Boundless Optimism

The first decade and a half of the twentieth century was mostly a time of unprecedented prosperity and growth in British Columbia. Although its colonial history was still etched in the public psyche, BC was coming into its own as a province of Canada and starting to realize the untapped economic potential of its natural resources. Born just months before British Columbia ceased to be a British colony, Richard McBride juggled his imperial, national, and provincial identities while developing one of the most important political careers the province has ever seen.

McBride built a reputation as a charismatic and optimistic leader who was dedicated to a vision of a modern, industrialized, wealthy province. Truly a product of his time, McBride firmly opposed Asian immigration and promoted industrial development at the expense of First Nations interests. But he also had great forward vision: he introduced party lines to stabilize the BC legislature; he vigorously supported provincial causes in Ottawa; and, above all, he encouraged the building of railways in many regions of the province. Boundless Optimism puts McBride’s political career into historical context, chronicling his passions, his many accomplishments, the downsides of his optimism, and his role in making British Columbia the province it is today.