Breach of Promise: Socred Ethics Under Vander Zalm. Rev. ed.

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

“If British Columbians do vote the Socreds back into office in 1991,
regardless of any renewed promise the party makes, it will indeed be a
sorry day for democracy in the province,” reads the last sentence of
this lengthy book. It is Leslie’s thesis that the Socred government
elected in 1986 deserved to be defeated because it violated its own code
of ethics many times. The concern about ethics is reflected in the
book’s subtitle, but in fact Breach of Promise reaches beyond ethics.
For Leslie is also convinced that the Socreds seriously mismanaged the
province’s affairs during their term in office, and much of this book
catalogues his evidence. It must be noted that the author is a
disgruntled former deputy minister of labor, who resigned in 1987 after
the government introduced legislation with which he disagreed, and then
attempted to shuttle him into another ministry.

The original version of the book was published in January 1991, before
Vander Zalm resigned in disgrace from his position as B.C. premier. This
“revised version” is really an update of events until April 1991. In
it, Leslie argues that the whole party, not just one man, must bear
responsibility for its record.

While Leslie’s own anger and frustration are reflected in his
writing, several other qualities are missing. The first is
organization—similar subjects are dealt with in parts throughout the
book rather than together; the second is analysis—we hardly ever get
some sober reflection as to why things turned out the way they did; the
third is objectivity—apparently the Vander Zalm administration did
nothing for the province except institute fairer electoral boundaries;
and the fourth is documentation—while Leslie seems to have spent a
good deal of time poring over government documents and newspapers,
especially the Vancouver Sun, as well as consulting three previously
published books about the administration, the reader is left to take the
author’s word about the points he makes.

The election of the NDP after the publication of this tract no doubt
pleased its author, although it will likely have the unfortunate side
effect of killing book sales, for, as written, this book is now
irrelevant.