Bill Bennett helped bring B.C. into the modern era
The W.R. Bennett Bridge over Okanagan Lake at Kelowna is one of the few reminders of the 11-year reign of Bill Bennett as B.C. premier, from 1975-86. He died in Kelowna on Thursday at the age of 83.
Bill Bennett, premier of B.C. from 1975 to 1986, died on Thursday after years of battling Alzheimer's disease.
He was one of the most significant premiers of the 20th century in B.C., and he, along with his NDP predecessor Dave Barrett, brought B.C. into the modern era.
Bill Bennett was a reluctant politician, at least at first. He was recruited in 1973 to run for the seat his father W.A.C. Bennett, B.C. premier for 20 years, vacated after losing to Barrett in the 1972 provincial election. The South Okanagan seat was a Social Credit bastion, but even before he said he would seek the seat, Bennett was under terrific pressure to take over as Social Credit leader. He had no political experience and had shown little interest in politics until that time.
Bill Bennett was just over 40. He and his brother R.J. had run the Bennett family hardware business while their father was busy in Victoria, and both were well-off. He didn't need the job of opposition leader in Victoria, and wasn't all that keen on tangling with Barrett, who was a wily political veteran, even though he wasn't much older than Bill Bennett.
Grace McCarthy was a key reason why Bennett decided to run. She promised to help rebuild the party, and she did just that. After Bennett was first elected, he was the front man and symbol of regeneration and renewal, while she was the key backroom organizer.
Bennett did two things quickly which showed that he was not just his father's son, but was bringing Social Credit into the modern era. He dispensed with the old-fashioned morality element of the party quickly. Gone were the battles over liquor and cigarette advertising and the non-alcoholic strawberry teas. (Also gone were such Socred gems as BOLT, backbench MLA Agnes Kripps' drive to change usage of the word "sex" to "Biology of Life Today.") Social Credit was turned into a modern political party, complete with pollsters, seasoned political organizers and relentless fundraising.
He also reached out to members, and specifically MLAs, elected under the Liberal and Conservative banners. This was partly due to goading from the Majority Movement, a group formed to oust the NDP. Barrett had won in 1972 because the election was a four-way battle, with votes on the centre and right side of the spectrum splitting three ways.
The Liberals had contested elections against W.A.C. Bennett for years and usually took about 20 per cent of the vote, electing five MLAs on average. This actually allowed those who didn't like Bennett Sr.'s style (and there were many of them) to vent their frustrations. Because the Liberal vote was mainly concentrated on the west side of Vancouver, the North Shore and Victoria, they didn't pose much of a threat to the Socreds.
Bill Bennett recruited three solid Liberal MLAs to cross the floor to Social Credit - Pat McGeer, a former party leader, Allan Williams and Garde Gardom. He also persuaded Saanich MLA Hugh Curtis, a Conservative, to join the Socreds. All four were important cabinet ministers for much of Bennett's term as premier.
In addition, he recruited people outside the House such as Rafe Mair and Bill Vander Zalm to run for Social Credit. They were (and are) two very different individuals, but both represented important and disparate elements of the non-NDP vote in B.C.
These moves effectively turned the Liberals and Conservatives into irrelevant afterthoughts. Bill Bennett had rebuilt the coalition that had governed B.C. from 1941-52, but all within one political party.
That was a key move, and it was a lesson others learned from. That's why Gordon Campbell recruited B.C. Reform MLAs after losing the 1996 election, and it's why today's BC Liberals are not associated with either the federal Liberals or Conservatives.
When he was elected premier in 1975 after Barrett disastrously called an early election, Bennett moved decisively. His government raised ICBC rates almost instantly, and it was dramatic. I remember it well - I could barely afford to pay my premiums in February, 1976, and only managed to do so after a month of significant belt-tightening. At that time, vehicle owners had to buy a year's worth of insurance - there was no monthly payment plan and all insurance expired at the end of February.
Significantly, he did not sell or break up ICBC, nor did his government end the Agricultural Land Reserve, which had been a flash point for many traditional Socred supporters.
He also moved to unload the many businesses the NDP government had bought. Many were grouped into the B.C. Resources Investment Corporation. The five free BCRIC shares, a giveaway which played a major role in the 1979 election, was a political master stroke. However, BCRIC proved to be a bad investment for many who actually bought additional shares, reasoning that if the government believed in it, it must be good.
Perhaps the two most important achievements of the Bennett government were Expo 86 and the associated SkyTrain line, both of which transformed Vancouver; and the decision to take on organized labour. That battle was over its stranglehold on major construction projects and over the Solidarity movement, which formed after Bennett won the 1983 election and brought in a drastic restraint program that was aimed squarely at government-funded entities and their employees' unions.
Another move, almost as important, was building the Coquihalla Highway and Okanagan Connector, and bringing the southern interior within easy driving distance of the Lower Mainland. People in both areas have benefited greatly from that decision.
I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Bennett twice while he was premier, when he met with editors of the Lower Mainland newspapers then owned by Trinity (N.A) Holdings. In person, he was witty, obviously smart, far-sighted and somewhat bashful. However, he had no hesitation in defending his government's actions.
Bob Plecas, who was a deputy minister in Bennett's government, wrote an excellent book on the Bennett era called Bill Bennett: A Mandarin's View. The book details just how much the government accomplished, and gives much behind-the-scenes detail of that era. An audio Bob Plecas interview conducted by Joseph Planta gives a good sense of the book's contents.
When Bennett announced, shortly after Expo 86 began in the spring of 1986, that he was going to step aside after 11 years, there weren't many tears shed.
The Solidarity standoff, which almost turned into a general strike, had used up most of his political capital. He never captured the loyalty of the public the way his father did, but he won three elections. In each, he competed against Barrett, a formidable campaigner. In 1983 in particular, he was instrumental in winning an election that most observers had figured would go the NDP's way. As it was, the NDP reached its all-time high water mark of 45 per cent of the vote in that election. The Socreds won just under 50 per cent.
He had no problem leaving politics behind - it was never his favourite thing to do.
Since that time, he mostly stayed out of the spotlight. It was fitting that the Campbell government named the new Okanagan Lake bridge at Kelowna after him, but he likely deserved more accolades than that. He was feted in 2006 on the 20th anniversary of Expo 86 as "the best mayor Vancouver never had," and that was a very accurate statement. Those who live in downtown Vancouver today benefit from his vision in innumerable ways.
Generally, he didn't pay much attention to accolades. He was a quiet, introspective man with a lot of good ideas, and some bad ones too. He had many strong ministers and he let them do their jobs, and many did them superbly.
He assumed his role as MLA and party leader, and later as premier, because he felt it was his duty to do his best to manage B.C. well and hand it off to his successor in better shape.
There is no doubt he did just that.
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