Fast ferries sink a premier

The Clark government brought in major projects to improve BC’s infrastructure, including the new Island Highway and the opening of the WestCoast Express. The premier also signed BC’s first ever modern Indigenous treaty with the Nisga’a First Nation, giving the Nisga’a control over their land and resources. But controversy followed Glen Clark through his term. By now, the Liberal opposition was ruthless in their determination to take down the NDP. They accused the NDP of failing to meet its promise to balance the budget. They and even went so far as to claim Glen Clark inappropriately received help from a neighbour to build a deck on his east Vancouver home. But the insoluble problem for the NDP was the newly-built Fast Ferries, a project championed by Clark, with a new BC-designed technology that created local jobs. In the end though, the Fast Ferries had issues and had to be scrapped. It was a costly miscalculation. Glen Clark resigned.