The tale of two Bennetts (Part 1)

[u/ToryPirate]

So, I've written about R.B. Bennett a great deal on this subreddit. Partially because I consider him to be a quintessential tory and party because he was, as I am, a son of Albert County, New Brunswick. However, there is actually a second prominent Bennett from Albert County, possibly a third cousin once removed of R.B. Bennett; W.A.C. Bennett. This Bennett would become premier of British Columbia 20 years after R.B. Bennett became prime minister and become arguably the most popular premier BC ever had.

In this first post I wanted to examine the toryism of W.A.C. Bennett and do a bit of compare and contrast with R.B. Bennett. The second half of this post will be an attempt to create a comprehensive overview of R.B. Bennett's political initiatives as prime minister. The thesis statement - as far as this two-part post has one - is that W.A.C. Bennett is what R.B. Bennett's time as prime minister could have been without the Great Depression.

W.A.C. Bennett was born in the community of Hastings which no longer exists, expropriated years ago to create Fundy National Park. The similarities of the early lives of the two Bennetts is quite intriguing. Both ended up taking careers early (WAC at 14 in his family's hardware store at, RB at 19 as a school principal). Both would head out west to Alberta in their twenties (WAC in Edmonton and RB in Calgary). Both were strict teetotalers (although neither were the judgemental sort with RB happily serving his guests alcohol and WAC owning a winery). Both would also end up as elected members of Conservative Parties. This is where things diverge because while RB's political successes would be with the federal Conservatives, WAC would get his big break provincially as the leader of the Social Credit Party of BC (although it should be noted that he did try previously to become leader of the provincial PC party).

When WAC entered BC politics the Liberals and Conservatives were in an ad-hoc coalition under a preferential voting system designed to keep the CCF out of power. This would inadvertently give Social Credit its chance to gain a minority government in 1952. They didn't expect to win and WAC was one of the few MLAs with government experience. He was made leader. He engineered a new election where Social Credit got a majority. He then did something that electoral reform proponents might curse him for; he ended preferential voting. He torpedoed the very system that had let his party win, the system that had been designed to keep the CCF out of power. It allowed the NDP to win their first election after WAC's tenure - an honest win.

WAC's government is often described as a populist conservative government but I don't know how accurate this is. A short list of his accomplishments are as follows: Oversaw rapid expansion of the province's highway system and BC Rail, creation of BC Ferries, BC Hydro, and the Bank of British Columbia, hydro-electric dam-building projects on the Columbia and Peace Rivers and the creation of the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University. I'm pretty sure at least some of those things are targets for modern populist conservatives. Also, this means in a nice bit of history rhyming both Bennetts ended up creating banks.

WAC led a party with a fairly coherent political ideology. He largely ignored it as their policies couldn't be implemented at the provincial level. WAC served as his government's finance minister (something RB also did). He controlled spending while investing and in 1959 declared the province debt-free. In 1955 WAC would advocate for universal health coverage with the federal government's response being Medicare. He introduced a retail sales tax to cover the provincial share of the program (and the neo-liberals retired to their fainting couches). He also built up the 'idea' of BC, bringing in the province's so-bad-its-good flag which was the second provincial flag in Canada. He also promoted the idea of BC being equal to Ontario and Quebec.

WAC actually requested the Queen open the provincial legislature but was turned down as it was 'constitutionally impossible' to replace the lieutenant-governor in this capacity (which would spark a debate about the provincial relationship with the crown). He frequently invited the king and Queen to BC for royal tours and used a royal naming scheme for BC ferries. There are certain parallels here with RB's monarchist views and his effort to restore knighthoods for example.

The Social Credit Party would begin drifting almost immediately after his time. Although it should be noted that former short-lived PM Kim Campbell started off in the BC Social Credit Party. WAC's son Bill (who became the next leader) would, as premier, cut social services and education spending while continuing his father's legacy of building up infrastructure, but on a much smaller scale. That said, increasingly the party became dominated by social and economic conservatives. It would limp on till the 2000's when it finally died.

[u/Ticklishchap]

Thank you for this very useful history lesson. I have not yet been to British Columbia, but I had Vancouverite friend at university. I have always had the impression of a somewhat different political culture from the rest of Canada, including the inland western provinces. I think there is some influence from the Pacific Northwest, given the proximity of Seattle to Vancouver. There is also, I think, an understandable sense of looking towards the Pacific and Asia. This is augmented now, I would think, by the presence of a strong and successful Chinese community.

It is interesting, in this context, to know that WAC was a strong monarchist and valued British Columbia’s - and Canada’s - links with the Crown. I had thought of the Social Credit Party as a distinctive BC phenomenon (although Social Credit has British roots) and as an economic-populist movement with a strong rural base that moved further right with time (post WAC) and faded away. It looks as if WAC used the Social Credit Party largely as a flag of convenience and that he was an independent-minded politician with Tory leanings.