Ian Paton was elected on October 19, 2024 as the Conservative MLA for Delta South, but he is no newcomer to the legislature. He has represented the riding since 2017, first as a BC Liberal and re-elected in 2020, before winning again in 2024 under the Conservative banner. In the 43rd Parliament he served as the opposition critic for agriculture, fisheries and the Agricultural Land Commission, and he sat on the legislature's standing committees for health and for agriculture, fish and food. It is a portfolio mix that suits a working farmer better than most files in Victoria.
He is a farmer through and through. A lifelong Delta resident, he graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1978 and has spent more than 30 years running a dairy farm and a farm auction business, knowledge his caucus biography says has informed municipal, provincial and federal government studies. His 2026 legislature disclosure confirms ownership of Paton Holsteins Ltd, a hay and forage operation in Delta, and I. Paton and Associates Ltd, an auctioneering company now inactive. He lives on the family farm in Delta with his wife Pam.
Before provincial politics, Paton spent seven years on Delta council after his election in 2010. There he chaired the Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Dikes and Drainage Committee, served as council liaison for the Delta Farmers' Institute and the Ladner Business Association, and represented the city on the Metro Vancouver Regional Planning and Agriculture Committee. That municipal grounding shows in how he talks about farmland: as something to protect parcel by parcel, not just in principle.
His community ties run just as deep. He is a past president of the East Delta Community Hall Society and a former volunteer firefighter with Hall 4, and he has volunteered with the Delta Hospital Foundation, REACH Child and Youth Development Society and the Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust. He is also a long-time director of the BC Youth in Agriculture Foundation.
In a legislature full of lawyers and career politicians, a working farmer brings a different lens, especially on agricultural land, food security and the rural-urban edge where Delta meets Surrey. In 2026, Paton left the Conservatives, sitting first as an Independent before joining the newly formed CentreBC party, then returned to the BC Conservatives.
Update, October 7, 2026: This profile was updated to reflect Paton’s 2026 party movements. He is running for re-election as a BC Conservative in Delta South.
Editor's note: the legislature was dissolved on September 22, 2026 and a provincial election was called for October 24, 2026. Offices above reflect the 43rd Parliament.
This profile is part of Apna News' Candidates series, introducing the people who represent Surrey and its neighbouring communities. Apna News is Surrey's new multilingual news platform. If you spot something to correct or add, reach us at info@apnanews.ca.
Official links: Legislature disclosure
