File consists of textual materials dealing with the BC NDP party, in particular the campaign for Joan Sawicki for the Burnaby-Willingdon riding. Included in this file is the contact information for the Burnaby-Willingdon NDP Constituency Association ("Fax - 437-5836 / Phone - 437-5700 / 4561 Kings…
File consists of textual materials dealing with the BC NDP party, in particular the campaign for Joan Sawicki for the Burnaby-Willingdon riding. Included in this file is the contact information for the Burnaby-Willingdon NDP Constituency Association ("Fax - 437-5836 / Phone - 437-5700 / 4561 Kingsway / B'by / V5H 2B3") and three sheets relating to the cost of lawn signs from 1990 to 1991 for the Joan Sawicki campaign. Also included is a map of the federal Burnaby-Douglas riding (ca. 1990). Also included is typed copy of R. A. McMath's Comments on "A Report of Saskatchewan's Socialist Government" which appeared as a paid advertisement in both Vancouver daily papers on election day August 27, 1969. McMath challenges the "Report" which contains excerpts of a speech by Ross Thatcher, Saskatchewan's Liberal Premier, on the CCF and the NDP. Also included is a informational flyer on the BC Parliament Buildings from 1969 (28th Parliament, 3rd Session) and lists the members of Parliament. Also included is a booklet from Simon Fraser University listing the donors, which Hazel Simnett is one of, from July 1, 1989 to June 30, 1990. Also is an envelope in which the following was found: 1990 BC Election Act, three sheets referring to Joan Sawicki's election expenses, Canada Post receipt, report on Joan Sawicki's campaign from 1991, list of Burnaby Willingdon team, notice of nomination meeting in 1990, BC election calendar, 1990 Guide to the Elections Act of British Columbia, faxed letter from John Pollard to campaign managers, six sheets of Appointment of Scrutineer (one blank, rest signed by Hazel Simnett), fax of Provincial General Election Calendar of Events, receipt for nomination paper for Joan Sawicki, receipt for declaration of candidate for Joan Sawicki and two copies of photocopy of signatures on Nomination Paper for Joan Sawicki. Also included is Burnaby-Willingdon NDP Constituency Association Minutes of March 14, 1996 Executive Meeting.
Title based on note accompanying file ; Receipts for lawn signs and the Burnaby-Willingdon NDP Constituency Association contact information were bound together with a metal paper clip ; Comments on "A Report of Saskatchewan's Socialist Government" was bound together with a staple ; election expenses were bound together with a staple ; two sheets of report on Joan Sawicki's campaign were stapled together ; Guide to the Elections Act was stapled together ; two sheets with "New Democrats" letterhead were stapled together ; each copy of Nomination Paper signatures were stapled together
18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulat…
18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
Description Level
Fonds
Accession Number
2003-30
2015-15
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulatory letters and correspondence, community speeches and slideshow presentations regarding the conservation of Burnaby Lake, the administrative papers of the Burnaby Centennial Rhododendron and Spring Flower Show Society, and photographs of Burnaby waterways and wildlife.
History
Doreen Anne Fowler Lawson was born July 8, 1928, to Eva Barnhill and Leonard Fowler. Her parents met in Alberta but decided to move to Vancouver where they got married and Doreen was born. The family moved to the north side of Claude Avenue in Burnaby when Doreen was a few months old. In 1931, they moved to a house with an acre of land directly across the street from their first house.
When Doreen was six, her family moved to Collingwood, Vancouver, near where her father grew up. This is where her brother Ron was born. The family moved again to County Line in Langley Prairie in 1944, which is where Doreen met Edward Lawson, her future husband. Soon after, they moved to a seven-acre plot in Burquitlam. Ed and Doreen Lawson’s eldest daughter, Linda, was born in 1954. Their second daughter, Wendy, was born in 1959 and their youngest, Lisa, was born in 1961. They lived in the Brentwood area, where all three daughters attended Brentwood Elementary School. Linda went on to Alpha Secondary School.
In 1945, Doreen began her first of several office jobs, and in the early 1950s she became the first woman to be elected into a vice-president position within the BC Trade Union Congress (now the BC Federation of Labour).
Doreen Lawson had a long and prolific political career, starting as Parks Commissioner in 1965, and serving as its chair from 1969 to 1971. She was instrumental in the selection and promotion of the rhododendron as the official flower of Burnaby in 1966. In 1971, she was elected to Burnaby City Council and, in 1972, Doreen proposed that Council take action to declare Burnaby Lake a wildlife sanctuary. After a 10-year campaign, she was able to convince Council to declare the park “a nature conservation area.” She put forward a policy of preservation for creeks and streams, as well as a proposal to preserve trees in subdivisions, both of which were adopted by Council. Doreen continued to serve on Council until 1985, during which time she initiated and chaired the Burnaby Information Committee, which designed the present Burnaby logo (and official flower pins) and established the Information Burnaby Newsletter. In 1979 Doreen Lawson won Vancouver Natural History Society’s Frank Sanford Award.
In 1984, Doreen was elected the first woman president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Doreen ran as a BC Liberal Party candidate in the new Federal Riding of Burnaby in 1979, and from 1985 to 1987, she served as the Executive Director of the British Columbia Liberal Party. As the B.C. Liberal Party Executive Director, her major responsibility was to work with both the Federal and Provincial Associations in implementing riding organizations and fundraising programs in preparation for election time. In the 1980s, Doreen was an active guest lecturer at Burnaby Elementary and High Schools as well as at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Doreen was active in a variety of community clubs and organizations including: the Burnaby Library Board; Greater Vancouver Spinners and Weavers Guild; and Vancouver Natural History Society. She was an executive member of the Burnaby-New Westminster Canada Summer Games; the Burnaby Division of the United Way; Information Burnaby Committee; and the Brentwood Parent Teachers Association; as well as serving as the President of the Burnaby Voters Association from 1988-1990.
In 1990, Doreen was elected back to Burnaby Council and put forward the rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake which she saw completed before her final year on Council in 1999. Doreen continued to be a strong environmental advocate for the protection and rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake after she retired from council.