Sketches of parliament and parliamentarians past: the exuberant life of Emery Barnes.

• Author: Stephenson, Chris
• Position: Column - In memoriam

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia has had a track star, a football player, a social worker, a piano player and a nightclub owner ... all rolled into one individual. Former ML A and Speaker of the House, Emery Barnes, was a man of great stature--a gentleman and a gentle giant.

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Emery Oakland Barnes proudly served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for over 24 years. In 1972, he and colleague Rosemary Brown were the first black politicians elected to BC's Legislative Assembly and Barnes also became the first black Speaker in Canadian history.

Born December 15, 1929 in New Orleans, and later raised in Portland, Oregon, Barnes played briefly with the Green Bay Packers after leaving the US Army and completing his B.Sc. in 1956. He came to Vancouver the following year. Although he ended his professional sports career with the BC Lions in 1964, the year they became Grey Cup champions, he was sidelined with an injury for the last few games.

In a 1987 Canadian Parliamentary Review interview, Barnes said, "It seems the first part of my life was more oriented toward athletics and actions. The cerebral part developed later. I began to develop a social conscience." His completion of a social work degree at the University of British Columbia and his subsequent projects with youth and also within correctional services provided evidence of this new path.

Following a tough stint opening a night club called 'Emery's Plug,' Barnes eventually accepted future BC Premier Dave Barrett's encouragement and turned towards a career in politics. After an initial attempt in 1969, Barnes won the 1972 election in his Vancouver Centre riding, where he quickly gained the confidence of his community.

Barnes won every subsequent election he contested and served continually as a Member of the Legislative Assembly until 1996. He ended this segment of his career at another high point, appointed first as Deputy Speaker in 1991, and later as Speaker of the House in March of 1994.

Barnes championed social justice and human rights causes. In 1986 he answered a Vancouver anti-poverty group's challenge to demonstrate, first hand, the hardships of living on BC social assistance. He spent two months in downtown East Vancouver living on welfare, losing 15 pounds in the first three weeks, and emerged more committed than ever to those struggling. He called the experience "shocking" and concluded that doubling the monthly welfare rate was...