Douglas Lyle Mowat (May 16, 1929 – August 11, 1992) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served as a

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

Member of the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

from 1983 to 1991, representing the riding of

Vancouver-Little Mountain Vancouver-Little Mountain was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared on the hustings in the general election of 1966 as a two-member seat. It returned two members from 1966 to 1986 and one ...

. A

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

following an accident playing

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

at age 17, Mowat was the first

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

user elected to a legislature in Canada. A founding member of the

BC Paraplegic Association Spinal Cord Injury BC (SCI BC) is a not-for-profit organization that helps people with spinal cord injuries and related injuries adjust, adapt and thrive by providing answers, information and community experiences in the Canadian province of Briti ...

, he was the organization's executive director from 1962 until his death. He was named a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1982 in honour of his work on behalf of people with disabilities. Mowat first entered elected politics as a Vancouver Parks Board commissioner, and subsequently was elected to the legislature in 1983. On October 3, 1989, Mowat and three colleagues —

Graham Bruce Graham Preston Bruce is a former Canadian politician. After serving as Mayor of North Cowichan, Bruce was elected as a Social Credit Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991 in the electoral district of Cowichan- ...

Duane Delton Crandall Duane Delton Crandall (born August 14, 1946) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991, as a Social Credit member for the constituency of Columbia River. On October 3, 1989, Crandall ...

, and David Mercier — quit the governing Social Credit caucus to sit as "Independent Social Credit" members. In a joint statement, the four stressed that they "in no way desire the fall of our government", but wished to spur an "open and realistic assessment" of

Bill Vander Zalm William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a politician and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 28th premier of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991. Early life Wilhelmus Ni ...

's continued leadership. Mowat returned the Socred caucus on February 14, 1990, alongside Bruce and Mercier (Crandall had already rejoined caucus in January). Mowat explained his move by saying he was satisfied that Vander Zalm was no longer centralizing decision-making. Mowat died in August 1992.Doug Mowat: Tribute to a Life of Service
Disability Foundation.

References

1929 births 1992 deaths British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian politicians with disabilities Members of the Order of Canada People with tetraplegia Politicians from Vancouver {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub