Sir Richard McBride: Citizenry

Vancouver Island Dept: In 1912, the citizenry felt the universe was unfolding as it should, most communities on Vancouver Island were showing healthy growth, times were "comfortable." So comfortable that nobody saw reason to complain when Sir Richard McBride's Conservative Party was re-elected with a landslide vote on March 28 - and decided not hold a legislative session until January 1913, according to Vancouver Sun. True, there had been the shock of the sinking of the Titanic back in April, and there had been a concern in May when United States Marines invaded Nicaragua and Cuba. Then in early June, the Alaska volcano Novarupta had exploded. But with no television to alarm the populace with pictures of moving clouds of ash, and no airlines reporting cancelled or diverted flights because there were no airlines, the bucolic peace of British Columbia remained undisturbed and the summer of 1912 edged quietly across Vancouver Island. In June, overnight lows wobbled around 10 degrees and struggled to reach 18 during the day. A similar weather pattern repeated a century later would bring daily lamentations that summer was late, temperatures unusually low. McBride was happy to have a relaxing summer. After all, his party controlled 40 of the 42 seats in the legislature, and apart from a faraway natural disaster or an accident here or there, the electorate was content to let him govern. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.