Dave Barrett and his government made change happen

A smiling Dave Barrett is an apt image of the former premier and longtime NDP MLA, and NDP MP for one term. He had a passion for politics, but he also had a wonderful sense of humour and was the most entertaining politician on the stump that I've ever seen in B.C.

Dave Barrett was remembered at two public memorial events last weekend, in Victoria and Vancouver.

Barrett, who died at the age of 87 in early February, was B.C.’s first NDP premier. He headed a government that was in office for just under three and one-half years, from 1972 to 1975. It was a “government in a hurry,” passing 357 bills in its few years in office and ushering in an era of remarkable change in B.C.

Some of its most significant achievements have been commented on extensively, most frequently the establishment of the Agricultural Land Reserve, the creation of ICBC, bringing Hansard and question period to the provincial legislature and one of the first pharmacare programs in Canada.

Not much attention has been paid to the impact on the South Fraser area of the Barrett government. Most of the social programs brought in were province-wide, and Surrey residents who were eligible for Mincome, Pharmacare, subsidized housing or higher welfare rates were all better off as a result of the changes made.

The establishment of the land reserve did have a marked effect on Surrey, Delta and Langley's future growth. Good, productive farmland was no longer potential development land, although somewhat curiously, the Barrett government was the active push behind turning former farmland at Tilbury Island in Delta into a large industrial park.

Planners in suburban municipalities such as Richmond, where much farmland had already been lost, had to change their focus on concentrate on areas where development did not take away good farmland. While some was lost in subsequent years, notably the Terra Nova lands in Richmond and the Spetifore farm in South Delta, much has been preserved. The big challenge to the ALR today is alienation of land by neglect, as wealthy people buy the land to build large houses on, but do little actual farming. In some cases, they won't even bother leasing out the land to neighbouring farmers who are interested.  

Another program that brought significant improvement to the South Fraser area was the expansion of public transit.

Under the Social Credit government, public transit in Metro Vancouver had been restricted to areas where the B.C. Electric Company had operated transit before its nationalization in 1961. It became B.C. Hydro, and continued to operate buses. It also operated a rail freight service on its former interurban lines. The buses were money-losers; the railway made money. Hydro also provided electricity and, in the Lower Mainland, natural gas service.

The only public transit in Surrey, White Rock and North Delta prior to the expansion of the transit  system was via Pacific Stage Lines buses, which ran to New Westminster and Vancouver a few times a day. PSL was also owned by Hydro, but its service had changed little since the end of Fraser Valley interurban operation in 1950. This was despite the fact that Surrey and North Delta both grew significantly in the 1950s and 1960s. A private company, Surrey Bus Services, did operate a number of bus routes, mainly in South Surrey and White Rock.

The private automobile was virtually the only choice that most people had in getting to and from work or school. When the Port Mann Bridge opened in 1964, many more people moved south of the Fraser and roads in Surrey got a lot busier.

The first buses in the expanded transit area serviced Whalley, North Delta, Ladner, Tsawwassen, Newton, Guildford, White Rock, Cloverdale and Langley City. Some routes were primarily internal within the South Fraser region, but a number featured express trips into downtown Vancouver. One route even used the Port Mann Bridge.

The bus service attracted a significant number of riders right from the start, and was particularly popular with commuters who used it to get to Vancouver. For the first time, residents south of the Fraser had options for their commute.

Surrey’s continued growth prompted the Bill Bennett Social Credit government (which succeeded Barrett’s), to pledge to build SkyTrain to Surrey. The first portion to Scott Road station opened in 1990, and the extension to what is now Surrey City Centre opened under Premier Mike Harcourt’s NDP government, in 1994. While bus service has expanded since that time, rapid transit expansion has remained stalled south of the Fraser.

Another very Surrey-specific achievement of the Barrett government was the takeover of Panco Poultry. It operated a chicken and turkey processing plant in Newton, along with a feed mill, hatchery and a number of chicken and turkey farms. This takeover, coupled with Panco’s role in every aspect of the industry, was unpopular with many farmers. They lobbied for the farms to be sold off to individual owners, which happened under the subsequent Bennett government. The Panco property is now occupied by a shopping centre.

The two NDP MLAs from this area who were part of Barrett’s government were Ernie Hall, who represented the huge Surrey riding, and North Delta’s Carl Liden, who was the Delta MLA. Hall was provincial secretary in the Barrett government and was played a key role in many of the Surrey initiatives – including the Panco takeover.

I have a few very personal memories of Dave Barrett. As a reporter, I covered many speeches he gave - to smaller groups of NDP supporters, and to large rallies during election campaigns. My all-time favourite event was a speech he gave to Delta NDP supporters at the Sunbury Hall. Many of the NDP members there were commercial fishermen, and we feasted on fresh salmon cooked over coals before the main event - Barrett's speech. Both the meal and the speech were excellent.

His speech in Surrey during the 1983 election, which marked the NDP's all-time high-water mark in popular support, was also very memorable. Barrett was, in my mind, the greatest public speaker on the B.C. political scene. The NDP could have won that election, but Barrett indicated during the campaign that he had little interest in government restraint during tough economic times. That might sell well today, but it didn't at that time. I know that stance did hurt him in Surrey, whose residents elected two MLAs for the entire municipality and White Rock.

The two-member riding was the only one to elect one Social Credit and one NDP MLA in 1979 - Bill Vander Zalm and Ernie Hall, respectively. Hall and Carol Langford for the NDP were set to win the two seats, but last-minute shifts in perceptions about the NDP and a very sophisticated Social Credit effort to identify swing voters delivered the two seats to its candidates - former Surrey councillor Rita Johnston and former Delta councillor Bill Reid.

Another wonderful memory I have of Barrett occurred much later. It was one of his last public appearances. He spoke to a smaller gathering at the Semiahmoo Fish and Game Club's hall in Hazelmere, to mark the lasting legacy of the Agricultural Land Reserve. The event was hosted by the Farmland Defence League, and also featured former NDP MLA Harold Steves (who is still a Richmond councillor). Steves was the true architect of the ALR, much of which was based on research he did at UBC in the late 1950s.

Barrett wasn't as commanding a force as he had been in his prime, but he was still a big presence and his passion for B.C., for farmland and for making life better for average British Columbians was intact.

Dave Barrett will be long remembered. He made B.C. a better place - not without a lot of controversy, but always with a sense of humour and very keen political instincts.