On August 30th, 1972 Emery Barnes was elected as the first member in the double-member riding of Vancouver Centre, along with MLA Gary Lauk. He and Lauk were re-elected in 1975, 1979 and 1983. In 1986 Lauk retired, Emery was joined by Mike Harcourt. In 1991, Barnes was elected to the revised single-member riding of Vancouver-Burrard; and at this time he was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Legislature.
Rosemary Brown won the riding of Vancouver-Burrard, becoming the first Black woman to sit in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She served as an MLA for 14 years; she also ran for the leadership of the federal NDP in 1975.
