Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Bill Vander Zalm
William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a Dutch-born Canadian businessman and politician who served as the 28th premier of British Columbia and leader of the British Columbia Social Credit Party from 1986 to 1991. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia, representing the riding of Surrey from 1975 to 1983, and the riding of Richmond from 1986 to 1991. He is also the oldest lived premier in BC history.
Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm was born and raised in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands. He emigrated to Canada after World War II, settling in the Fraser Valley in 1947. After completing high school, he sold tulip bulbs and ultimately established himself in the gardening business. He moved to Surrey after marrying Lillian Mihalic, and purchased a nursery.
Vander Zalm was elected an alderman of Surrey in 1965, and served as the municipality's mayor from 1969 to 1975. His tenure was marked by his crackdown on welfare recipients (until the early 1970s, welfare in BC was a municipal responsibility).
He was originally a supporter of both the Liberal Party of Canada and the BC Liberal Party. He sought election to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1968 federal election as a Liberal in Surrey, but lost by 4,445 votes to New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Barry Mather. He was a candidate at the 1972 provincial Liberal leadership convention, where he lost to David Anderson. He subsequently ran in the Surrey constituency for the Liberal Party in the 1972 provincial election, but lost to incumbent BC New Democratic Party candidate Ernest Hall.
Vander Zalm joined the BC Social Credit Party (Socred) in 1974, and was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 1975 election for the riding of Surrey. The Socreds won back power after a three-year hiatus, and Vander Zalm served in the cabinet of Premier Bill Bennett as minister of human resources from 1975 to 1978, where he continued his crusade against welfare fraud.
On June 22, 1978, the Victoria Daily Times published a political cartoon by Bob Bierman that portrayed the Minister of Human Resources as a grinning sadist, deliberately pulling the wings off flies. Vander Zalm launched legal action for libel, Vander Zalm v. Times Publishers. Justice Craig Munroe of the BC Supreme Court awarded Vander Zalm $3,500 in damages. The decision was overturned by the BC Court of Appeal in 1980, which was praised by journalists as a victory for free speech. The original cartoon was purchased by the National Archives of Canada for $350.
Vander Zalm was re-assigned as Minister of Municipal Affairs in December 1978, and kept the portfolio after winning re-election in 1979, before becoming Minister of Education in August 1982. In 1983, he publicly called on the Smithers school board to suspend teacher Madeleine Sauve without pay. Sauve distributed, without the permission of either parents or the local school board, a questionnaire concerning "mutual masturbation, oral sex, use of pornography and prostitution" to a class of Grade 8 students in Smithers.
He declined to run in the May 1983 provincial election. In 1984, he bought Fantasy Garden World, a theme park in Richmond, British Columbia. The same year, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Vancouver as the candidate for the Non-Partisan Association. He lost to the incumbent Mike Harcourt, who was later the provincial NDP leader during most of Vander Zalm's tenure as premier.
Hub AI
Bill Vander Zalm AI simulator
(@Bill Vander Zalm_simulator)
Bill Vander Zalm
William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a Dutch-born Canadian businessman and politician who served as the 28th premier of British Columbia and leader of the British Columbia Social Credit Party from 1986 to 1991. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia, representing the riding of Surrey from 1975 to 1983, and the riding of Richmond from 1986 to 1991. He is also the oldest lived premier in BC history.
Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm was born and raised in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands. He emigrated to Canada after World War II, settling in the Fraser Valley in 1947. After completing high school, he sold tulip bulbs and ultimately established himself in the gardening business. He moved to Surrey after marrying Lillian Mihalic, and purchased a nursery.
Vander Zalm was elected an alderman of Surrey in 1965, and served as the municipality's mayor from 1969 to 1975. His tenure was marked by his crackdown on welfare recipients (until the early 1970s, welfare in BC was a municipal responsibility).
He was originally a supporter of both the Liberal Party of Canada and the BC Liberal Party. He sought election to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1968 federal election as a Liberal in Surrey, but lost by 4,445 votes to New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Barry Mather. He was a candidate at the 1972 provincial Liberal leadership convention, where he lost to David Anderson. He subsequently ran in the Surrey constituency for the Liberal Party in the 1972 provincial election, but lost to incumbent BC New Democratic Party candidate Ernest Hall.
Vander Zalm joined the BC Social Credit Party (Socred) in 1974, and was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 1975 election for the riding of Surrey. The Socreds won back power after a three-year hiatus, and Vander Zalm served in the cabinet of Premier Bill Bennett as minister of human resources from 1975 to 1978, where he continued his crusade against welfare fraud.
On June 22, 1978, the Victoria Daily Times published a political cartoon by Bob Bierman that portrayed the Minister of Human Resources as a grinning sadist, deliberately pulling the wings off flies. Vander Zalm launched legal action for libel, Vander Zalm v. Times Publishers. Justice Craig Munroe of the BC Supreme Court awarded Vander Zalm $3,500 in damages. The decision was overturned by the BC Court of Appeal in 1980, which was praised by journalists as a victory for free speech. The original cartoon was purchased by the National Archives of Canada for $350.
Vander Zalm was re-assigned as Minister of Municipal Affairs in December 1978, and kept the portfolio after winning re-election in 1979, before becoming Minister of Education in August 1982. In 1983, he publicly called on the Smithers school board to suspend teacher Madeleine Sauve without pay. Sauve distributed, without the permission of either parents or the local school board, a questionnaire concerning "mutual masturbation, oral sex, use of pornography and prostitution" to a class of Grade 8 students in Smithers.
He declined to run in the May 1983 provincial election. In 1984, he bought Fantasy Garden World, a theme park in Richmond, British Columbia. The same year, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Vancouver as the candidate for the Non-Partisan Association. He lost to the incumbent Mike Harcourt, who was later the provincial NDP leader during most of Vander Zalm's tenure as premier.