Robert Martin Strachan (December 1, 1913 – July 21, 1981) was a trade unionist and politician. He was the longest serving
Leader of the Opposition in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
history.
[Canadian Press, "Robert Strachan Led CCF-NDP in opposition for 13 years in B.C. House", ''Globe and Mail'', July 22, 1981]
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Strachan was a carpenter by trade. He immigrated to Canada after quitting a 10-shilling-a-week job as messenger boy in Glasgow to go to Nova Scotia on a $10-a-week farm labor scheme. He moved west, in 1931, to the northern B.C. copper-smelting town of Anyox and then to Powell River, where he became a carpenter and an active unionist eventually becoming British Columbia head of the
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
[
In 1952, he was elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly as an MLA for the ]socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. In 1956, he was elected CCF leader thus becoming Leader of the Opposition to the 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 ...
government of W.A.C. Bennett
William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadian politician. He was the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-serving prem ...
. Strachan's CCF ran in the 1960 general election on the platform of nationalizing
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
the province's private hydro-electric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
company, B.C. Electric. Bennett denounced the idea during the election campaign but, in 1961, turned around and announced plans to do exactly that in order to create BC Hydro
The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, with the exce ...
leading Strachan to denounce the Social Credit government as hypocrites.[Mitchell, David J., "The power of politics A Bennett takeover to change the Socreds", ''Globe and Mail'', October 15, 1983]
He remained leader after the party transformed into the British Columbia New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada.
As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democrati ...
in 1961. He defeated a leadership challenge by "Young Turk" Thomas Berger in 1967, but sensing a mood for change he stepped down in 1969.[Johnson, William, "Two heroic men in a conflict", ''Globe and Mail'', July 6, 1983]
Strachan remained in the legislature, however, and was appointed Highways Minister when the NDP formed government for the first time as a result of the 1972 general election. He was appointed to the new position of Minister of Transport and Communications in 1973. Strachan oversaw the implementation of the NDP's promise to institute public automobile insurance
Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injur ...
and was responsible for the creation of the government owned Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is a provincial Crown corporation in British Columbia providing insurance. ICBC was created in 1973 by the NDP government of Premier Dave Barrett.
By law, any vehicle registered and driven ...
. Strachan left politics in 1975 when he was appointed the province's agent general to the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
by Premier Dave Barrett
David Barrett (October 2, 1930 – February 2, 2018) was a politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 26th premier of British Columbia from 1972 to 1975.
Early life and career
Barrett was born in Vancouver, Britis ...
. He served in the position for almost two years.[
He died of ]lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
in 1981.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strachan, Robert
1913 births
1981 deaths
British Columbia Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs
British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs
Canadian socialists
Canadian trade unionists
Scottish carpenters
Deaths from cancer in British Columbia
Deaths from lung cancer
Leaders of the British Columbia CCF/NDP
British emigrants to Canada
20th-century Canadian politicians
Canadian people of Scottish descent