David Maurice Mercier (July 20, 1939 – April 12, 2021) was a Canadian politician. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

from 1986 to 1991, as a

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

member for the constituency of

Burnaby-Edmonds Burnaby-Edmonds is a former provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada in use from 1966 to 2024. Under the 2021 redistribution that took effect for the 2024 election. the riding was divided between ...

. In 1991, he served several months as British Columbia's Minister of Environment. He was a chartered accountant. Mercier was mayor of

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

from 1979 to 1981. He previously ran unsuccessfully in Burnaby-Edmonds in the 1966 provincial election as a Liberal candidate and in Burnaby-Willingdon in the 1972 provincial election as a Social Credit candidate. On October 3, 1989, Mercier and three colleagues —

Graham Bruce Graham Preston Bruce is a former Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the electoral district of Cowichan-Malahat from 1986 to 1991 as part of the Social Credit Party (Socred), ...

, Duane Delton Crandall, and Doug Mowat — quit the governing Social Credit caucus to sit as "Independent Social Credit" members. In a joint statement, the four stressed that they "in no way desire the fall of our government", but wished to spur an "open and realistic assessment" of

Bill Vander Zalm William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a Dutch-born Canadian businessman and politician who served as the 28th premier of British Columbia and leader of the British Columbia Social ...

's continued leadership. Mercier returned the Socred caucus on February 14, 1990, alongside Bruce and Mowat (Crandall had already rejoined caucus in January). Mercier explained his move by saying his concerns about Vander Zalm's leadership and re-election chances had been addressed. He was the leader of the

British Columbia Conservative Party The Conservative Party of British Columbia, commonly known as the BC Conservatives and colloquially known as the Tories, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is the main rival to the governing British Columbia New Demo ...

between 1997 until 2001. Mercier died in 2021 from complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

1939 births British Columbia Conservative Party leaders British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian accountants 2021 deaths Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Politicians from Vancouver 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia {{SocialCredit-BritishColumbia-MLA-stub