David Stupich
David Daniel Stupich (5 December 1921 – 8 February 2006) was a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for most years from the 1960s to the 1980s, and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. Stupich was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia to a coal miner.
David Stupich | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Nanaimo—Cowichan | |
| In office 21 November 1988 – 25 October 1993 | |
| Preceded by | James Manly[1] |
| Succeeded by | Bob Ringma |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Nanaimo Nanaimo and the Islands (1963-1966) | |
| In office 30 August 1972 – 13 October 1988 Serving with Dale Lovick (1986-1988) | |
| Preceded by | Frank Ney |
| Succeeded by | Jan Pullinger |
| In office 30 September 1963 – 27 August 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Earle Westwood |
| Succeeded by | Frank Ney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Daniel Stupich 5 December 1921 Nanaimo, British Columbia |
| Died | 8 February 2006 (aged 84) Nanaimo, British Columbia |
| Political party | New Democratic Party |
| Profession | Chartered Accountant |
He served five years in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war, he used his veteran's grant to get a degree in agriculture at the University of British Columbia. He then became a chicken farmer and studied at night to become a Chartered Accountant. He donated his spare time to doing books for local service clubs.
Provincial politics
His first political campaign was an unsuccessful bid to become a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 1949. He was the provincial CCF party candidate for the Nanaimo and the Islands riding.
He entered provincial politics by winning the Nanaimo and the Islands riding in the 1963 British Columbia election. He was re-elected in the 1966 provincial election when the riding name changed to simply Nanaimo, but lost the riding to Social Credit candidate Frank Ney in the 1969 election. In the 1972 provincial election, Stupich defeated Ney and returned to the Legislature in the 1972 election, and remained a member until 1988. He introduced the Agricultural Land Reserve bill, which saved thousands of acres of farm land from the paver.[2][3]
Federal politics
Stupich then entered federal politics and was elected in the 1988 federal election at the Nanaimo—Cowichan electoral district for the New Democratic Party. He served in the 34th Canadian Parliament but lost to Bob Ringma of the Reform Party in the 1993 federal election.
Bingogate
Stupich was the central figure in a scandal since known as Bingogate. In the late 1950s, Stupich set up and controlled the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding Society (NCHS), which raised funds on behalf of the NDP.
But after a tip that something was amiss from the head of the Nanaimo Commonwealth Bingo Association, the RCMP launched an investigation. It found Stupich ran kickback schemes in which donations to charities were refunded to NCHS. In 1999, Stupich, then 77, faced 64 charges, including theft, fraud, forgery and breach of trust. He pleaded guilty that year to fraud and running an illegal lottery, involving the misappropriation of about $1 million from the NCHS.[4][5] He was sentenced to two years, serving it on electronic monitoring at his daughter's home in Nanaimo.[6]
Setting the home of daughter Marjorie Boggis for electronic monitoring may have been related to the prospect of Stupich spending 2 years confined at the Palatial Gabriola Island mansion Stupich shared with partner Elizabeth Marlow. Related charges against Marlow and Boggis were stayed as part of a complex plea bargain. Photos of the walled and outdoor pool equipped Stupich & Marlow mansion added to public outrage about the scandal.[7][8][9][10][11]
Even though he was personally uninvolved, then-Premier Mike Harcourt resigned as a result of the scandal.[6]
Stupich died in 2006 at Dufferin Place, a long-term care facility in Nanaimo.[12]
References
- ^ Cowichan—Malahat—The Islands
- ^ (PDF). Elections BC. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ "Debates of the Legislative Assembly (Hansard)". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ "Man behind 'Bingogate' pleads guilty". CBC News. 10 November 2000. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
- ^ Justice Josephson (3 September 1999). "Reasons for Sentence / Her Majesty the Queen Against David Daniel Stupich". In the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
- ^ a b Wilson, Valerie (10 February 2006). . Nanaimo Daily News via Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
- ^ . gabriolan.ca. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ Scandal!!: 130 Years of Damnable Deeds in Canada's Lotus Land, William Rayner
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2011.
- ^ "Man behind 'Bingogate' pleads guilty". CBC News. 26 June 1999. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ "Bingogate plea bargain | CBC News".
- ^ "CANADA-OBITS-L Archives". RootsWeb.com. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
External links
- David Stupich – Parliament of Canada biography