Art Charbonneau, former Kamloops MLA and cabinet minister, dead at 85

Former Kamloops MLA dies

Photo: Kamloops This Week

Art Charbonneau, pictured second from the left, celebrates his October 1991 election win with fellow MLA Fred Jackson, second from the right.

A former Kamloops MLA has died.

Art Charbonneau, who represented Kamloops in the legislature from 1991 to 1996, died at home surrounded by family on April 25 after suffering a stroke. He was 85 years old.

According to Charbonneau’s obituary, he earned a degree in civil engineering and co-founded consulting firm Northwest Hydraulic Consultants in Alberta before moving to Kamloops in the early 1980s.

Carrying the NDP banner, Charbonneau was elected to office in 1991. During his term, he served as Minister of Transportation and Highways, Minister of Forests and Minister of Education before deciding not to seek re-election.

In the Jan. 7, 1996, edition of Kamloops This Week, the head of the Kamloops NDP riding association commented on the difficulty of finding a successor for the "diligent" Charbonneau.

“Art was respected across all party lines and he’s shown out to be an honest, hardworking and capable person,” he told KTW.

In his later years, Charbonneau moved to Nanaimo with his wife, who died in 2023.

Charbonneau's family is planning a celebration of life this summer — "simple and joyful, as per Art’s wishes," according to the obituary.