Gordon Gibson Jr
Gordon Gibson | |
---|---|
Leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party | |
In office September 28, 1975 – February 19, 1979 | |
Preceded by | David Anderson |
Succeeded by | Jev Tothill |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for North Vancouver-Capilano | |
In office 1974–1979 | |
Preceded by | David Maurice Brousson |
Succeeded by | Angus Creelman Ree |
Personal details | |
Born | Gordon Fulerton Gibson (1937-08-23)August 23, 1937 |
Died | November 10, 2023(2023-11-10) (aged 86) |
Political party | BC Liberal Party |
Other political affiliations | Liberal Party of Canada |
Parent |
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Gordon Fulerton Gibson OBC (August 23, 1937 – November 10, 2023), often referred to as Gordon Gibson Jr., was a Canadian political columnist, author, and politician in British Columbia. He was the son of Gordon Gibson Sr., who was a prominent businessman and Liberal Party politician in British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s.
Education
Gibson received a BA (honours) in mathematics and physics at the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and he did research work at the London School of Economics.[1]
Political career
Gibson served as an assistant to the federal Minister of Northern Affairs from 1963 to 1968, and was a special assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1968 to 1972.[2] In the 1972 federal election, he ran as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver South, but lost to Progressive Conservative candidate John Fraser by 3,000 votes.
In 1974, Gibson won a by-election to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the riding of North Vancouver-Capilano under the Liberal banner. The following year, three Liberal MLAs defected to the Social Credit Party three months before that year's general election, leaving Gibson and party leader David Anderson as the only two Liberals in the legislature. Anderson declined to be renominated to the leadership, and Gibson was approached to lead the party into the election. He was the only Liberal elected that year. He remained party leader until 1979, when he resigned to run again for a seat in the federal House of Commons, in the riding of North Vancouver—Burnaby. He was defeated in both the 1979 and 1980 federal elections by Progressive Conservative candidate Chuck Cook by less than 2,000 votes on each attempt.
Gibson attempted to return to politics as a candidate in the 1993 B.C. Liberal leadership convention; he came in second to future premier Gordon Campbell.
Post-political career
Gibson was a senior fellow in Canadian Studies at the Fraser Institute[3] and has written several books on Canadian federalism and governance. Following the 2001 British Columbia provincial election, he was hired by the government to make recommendations on the structure and mandate of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. His report was substantially adopted.
His columns appeared frequently in the Vancouver Sun,[4] the Winnipeg Free Press and The Globe and Mail.[5]
Death
Gibson died on November 10, 2023, at the age of 86.[6][7] Suffering from heart failure from early 2023, he opted for medical assistance in dying.[8]
Honours
In May 2008, Gibson was awarded the Order of British Columbia.[9]
Electoral history
1972 Canadian federal election: Vancouver South | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | John Allen Fraser | 17,762 | 40.03 | +16.29 | ||||
Liberal | Gordon Gibson | 14,549 | 32.79 | -16.47 | ||||
New Democratic | Roger Howard | 11,145 | 25.12 | +2.47 | ||||
Social Credit | Tony Jefferson | 765 | 1.72 | -2.23 | ||||
Independent | Sean Griffin | 102 | 0.23 | – | ||||
Independent | Rick Hundal | 44 | 0.10 | – | ||||
Total valid votes | 44,367 | 100.0 | ||||||
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +16.38 |
British Columbia provincial by-election, 1974: North Vancouver-Capilano | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Liberal | Gordon Fulerton Gibson | 4,736 | 31.11 | |||||
Social Credit | Ronald Clayton Andrews | 4,679 | 30.74 | |||||
Progressive Conservative | Peter Stewart Hyndman | 3,151 | 20.70 | |||||
New Democratic | Diane Mackenzie Baigent | 2,637 | 17.32 | |||||
Christian Democratic | Norman Gareth Dent | 19 | 0.13 |
1975 British Columbia general election: North Vancouver-Capilano | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Liberal | Gordon Fulerton Gibson | 8,836 | 44.74 | |||||
Social Credit | Ronald Clayton Andrews | 8,530 | 43.19 | |||||
New Democratic | Michael Ian Copes | 2,393 | 12.07 |
1979 Canadian federal election: North Vancouver—Burnaby | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Progressive Conservative | Chuck Cook | 16,545 | 38.18 | |||||
Liberal | Gordon F. Gibson | 14,377 | 33.18 | |||||
New Democratic | Russ Hicks | 12,084 | 27.89 | |||||
Social Credit | Poldi Meindl | 188 | 0.43 | |||||
Communist | Eric H. Waugh | 92 | 0.21 | |||||
Independent | A. Neila Taylor | 29 | 0.07 | |||||
Marxist–Leninist | Kitti Hundal | 20 | 0.05 | |||||
Total valid votes | 43,335 | 100.0 | ||||||
This riding was created from parts of Burnaby—Seymour and Capilano, which elected a Liberal and a Progressive Conservative, respectively, in the previous election. |
1980 Canadian federal election: North Vancouver—Burnaby | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Chuck Cook | 16,774 | 38.10 | -0.08 | ||||
Liberal | Gordon F. Gibson | 15,307 | 34.77 | +1.59 | ||||
New Democratic | Jack Woodward | 11,820 | 26.85 | -1.04 | ||||
Social Credit | Poldi Meindl | 88 | 0.20 | -0.23 | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Kitti Hundal | 38 | 0.09 | +0.04 | ||||
Total valid votes | 44,027 | 100.0 | ||||||
Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | -0.84 |
Writings
- A New Look at Canadian Indian Policy: Respect the Collective - Promote the Individual (2009). ISBN 978-0-88975-243-6
References
- ^ "Conversations from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy: Gordon Gibson, Author, Columnist and Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute". Frontier Centre for Public Policy. April 5, 2004. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2023.[dead link]
- ^ "Gordon Gibson". Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia. Government of British Columbia. September 20, 2002. Archived from the original on December 23, 2002. Retrieved November 20, 2023.[dead link]
- ^ "Gordon Gibson". Fraser Institute. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "Gordon Gibson". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Gibson, Gordon (December 7, 2009). "Yankee protectionism, this time dressed in green". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "Gordon Gibson". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 20, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ Palmer, Vaughn (November 17, 2023). "Vaughn Palmer: Gordon Gibson Jr. was a strong and independent voice". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Cohen, Andrew (December 26, 2023). "B.C. Liberal Gordon Gibson was a formidable presence in Canada's political life". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ "2008 Recipient: Gordon F. Gibson – Vancouver". Government of British Columbia. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2014.