The Written Word
for July 25, 2001

The protests at the legislature yesterday were pretty tame stuff. Amongst the most prominent of the groups, evidently, was the Communist Party of Iran. It was, in short, a damp squib.

I remember three protests in particular from my days in government back in the 70s. The first was a group that broke into the cabinet room while we were in session and surrounded us all. This was pretty scary since there was very little room behind us and none of could have moved without jostling a protester and goodness knows what that would have led to. Premier Bill Bennett, cool as ever, invited the leaders – two claimed the title – downstairs to his office for a meeting. As soon as they left, the steam went out of the rest of them and they filed out.

Another involved the teachers, shortly after they had become a union. I don’t remember what the issues were but I well recall these instructors of our children marching to the Legislature and utterly ignoring all traffic lights and I remember asking myself if this was the sort of example they were setting their students.

The other involved ICBC. The NDP, having created a car insurance monopoly in 1973, managed to have lose $186 million in its first year and a half. When the Bennett government came to power in late December 1975 the very first order of business was to deal with ICBC. That February the answer, in part, was to raise rates, pretty dramatically, across the board. "Concerned Citizens" groups (which is to say defeated NDP candidates and their supporters) sprang up all over the province and a huge protest was planned for the Legislature lawns.

Dr Pat McGeer was the cabinet minister responsible for ICBC and he and I happened to lunch at the Union Club, a few hundred years north of the Parliament buildings. As we walked out we ran into W.A.C. Bennett who was going in.

"Mr Bennett", said Pat, "I need your advice. There is this huge protest crowd coming to the legislature tomorrow to protest. Should I speak to them? Have my executive assistant speak to them? Or what?"

"Turn the sprinklers on", said Mr Bennett. "water the lawns … turn on the sprinklers!"

"But Mr Bennett", protested Dr McGeer, "it’s February!"

"Turn ‘em on anyway", retorted WAC, "that’s what I would do!"

Pat McGeer didn’t take the former premier’s advice but I’ve always suspected that he wishes he had.