1916 British Columbia general election

1916 British Columbia general election

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47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 24 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Harlan Carey Brewster William John Bowser Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1912 1915 Leader's seat Alberni [a] Vancouver City Last election 0 39 Seats won 36 [a] 9 Seat change 36 30 Popular vote 89,892 72,842 [b] Percentage 50.00% 40.52% Swing 24.63pp 19.13pp
Premier before election William John Bowser Conservative Premier after election Harlan Carey Brewster Liberal

The 1916 British Columbia general election was the fourteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on July 5, 1916, and held on September 14, 1916. The new legislature met for the first time on March 1, 1917.

A 1916 Act of the Legislature ^[1] provided for the life of the Assembly to be extended to five years, ^[2] and members of the clergy were no longer disqualified from being elected as MLAs. ^[3]

The Liberal Party defeated the governing Conservative Party, winning 50% of the vote, almost double its share from the previous election. The Liberals won 36 of the 47 seats in the legislature.

The Conservatives' popular vote fell from almost 60% to just over 40%, and took nine seats, forming the Official Opposition.

Two other seats were won by independents.

Soldiers serving overseas were able to vote in the election, ^[4] and their votes were cast between August 5 and Election Day. ^[5]

Two referendums were also held on Election Day (concerning Prohibition and women's suffrage), but their results were not announced until later in the year. ^[6]

1915 redistribution of ridings

An Act was passed in 1915, providing for an increase in the seats in the Assembly from 42 to 47 upon the next election. ^[7] The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings	New ridings
Abolition of multi-member district
Cariboo	Cariboo Fort George Omineca
Merger of districts
Nelson City Ymir	Nelson
Division of districts
Okanagan	North Okanagan South Okanagan
Rossland City	Rossland Trail
Vancouver City (5 members)	Vancouver City (6 members) North Vancouver South Vancouver
Renaming of districts
Nanaimo City	Nanaimo
New Westminster City	New Westminster
Skeena	Prince Rupert

Results

^[8]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1916)

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1912	1916	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Liberal	Harlan Brewster	45	–	36	36	89,892	68,459	50.00	24.63
	Conservative	William Bowser	46	39	9	30	72,842	22,419	40.52	19.13
	Independent		7	–	1	1	4,926	3,413	2.74	0.95
	Independent Socialist		3	–	1	1	1,321	1,321	0.74	New
	Independent Conservative		4	1	–	1	3,014	1,851	1.68	0.31
	Socialist		4	1	–	1	2,106	7,260	1.17	9.91
	Social Democratic		3	1	–	1	1,012	391	0.56	0.18
	Independent Labour		2	–	–	–	2,985	2,985	1.66	New
	Independent Liberal		1	–	–	–	1,518	1,518	0.84	New
	Independent Progressive		1	–	–	–	158	158	0.09	New
Total			116	42	47		179,774		100.00%

Seats and popular vote by party ^[8]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█  Liberal	36 / 47	50.00%	24.63
█  Conservative	9 / 47	40.52%	-19.13
█  Socialist	0 / 47	1.17%	-9.91
█ Other	2 / 47	8.31%	4.41

Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected: ^[9]

Alberni : Harlan Carey Brewster    Atlin : Frank Harry Mobley    Cariboo : John MacKay Yorston    Chilliwhack : Edward Dodsley Barrow    Columbia : John Andrew Buckham    Comox : Hugh Stewart    Cowichan : William Henry Hayward (Ind)    Cranbrook : James Horace King    Delta : Francis James Anderson MacKenzie    Dewdney : John Oliver    Esquimalt : Robert Henry Pooley    Fernie : Alexander Ingram Fisher    Fort George : William Roderick Ross    Grand Forks : James Edwin Wallace Thompson    Greenwood : John Duncan MacLean    The Islands : Malcolm Bruce Jackson

Kamloops : Frederick William Anderson    Kaslo : John Keen    Lillooet : Archibald McDonald    Nanaimo : William Sloan    Nelson : William Oliver Rose    Newcastle : Parker Williams (Ind-Soc)    New Westminster : David Whiteside    North Okanagan : Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald    North Vancouver : George Samuel Hanes    Omineca : Alexander Malcolm Manson    Prince Rupert : Thomas Dufferin Pattullo    Revelstoke : William Henry Sutherland    Richmond : Gerald Grattan McGeer    Rossland : William David Wilson    Saanich : Frederick Arthur Pauline    Similkameen : Lytton Wilmot Shatford

Slocan : Charles Franklin Nelson    South Okanagan : James William Jones    South Vancouver : John Walter Weart    Trail : James Hargrave Schofield    Vancouver City : John Sedgwick Cowper    Vancouver City : John Wallace deBeque Farris    Vancouver City : Malcolm Archibald Macdonald    Vancouver City : John William McIntosh    Vancouver City : Ralph Smith    Vancouver City : William John Bowser    Victoria City : George Bell    Victoria City : Harlan Carey Brewster    Victoria City : Henry Charles Hall    Victoria City : John Hart    Yale : Joseph Walters

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) ^[10]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1912		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Lib	Con	Soc	I-Con	I-Soc	SD	Ind	Oth	Total
Alberni		Con		Lib	393	39.26%	38	3.80%	393	355	–	–	–	–	253	–	1,001
Atlin		Con		Lib	329	54.29%	52	8.58%	329	277	–	–	–	–	–	–	606
Cariboo	New			Lib	453	68.64%	246	37.28%	453	207	–	–	–	–	–	–	660
Chilliwhack		Con		Lib	987	55.64%	200	11.28%	987	787	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,774
Columbia		I-Con		Lib	541	66.63%	270	33.26%	541	271	–	–	–	–	–	–	812
Comox		Con		Lib	916	43.07%	34	1.60%	916	882	246	–	–	83	–	–	2,127
Cowichan		Con		Ind	539	56.92%	131	13.84%	408	–	–	–	–	–	539	–	947
Cranbrook		Con		Lib	727	59.06%	223	18.12%	727	504	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,231
Delta		Con		Con	964	51.55%	58	3.10%	906	964	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,870
Dewdney		Con		Lib	927	54.08%	140	8.16%	927	787	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,714
Esquimalt		Con		Con	655	50.08%	2	0.16%	653	655	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,308
Fernie		Con		Lib	903	46.38%	77	3.96%	903	826	218	–	–	–	–	–	1,947
Fort George	New			Con	499	43.43%	7	0.61%	–	499	–	–	492	–	–	158	1,149
Grand Forks		Con		Lib	584	63.62%	250	27.24%	584	334	–	–	–	–	–	–	918
Greenwood		Con		Lib	491	70.55%	286	41.10%	491	205	–	–	–	–	–	–	696
The Islands		Con		Lib	358	50.28%	4	0.56%	358	354	–	–	–	–	–	–	712
Kamloops		Con		Lib	1,519	61.27%	559	22.54%	1,519	960	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,479
Kaslo		Con		Lib	456	54.94%	82	9.88%	456	374	–	–	–	–	–	–	830
Lillooet		Con		Con	296	52.39%	27	4.78%	269	296	–	–	–	–	–	–	565
Nanaimo		SD		Lib	1,137	57.14%	562	28.25%	1,137	575	–	–	278	–	–	–	1,990
Nelson	New			Con	607	48.99%	100	8.07%	507	607	–	–	–	–	125	–	1,239
Newcastle		Soc		I-Soc	551	56.11%	120	12.22%	–	431	–	–	551	–	–	–	982
New Westminster		Con		Lib	1,369	53.58%	183	7.16%	1,369	1,186	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,555
North Okanagan	New			Lib	1,261	57.08%	313	14.16%	1,261	948	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,209
North Vancouver	New			Lib	980	52.80%	382	20.58%	980	598	–	278	–	–	–	–	1,856
Omineca	New			Lib	473	62.16%	185	24.32%	473	288	–	–	–	–	–	–	761
Prince Rupert		Con		Lib	1,062	52.89%	116	5.78%	1,062	946	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,008
Revelstoke		Con		Lib	802	60.62%	281	21.24%	802	521	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,323
Richmond		Con		Lib	1,441	54.07%	252	9.45%	1,441	1,189	–	35	–	–	–	–	2,665
Rossland		Con		Lib	424	55.79%	88	11.58%	424	336	–	–	–	–	–	–	760
Saanich		Con		Lib	1,033	58.53%	301	17.06%	1,033	732	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,765
Similkameen		Con		Con	650	55.41%	127	10.82%	523	650	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,173
Slocan		Con		Lib	448	50.06%	1	0.12%	448	447	–	–	–	–	–	–	895
South Okanagan	New			Con	845	54.52%	140	9.04%	705	845	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,550
South Vancouver	New			Lib	1,579	45.75%	205	5.94%	1,579	1,374	–	–	–	–	–	498	3,451
Trail	New			Con	626	45.56%	142	10.33%	484	626	262	–	–	–	–	–	1,372
Yale		Con		Lib	809	57.05%	200	14.10%	809	609	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,418

  = open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = previously incumbent in another riding

  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = other incumbents renominated

  = multiple candidates

Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) ^[10]

Party		Vancouver City			Victoria City
		Votes	Share	Change	Votes	Share	Change
	Liberal	47,263	49.38%	18.53%	15,772	51.29%	26.17%
	Conservative	39,050	40.80%	-13.94%	11,347	36.90%	-30.00%
	Independent	2,824	2.95%	1.01%	1,185	3.85%	0.01%
	Independent Conservative	2,701	2.82%	New	–	–	–
	Independent Labour	2,487	2.60%	New	–	–	–
	Socialist	1,380	1.44%	-11.02%	–	–	-4.13%
	Independent Liberal	–	–	–	1,518	4.94%	New
	Social Democratic	–	–	–	929	3.02%	New
Total		46,285	100.00%		16,034	100.00%
Seats won		5   1			4
Incumbents returned		1			–

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Notes and references

Notes

1. Brewster was elected as member for both Alberni and Victoria City, and is counted twice.
2. R. McBride (Conservative, Richmond) withdrew before the election but still received 34 overseas votes, which are counted.

References

1. Constitution Act Amendment Act, 1916 , S.B.C. 1916, c. 14
2. S.B.C. 1916, c. 14, s.6
3. S.B.C. 1916, c. 14, s.5
4. Military Forces Voting Act , S.B.C. 1916, c. 41
5. Elections BC 1988, p. 128.
6. Hopkins 1917, p. 571.
7. Constitution Act Amendment Act, 1915 , S.B.C. 1915, c. 14
8. Elections BC 1988, pp. 115, 123.
9. Elections BC 1988, pp. 125–128.
10. Elections BC 1988, pp. 117–119, 125–128.

Further reading

• An Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986 (PDF). Victoria: Elections British Columbia. 1988. ISBN   0-7718-8677-2.
• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia , Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974).
• Hopkins, J. Castell (1917). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1916. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.