Daggers Unsheathed : The Political Assassination of Glen Clark

In this candid and controversial political history, Judi Tyabji Wilson sheds light on the individuals, organisations, and events surrounding the political downfall of Glen Clark.

Having lived on the periphery of the Clark government, Tyabji Wilson reveals fascinating insights into the backroom shenanigans of BC politics and law enforcement that enveloped Clark's investigation, arrest, and subsequent trial in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Rarely in the history of Canadian politics has there been a flash in the sky that shone as brightly and faded as quickly as that of British Columbia's former premier Glen Clark.

Pegged a smart, cocky socialist from Vancouver's east end, he won the NDP leadership race in early 1996 and startled pundits and pollsters only three months later when he captured the imagination of the volatile West Coast electorate and led a rejuvenated party to re-election.

Clark set out on a mission that would polarise BC and create new enemies at almost every turn.

His street-fighter style of politics alienated every government on BC's perimeter, the Liberals in Ottawa, and, eventually, members of his own cabinet. In March 1999, amid growing whispers of corruption, RCMP officers appeared at Clark's front doorstep with search warrants in hand and the cameras of BC-TV rolling.

Five months later, skewered by cabinet rivals and the obvious target of a cabal of Liberal supporters, Glen Clark faced formal criminal investigation, prosecution, and a gruelling trial.

Glen Clark risked being the first BC politician to go to jail since Robert Sommers in the mid-1950s.

Three years later, he was still earning headlines during his trial, labelled the "the most important trial in the recent history of Canadian democracy." Also on trial were some of the actions of the RCMP prior to Clark's arrest.

The very idea that members of Canada's federal police force might be linked to political agendas and be functioning as foot soldiers for Glen Clark's enemies brought a new round of political debate.

Daggers Unsheathed provides its readers with a clear understanding of the state of contemporary politics on Canada's West Coast.