Portrait: adam blasberg
To paraphrase the late comedian Rod-
ney Dangerfield, politicians don't get much
respect. In a September survey of 805 Brit-
ish Columbians by Insights West, only 25 per
cent of us ranked our elected officials as being
respectable—dead last behind those paragons
of virtue, lawyers and journalists. (You want
your kid to be respected? Send her to medi-
cal school: 97 per cent of us respect doctors,
according to the survey.)
Call me an outlier, but I've always had a lot
of time for those who go into political office.
Anyone who decides to serve his or her city,
province or country should be commended.
But more than that, political life represents
many individual sacrifices—in reduced wages,
crazy hours and the complete loss of
privacy. That anyone would choose
this—knowing full well that, in four
years' time, they could be out of a
job—is remarkable.
You get a taste of the political sacri-
fice when you hang out with someone
like B.C. cabinet minister Bill Ben-
nett. Bennett, formerly a successful
businessman and lawyer, represents
the riding of Kootenay East: about
as far away from Victoria as you can
get, sharing a time zone with Cal-
gary. Every weekend, he returns to
Cranbrook to meet with constitu-
ents and attend community events,
all the while dealing with the grow-
ing demands of his job (minister of
energy, mines and hydro, among
other things). If he's lucky, he gets to
spend part of Sunday with his wife,
Beth.
Bennett is a controversial figure,
with a series of public clashes since being
elected in 2001 and more than a few critics
collected along the way ("The Resurrection
of Bill Bennett," p. 42). But those who really
know him—including his critics—still have
a lot of respect for the man. "I think if you
speak from your heart, people pause and lis-
ten, because it sounds genuine,"
NDP leader
John Horgan told me. "Bill is as genuine as
they come. When we're done here and we're
sitting in the old folks home, Bill and I will
probably get on just fine. We won't agree on a
damn thing, but we'll be OK with that."
C O N T R I B U T O R S
Matt O'Grady, Editor-in-Chief
mogrady@canadawide.com / @bCbusiness
editor'sdesk
y
Photographic duo Dale Roth
and Michele Ramberg ("The
Resurrection of Bill Bennett, " p.
42) toured Cranbrook, courtesy
of B.C. cabinet minister Bill
Bennett. "Even with his busy
schedule, he made time
to show us his home and
surrounding area, " says Roth.
The pair's clients have included
Chatelaine, Reader's Digest,
People and the Calgary Zoo.
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BCBusiness November 2014
Victoria-based writer and
Jack Webster award-winner
Paul Willcocks explored the
increasingly popular, but not
always beneficial, partnerships
between corporations and
nonprofits ("The Gift of Time, "
p. 32). He reports that while it's
"tough to launch an effort that
won't bring immediate benefits,
it's worth it." He published his
first book, Dead Ends: B.C.
Crime Stories, in September.
The Political
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