Tom Campbell

Who was Tom Campbell?

Thomas J. Campbell, Q.C. was a Canadian politician, who served as the 31st mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia from 1967 through 1972.

Campbell was born in Vancouver, where he became a lawyer. In 1962, he joined Vancouver City Council as an alderman, representing the Non-Partisan Association, a conservative civic party. Running as an independent, Campbell beat out Bill Rathie in the 1966 election, ending the NPA's long, unbroken domination of city hall. In 1970, he won the NPA nod to replace Mayor William Rathie as the party's mayoral nominee and again won the mayor's office.

As mayor, "Tom Terrific" proved to be brash, confrontational, and controversial. During his term, the City held a referendum which authorized the then-controversial development of an underground shopping mall and office towers, now known as Pacific Centre, Vancouver's largest development. As Greater Vancouver's population topped one million, Campbell took an assertively pro-development stance, advocating a freeway that would cut through a large part of the downtown east side, the demolition of the historic Carnegie Centre, and the construction of a luxury hotel at the entrance of Stanley Park and another at the north foot of Burrard in which it turned out the mayor had invested.