   william richards bennett, pc, obc (born august 18, 1932), commonly known as bill bennett, was the 27th premier of the canadian province of british columbia 1975&ndash;1986. he is a son of the former premier, w. a. c. bennett. he was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, of r.b. bennett, eleventh prime minister of canada. following his father's resignation, bill bennett was elected on september 7, 1973, as the british columbia social credit league member of the british columbia legislative assembly for south okanagan. to distinguish him from his famous father, also named william - though usually called "w.a.c." in the media or "ceece" by his friends,.[*w.a.c.: bennett and the rise of british columbia, david j. mitchell (isbn 0-88894-395-4) he was usually called simply bill bennett. one media term coined to describe the younger bennett was "mini-wac," derived from another of his father's nicknames, one created by his enemies but ultimately embraced by some supporters - "wacky". ==leader of social credit party== he was elected the leader of the socred party in november 1973, at a convention in whistler, british columbia. this same convention also altered the name of the party to the british columbia social credit party. bennett set about establishing a political organization modeled closely on, and using staff loaned by, bill davis's ontario "big blue machine." bennett's organization was called the "baby blue machine." he embraced a new coalition of liberals, social conservatives, and the corporate sector, rather that appealing to the populist base as his father had done. ==premier of british columbia==  he became premier of the province in the [[british columbia general election, 1975|1975 ele
1932_births British_Columbia_Social_Credit_Party_MLAs British_Columbia_Social_Credit_Party_leaders Living_people Members_of_the_Order_of_British_Columbia Members_of_the_Queen\'s_Privy_Council_for_Canada Members_of_the_United_Church_of_Canada People_from_Kelowna People_of_New_England_Planter_descent People_with_Alzheimer\'s_disease Premiers_of_British_Columbia