When they are all gone and long forgotten, Barrett will still be remembered by many as a legend in this province and in Canada

Two giants in their own right. NDP leader Dave
Barrett being interviewed by Jack Webster

Rest In Peace Dave Barrett ... a personal reminiscence from the Sidewinder, Sandy Macdougall

I never voted for Barrett but he was a giant in BC politics, and his like will never again be seen in socialist ranks.  John Horgan, and his NDP colleagues, are panty waists compared to Barrett. When they are all gone and long forgotten, Barrett will still be remembered by many as a legend in this province and in Canada.

The first time I met Dave Barrett was when he picked me up as I was hitchhiking, from Mission to Haney, in the mid 1960s. Barrett was a Captain of the Guards at Haney Correctional Institute (a jail mainly for Young Offenders.  It later became Pacific Vocational Institute after the jail was closed).  He was fired shortly thereafter for his political activities*

The John Howard Society then hired him (I also worked for them many years later), with the promise he would not campaign while he was on the job.  Following his election as Premier, he paid a visit to his buddies at the John Howard office. When asked how he managed to control his ego as the Premier, he responded, "That's easy. Everyday when I leave home for work, Shirley says, Goodbye, asshole."

I think Dave Barrett was the only MLA who ever had to be physically removed from the legislature (or some might say he was unceremoniously dragged by his feet from the chambers) for failure to apologize for comments he had made.  It was an infamous incident, and resulted in the defeat of John Parks, the Socred speaker who had ordered his removal. 

Parks replacement following the next election was John Cashore, the most decent NDP to ever hold a seat in the B.C. Legislature.

I met Barrett many times in subsequent years through politics. We obviously held diverse views, but he was a hell of a politician, and one of the most charismatic guys I ever heard speak.   

In my opinion, he will be remembered long after all of our current MLAs are dead and buried; and that could be a large part of why he was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2005, and named a member of the Order of BC in 2012. 

* Wikipedia:
He had been fired from his job, by the provincial government in 1959, after it became known that he was running for a CCF nomination.  He had to fight for reinstatement, as at the time civil servants were barred from running for office