[2][4] The Socreds won back power after a three-year hiatus, and Vander Zalm served in the cabinet of Premier Bill Bennett as minister of human resources from 1975 to 1978,[6] where he continued his crusade against welfare fraud.
On June 22, 1978, the Victoria Daily Times published a political cartoon by Bob Bierman that portrayed the Minister of Human Resources as a grinning sadist, deliberately pulling the wings off flies.
Sauve distributed, without the permission of either parents or the local school board, a questionnaire concerning "mutual masturbation, oral sex, use of pornography and prostitution" to a class of Grade 8 students in Smithers.
At the party's convention in Whistler, British Columbia, he prevailed over 11 other candidates (including future prime minister Kim Campbell) by winning on the fourth ballot,[2][3] and was sworn in as premier on August 6, 1986.
He decided to release the normally secret list of cabinet appointments to two Vancouver Sun reporters hours before the official announcement was to be made.
[19] The government of Premier Bill Vander Zalm refused to fund the 1990 Gay Games in Vancouver and cited inappropriate usage of public resources.
The conflict of interest arose because the Taiwanese buyer, Tan Yu, was provided VIP treatment by members of the Vander Zalm Government prior to the sale.
Adding fuel to the fire, Faye Leung, a Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur and the woman who brokered the deal, claimed that Vander Zalm was a "bad man" since the day she first met him and secretly recorded conversations she had with him, which were subsequently leaked to the media.
[23] Vander Zalm resigned in 1991 after a provincial conflict of interest report by Ted Hughes found that he had mixed private business with his public office in the sale of the Gardens.
The judge ruled that Vander Zalm had acted in a manner that was "foolish, ill-advised and in apparent or real conflict of interest or breach of ethics", but that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Contrary to popular belief that the party would thrive under new leadership, Social Credit collapsed to a distant third in the 1991 election, with the NDP returning to government and the Liberals becoming official opposition.
[28] Shortly after, he ran in a December 1999 provincial by-election in Delta South, but finished second with 32.91% of the vote behind BC Liberal Party candidate Val Roddick, who received 59.63%.
A series of populist rallies led to him becoming the official proponent, in accordance with the Recall and Initiative Act, of a petition seeking a referendum to cancel the HST.
[33] The provincial Liberal government countered Vander Zalm's campaign and devoted a section of their website to the positive aspects of the HST.
[37] Vander Zalm said he was pleased with the result, but "very disappointed" to learn the province's chief electoral officer would not act on the petition until all court proceedings involving the tax were complete.
[40] The 2011 British Columbia sales tax referendum was conducted by Elections BC via mail-in ballot throughout June and July 2011.
[42] In 2012, a BC Supreme Court judge and jury heard a defamation lawsuit lodged against Vander Zalm by retired conflict-of-interest commissioner Ted Hughes.
The book suggested that Hughes, then in an interim appointment, may have conducted an unfair inquiry of Vander Zalm in 1991 by the prospect of achieving a permanent employment.