The Sommers Scandal : The Felling of Trees and Tree Lords

Forests and scandals are perennial subjects of BC politics, and the controversy surrounding Robert Sommers, the provincial Lands, Forests and Mines minister in 1955, combined the two.

Sommers, a prominent figure in W A C Bennett's Social Credit cabinet, was accused of taking bribes in exchange for granting tree farm licenses.

The story of Sommers is the story of W A C Bennet's rise to power with the Social Credit party on a platform of change and a promised departure from the corruption of earlier politics.

The bribery scandal was a major blow to the claim that the Social Credit was a different kind of party.

It is also the story of BC forest policy, with repercussions that continue to the present day.