July 17, 2026
Brynn Bourke – Executive Director
IN MANY WAYS, MY JOB as Executive Director is to look forward. To plan our next move. To prepare the Council and to look for our next project. But this issue forced me to look back.
It started with a simple suggestion: what if we did a story about the 40th anniversary of Expo 86? As the call went out to affiliates, so many people stepped forward to share stories from that tumultuous time.
In this issue, you’ll hear from two of them, Lee Loftus, former Business Manager for Insulators 118 and Don McGill, former Secretary-Treasurer for Teamster 213 — both are also former presidents of the BC Building Trades.
I have the pleasure of continuing to work with Lee, but I haven’t seen Don in years. He came by our office to conduct his interview, and it was a real treat to sit in the corner and listen to him recount not just stories from Expo but also from the later years, when he led the Council in the early 1990s.
Many readers may know that the Pennyfarthing project in 1984 and Expo marked the start of the Social Credit attack on the building trades, paving the way for non-union companies to build in B.C. We cover this time in our history in this issue.
Following Expo, our market share continued to erode, and a conservative provincial government and anti-union companies continued to attack us. Those attacks culminated in a clash at a MacMillan Bloedel construction project in Port Alberni. The council was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the conflict ripped building trades unions apart and almost resulted in the dismantlement of the BC Building Trades.
Listening to Don talk about those years, I couldn’t help but be grateful that we got through it. Not only did we get through it, but we have gone on to play a huge role in this province.
Our membership has slowly started to grow again. When I started with the BCBT 15 years ago, we represented 35,000 members — today we represent over 50,000. We’ve continued to build the infrastructure British Columbians depend upon, from the Pattullo Bridge Replacement to the Cowichan District Hospital to Site C.
And we’ve done it while growing our apprenticeship system and giving back to the communities where we work — you’ll read about our extensive charitable work in this issue.
The road hasn’t been easy. We faced further attacks in the early 2000s, and the Opposition Conservatives recently introduced an anti-union bill that would have banned CBAs and PLAs — foreshadowing what they would do if elected. We have a story on that, too.
A lot of this history was on my mind as I listened to Don’s interview. We are where we are because great leaders like him helped steer the Council through these difficult times. Our battle scars were well-earned.
But we’re still standing and standing strong. Our Council has never been more united, with almost every building trades union choosing to sit at the table.
Altogether, it’s worthwhile to look back and take stock of the good and the bad.
We have a tremendous legacy.
By Brynn Bourke,
Executive Director