Series MS-2120 - Dave Barrett papers accumulated as MLA

British Columbia's twenty-sixth premier, David Barrett, was born in Vancouver on October 2, 1930. The son of a fruiterer, he attended local schools before graduating from Britannia High School in 1948. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy at Seattle University in 1953 and earned a Master of Social Work degree at St. Louis (Missouri) University in 1956. In 1957, after working as a probation officer for the St. Louis juvenile courts, Barrett was appointed staff training officer at the Haney Correctional Institute near Vancouver. He held this position until July 1959 when he was dismissed by the Attorney-General's department because of his union and political activities at the Institute. He subsequently joined the Commonwealth Co-operative Federation [CCF], afterwards called the New Democratic Party [NDP], and in 1960 was elected MLA for Dewdney. Having defeated a Social Credit Party cabinet minister in his electoral debut, Barrett soon established himself as one of the leading figures in the NDP. He was re-elected in 1963 in Dewdney and, when the riding was redistributed, was elected for Coquitlam in 1966 and 1969. The following year (June 1970) he succeeded Thomas Berger as leader of the NDP and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislature. In 1972 Barrett led the NDP to victory over W.A.C. Bennett's Social Credit Party, which had held power in B.C. since 1952. The new government moved quickly to redress a number of economic and social concerns. Crown corporations were established to take over pulp and paper mills which were threatened with closure by private companies; a universal automobile insurance plan run by another new corporation, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia [ICBC] was introduced. Other reforms included the introduction of a guaranteed minimum income for B.C. residents, free prescription drugs for the elderly, and consumer protection legislation. As well, Barrett's government established agricultural land reserves and granted public employees the right to strike. Although his reforms were applauded in many quarters, Barrett's programmes were criticised for being too costly. His close relationship with organized labour also suffered when his government introduced back-to-work legislation aimed at several striking trade unions. As a result, the NDP was defeated by a conservative Social Credit coalition (led by W.R. Bennett, son of the former premier) in the election of December 1975. Barrett, the province's first socialist premier, lost his own riding of Coquitlam in that election. Barrett regained a seat in the Legislature in June 1976 when he won a by-election in the riding of Vancouver East. He was re-elected there in 1979 and again in 1983. Still, he was unable to defeat the Social Credit government in these two general elections and in May 1983 he resigned as leader of the NDP. The following year he retired from the Legislature and began a new career as a radio talk-show host in Vancouver. MS-2120 consists of politically related correspondence, reports and other documents accumulated by Barrett between 1971 and 1976 during his years as MLA for Vancouver East, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. Also included are abbreviated caucus minutes and NDP position papers on such topics as BC Hydro, health services, labour relations, and environment and land use. However, despite the outside dates of this collection, MS-2120 contains almost no material pertaining to Barrett's tenure as premier of British Columbia. Inexplicably, records dealing with the years 1972-1975 were missing when this material was accessioned by the BC Archives in May 1984. Moreover, although extensive enquiries have been made at the NDP caucus offices (which had custody of this material) and of Mr. Barrett himself, the BC Archives has not been able to determine the whereabouts of these key records. The records may have been destroyed or they may have been given to someone outside of the government. Whatever the case, records relating to the office of the premier, 1972-1975, were alienated from this larger unit of records before the material was transferred to the BC Archives. Related records, consisting of Barrett's miscellaneous and general correspondence, 1983-1984, are to be found in MS-2179 and MS-1928. Other records, dealing with CCF/NDP policies and programmes, are to be found in the papers of Barrett's predecessor, Robert M. Strachan, in MS-1291.