Mary Ruth Polak (born 1967 or 1968) is a Canadian politician, who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) for the riding of Langley from 2005 to 2020. She was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 2017, having represented the constituents of Langley since 2005 and was appointed Minister of Health on June 12, 2017 by Premier Christy Clark. Prior to her new cabinet post, she served as the Minister of the Environment, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Minister of Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for the Conversation on Health. Before being elected to the legislative assembly, Polak served as a trustee and former chair of the Surrey School Board in Surrey, British Columbia. She currently resides in Langley, British Columbia.

She tried unsuccessfully to gain a seat in the Legislative Assembly as a candidate for the BC Liberal Party, but lost the 2004 Surrey-Panorama Ridge by-election to Jagrup Brar, the New Democratic Party of British Columbia candidate. This was a substantial defeat for the governing Liberals.

Polak won a seat in the 2005 provincial election in the riding of Langley by over 52%, 18 points ahead of her next closest competitor. As an MLA for Langley she served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for the Conversation on Health and later as the Minister of Healthy Living and Sport.

Polak ran successfully again in the 2009 Provincial election, earning more than 56% at the polls and increased her margin over her nearest opponent to more than 20 points.^[4]

In the 2013 British Columbia general election, Mary Polak sought reelection in Langley for a third term. She won her riding easily with nearly 52% of the popular vote nearly doubling the vote total of Andrew Mercier, the NDP candidate. She also defeated John Cummins, the leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party who received less than 12% of the popular vote.^[5] A week before Election Day, Polak's campaign manager, Todd Hauptman, resigned, citing homophobia among the Langley electorate as his reason for stepping down.^[6] Polak suggested that Hauptman had not fully disclosed his reasons for resigning.^[7] She said that Hauptman quit after being alleged to have leaked information about the Liberal Party's strategy to the New Democratic Party (NDP);^[8] Polak said that the New Democratic Party candidate was a friend of Hauptman's.^[9] Hauptman, a gay man, issued a press release about his resignation.^[10] Xtra!, a magazine that publishes lesbian and gay Canadian news, requested an interview with Hauptman to which he originally assented and later declined.^[11]