Social Credit Era

As World War II drew to a close, many British Columbians feared another recession. Their worries were groundless: Canada entered a period of economic stability that with only a brief recessionary break from 1958 to 1962 extended into the early 1970s. The need to rebuild Europe, together with industrial expansion occurring around the world, increased demand for primary resources. BC was well placed to take advantage of economic opportunities. Forest industry activity expanded away from the coast into the central Interior, precipitating the growth of Prince George. Oil and natural gas began to be exploited in the northeast, as it was on a larger scale in northern Alberta. The smelter at Trail was expanded, and asbestos mining began in the far northwest. In 1951 the provincial government signed an agreement with the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) to construct a large smelter southwest of Prince Rupert at what would become the new town of Kitimat. The next year the long-dormant Pacific Great Eastern Railway was finally completed to Prince George (later it was extended farther north). The province's capacity to capitalize on opportune economic conditions was enhanced by political realignment. The governing coalition continued after the war even as a new political force was emerging in the person of W.A.C. Bennett. The consummate small businessman, Bennett rose to power under the banner of Social Credit, a populist political party that had originated on the prairies during the Depression, come to power in Alberta in 1935, and migrated westward as part of a movement of peoples. The number of British Columbians born on the prairies grew to over 1 in 5 by 1951. Among the newcomers was Bennett himself, a maritimer who moved first to Alberta and then to the Okanagan Valley. Unable to gain acceptance within the Conservative Party, whose power base lay in the Vancouver establishment, Bennett was soon vitalizing BC's fledging Social Credit movement. By the time of the provincial election of 1952, policy and personal differences had splintered the governing coalition. A transferable ballot had been put in place, intended to keep out the CCF, which was viewed as the common enemy. The result indicated how fully the two mainstream parties had fallen out of favour with voters. The CCF received the plurality of votes, but Social Credit ended up with one more seat. Called upon to form a government, Bennett made clear his sensitivity to the province's growing diversity by including in his cabinet the first woman to hold a portfolio, a trade unionist, persons of non-British descent, evangelical Christians, hinterland British Columbians and former Albertans. To resolve the political stalemate, Social Credit called a new election just a year later. The party benefitted from CCF disarray and won a decisive victory. In the next election, by which time the province had returned to a straight ballot, the Social Credit coalition was entrenched. The force of personality continued to be decisive even after the CCF reorganized itself federally in 1961 as the New Democratic Party. Intended to be more moderate and inclusive, particularly of organized labour, the NDP proved incapable of getting more than a third of the popular vote, compared with Social Credit's 40-47%. Only in 1972, by which time Bennett had been in power a full two decades, would the balance shift.

Social Credit built on initiatives already underway and capitalized on generally rising wages, material prosperity and growing self-confidence existing across much of the western world. Much like his predecessors, Bennett also tended to blame the federal government for his failures and take personal credit for the successes. He promised British Columbians what he liked to term "the good life," and for a time he largely succeeded. Material progress through rapid resource development became almost a secular faith within Social Credit. The key to expansion lay in attracting large amounts of outside capital, and American dollars in particular arrived at unprecedented rates. By the mid-1950s over half the investment in a rapidly expanding forest industry came from the United States. A government policy favouring long-term leaseholders of Crown land as being more dependable and profitable encouraged corporate concentration. Much of the expansion centred on pulp, and this too encouraged the forest industry's consolidation into a handful of large integrated multinationals. The value of Canadian products exported from BC grew 5 times over the 2 decades from 1952 to 1972. A focus during the 1950s on infrastructure creation facilitated the big development projects, especially in hydroelectric power, that followed in the next decade. During the first 6 years of Bennett's tenure, more money was spent building roads than in the entire history of the province. Air and water transport also expanded during these years. The Columbia River Treaty signed in 1961 with the US initiated the construction of 3 storage dams in southern BC in exchange for a lump-sum payment by the US for the downstream hydroelectric benefits that would result. The Peace River in the northeast was harnessed with the construction of the Bennett Dam. BC was finally becoming an integrated economic unit.

The more active role taken by the state extended into social services. Both the provincial and federal governments facilitated health insurance and special provisions for the young and the old in the form of family allowances and pensions. Educational opportunities became more equitable at the post-secondary level. A 2-year college was upgraded into the University of Victoria in 1963 and Simon Fraser University opened in Burnaby 2 years later. Community colleges offering both vocational training and 2 years of university transfer courses were established around the province.

By the beginning of the 1970s, enthusiasm for Social Credit was finally waning. As it became obvious that even Bennett could not make the good times last forever, many had difficulty reconciling themselves to a harsher reality. In 1972 the NDP, led by David Barrett, a youthful social worker, squeaked out a victory with 40% of the popular vote compared with Social Credit's 31%. The NDP immediately enacted numerous reform measures, which in retrospect can be seem as an attempt to do too much too fast during an economic downturn. The NDP government called an election in 1975, well before the end of its mandate, and was defeated by a revived Social Credit coalition headed by Bennett's son, William "Bill" Bennett. The younger Bennett, who was identified with free enterprise and government restraint, headed a more austere administration than had his father. Under Bennett, then Bill Vander Zalm and, briefly, BC's first woman premier, Rita Johnston, Social Credit stayed in power as a free enterprise coalition until internal disorganization and lack of vision caused it to implode. A revived Liberal Party was unable to stop the NDP, which in 1991, led by Vancouver's popular former mayor Michael Harcourt, narrowly won the provincial election with 40% of the popular vote. The NDP was returned to power in 1996 under Glen Clark, despite losing out in the popular vote--39% to 43%--to the Liberal Party, now headed by former Vancouver mayor Gordon Campbell and very deliberately non-aligned with its federal counterpart.