Stanley Brian Hagen (March 11, 1940 – January 20, 2009) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician who 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 ...

on two separate occasions. He was the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for the riding of Comox from 1986 to 1991 as part 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 ...

(Socred), and MLA for the riding of

Comox Valley The Comox Valley is a region on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of Cumberland, and the unincorporated settlements of Royston, Union Bay, Fann ...

as part of 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 ...

from 2001 until his death. During his political career, he served as minister for 10 different ministries; he was the Minister of Agriculture and Lands when he died.

Background

Stan Hagen was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

to mother Sigrid Thompson and father Baard Hagen, a butcher who operated a meat and grocery store in that city; Baard was originally from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. After graduating from

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

in 1963, Stan Hagen married Judith Robins in 1967, with whom he had five children. He had lived in the

since 1968 with his family, working as a comptroller for a construction company before starting his own

ready-mix concrete Ready-mix concrete (RMC) is concrete that is manufactured in a batch plant, according to each specific job requirement, then delivered to the job site "ready to use". There are two types with the first being the barrel truck or in–trans ...

business. From 1972 to 1978 he served as a trustee with the Comox Valley School District.

Politics

Social Credit Party

Running for the Social Credit Party, Hagen was first elected to the provincial 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 ...

to represent the riding of Comox. He was named to the cabinet of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

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 ...

that November as Minister of Continuing Education and Job Training; his title was modified to Minister of Advanced Education and Job Training one month later. He resigned from the post in July 1987 amidst allegations of

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

involving his ready-mix company, but was re-instated that August. He additionally served as Minister of State for the Vancouver Island/Coast Region between October 1987 and July 1988, and as Minister Responsible for Science and Technology from July 1988 to November 1989. He was re-assigned in November 1989 as Minister of Regional and Economic Development, before becoming Minister of Education in December 1990. Hagen was best known for being integral in the creation of Science World and for his support of the

TRIUMF Triumf may refer to: * TRIUMF, Canada's national particle accelerator centre * 14959 TRIUMF, a minor planet * S-400 Triumf, a Russian anti-aircraft weapon system developed in the 1990s * Triumf Riza (1979–2007), Kosovo police officer and member o ...

particle accelerator at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. Following Vander Zalm's resignation as premier in April 1991, Hagen continued as Minister of Education in

Rita Johnston Rita Margaret Johnston (born April 22, 1935; née Leichert) is a Canadian politician in British Columbia. Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th premier of Br ...

's cabinet, and briefly covered the portfolio of Advanced Education, Training and Technology in the month of May 1991. He lost his seat in the 1991 election when all but seven Socred MLAs were defeated.

Liberal Party

He worked at a paving company as general manager until his return to politics in 2001, when he ran for the BC Liberals in the riding of

in that year's provincial election, defeating incumbent

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate Evelyn Gillespie. He was named to Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet as Minister of Sustainable Resource Management that June, and additionally served as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries from January to April 2003 while John van Dongen was under investigation by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. He was re-assigned as Minister of Human Resources in January 2004, then replaced the outgoing

Christy Clark Christina Joan Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a Canadian politician who served as the 35th premier of British Columbia from 2011 to 2017. Clark was the second woman to be premier of BC, after Rita Johnston in 1991, and the first female premi ...

as Minister of Children and Family Development that September. He was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in 2004 and received treatment. After winning re-election in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he kept the same post in the Campbell cabinet before being named Minister of Tourism, Sport and the Arts in August 2006. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Lands from June 2008 until January 20, 2009, when he died of a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 68.

Honours

He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

in June 1998. In August 2009, Hagen was inducted into the Comox Valley Walk of Achievement. In December 2011, Hagen was memorialized by the

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

, which renamed its Victoria Family Centre the "Stan Hagen Centre for Families". Stan Hagen Nature Park and Stan Hagen Theatre, both in the city of Courtenay, were named in his honour. While still in office, he was honoured by the K'omoks First Nation with the name "Ti’ axwsam" (Red Cod).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Stan 1940 births 2009 deaths BC United MLAs British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs British Columbia school board members Canadian people of Norwegian descent Ministers of education of British Columbia Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Pacific Lutheran University alumni Politicians from New Westminster People from the Comox Valley Regional District 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia