36 - Sunday, De SERA **SOCIAL CREDIT is dead’’. By Surj Rattan News Reporter While many political pundits made that prediction this year, those fouz words were said exactly two years ago today by a North Shore resident who had, at ihat time, been watching B.C. politics from the sidelines. David Mitchell, the Liberal MLA in West Van- couver-Garibaldi, hit the nail on the head in an article he wrote in the Dec. 22, 1989 edition of the Financial Pest. .'The unique pro jal institu- tion that has ruled British Colum- bia for most of the post-war era has passed away; only its name and the hollow sheil of a gov- erning party retnain under the frenetic leadership of Premier Bill Vander Zalm,’* wrote Mitchell. it’s not surprising that Mitchell, a former executive with Westar Timber, would accurately predict the demise of the Socred party in B.C. two years before voters turf- ed the Socreds out of office. ~ After all,.the author and politi- cal. commentator has written two books on B.C. political history: W.A.C. Bennett and ‘the Rise of British Columbia, and Succession: The Reshaping of British Colum- bia. : In addition, Mitchell has served as a political analyst for the Globe and Mail, the Financial Post, the Vancouver Sun, CBC-TV, BCTV, CBC Newsworld, CKNW radio and CBC radio. He has also taught Canadian history at-both the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University. Mitchell confesses he is a ‘‘po- litical’ junkie’? and has always been interested in politics. , Prior to the recent provincial election, Mitchell said he felt the time was right to move from teaching and commenting on poli- tics right into the political arena. “I’ve never crossed the iine from being a political observer to being an active participant in poli- tics until the last few months. J got to a point where my own view was that to simply sit back and be a critic was one thing. “*That’s fairly easy and I've had a lot of fun with it. But [ really felt that we’re at a time in the his- tory of our province and in our country where people need to get involved in public life. It’s not enough to simply sit on your hands and criticize how terrible things are in public life.” © Asked what life has been like for him since being elected an MLA, Mitchell replies: ‘Severe chaos.” He adds that he has always prided himself en being a very disciplined and organized person who would return phone calis Promptly. Alf that has now changed. “*) have to tell you, since the election I have been in a state of severe chaos and I feel a little bit remiss. In fact. I sometimes feel inadequate over the fact that I cannot physically return every phone call and that I can't address every concern that comes to me in the mail," says Mitchell. The amount of mail Mitchell receives would probably be enough to give Canada Post a run for its money. **J receive mail every day at my constituency office, at Liberal pasty headquarters, at my Victoria HIGH PROFILES The Confessions of a ‘poli WV MLA David Mitchell moves into political ring @ NAME: David Mitchell @ AGE: 37 @ OCCUPATION: West couver-Garibaldi MLA @ RESIDENCE: North Van- couver (planning to move into the West Vancouver-Garibaldi riding) e@ BORN: Montreal e@ FAMILY: Wife -Marlene, daughters Maddie and Jane @ EDUCATION: Master of Asts degree in B.C. history from Simon Fraser Univers attended Banif Schoo! of Advanced Management; served as parliamentary intern in the B.C. legislature. Van- office and at home. A significant volume of mail is coming at me every day from four different di- rections."’ says Mitchell. ‘‘It’s very difficult to manage Mitchell says his working hours have been jong since he was elected; he says he often has to return phone calls at midnight and that even at that hour he is still not ‘half way down the list.”* He adds that he is slowly start- ing to handle the pressures of the job. But he has not lost sight of is where his priorities lie. “You have to have your priorities. In terms of a politi- cian’s personal life, it’s starting to become clear to me that your family must come first, your con- Stituency must come second and everything else has to come after that,’” Mitchell says. That includes his role as Cp- position house leader, his role as critic for advanced education and job training and anything else he can do to help the Liberal party. “It’s a crazy job,’? says Mit- chell. "Fabulous selection to choose from. Hurry! Merchandise is moving quickly Junior Program Equipment NOW in! NEWS photos Mike Waietield BEFORE ENTERING the political arena, West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Davie Mitchell provided po- litical commentary for several newspapers, TV and radio stations. Mitchell is alse the author of two books on B.C. poiitics. David Mitchell - in his own words Did your parents influence your politics in any way?: “‘Not really. My family hasn’t been a political family in the sense of the Bennetts of Kelowna. But my father was, interestingly enough, a Liberal several years ago. I'm sure over the course of the years he’s probably supported many dif- ferent parties. “But my father’s influence has been pretty important on me. He actually encouraged me to get involved.” Why did you decide to write a biography of W.A.C. Ben- nett?: ‘‘That was an interesting project.arid to some extent | was lucky, being in the right place at the right time. I had just graduated from Simon Fraser University. “*This was in 1976. As a stu- dent of B.C. history, it was obvious to me that there wasn't very much literature written about our past. Right at that time we had W.A.C. Bennett’s son being elecied premier and it was obvious to me that his father had ocen premier for 20 years and had never been stud- ied seriously. **So being a young, fearless. person, I wrote a letter to W.A.C. Bennett letting hi know that I would like to in- terview him. Much to my sur- prise, he agreed: **] remember the very first time I met him, it was at a downtown hotel. He came to the door and greeted me. He was a short, loud, grandfa- ther-type of man. “He shook my hand and said: ‘Hello my friend, nice: to meet vou’. He took me into his suite and we spent the whole afiernoon talking and I was very enibarrassed because my tape recorder ran out of tape. ““He was at a time where he was no longer premier and his son was premier and he had to Stay out of the spotlight otherwise people ntight think he was pulling his son’s strings. He didn’t have a Jot of people spending time with him like I was proposing to do. > ‘*At the end of our first in- terview he said: ‘Well my friend, we should do this again’ and a light bulb went off in my head. That’s how the biography started.”’ all your favourite brands! Salomon Fischer Atomic Kastie Nordica Lange Kofiach Tyrolia: Rossigneci Ess