Photo reveals that Premier John Horgan's mother was using computerized equipment in 1976

In 1976, very few British Columbians had any connection to computers.

IBM engineers had only invented the floppy disk four years earlier.

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen started writing software for the Altair 8080. And a year later, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak cofounded Apple Computer, which was the first device with a single-circuit board.

But lo and behold, there's a photo in the Saanich Archives of B.C. premier John Horgan's mother using computerized equipment in the machine room of Saanich Municipal Hall in 1976.

Alice Mischki, as she was then known, was a longtime employee of the local government.

The photo was taken by Paul McKivett.

After Horgan recently used the f-bomb in the legislature, he tried to make amends by citing his mother.

"If my mom was still around, she'd be on her way to the Legislature with a bar of Irish Spring," the premier tweeted.

https://twitter.com/jjhorgan/status/1518725212073697281

Alice Horgan retired in 1982 and died on June 16, 2009. According to her obituary, she was active in Saanich Silver Threads and enjoyed gardening, bridge, cribbage, and making pies.

In addition to her son John, Alice Horgan had three other children: Pat, Brian, and Kathy, along with 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

Horgan's father Pat died in 1962 when the premier was a toddler.