Barrett, Dave

Dave Barrett was born in 1930 in Vancouver into a working Jewish family. After graduation, he continued his education in the United States, where he received degrees in philosophy at Seattle University and social work at St. Louis University . Returning to British Columbia in 1957, he got a job at Haney Correctional Facility ^[3] . In the same period, he married Shirley Hackman, in which three children were born ^[4] .

Joining the Cooperative Welfare Federation, Barrett in 1960 won the election for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from the Dewday constituency ^[5] . Then, as a candidate for the New Democratic Party, he won the provincial legislature in 1963, 1966, and 1969. In 1969, Barrett was also elected chairman of the NDP office in British Columbia after the previous leader, Tom Berger, lost the legislative assembly in his district. ^[3]

From 1969 to 1972, Barrett served in the Legislative Assembly as the leader of the opposition ^[5] . In the September 1972 election, the NDP won the first time in its history, and Barrett took the chair of the British Prime Minister. His government remained in power for three years, during which time he initiated numerous social reforms, including the expansion of the public sector of the economy, the creation of a state insurance corporation, the introduction of a tax on the use of mineral resources and a moratorium on the development of agricultural land (accompanied by the formation of the Agricultural Land Reserve, which exists in XXI century), as well as the establishment of a provincial drug subsidy program and a highly empowered Council on labor relations ^[3] . During these years, mining was also prohibited in park areas ^[6] and the physical punishment in schools ^{[7] was} abolished at the initiative of the Minister of Education Eileen Daily. In total, over three years, Barrett’s office passed through the legislative assembly more than 400 bills ^[3] .

Barron's newspaper called Barrett "northern Allende " ^[6] . The high legislative activity of the Barrett government and the fall in provincial incomes allowed the more conservative Social Credit Party to remove the new Democrats from power in the 1975 elections ^[3] . Barrett himself lost the election in his constituency by 19 votes ^[4] and returned to the legislature the following year, winning special elections in the constituency of Vancouver East and again taking the post of opposition leader ^[5] . After the next defeat of the NDP in the 1983 provincial election, he resigned from the position of party leader ^[3] .

Since 1984, Barrett has hosted talk shows on Vancouver Radio. At the end of 1986, he announced his return to politics and the intention to run this time in the federal parliament . At the end of 1988, Barrett, representing the NDP, won parliamentary elections in the Eskimo – Juan de Fuca federal district. ^[3] In the House of Commons of Canada, he was an official critic of the government on trade issues, including in 1991-1992 - international trade (under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) ^[8] . In 1989, after the resignation of Ed Broadbent , Barrett put forward his candidacy for the post of national chairman of the NDP. During the campaign, he emphasized the needs of the western provinces, opposing the strong Quebec sector in the party, and ultimately lost the election to Audrey McLucklin . In 1993, he lost the election to the House of Commons from the Eskimo - Juan de Fuca district to the candidate from the Reform Party, Keith Martin ^[3] .

After retiring from big politics, Barrett continued to give lectures on social and political topics. In 2005, he was promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada ^[3] ; among his merits were mentioned progressive reforms in the field of social protection, health care and the environment, including the establishment of a guaranteed income for pensioners and the provincial human rights council ^[9] . In 2010, a viewing platform in the Cypress Provincial Park, which was established during his premiership, was named after him ^[6] . In 2012, Barrett was also awarded the Order of British Columbia . He died in February 2018 of Alzheimer's disease ^[3] .

• David Barrett, OC . Parliament of Canada . Date of treatment January 25, 2019.
• JT Morley, Eli Yarhi. Dave Barrett (English) . The Canadian Encyclopedia (March 5, 2018). Date of treatment January 25, 2019.