Forests, Power and Policy: The Legacy of Ray Williston

Paul G. Thomas is a professor of political science at the University of
Manitoba and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

Forests, Power and Policy looks at the political career of Ray
Williston, who served in several cabinet posts in British Columbia
during the various administrations of Premier W.A.C. Bennett, from 1953
to 1972. It began as a series of short articles written by his wife
based on reflections of her husband about his 19 years in politics. When
his wife died in 1996, Betty Keller extended the articles into a
biography through interviews and document analysis.

As one of the key ministers in the Bennett cabinet, Williston was in
charge of sensitive issues related to educational reform, the forest
industry, land-use planning, and the Columbia River Treaty negotiations.
Williston appears in the book as a person who consulted widely in order
to develop strong views on policy issues. Not surprisingly given its
origins, the biography is personal in tone and favorable in its
judgments. It will be of greatest interest to British Columbians, who
may come away with new insights on a turbulent period in the history of
their province.