Bill Vander Zalm - Provincial Premier

Provincial Premier

In 1986, Premier Bennett announced he was retiring. Vander Zalm attracted considerable attention as he considered whether he would run for the leadership of the Social Credit Party. He generated more press out of the race than the other candidates did in it. At the party's convention in Whistler, British Columbia, he prevailed over 11 other candidates by winning on the fourth ballot.

He was sworn in as premier just a month before the 1986 election.

During the subsequent provincial election campaign, "Vandermania" swept BC, and the Socreds easily won another term over the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP). Bill and his wife, Lillian, attracted public adoration with their high-voltage smiles, positivity and charisma.

The party and its leader had no public plan for when they were elected for the long term. However, the main clear goal was to have a "fresh start" after the confrontational Bennett years.

Once elected with a majority, Vander Zalm selected his cabinet, mostly backbenchers who had languished under Bill Bennett. Oddly, Vander Zalm decided to release the normally secret list of cabinet appointments to two Vancouver Sun reporters hours before the official announcement was to be made.

The Social Credit Party had been a tenuous alliance between urban fiscal conservatives and Christian conservatives in the province's Bible Belt. Fiscal conservatives had dominated the party for over a decade, but under Vander Zalm social conservatives took control. Vander Zalm himself was a social conservative, and his government once tried to cut public funding for abortions that were not medically necessary. The resulting uproar forced Vander Zalm to drop the program. His government also had a confrontational relationship with labour unions.

As well, he appointed David Poole, a close friend, to be his "Principal Secretary". Before resigning in 1989, Poole had allegedly become the second most powerful person in the province despite never having been elected. This naturally attracted the anger of numerous cabinet ministers, such as Grace McCarthy, an influential Socred MLA who resigned in protest from Vander Zalm's cabinet in 1988.

Vander Zalm became embroiled in a conflict of interest controversy over the sale of his Fantasy Gardens flower garden and theme park. The conflict of interest arose because the Taiwanese buyer, Tan Yu, was provided VIP treatment and lunch with the Lieutenant-Governor prior to the sale. Vander Zalm claimed that control over the theme park was his wife's responsibility. Adding fuel to the fire, Faye Leung, a colourful Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur and the woman who brokered the deal, thought that Vander Zalm was a "bad man" since the day she first met him and secretly recorded conversations she had with him, and was happily willing to speak to the media and provide copies of her audio tapes.

Vander Zalm resigned as premier in 1991 when a provincial conflict of interest report by Ted Hughes found he had mixed private business with his public office in the sale of the gardens. He was charged with criminal breach of trust, but found not guilty in B.C. Supreme Court in 1992. The court ruled that while Vander Zalm had put himself in a conflict of interest, he had not done anything illegal. He was succeeded as Premier of BC by Rita Johnston. In the 1991 provincial election, the Social Credit Party was reduced to seven seats, and has not won a seat in any election since.