Wilf Hanni
Encyclopedia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Hanni served as leader of the Reform Party of British Columbia
Reform Party of British Columbia
The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...
from August 30, 1997 to June 1998, and later as leader of the British Columbia Party
British Columbia Party
The British Columbia Party is a right-wing political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia, founded in 1998 as a populist party by John Motiuk, a North Vancouver lawyer.The party did not nominate candidates in the 2001 provincial election...
. On September 24, 2005, following a non-confidence vote in leader Barry Chilton, Hanni was appointed Interim Leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party
British Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
. On March 18, 2006 in Kamloops, Hanni was acclaimed as Leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party
British Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
. His resignation as leader was announced by the party on June 30, 2009.
Hanni is a resident of Cranbrook
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook, British Columbia is a city in southeast British Columbia, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River, It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2006, Cranbrook's population is 18,267, and the...
.
Reform Party of BC
The Reform Party of BC is a conservative populist party that won two seats in the Legislative Assembly of British ColumbiaLegislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
and 9.27% of the popular vote in the May 28, 1996 provincial election
British Columbia general election, 1996
The British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996...
. The leader, Jack Weisgerber
Jack Weisgerber
John Sylvester Weisgerber is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is a former member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. During his political career he was briefly the leader of both the British Columbia Social Credit Party and the Reform Party of British Columbia...
, who had defeated Hanni for the party leadership in 1994, resigned.
At the Reform Party's August 30, 1997 leadership convention in Surrey, Hanni was elected leader over John Motiuk and Adrian Wade. A victory in the September 15, 1997 Surrey-White Rock by-election by the Liberal Party
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
left the Reform Party in disarray as the Liberals appeared poised to emerge as the main right-wing party. By the end of November, both Reform MLAs had left the party. Neufeld joined the Liberals. Former Reform Leader Weisgerber left Reform to sit as an independent member of the BC Legislature. Party president David Secord quit, party executives on Vancouver Island had staged a mass resignation, and several former candidates had followed Neufeld's lead and joined the Liberals.
Following nine months with Hanni as Leader, Hanni lost a vote of confidence at the party's annual convention, and was forced to resign. The party drafted former British Columbia Social Credit Party
British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...
leader and BC premier, Bill Vander Zalm
Bill Vander Zalm
Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie "Bill" Vander Zalm is a politician and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 28th Premier of British Columbia from 1986 to 1991.-Early life:...
to take over. Vander Zalm was unable to halt the slide, and the Reform party now exists largely in name only.
British Columbia Party
The British Columbia PartyBritish Columbia Party
The British Columbia Party is a right-wing political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia, founded in 1998 as a populist party by John Motiuk, a North Vancouver lawyer.The party did not nominate candidates in the 2001 provincial election...
is a minor right-wing party that named Hanni as leader.
British Columbia Conservative Party
On September 24, 2005, following a non-confidence vote in leader Barry Chilton, the BC Conservative PartyBritish Columbia Conservative Party
The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...
appointed Hanni as interim leader. A leadership convention was held on March 18, 2006 at which Hanni was acclaimed as the permanent leader.
He ran in the October 29, 2008 Vancouver-Fairview
Vancouver-Fairview
Vancouver-Fairview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :-MLAs:#Gary Farrell-Collins, Liberal #Gregor Robertson, NDP #Jenn McGinn, NDP...
by-election, receiving 483 votes (4.11% of total ballots cast in the riding).
Under his leadership, the BC Conservatives nominated 24 candidates in the 2009 election
British Columbia general election, 2009
The 39th British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
. The party won 2.1% of the vote across the province, and over 10% of the vote in several ridings. He resigned as leader in June 2009 along with eight members of the party's board of directors, saying that he "spent much of the last four years fighting a long and protracted battle with a group of dissidents."