Byron Ingemar Johnson
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| Byron Ingemar "Boss" Johnson | |
 Byron I. Johnson |
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| In office December 29, 1947 – August 1, 1952 |
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| Preceded by | John Hart |
| Succeeded by | W. A. C. Bennett |
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| Born | December 10, 1890 Victoria, British Columbia |
| Died | January 12 1964 (aged 73) Victoria, British Columbia |
| Political party | Coalition government of British Columbia Liberal Party and British Columbia Conservative Party |
| Spouse | Kate Johnson |
| Religion | United Church |
Byron Ingemar Johnson (December 10, 1890 - January 12, 1964) served as the 24th Premier of the province of British Columbia, Canada, from 1947 to 1952. To his contemporaries he was often referred to by his nickname, "Boss" Johnson, which had nothing to do with his personality, but was an anglicization of the Icelandic "Bjosse", which is a diminutive form of his birth-name of Bjorn, which was adapted into English as Byron.
[edit] Early Years
Johnson was born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia. After overseas service in World War I, he and his brothers opened a building supplies business in Victoria, which proved to be successful. Johnson was first elected as one of four Members of the Legislative Assembly from Victoria City to the BC Legislature as a Liberal in the 1933 election. He served four years in the caucus of Premier Duff Pattullo before being defeated in the 1937 election.
Johnson returned to his business, and in World War II was put in charge of constructing Royal Canadian Air Force facilities throughout the province. In the 1945 election, he returned to the legislature, this time as the member for New Westminster, becoming a cabinet minister in the coalition government formed by the Liberal and Conservative parties, and led by Premier John Hart. Following Hart's resignation in 1947, Johnson succeeded him as Liberal leader and as the leader of the Coalition, and therefore also as Premier.
[edit] Johnson as Premier
Johnson's government introduced compulsory health insurance -- and to pay for it -- a 3% provincial sales tax. It expanded the highway system, extended the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and negotiated the Alcan Agreement, which facilitated construction of the Kenney Dam, the first major hydroelectric project in the province. The government also coped with the devastating 1948 flooding of the Fraser River, declaring a state of emergency and beginning a programme of diking the river's banks through the Fraser Valley. Johnson is also noted for appointing Nancy Hodges as the first female Speaker in the British Commonwealth.
A Liberal-Conservative Coalition government, with the Liberals led by Johnson and the Conservatives led by Royal Lethington Maitland, won a landslide victory in the 1949 election -- at 61% the greatest percentage of the popular vote in BC history. Although Maitland's caucus was crucial to the government's parliamentary mandate, the larger Liberal caucus earned Johnson the Premier's job. After the Conservatives withdrew from the coalition in 1951, Johnson's government collapsed. In the subsequent 1952 election, the Liberals were defeated by W.A.C. Bennett's Social Credit Party, and Johnson lost his own seat. With the defeat, the long history of formal coalition government between the Liberal and Conservative parties in British Columbia came to an end, and a new era of a two-party system (CCF/NDP versus Social Credit) emerged.
Johnson returned to private life, and died in Victoria in 1964, aged 73 years. He is interred in the city's Ross Bay Cemetery.
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