1916 British Columbia general election

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1916 British Columbia general election
Flag of British Columbia.svg
  1912 September 14, 1916 1920  

47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
24 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Harlan Carey Brewster.jpg William John Bowser (cropped).jpg
Leader Harlan Carey Brewster William John Bowser
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since19121915
Leader's seat Alberni [lower-alpha 1] Vancouver City
Last election039
Seats won36 [lower-alpha 1] 9
Seat changeIncrease2.svg36Decrease2.svg30
Popular vote89,89272,842 [lower-alpha 2]
Percentage50.00%40.52%
SwingIncrease2.svg24.63pp Decrease2.svg19.13pp

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.

Contents

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 ridingsNew ridings
Abolition of multi-member district
Merger of districts
Division of districts
Renaming of districts

Results

[8]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1916)
Political partyParty leaderMLAsVotes
Candidates 1912 1916±#±%± (pp)
Liberal Harlan Brewster 453636Increase2.svg89,89268,459Increase2.svg50.0024.63Increase2.svg
Conservative William Bowser 4639930Decrease2.svg72,84222,419Increase2.svg40.5219.13Decrease2.svg
Independent  711Increase2.svg4,9263,413Increase2.svg2.740.95Increase2.svg
Independent Socialist 311Increase2.svg1,3211,321Increase2.svg0.74New
Independent Conservative 411Decrease2.svg3,0141,851Increase2.svg1.680.31Increase2.svg
Socialist  411Decrease2.svg2,1067,260Decrease2.svg1.179.91Decrease2.svg
Social Democratic 311Decrease2.svg1,012391Increase2.svg0.560.18Decrease2.svg
Independent Labour  22,9852,985Increase2.svg1.66New
Independent Liberal 11,5181,518Increase2.svg0.84New
Independent Progressive 1158158Increase2.svg0.09New
Total1164247179,774100.00%
    Seats and popular vote by party [8]
    PartySeatsVotesChange (pp)
      Liberal
    36 / 47
    50.00%
    24.6324.63
     
      Conservative
    9 / 47
    40.52%
    -19.13
     
      Socialist
    0 / 47
    1.17%
    -9.91
     
     Other
    2 / 47
    8.31%
    4.414.41
     

    Results by riding

    The following MLAs were elected: [9]


    Synopsis of results

    Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) [10]
    RidingWinning partyVotes
    Name 1912 PartyVotesShareMargin
    #
    Margin
    %
    LibConSocI-ConI-SocSDIndOthTotal
     
    Alberni ConLib39339.26%383.80%3933552531,001
    Atlin ConLib32954.29%528.58%329277606
    Cariboo NewLib45368.64%24637.28%453207660
    Chilliwhack ConLib98755.64%20011.28%9877871,774
    Columbia I-ConLib54166.63%27033.26%541271812
    Comox ConLib91643.07%341.60%916882246832,127
    Cowichan ConInd53956.92%13113.84%408539947
    Cranbrook ConLib72759.06%22318.12%7275041,231
    Delta ConCon96451.55%583.10%9069641,870
    Dewdney ConLib92754.08%1408.16%9277871,714
    Esquimalt ConCon65550.08%20.16%6536551,308
    Fernie ConLib90346.38%773.96%9038262181,947
    Fort George NewCon49943.43%70.61%4994921581,149
    Grand Forks ConLib58463.62%25027.24%584334918
    Greenwood ConLib49170.55%28641.10%491205696
    The Islands ConLib35850.28%40.56%358354712
    Kamloops ConLib1,51961.27%55922.54%1,5199602,479
    Kaslo ConLib45654.94%829.88%456374830
    Lillooet ConCon29652.39%274.78%269296565
    Nanaimo SDLib1,13757.14%56228.25%1,1375752781,990
    Nelson NewCon60748.99%1008.07%5076071251,239
    Newcastle SocI-Soc55156.11%12012.22%431551982
    New Westminster ConLib1,36953.58%1837.16%1,3691,1862,555
    North Okanagan NewLib1,26157.08%31314.16%1,2619482,209
    North Vancouver NewLib98052.80%38220.58%9805982781,856
    Omineca NewLib47362.16%18524.32%473288761
    Prince Rupert ConLib1,06252.89%1165.78%1,0629462,008
    Revelstoke ConLib80260.62%28121.24%8025211,323
    Richmond ConLib1,44154.07%2529.45%1,4411,189352,665
    Rossland ConLib42455.79%8811.58%424336760
    Saanich ConLib1,03358.53%30117.06%1,0337321,765
    Similkameen ConCon65055.41%12710.82%5236501,173
    Slocan ConLib44850.06%10.12%448447895
    South Okanagan NewCon84554.52%1409.04%7058451,550
    South Vancouver NewLib1,57945.75%2055.94%1,5791,3744983,451
    Trail NewCon62645.56%14210.33%4846262621,372
    Yale ConLib80957.05%20014.10%8096091,418
        = 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
      VotesShareChangeVotesShareChange
      Liberal 47,26349.38%18.53%15,77251.29%26.17%
      Conservative 39,05040.80%-13.94%11,34736.90%-30.00%
      Independent 2,8242.95%1.01%1,1853.85%0.01%
      Independent Conservative2,7012.82%New
      Independent Labour 2,4872.60%New
      Socialist 1,3801.44%-11.02%-4.13%
      Independent Liberal1,5184.94%New
      Social Democratic9293.02%New
      Total46,285100.00%16,034100.00%
      Seats won
        5
        1
        4
      Incumbents returned
        1

      See also

      Notes and references

      Notes

      1. 1 2 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.

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      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. 1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 115, 123.
      9. Elections BC 1988, pp. 125–128.
      10. 1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 117–119, 125–128.

      Further reading