Fonds AR020 - BC Project Research Group fonds

The BC Project was established in 1978 to study the process and effects on government and politics in BC of the rapid turnover in government from W.A.C. Bennett (Social Credit) to Dave Barrett (NDP) in 1972, and to Bill Bennett (Social Credit) in 1975. It was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and subtitled, "Stability and Change in British Columbia: A Research Data Base on British Columbia Provincial Politics." The principal investigators included the following members of the University of Victoria Department of Political Science Department: Walter D. Young, J. Terence Morley, Norman J. Ruff, Neil A. Swainson, and R. Jeremy Wilson. A major focus of the project was oral history interviews of individuals active in BC politics and government administration. The project was divided up into 10 sub-projects, reflecting the research interests of the group: 1. Financial and personnel administration; 2. Boards, commissions and crown corporations; 3. Reform of departments; 4. Federal-provincial relations; 5. Policy outputs; 6. Government party and opposition; 7. Premier and cabinet; 8. Legislature; 9. Government, political culture 10. Groups and government. The project resulted in a number of publications, including The Reins of Power: Governing British Columbia in 1983. The project also provided administrative support to the Community Policy and Social Planning Project (CPSP), which studied the Community Resource Boards in BC.