Fin Donnelly

Founder of the Rivershed Society of BC
Current Member of the Legislative Assembly, Coquitlam-Burke Mountain and Parliamentary Secretary for Watershed Restoration
Former Member of Parliament, Port Moody- Coquitlam

In 1995, Fin Donnelly swam the entire length of the longest river in the province, the Fraser. The ‘Swim for Life’ was an epic 1,400 km journey that took Donnelly three weeks to complete. One year after accomplishing the swim, he went on to found the Rivershed Society of BC.

From 1990-2000, Donnelly made 14 environmental marathon swims, covering more than 3,200 km in BC’s rivers, lakes and ocean. He has twice swum the 1,400 km length of the Fraser River (in 1995 and 2000), as well as Quesnel Lake, Pitt Lake, Williams Lake, Raush River, Georgia Strait (four times) and Juan de Fuca Strait, to draw attention to the declining health of these water bodies and to encourage communities to engage in environmental advocacy.

In 1997, Fin was  honoured by the Squamish Nation for his stewardship work and given the name Iyim  Yewyews, which means strong swimmer, Blackfish or Orca.

Fin Donnelly was elected the MLA for Coquitlam-Burke Mountain in the 2020 provincial general election. He serves as the Parliamentary Secretary for Watershed Restoration. Prior to running for provincial office, Fin served as a Coquitlam City Councillor from 2002-2009, and as the Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam and Port Moody-Coquitlam from 2009-2019.

As Federal NDP Fisheries & Oceans critic, Fin introduced many bills in the House of Commons to protect West Coast waters including legislation to ban oil tankers off BC’s north coast; transition West Coast open-net salmon farms to land-based, closed containment and ban the importation of shark fins to Canada, which became law in 2019. He also founded the All-Party Oceans Caucus.

Fin has a Philosophy degree from the University of Victoria. He grew up in Port Moody and lives in Coquitlam with his wife Lynda.