Background
Wilson was born in Vancouver, spent his early years in Kenya and returned to British Columbia in the 1970s.
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Gordon Wilson
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He has a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York, and a Master"s degree from the University of British Columbia in Resource Economics.
Career
He also ran as a candidate in the 2000 British Columbia New Democratic Party leadership race. During the 2013 British Columbia provincial election, Wilson endorsed Liberal Premier Christy Clark for re-election over the NDP"s Adrian Dix. In the 1991 general election, Wilson"s profile skyrocketed after his highly successful performance in the campaign"s televised leaders debate.
During a nasty squabble between British Columbia Socred leader and Premier Rita Johnston and British Columbia NDP leader Mike Harcourt, Wilson famously said, "Here"s a classic example of why nothing ever gets done in the province of British Columbia." lieutenant would become the campaign"s most successful sound bite.
He was largely helped by moderate Socreds crossing over to vote Liberal. The Liberals vaulted from no seats to the Official Opposition in the legislature, relegating the ruling Social Cr Party to a distant third with seven seats.
In 1993, Wilson"s leadership of the Liberals was challenged after it came to light that he was having an extramarital affair with fellow Liberal Modern Language Association Judi Tyabji, whom he had recently named as the party"s House Leader. In a Liberal Party leadership review that had been called soon afterward, Wilson was defeated by Vancouver mayor Gordon Campbell.
Within weeks, he and Tyabji left the Liberal caucus and formed a new party, the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA).
In 1999, Wilson shocked many in his party when he disbanded it and crossed the floor to join the governing NDP. As part of the deal, he joined Premier Glen Clark"s cabinet as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister Responsible for British Columbia Ferries. He was later appointed Minister of Finance after the resignation of Joy MacPhail, and then Minister of Education. He ran for the NDP"s party leadership at a convention in February 2000, but pulled out of the race shortly before the voting began.
He threw his support to candidate Corky Evans, who in turn lost to Ujjal Dosanjh.
In the 2001 provincial election, he lost his seat to British Columbia Liberal candidate Harold Long, previously a Social Cr Modern Language Association whom Wilson had defeated in 1991 when running for the British Columbia Liberals.
Achievements
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He served as leader of the Liberal Party of British Columbia from 1987–1993, leader and founder of the Progressive Democratic Alliance from 1993–1999, and in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Finance and Minister of Employment, Investment and International Trade. As a consequence, he led the Liberal Party to win 17 seats, its highest total since 1949. Wilson won his own seat in Powell River-Sunshine Coast.
Politics
In 1987, Wilson took over as leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, a moribund party that had not elected a member in over a decade.
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Born
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Nationality
Canada -
Political Party
The Liberal Party