Rita Margaret Johnston (born April 22, 1935; née Leichert) is a Canadian politician in British Columbia. Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th premier of British Columbia, serving for seven months. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1983 to 1991, and served in the Vander Zalm ministry as part of the British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socred) caucus, including as deputy premier from 1990 to 1991.
Early life and career
She was born in Melville, Saskatchewan and the couple ran a trailer park in Surrey, British Columbia. She first entered politics as a Surrey municipal councillor, serving from 1970 to 1975, With Bill Bennett departing as Socred leader in 1986, Johnston announced she would support Bill Vander Zalm in the leadership race; she had previously served under Vander Zalm when she was a councillor and he was the mayor of Surrey.
She was re-elected in October 1986 in the newly created riding of Surrey-Newton, She was appointed premier the same day, making her Canada's first female first minister. At the Social Credit party convention in July 1991, she was formally elected leader of the Socreds in an upset, narrowly defeating the frontrunner Grace McCarthy.
Johnston had little time to implement any new programs since she faced a statutory general election later that year. Harcourt later said that he preferred facing Johnston rather than McCarthy, believing McCarthy would have been a tougher opponent in a general election.
Johnston resigned as leader of the Social Credit Party on January 11, 1992, and was replaced by McCarthy. After her defeat, Johnston retired from politics and has had a low public profile. She returned to public life in 2009 as an advisor for the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
References
- biography at collections canada