest.
In the 1960s the family moved to the interior city of Nelson, where Gordon Petter taught history at the now defunct Notre Dame University College. Andrew graduated from the city's L.V. Rogers Secondary School as valedictorian, then pursued undergraduate studies at Notre Dame. He also hosted an open-line show at radio station CKKC, interviewing figures such as then-premier Dave Barrett and former premier W.A.C. Bennett, before leaving the station to work as an executive assistant to Nelson-Creston member of the Legislative Assembly Lorne Nicolson.
He began studying political science at the University of Victoria (UVic) in 1976, then entered the school's law program in 1978, graduating with an LL.B. in 1981 and winning the Law Society of British Columbia gold medal for his top-of-class standing. He subsequently attended Cambridge University on a Commonwealth Scholarship, receiving an LL.M. in 1982 and graduating with first class honours.
Petter briefly worked at the Saskatchewan Department of Justice, serving as the Constitutional Branch's adviser. He then taught at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto as an assistant professor between 1984 and 1986, before joining his alma mater, the University of Victoria Faculty of Law in 1986, becoming associate professor in 1988.
Recruited by BC NDP leader Mike Harcourt to enter politics, Petter was twice elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the provincial elections of 1991 and 1996, representing the riding of Saanich South. His constituency work included establishing the Galloping Goose Regional Trail for cyclists.
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