1. Bill Bennett was elected the leader of the Socred Party in November 1973 at a convention in Whistler, British Columbia.
12 Facts About Bill Bennett
1. 2.
Bill Bennett became premier of the province in the 1975 election when his party defeated the New Democratic Party of Premier David Barrett.
3.
In 1978, Bill Bennett was instrumental in establishing the BC Winter Games and BC Summer Games.
4.
Bill Bennett's cabinet included politicians such as Pat McGeer, Grace McCarthy, Bill Vander Zalm, Garde Gardom, Rafe Mair, and Jim Nielsen.
5.
Bill Bennett's government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring Expo 86 and related projects to Vancouver, including BC Place, the city's SkyTrain rapid transit system, and the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.
6.
Bill Bennett's government built the Coquihalla Highway at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars with non-union Kerkhoff Construction Company as the main contractor.
7.
Bill Bennett's government spent over $1 billion on the Northeast coal project to create jobs.
8.
In 1996, Bill Bennett was convicted under BC securities laws of insider trading involving the sale of shares in Doman Securities, a Duncan, BC company, ten years after he stepped down as premier.
9.
Bill Bennett's tenure included megaprojects such as the Coquihalla Highway, which cost approximately $848 million.
10.
In 2007, Bill Bennett was appointed to the Order of British Columbia, BC's highest award for achievement.
11.
Bill Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease around 2007 and, in his later years, lived in a long-term care facility.
12.
Bill Bennett died on December 3,2015, at the age of 83.