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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/526329
july 2015 BCBusiness 131 colin price/the province (top); vAncouver Sun no obvious joy, accumulated blame rather than accolades, and he left with no apparent credit. Why were we so inclined to underesti- mate him? And how have we forgotten him so completely? P olitics had always been the family business. Bill Bennett was only five years old when his father, William Andrew Cecil Bennett, was first elected to the provincial legislature in 1937. By 1952, "Wacky" Bennett had ascended to the premier's job at the head of the Social Credit party, which had emerged as a successor vehicle to an unsteady right-of-centre coalition between Liberals and Conservatives. The redoubtable populist then held onto that position for two decades, dominating a government that was known as both robustly "free enterprise" and dispassion- ately opportunistic. It was W.A.C. Bennett, for example, who nationalized both the B.C. electricity industry and the coastal ferry system. He was further famous for building dams and highways—for stretching infrastructure deep into the heart of the province to open up and support the B.C. economy. Indeed, if Wacky Bennett had sug- gested B.C. as the site for a world fair, every commentator from here to Montreal would have said, "Typical." But while Bill Bennett was attentive, he was still seen as his father's least likely suc- cessor. His affable elder brother, Russell (or "R.J." to the family), seemed much more the political type—garrulous, charming— but wasn't the least interested. So, with W.A.C. Bennett retiring to the family home in Kelowna to lick his wounds after the 1972 rout by Dave Barrett's New Democrats, it was a surprise when Bill announced his intent, not just to run as an MLA but to challenge for the party leadership. The remarkable part is that while Bennett seemed to take to the role naturally—winning the leadership com- mandingly in 1973 and playing a critical part in installing Grace McCarthy as party president—he never seemed to like the work. Brad Bennett—the eldest of Bill's four sons—describes his father's attitude to politics as driven by duty rather than while Bill BenneTT was aTTenTive, he was sTill seen as his faTher's leasT liKely suCCessor. his affaBle elder BroTher, russell, seemed muCh more The poliTiCal Type— garrulous, Charming—BuT wasn'T The leasT inTeresTed The formaTive years (Clockwise from left) False Creek in 1976, the future site of Expo; Bill Bennett with his father, W.A.C. Bennett, also in 1976; Premier Bennett and Dave Barrett in a rare cordial moment, June 1983