1937 British Columbia general election

1937 British Columbia general election

←  1933 June 1, 1937 1941  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Con CCF Leader Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Frank Porter Patterson None [a] Party Liberal Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since 1928 1936 Leader's seat Prince Rupert Dewdney Last election 34 1 [b] 7 Seats won 31 8 7 Seat change 3 7 [c] Popular vote 156,074 119,521 119,400 Percentage 37.34% 28.60% 28.57% Swing 4.40pp 24.55pp [c] 2.96pp
Premier before election Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Liberal Premier after election Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Liberal

The 1937 British Columbia general election was the nineteenth general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 14, 1937, and held on June 1, 1937. The new legislature met for the first time on October 26, 1937.

The governing Liberal Party, despite winning only 37% of the popular vote, benefited from the split in the opposition vote between the Conservative Party and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Liberals won a solid majority of the seats in the legislature with barely more than a third of the votes cast.

The rift in the Conservative Party that led to its decision not to nominate candidates in the 1933 election had been resolved, and the party was able to form the official opposition.

The Conservatives and CCF each won about 29% of the vote, and only 8 seats and 7 seats, respectively (they were each due about 14 based on their vote share). Two other seats were won by an Independent and a Labour party candidate.

Health insurance plebiscite

In 1936, the Legislature passed an Act providing for the creation of a health insurance plan for the Province. ^[1] This was 26 years ahead of its introduction in Saskatchewan in 1962. The medical profession resisted its implementation to such a degree that a plebiscite was held on the same day as the election.

The question asked was, "Are you in favour of a comprehensive Health Insurance plan progressively applied?" The results were as follows:

1937 health insurance plebiscite ^[2]

Type of vote	Yes	No	Total
Ordinary and absentee votes	143,218	98,946	242,164
Yes or No written on the ballot	4,613	4,687	9,300
Total	147,831	103,633	251,464
Percentage	58.79%	41.21%	100.00%
Electoral districts carried	42	6	48

Despite the majority in favour, the legislation was never brought into force, ^[2] but it would not be repealed until 1973. ^[3] Medicare was finally introduced after the 1967 passage of the Medical Services Act. ^[4]

Results

Elections to the 19th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1937) ^[5]

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1933 [a 1]	1937	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Liberal	Duff Pattullo	48	35	31	4	156,074	3,057	37.34	4.40
	Conservative [a 2]	Frank Porter Patterson	43	4	8	4	119,521	54,278	28.60	11.48
	CCF split
	█  Co-operative Commonwealth	None [a 3]	46	7	7		119,400	785	28.57	2.96
	█  Social Constructive	Robert Connell	14	–	–	–	8,086	8,086	1.93	New
	Independent		11	1	1		7,341	18,317	1.76	4.97
	Labour (all factions)		2	1	1		1,787	570	0.43	0.19
	Social Credit League	Andrew Henry Jukes	18	–	–	–	4,812	4,812	1.15	New
	Communist		1	–	–	–	567	567	0.14	New
	Socialist Party of Canada		2	–	–	–	287	287	0.07	Returned
	Financial Justice		1	–	–	–	54	54	0.01	New
Total			186	48	48		417,929		100.00%
Rejected ballots [6]							4,143	763
Actual voters who voted [6]							265,446	29,031	71.20%	1.87
Registered voters [6]							372,781	49,241

1. Assembly was increased mid-term by the division of Columbia-Revelstoke, thus reviving the previous districts of Columbia and Revelstoke.
2. Compared to the 1933 aggregate of all Conservative factions.
3. CCF leader Robert Connell was expelled from the party over doctrinal differences.

Seats and popular vote by party ^[5]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█  Liberal	31 / 48	37.34%	-4.40
█  Conservative (all factions)	8 / 48	28.60%	11.48		11.48
█  Co-operative Commonwealth	7 / 48	28.57%	-2.96
█  Social Constructive	0 / 48	1.93%	1.93		1.93
█  Independent	1 / 48	1.76%	-4.97
█  Social Credit League	0 / 48	1.15%	1.15		1.15
█ Other	1 / 48	0.65%	-2.23

MLAs elected

Alberni-Nanaimo: George Sharratt Pearson    Atlin: William James Asselstine    Burnaby: Ernest Winch    Cariboo: Louis LeBourdais    Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres    Columbia: Thomas King    Comox: Colin Cameron    Cowichan-Newcastle: Samuel Guthrie    Cranbrook: Frank Mitchell MacPherson    Delta: Leonard Shepherd    Dewdney: Frank Porter Patterson    Esquimalt: Elmer Victor Finland    Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill (ILP)    Fort George: Henry George Thomas Perry    Grand Forks-Greenwood: Ezra Churchill Henniger    The Islands: MacGregor MacIntosh

Kamloops: Robert Henry Carson    Kaslo-Slocan: Charles Sidney Leary    Lillooet: George Murray    Mackenzie: John Melvin Bryan, Sr.    Nelson-Creston: Frank Putnam    New Westminster: Wells Gray    North Okanagan: Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald    North Vancouver: Dorothy Steeves    Omineca: Mark Matthew Connelly    Peace River: Glen Everton Braden    Prince Rupert: Duff Pattullo    Revelstoke: Harry Johnston    Rossland-Trail: Richard Ronald Burns    Saanich: Norman William Whittaker    Salmon Arm: Rolf Wallgren Bruhn    Similkameen: Charles H. P. Tupper    Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney

South Okanagan: Cecil Robert Bull    Vancouver-Burrard: John Howard Forester    Vancouver-Burrard: Helen Douglas Smith    Vancouver Centre: Fred Crone    Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer    Vancouver East: James Lyle Telford    Vancouver East: Harold Winch    Vancouver-Point Grey: Royal Maitland    Vancouver-Point Grey: James Alexander Paton    Vancouver-Point Grey: George Moir Weir    Victoria City: John Hart    Victoria City: William Thomas Straith    Victoria City: Herbert Anscomb    Victoria City: Joseph Douglas Hunter    Yale: John Joseph Alban Gillis

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1937 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) ^[7]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1933		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Lib	Con	CCF	SCP	SCL	Ind	Oth	Total
Alberni-Nanaimo		Lib		Lib	3,616	44.34%	487	5.98%	3,616	1,014	3,129 [a 1]	397	–	–	–	8,156
Atlin		Lib		Lib	562	54.56%	299	29.03%	562	205	263	–	–	–	–	1,030
Burnaby		CCF		CCF	5,908	44.03%	2,529	18.85%	3,379	2,307	5,908	644	136	1,073	–	13,417
Cariboo		Lib		Lib	1,921	74.57%	1,266	49.14%	1,921	–	–	–	–	655	–	2,576
Chilliwack		Lib		Con	2,524	40.08%	304	4.83%	2,220	2,524	1,554	–	–	–	–	6,298
Columbia		Lib		Lib	921	57.06%	550	34.07%	921	371	322	–	–	–	–	1,614
Comox		Lib		CCF	2,336	44.83%	460	8.83%	1,876	999	2,336	–	–	–	–	5,211
Cowichan-Newcastle		OG		CCF	1,560	33.58%	336	7.23%	1,224	639	1,560	–	–	1,222	–	4,645
Cranbrook		Lib		Lib	3,110	76.73%	2,167	53.46%	3,110	–	943	–	–	–	–	4,053
Delta		CCF		CCF	3,192	32.93%	90	0.92%	3,102	2,815	3,192	583	–	–	–	9,692
Dewdney		Lib		Con	1,870	39.27%	252	5.29%	1,618	1,870	1,274	–	–	–	–	4,762
Esquimalt		Un		Con	1,642	41.60%	226	5.72%	1,416	1,642	765	–	57	67	–	3,947
Fernie		ILP		ILP	1,701	53.64%	231	7.28%	1,470	–	–	–	–	–	1,701	3,171
Fort George		Lib		Lib	1,493	51.54%	323	11.15%	1,493	234	1,170	–	–	–	–	2,897
Grand Forks-Greenwood		Lib		Lib	722	41.93%	19	1.11%	722	703	164	133	–	–	–	1,722
The Islands		Lib		Con	953	45.12%	259	12.26%	694	953	414	–	51	–	–	2,112
Kamloops		Lib		Lib	1,786	38.89%	325	7.07%	1,786	1,461	1,345	–	–	–	–	4,592
Kaslo-Slocan		Lib		Lib	1,064	38.86%	135	4.93%	1,064	715	929	–	30	–	–	2,738
Lillooet		Lib		Lib	1,176	39.78%	251	8.49%	1,176	925	855	–	–	–	–	2,956
Mackenzie		CCF		Lib	1,828	33.93%	167	3.10%	1,828	1,661	1,625	152	122	–	–	5,388
Nelson-Creston		Lib		Lib	2,149	39.17%	248	4.52%	2,149	1,901	1,121	–	177	139	–	5,487
New Westminster		Lib		Lib	4,055	52.02%	2,289	29.36%	4,055	1,766	1,321	–	–	–	653	7,795
North Okanagan		Lib		Lib	2,689	52.64%	970	18.99%	2,689	1,719	700	–	–	–	–	5,108
North Vancouver		CCF		CCF	2,749	32.23%	363	4.25%	1,847	1,522	2,749	–	–	2,411 [d]	–	8,529
Omineca		Lib		Lib	1,013	50.90%	230	11.55%	1,013	194	783	–	–	–	–	1,990
Peace River		NP		Lib	1,168	42.61%	263	9.59%	1,168	434	905	–	–	234	–	2,741
Prince Rupert		Lib		Lib	1,446	49.55%	650	22.27%	1,446	662	796	–	14	–	–	2,918
Revelstoke		Lib		Lib	1,162	61.16%	629	33.11%	1,162	533	205	–	–	–	–	1,900
Rossland-Trail		Lib		Lib	1,877	46.70%	626	15.57%	1,877	1,251	891	–	–	–	–	4,019
Saanich		Lib		Lib	2,106	36.14%	447	7.67%	2,106	1,659	1,531	224	271	37	–	5,828
Salmon Arm		NP		Ind	1,533	48.33%	649	20.46%	884	–	755	–	–	1,533 [a 2]	–	3,172
Similkameen		Lib		Lib	2,266	43.55%	136	2.61%	2,266	2,130	807	–	–	–	–	5,203
Skeena		Lib		Lib	1,006	59.74%	328	19.48%	1,006	–	678	–	–	–	–	1,684
South Okanagan		Lib		Lib	2,388	45.02%	287	5.41%	2,388	2,101	815	–	–	–	–	5,304
Yale		Lib		Lib	968	59.94%	546	33.81%	968	225	422	–	–	–	–	1,615

1. James Lyle Telford was nominated by the local CCF Club, but suspended and repudiated by provincial Executive
2. supported and endorsed by SCP

  = open seat

  = 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 - 1937 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) ^[7]

Riding		Winning party		Votes
Name	MLAs	1933	1937	Lib	Con	CCF	SCP	SCL	Ind	Oth	Total
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	2	16,903	13,503	14,423	765	581	–	54	46,229
Vancouver Centre	2	2	2	12,821	8,261	11,461	891	922	–	234	34,590
Vancouver East	2	2	2	10,314	5,914	23,102	1,146	389	–	53	40,918
Vancouver-Point Grey	3	3	2   1	27,243	29,134	18,589	–	1,001	–	–	75,967
Victoria City	4	2   1   1	2   2	26,571	25,574	9,598	3,151	1,061	–	–	65,955

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Notes

1. CCF leader Robert Connell had been expelled from the party over doctrinal differences. Connell contested the election as leader of the British Columbia Social Constructive Party.
2. Result for the Unionist Party of British Columbia.
3. Compared to the Unionist Party of British Columbia.
4. Joseph Bentley Leyland, Reeve of West Vancouver and a driving force behind the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge, came in second with 2,386 votes. ^[8]

References

1. Health Insurance Act , S.B.C. 1936, c. 23
2. Elections BC 1988, pp. 420–421.
3. Statute Law Amendment Act, 1973 , S.B.C. 1973, c. 84, s. 8
4. Medical Services Act , S.B.C. 1967, c. 24
5. Elections BC 1988, pp. 173, 183.
6. Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
7. Elections BC 1988, pp. 175–180, 185–189.
8. "Leyland, Joseph B." MemoryBC. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

Further reading

• An Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986 (PDF). Victoria: Elections British Columbia. 1988. ISBN   0-7718-8677-2.
• The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1937 and 1938. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1940.