Murray Coell (born 1955 or 1954) is a Canadian politician. He is a former member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, representing the riding of Saanich North and the Islands, a suburb of Victoria, from 1996 through 2012. He is a BC Liberal. He previously served as theMinister of Environment, Minister of Labour, Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development; Minister of Human Resources; Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services; and Minister of Advanced Education and Minister Responsible for Research and Technology.
Coell was first elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1996 and has been re-elected in 2001, 2005, and 2009. He announced in 2012 that he would not run for re-election.
Prior to being elected to provincial office, Coell was mayor of Saanich, British Columbia for six years. He has also served as chair of the Capital Regional District. Before entering politics, Coell was a social worker and a small business owner. He has a Bachelor of Arts in social welfare from the University of Victoria.
Election results
| 1996 British Columbia general election: Saanich North and the Islands |
|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|
| Liberal | Murray Coell | 13,374 | 47.57% |
| New Democratic | Lynda Laushway | 10,546 | 37.51% |
| Reform | Ross Imrie | 1,627 | 5.79% |
| Progressive Democrat | Gary Lundy | 1,533 | 5.45% |
| Green | Wally du Temple | 898 | 3.19% |
| Natural Law | Paul Tessier | 72 | 0.26% |
| Western Canada Concept | Zino Del Monte | 63 | 0.22% |
| Total valid votes | 28,113 | 100.00% |
| Total rejected ballots | 120 | 0.43% |
| Turnout | 28,233 | 77.89% |
| 2001 British Columbia general election: Saanich North and the Islands |
|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|
| Liberal | Murray Coell | 15,406 | 54.29 |
| Green | Andrew Lewis | 7,211 | 25.41 |
| New Democratic | Paul Sam | 5,011 | 17.66 |
| Marijuana | Christina Racki | 491 | 1.73 |
| Independent | Balther Johannes Jensen | 257 | 0.91 |
| 2005 British Columbia general election: Saanich North and the Islands |
|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|
| Liberal | Murray Coell | 13,265 | 44.01 |
| New Democratic | Christine Hunt | 11,265 | 37.37 |
| Green | Ken Rouleau | 4,557 | 15.12 |
| Democratic Reform | Ian Douglas Bruce | 1,056 | 3.50 |
| 2009 British Columbia general election: Saanich North and the Islands |
|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
|---|
| Liberal | Murray Coell | 13,120 | 44.91 | +0.9 |
| New Democratic | Gary Holman | 12,875 | 44.07 | +6.9 |
| Green | Tom Bradfield | 3,220 | 11.02 | −4.1 |
| Total valid votes | 29,215 |
