Former premier to receive the Order of BC

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – He gave us ICBC, the Labour Relations Board and banned spanking in public schools.    

Now, former premier Dave Barrett is getting the Order of BC.

Barrett, former Prime Minister Kim Campbell and astronaut Bob Thirsk are among the 14 recipients who will be honoured in September.

NDP MLA Maurine Karagianis represents the riding of Esquimalt-Royal Roads where Barrett lives and calls him the Tommy Douglas of British Columbia.

“I think people will be very surprised to know Dave Barrett was only premier for three years and yet the legacies he left behind are enormous and we are still appreciating many of them today,” Karagainis says.  “Things like the Agricultural Land Reserve, BC Ambulance Service, ICBC and the fact you can tune in and see what’s happening with debates in the legislature because he put a Hansard system in place. They’re only a small variety of things Dave left behind for us to enjoy.”

Barrett became the first NDP premier of BC in 1972 and some have questioned why it has taken so long for him to receive the award.

“To a certain extent it’s not surprising at all that it’s taken so long for Dave Barrett to get the Order of BC,” says News1130 political analyst Sean Holman.  “Appointments can be somewhat political and the fact is the Liberals and the Social Credit Party have been in power a lot longer than the New Democrats.”  

Kim Campbell became the only female and the only British Columbian to become prime minister.

Mining industry pioneer Norman Keevil with Teck Cominco and Future Shop founder Hassan Khosrowshahi are also being honoured.

Khosrowshahi was also named chairman of board of trustees for the Fraser Institute in 2007.

Both men have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the BC Liberal Party over the years.

During the race for the BC Liberal leadership, Keevil made contributions to the campaigns of Mike de Jong, George Abbott and Kevin Falcon. He did not make a contribution to Premier Christy Clark.

Another Order of BC recipient, Marion Lay, who won a bronze medal for Canada in swimming in the 1968 Olympics, also has a connection to the BC Liberals.

Her partner, Dr. Penny Ballem, was BC’s deputy Health Minister from 2001 to 2006. Ballem is now city manager in Vancouver.

Also on the list are homeless advocate Sister Nancy Brown; Dr. Peter Cooperberg, a world leader in ultrasound; First Nations artist Rick Harry; Christopher Gaze, who founded Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival; artist and teacher Rick Harry; community leader Carol Matthews; business leader Djavad Mowafaghian and athlete Tricia Smith.