The former politician and bureaucrat Bob Williams discusses his new book, written with Benjamin Isitt and Thomas Bevan, Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia (Harbour Publishing, 2022), with Joseph Planta.

Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia by Bob Williams (Harbour Publishing, 2022). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Using Power Well

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

It was fifty years ago this past September that Dave Barrett’s NDP government took office in British Columbia. Bob Williams was there, one of Barrett’s closest confidantes, and soon to be a sort of super minister. You read about those thirty-nine months in office, and more, in the new book Using Power Well: Bob Williams and the Making of British Columbia. It’s a highly readable book that charts the life of Williams, from his birth at the Salvation Army Home for Unwed Mothers in South Vancouver, to growing up near the then city dump, around Still Creek, where the Italian Cultural Centre is now. He comes from working class, East Vancouver roots. He later finds out who his father is, the son and grandson of good socialist stock, Bob’s grandfather was Bill Pritchard, who was reeve of Burnaby, BC during the depression years, and was one of the leaders of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Bob’s great grandfather, James Pritchard, was a founder of the Socialist Party of British Columbia, and Socialist Party of Canada near the turn of the twentieth century. Bob narrates his compelling life story in the book becoming a city planner in Delta, BC, to elected as an alderman on Vancouver City Council, then the BC legislature in 1966. The Williams legacy once in office as a cabinet minister include Whistler Town Centre, Robson Square, the Agricultural Land Reserve, the Insurance Corporation of BC, and many other projects. I’ll get Bob, who joins me now to reflect on some of his notable achievements in his career, and more. His work later as a bureaucrat when the NDP was returned to office in 1991 is written about in the book, as were his times on the Vancity board, and even owning the fabled Railway Club. The book is written with Benjamin Isitt and Thomas Bevan and is from Harbour Publishing. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Bob Williams; Mr. Williams, good morning.

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