Premier John Horgan will join two former premiers, as well as an expected 500 members of the B.C. NDP, for a celebration of life for Dave Barrett on Sunday.
Barrett, who ended W.A.C. Bennett’s 20-year reign in Victoria when became the province’s first NDP premier in 1972, died on February 2.
He was 87 and had had a long struggle with Alzheimer’s.
Times-Colonist editor Dave Obee described Barrett as a politician who was “always in a hurry, the brash upstart outsider who dared to challenge the system. And change it.”
The contribution made by the Hon. Dave Barrett to the province of BC will never be forgotten. He was a man full of compassion, empathy and decency - and will be sorely missed. Thank you, Dave. pic.twitter.com/MjIU0XGX4v
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) March 2, 2018
As well as Horgan and former premiers Dan Miller and Glen Clark, the following people will speak at the March 4 memorial: Dawn Black, Bob Williams, Jim Sinclair, Dr. Tara Cullis, Marc Eliesen, Joy MacPhail, Andrew Petter, Gerry Scott and members of the Barrett family.
The celebration of life is at the Croatian Cultural Centre on Commercial Dr. from 1 to 4 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
In the meantime, the provincial government is holding a state memorial service for Barrett on Sat., Mar. 3 at 10 a.m. at the Farquhar Auditorium at the University of Victoria. The service will be streamed at http://news.gov.bc.ca/live.
