Chuck Puchmayr

Charles Puchmayr (born 1953 or 1954) is a retired Canadian politician who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for New Westminster in British Columbia from 2005 to 2009, as part of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) caucus.

Biography
Prior to his election to the legislature, Puchmayr was a city councillor in New Westminster from 1996 to 2005. He was involved in the founding of the New Westminster Food Bank and the Unemployment Action Centre, and served as director for the Westminster Legal Services Society.

At the 2005 provincial election, Puchmayr ran as the BC NDP candidate in the riding of New Westminster, and defeated incumbent BC Liberal candidate Joyce Murray. He served as the NDP's labour critic in the 38th Parliament. He disclosed his liver cancer diagnosis in January 2009, and announced that he would not run in that May's provincial election. He received a liver transplant in the same month, and served out the remainder of his term as MLA.

Puchmayr returned to New Westminster City Council in 2011 following a successful run for councillor, and was re-elected in 2014 and 2018. He ran for mayor of the city in 2022, but came in third place behind winner Patrick Johnstone and runner-up Ken Armstrong; he subsequently announced his retirement from politics.