Legislation By Thunderbolt: the Remarkable Career of Dave Barrett.

AuthorNormey, Rob
PositionColumns

"True enough, the country is calm. Calm as a morgue or a grave, would you not say?" --Vaclav Havel I recall an era where progressive politics in Canada was both exciting and a little bit dangerous for the wealthy elite and the power brokers. One of the first politicians who engaged my interest as a young university student here in Edmonton was the irrepressible and courageous Dave Barrett, Premier of British Columbia from 1972 to 1975. His election in 1972 was the very first time an NDP government had taken power on the West Coast. Sadly, Dave Barrett passed away last year after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. An excellent way to savour his career is by reading a fascinating account of the turbulent era when Barrett and his gang of political upstarts rocked the normally staid and conservative world of B.C. politics by defeating the well-financed Social Credit juggernaut of W.A.C Bennett. It is captured in the lively history by Geoff Meggs and Rod Mickleburgh, The Art of the Impossible: Dave Barrett and the NDP in Power 1972-1975. The book captures the profound differences between the social worker turned politician who is the flawed hero of the tale, and his seemingly impregnable opponent. W.A.C Bennett had won the previous five elections handily, having earlier developed the Social Credit party as a loose coalition designed to thwart the aspirations of a party of the left. The notion that a democratic socialist party might take power sent shock waves through the business and political establishment (which seemed to be one and the same).

Against these considerable odds, Dave Barrett and the NDP slew the aging dragon in 1972, promising a number of progressive initiatives. Barrett certainly delivered, as his government enacted 369 bills in a little over three years. One of the most important was B.C.'s first-ever Human Rights Code. Barrett had vowed to assist the most vulnerable members of the province with laws that would protect their rights and the Code was one of a whole raft of laws designed to accomplish just that.

Barrett and his government transformed the province with his new laws. Government in B.C. lacked transparency; his government changed that. It introduced Hansard reporting of all debates, a daily question period and increased funding for opposition parties. These initiatives made meaningful the right to vote and to proper representation for ordinary citizens. Barrett brought in laws designed to increase economic...

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