For any newspaper, being the last to know about a major story is a professional embarrassment. The sting is particularly sharp when the story involves your own editor and publisher, and you are scooped by a rival publication thousands of kilometres away.
A Provincial Publisher's Secret Appointment
This exact scenario unfolded in British Columbia on December 18, 1920. The Toronto Evening Telegram published a report stating that Walter C. Nichol, the editor and publisher of the Vancouver Daily Province, had been offered the position of Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. The province needed a new representative of the Crown following the death of the previous lieutenant-governor, E.G. Prior, on December 12.
When confronted by a reporter from his own newspaper, Nichol claimed the Toronto report was "news to him" and that he had heard nothing about the matter. This statement, however, was pure bunk. In reality, Walter Nichol was officially appointed to the vice-regal role on December 24, 1920.
The Province was scooped a second time on Christmas Day, when the Vancouver Sun published the official confirmation. Because the Province did not publish on Christmas or Boxing Day, its own readers would not learn about their publisher's prestigious new appointment until December 27.
From Cub Reporter to Media Mogul
The lieutenant-governorship capped a remarkable and influential career for Walter Nichol. His journey in British Columbia began in 1897, when he moved from Ontario with dreams of making a fortune in the Kootenay mining boom. When that venture did not pan out, he returned to his first passion: journalism.
Nichol's newspaper career started early. He began as a cub reporter at the Hamilton Spectator in 1881 at just 15 years old. By 1886, he had moved to the Toronto Evening News, which also published the weekly newsmagazine Saturday Night. He returned to Hamilton by 1889, rising to become editor of the Hamilton Herald.
After founding the London News in London, Ontario, in 1896, he headed west the following year. In Kaslo, B.C., he became editor of The Kootenaian newspaper. There, he forged a pivotal friendship with the local MP, Hewitt Bostock, a wealthy Englishman with political ambitions who understood the power of a newspaper ally.
The Birth of a Vancouver Institution
Bostock had founded The Province as a weekly in Victoria in 1894. Impressed by Nichol, he hired him as editor. Nichol then convinced Bostock to move the operation to the booming city of Vancouver. The first daily edition of The Province was printed in Vancouver on March 26, 1898.
Walter Nichol's ambition and vision for the paper were clear. He purchased The Province from Bostock in 1901 and built it into a respected, politically independent publication. Under his leadership, the newspaper established itself as a quality voice in the growing province, laying the groundwork for its future. His dual legacy—as a foundational figure in B.C. media and as the King's representative—remains a unique chapter in the history of both journalism and politics in Western Canada.
