John Sylvester Weisgerber (June 12, 1940 – June 3, 2022) was a Canadian politician and businessman. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly 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 ...

. During his political career he was briefly the leader of the

British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party was a conservative political party in British Columbia, Canada. It was the governing party of British Columbia for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

and the Reform Party of British Columbia. After leaving politics, he was appointed to the board of

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, trade name, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, wi ...

in 2001 and served as a member of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.

Political career

Weisgerber was first elected to the British Columbia legislature in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

as a

Social Credit Party of British Columbia The British Columbia Social Credit Party was a conservative political party in British Columbia, Canada. It was the governing party of British Columbia for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

candidate for

Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace Ri ...

. He served in the Social Credit government in several posts including Minister of State for the Northeast and Nechako, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and as British Columbia's first Minister of Native Affairs. When Social Credit was soundly defeated in the 1991 election, Weisgerber was one of only seven Socred candidates to win re-election. Weisgerber became interim leader of the party. In 1994, after failed attempts to revive the party, Weisgerber became one of four Social Credit members of the legislature to switch allegiances, joining the fledgling Reform Party of British Columbia. BC Reform, as it was known, espoused similar policies to the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada () was a right-wing populism, right-wing populist and conservative List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada- ...

, but was a separate entity. Weisgerber ran for the BC Reform leadership and was elected party leader in late 1994. Through 1995 and in the months before the 1996 election, Weisgerber faced challenges by some members of his party from southern Vancouver Island. In the May 1996 election, the BC Reform Party won nine percent of the popular vote and two seats in the legislature, one of which was Weisgerber's in Peace River South. However, the party failed to win the four seats required for official party status in the British Columbia legislature. A split in the centre-right vote between Weisgerber's BC Reform Party and Gordon Campbell's Liberals is cited as a factor for the New Democratic Party winning the 1996 BC election. Weisgerber resigned as BC Reform's leader in late 1996, and was replaced by

Wilf Hanni Wilf Hanni (born February 19, 1948) is a Canadian politician and oil industry consultant in British Columbia. Hanni served as leader of the Reform Party of BC from August 30, 1997 to June 1998, and later as leader of the British Columbia Party, ...

in September 1997. Following a bruising round of party in-fighting, Weisgerber left Reform to sit as an independent member of the BC legislature. Weisgerber served out his third and final term in the BC legislature ending in 2001. He was the last surviving member of what proved to be the last Socred government. Shortly before the 2001 election, Weisgerber endorsed the

British Columbia Liberal Party BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

and its leader, Gordon Campbell. After winning the election, Campbell appointed Weisgerber as a director of

, beginning on September 25, 2001. He served in that position until July 19, 2017, when the BC Liberals lost power. He was a

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

British Columbia Treaty Commission The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a Indigenous land claims in Canada#Comprehensive claims, land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with Br ...

Personal life

Jack was married to Judith Weisgerber (born Janke) to which they had two daughters; Joanne Wooldridge (born Weisgerber) and Pamela Haglof (born Weisgerber); and three grandsons Josh, Luke, and Cole and one granddaughter Jemma. He resided in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

, British Columbia, Canada. Weisgerber died on June 3, 2022, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisgerber, Jack 1940 births 2022 deaths 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia British Columbia Social Credit Party leaders British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian corporate directors Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia People from Barrhead, Alberta Reform Party of British Columbia MLAs 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia