1991 British Columbia general election

1991 British Columbia general election

←  1986 October 17, 1991 1996  →
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75 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	64.03% [1] 1.77 pp
First party Second party Third party   BCL SC Leader Mike Harcourt Gordon Wilson Rita Johnston Party New Democratic Liberal Social Credit Leader since 1987 1987 1991 Leader's seat Vancouver-Mount Pleasant Powell River-Sunshine Coast Surrey-Newton (lost re-election) Last election 22 seats 0 seats 47 seats Seats won 51 17 7 Seat change 29 17 40 Popular vote 595,391 486,208 351,660 Percentage 40.71% 33.25 24.27 Swing 1.89 26.51 25.27
Premier before election Rita Johnston Social Credit Premier after election Mike Harcourt New Democratic

The 1991 British Columbia general election was the 35th provincial 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 September 19, 1991, and held on October 17, 1991.

The New Democratic Party of Mike Harcourt defeated the incumbent Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which had been beset by scandals during Bill Vander Zalm's only term as premier. Liberal Party leader Gordon Wilson surprised observers by leading his party to winning one-third of the votes cast and 23 percent of the seats, and forming the official opposition in the legislature after having held no seats at all since 1979. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1992.

The election was held at the same time as a referendum on recall and initiative. ^[2] It was also the first British Columbia general election with only single-member districts. ^[3]

Background

Under Vander Zalm's leadership, Socred's control shifted from urban fiscal conservatives to social conservatives. Vander Zalm seemingly cruised to victory in the 1986 provincial election, held just a month after he was sworn in. In truth, however, a number of more moderate Socreds were not at home with the party's rightward turn on social issues, and began defecting to the Liberals.

This process was exacerbated by Vander Zalm's eccentricity, and the constant scandals that plagued his government. As well, Vander Zalm allowed his principal secretary, David Poole, to amass a substantial amount of power, despite being unelected.

Vander Zalm resigned in April 1991 amid a conflict of interest scandal surrounding the sale of a theme park that he owned. Socred members elected the lesser-known Deputy Premier Rita Johnston, a close ally of Vander Zalm, to be their new leader, over Grace McCarthy, a longtime associate of former Premier Bill Bennett. Many viewed this as a mistake, as Johnston was close to the Vander Zalm legacy; even NDP leader Mike Harcourt admitted later that he preferred Johnston over McCarthy, as the latter would be a much tougher opponent in an election.

Campaign

Johnston had little time to make up ground in the polls or distance herself from the now-detested Vander Zalm. Additionally, the Socreds were still bitterly divided over the bruising leadership contest. The NDP went into the elections as heavy favourites after leading in opinion polls for almost four years.

The Liberals, who had not been represented in the legislature since 1979, gained slightly in the polls due to great resentment against the ruling Socreds and skepticism towards the NDP. A turning point came when Wilson successfully took legal action to be included in the televised leaders' debate, which took place on 8 October. During the debate Johnston and Harcourt exchanged many bitter attacks, while Wilson, still not considered a serious contender, was able to successfully portray himself as an "outsider" who was above the partisan bickering of the other two parties. Liberal support surged dramatically as a result of Wilson's performance. One of the memorable moments of the debate came as Harcourt and Johnston argued loudly amongst each other, when Wilson pointed towards them and declared, "Here's a classic example of why nothing ever gets done in the province of British Columbia." ^[4]

Opinion polls

Last day of poll	New Democratic	Liberal	Social Credit	Others	Pollster	Sample	Margin	Source
Results	40.7	33.3	24.1	1.9
10 October 1991	38	30	29	3	Angus Reid	1,004	± 3,1	[5]
25 September 1991	48 (39)	11 (9)	39 (32)	2 (2)	—	—	—	[6]
15 July 1990	47	8	36	9	Angus Reid	801	± 3,5	[7]
21 January 1990	49	—	43	—	Angus Reid	470	± 4,2	[8]
25 April 1989	53	10	32	5	Angus Reid	807	± 3,5	[9]
20 April 1989	48	11	35	6	Marktrend	—	—	[9]
4 November 1988	43	18	34	5	Marktrend	—	—	[9]
1 October 1988	41	—	23	—	Goldfarb	1,000	± 3,0	[10]
29 November 1987	46 (31)	6 (4)	40 (27)	7 (5)	—	475	± 4,5	[11]
1986 Elections	42.6	6.7	49.3	1.4

Riding-specific polls

Oak Bay-Gordon Head by-election

Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level

Polling firm	Last day of survey	Source	BCNDP	BCSC	BCLP	Other	ME	Sample
By-election 1989	December 13, 1989		45.26	43.68	9.11	1.94
Angus Reid	December 1989	[12]	52	38	—	—	—	—
Angus Reid	December 1989	[13]	45	41	—	—	—	400
McIntyre & Mustel	December 7, 1989	[14]	49	44	4	—	5.0	350
Election 1986	December 13, 1989		35.91	52.50	2.38	9.21

Results

The Socreds were swept from power in a massive NDP landslide. This was not due to the NDP winning a higher percentage of the vote as much as it was due to Socred support collapsing in favour of the BC Liberals, splitting the vote. The defeat was magnified by moderate Socred supporters voting Liberal, continuing a shift that dated to early in Vander Zalm's tenure. The combined effect was to decimate the Socred caucus, which was reduced from 47 members to only seven—only three over the minimum for official party status. Johnston herself lost her own seat in Surrey-Newton to NDP challenger Penny Priddy, and all but five members of her cabinet were defeated.

The Liberals returned to the legislature as the official opposition after a 12-year absence, replacing Social Credit as the main alternative to the NDP in the province.

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1986	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	New Democrats	Michael Harcourt	75	22	51	+131.8%	595,391	40.71%	-1.89%
	Liberal	Gordon Wilson	71	-	17		486,208	33.25%	+26.51%
	Social Credit	Rita Johnston	74	47	7	-85.1%	351,660	24.27%	-25.27%
	Green		42	-	-	–	12,650	0.86%	+0.62%
	Independents		16	-	-	–	10,281	0.70%	+0.57%
	Reform	Ron Gamble	4	*	-	*	2,673	0.18%	*
	Family Coalition		8	*	-	*	1,310	0.09%	*
	Libertarian		11	-	-	–	860	0.06%	+0.04%
	Western Canada Concept	Doug Christie	5	-	-	–	651	0.04%	+0.02%
	Conservative	Peter B. Macdonald [15]	4	-	-	–	426	0.03%	-0.70%
	Human Race		2	*	-	*	110	0.01%	*
	Green Go (Green Wing/Rhino)		1	*	-	*	93	0.01%	*
	Communist League		3	-	-	–	92	0.01%	-0.02%
	Interdependence Party		1	*	-	*	62	x	*
Total			317	69	75	+8.7%	1,462,467	100%
Source: Elections BC

Notes: x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote.

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Popular vote NDP   40.71% Liberal   33.25% Social Credit   24.05% Others   1.99%

Seats summary NDP   68.00% Liberal   22.67% Social Credit   9.33%

Synopsis of results

1991 British Columbia general election – results by riding ^[16]

Riding	Winning party									Votes [a 1]
	1st place		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	2nd place		%	NDP	Lib.	SC	Green	Ind	Other	Total
Abbotsford		SC	6,647	36.12%	138	0.75%		Lib	35.37%	5,246	6,509	6,647	–	–	–	18,402
Alberni		NDP	7,136	53.39%	3,471	25.97%		SC	27.42%	7,136	2,358	3,665	–	–	206	13,365
Bulkley Valley-Stikine		NDP	3,744	33.97%	265	2.40%		Lib	31.56%	3,744	3,479	–	–	3,799 [a 2]	–	11,022
Burnaby-Edmonds		NDP	9,947	47.15%	3,049	14.45%		Lib	32.70%	9,947	6,898	3,900	199	74	77	21,095
Burnaby North		NDP	9,809	48.43%	3,472	17.14%		Lib	31.29%	9,809	6,337	3,833	194	–	81	20,254
Burnaby-Willingdon		NDP	10,597	44.36%	2,574	10.78%		Lib	33.59%	10,597	8,023	5,036	232	–	–	23,888
Cariboo North		NDP	4,919	39.10%	714	5.67%		SC	33.42%	4,919	2,317	4,205	–	–	1,141	12,582
Cariboo South		NDP	6,369	45.37%	1,639	11.68%		SC	33.70%	6,369	2,567	4,730	–	–	371	14,037
Chilliwack		Lib	8,601	38.83%	982	4.43%		SC	34.40%	5,688	8,601	7,619	241	–	–	22,149
Columbia River-Revelstoke		NDP	6,241	45.08%	1,879	13.57%		SC	31.51%	6,241	3,241	4,362	–	–	–	13,844
Comox Valley		NDP	10,355	39.20%	1,601	6.06%		Lib	33.14%	10,355	8,754	6,734	432	49	93	26,417
Coquitlam-Maillardville		NDP	11,136	47.18%	2,206	9.35%		Lib	37.84%	11,136	8,930	3,354	–	117	65	23,602
Cowichan-Ladysmith		NDP	11,038	48.53%	4,229	18.59%		SC	29.94%	11,038	4,896	6,809	–	–	–	22,743
Delta North		NDP	8,068	38.65%	762	3.65%		Lib	35.00%	8,068	7,306	5,252	–	72	178	20,876
Delta South		Lib	8,783	39.82%	2,070	9.39%		SC	30.44%	6,559	8,783	6,713	–	–	–	22,055
Esquimalt-Metchosin		NDP	13,458	59.16%	6,570	28.88%		Lib	30.28%	13,458	6,888	2,402	–	–	–	22,748
Fort Langley-Aldergrove		Lib	8,663	43.57%	2,636	13.26%		NDP	30.31%	6,027	8,663	4,880	–	227	87	19,884
Kamloops		NDP	8,926	43.67%	2,893	14.15%		Lib	29.52%	8,926	6,033	5,481	–	–	–	20,440
Kamloops-North Thompson		NDP	5,843	39.43%	1,149	7.75%		Lib	31.67%	5,843	4,694	4,283	–	–	–	14,820
Kootenay		NDP	7,352	46.48%	2,338	14.78%		SC	31.70%	7,352	3,450	5,014	–	–	–	15,816
Langley		Lib	7,149	38.95%	1,387	7.56%		NDP	31.39%	5,762	7,149	5,201	–	62	180	18,354
Malahat-Juan de Fuca		NDP	8,579	44.18%	940	4.84%		Lib	39.34%	8,579	7,639	2,628	380	–	193	19,419
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows		NDP	11,591	45.16%	2,805	10.93%		Lib	34.23%	11,591	8,786	4,986	305	–	–	25,668
Matsqui		SC	8,236	43.74%	1,805	9.59%		Lib	34.15%	4,163	6,431	8,236	–	–	–	18,830
Mission-Kent		NDP	7,659	44.78%	3,080	18.01%		Lib	26.77%	7,659	4,579	4,556	246	63	–	17,103
Nanaimo		NDP	11,135	51.24%	3,579	16.47%		Lib	34.77%	11,135	7,556	2,480	342	–	216	21,729
Nelson-Creston		NDP	8,583	46.90%	2,844	15.54%		SC	31.36%	8,583	3,510	5,739	467	–	–	18,299
New Westminster		NDP	10,384	49.89%	3,267	15.70%		Lib	34.20%	10,384	7,117	3,311	–	–	–	20,812
North Coast		NDP	6,365	59.75%	3,896	36.58%		Lib	23.18%	6,365	2,469	1,818	–	–	–	10,652
North Island		NDP	8,427	50.39%	2,757	16.49%		Lib	33.91%	8,427	5,670	2,217	408	–	–	16,722
North Vancouver-Lonsdale		NDP	7,535	38.63%	476	2.44%		Lib	36.19%	7,535	7,059	4,622	207	–	85	19,508
North Vancouver-Seymour		Lib	12,120	50.84%	4,994	20.95%		NDP	29.89%	7,126	12,120	4,304	205	–	84	23,839
Oak Bay-Gordon Head		NDP	10,522	39.61%	837	3.15%		Lib	36.46%	10,522	9,685	5,556	–	–	803	26,566
Okanagan-Boundary		NDP	7,228	46.82%	3,250	21.05%		SC	25.77%	7,228	3,859	3,978	374	–	–	15,439
Okanagan East		Lib	8,578	38.47%	682	3.06%		SC	35.41%	5,825	8,578	7,896	–	–	–	22,299
Okanagan-Penticton		NDP	7,885	34.84%	448	1.98%		Lib	32.86%	7,885	7,437	6,894	416	–	–	22,632
Okanagan-Vernon		SC	8,615	37.99%	895	3.95%		NDP	34.05%	7,720	6,065	8,615	–	275	–	22,675
Okanagan West		SC	11,667	41.15%	2,657	9.37%		Lib	31.78%	7,361	9,010	11,667	312	–	–	28,350
Parksville-Qualicum		NDP	10,408	40.24%	1,282	4.96%		Lib	35.29%	10,408	9,126	5,846	303	–	180	25,863
Peace River North		SC	5,758	54.79%	3,411	32.45%		NDP	22.33%	2,347	2,048	5,758	303	54	–	10,510
Peace River South		SC	4,617	37.21%	773	6.23%		NDP	30.98%	3,844	3,512	4,617	435	–	–	12,408
Port Coquitlam		NDP	11,435	45.48%	1,506	5.99%		Lib	39.49%	11,435	9,929	3,781	–	–	–	25,145
Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain		NDP	9,821	45.62%	1,730	8.04%		Lib	37.59%	9,821	8,091	3,450	151	–	14	21,527
Powell River-Sunshine Coast		Lib	11,486	54.68%	4,369	20.80%		NDP	33.88%	7,117	11,486	2,174	161	66	–	21,004
Prince George-Mount Robson		NDP	5,751	50.99%	1,616	14.33%		SC	36.66%	5,751	–	4,135	–	1,393	–	11,279
Prince George North		NDP	5,468	38.74%	962	6.82%		Lib	31.93%	5,468	4,506	4,139	–	–	–	14,113
Prince George-Omineca		SC	6,656	52.05%	525	4.11%		NDP	47.95%	6,131	–	6,656	–	–	–	12,787
Richmond Centre		Lib	7,806	42.44%	1,284	6.98%		NDP	35.46%	6,522	7,806	3,889	108	–	68	18,393
Richmond East		Lib	6,870	40.91%	774	4.61%		NDP	36.30%	6,096	6,870	3,703	123	–	–	16,792
Richmond-Steveston		Lib	6,664	38.32%	610	3.51%		NDP	34.81%	6,054	6,664	4,609	–	–	65	17,392
Rossland-Trail		NDP	8,340	51.73%	4,538	28.15%		Ind	23.58%	8,340	–	3,267	713	3,802 [a 3]	–	16,122
Saanich North and the Islands		Lib	13,633	52.53%	4,888	18.84%		NDP	33.70%	8,745	13,633	2,917	–	–	656	25,951
Saanich South		NDP	10,254	44.63%	1,945	8.47%		Lib	36.17%	10,254	8,309	4,218	–	–	193	22,974
Shuswap		NDP	7,687	35.50%	405	1.87%		Lib	33.63%	7,687	7,282	6,262	422	–	–	21,653
Skeena		NDP	5,597	46.67%	831	6.93%		SC	39.74%	5,597	1,629	4,766	–	–	–	11,992
Surrey-Cloverdale		Lib	9,012	38.28%	1,751	7.44%		NDP	30.84%	7,261	9,012	6,920	–	–	348	23,541
Surrey-Green Timbers		NDP	8,708	46.16%	2,384	12.64%		Lib	33.52%	8,708	6,324	3,744	89	–	–	18,865
Surrey-Newton		NDP	10,193	42.28%	2,397	9.94%		SC	32.34%	10,193	5,923	7,796	197	–	–	24,109
Surrey-Whalley		NDP	7,243	47.76%	2,381	15.70%		Lib	32.06%	7,243	4,862	2,922	137	–	–	15,164
Surrey-White Rock		Lib	11,008	38.84%	1,945	6.86%		NDP	31.98%	9,063	11,008	8,062	–	–	209	28,342
Vancouver-Burrard		NDP	9,725	50.93%	2,998	15.70%		Lib	35.23%	9,725	6,727	2,201	441	–	–	19,094
Vancouver-Fraserview		NDP	8,016	44.16%	2,179	12.00%		Lib	32.16%	8,016	5,837	4,060	141	–	98	18,152
Vancouver-Hastings		NDP	10,087	55.93%	4,995	27.69%		Lib	28.23%	10,087	5,092	2,589	268	–	–	18,036
Vancouver-Kensington		NDP	8,323	46.85%	3,623	20.39%		Lib	26.45%	8,323	4,700	4,389	155	–	200	17,767
Vancouver-Kingsway		NDP	9,292	54.79%	4,902	28.90%		Lib	25.88%	9,292	4,390	3,112	137	–	29	16,960
Vancouver-Langara		Lib	7,241	36.95%	467	2.38%		NDP	34.56%	6,774	7,241	5,374	134	–	75	19,598
Vancouver-Little Mountain		NDP	10,383	45.43%	2,203	9.64%		Lib	35.79%	10,383	8,180	3,944	259	90	–	22,856
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant		NDP	10,108	63.33%	6,971	43.67%		Lib	19.65%	10,108	3,137	2,143	432	–	142	15,962
Vancouver-Point Grey		NDP	12,076	49.26%	3,054	12.46%		Lib	36.80%	12,076	9,022	2,817	388	138	75	24,516
Vancouver-Quilchena		Lib	11,373	49.53%	5,201	22.65%		NDP	26.88%	6,172	11,373	5,113	302	–	–	22,960
Victoria-Beacon Hill		NDP	10,939	47.95%	3,505	15.36%		Lib	32.59%	10,939	7,434	3,712	728	–	–	22,813
Victoria-Hillside		NDP	11,117	51.39%	3,884	17.95%		Lib	33.44%	11,117	7,233	2,714	569	–	–	21,633
West Vancouver-Capilano		Lib	13,194	56.63%	7,033	30.18%		SC	26.44%	3,740	13,194	6,161	140	–	65	23,300
West Vancouver-Garibaldi		Lib	11,182	58.36%	6,676	34.84%		NDP	23.52%	4,506	11,182	3,020	454	–	–	19,162
Yale-Lillooet		NDP	7,740	52.31%	683	4.62%		SC	47.69%	7,740	–	7,057	–	–	–	14,797

1. Minor political parties receiving less than 1% of the popular vote (and fielding candidates in fewer than half the ridings) are aggregated under Other
2. Jack Kempf, who received 2,842 votes, was the incumbent Social Credit MLA for Omineca, but opted to campaign as an Independent in 1991.
3. Christopher D'Arcy was the incumbent NDP MLA for Rossland-Trail.

  = Winning candidate held seat 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

  = Previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = Multiple candidates

Legacy

This was considered a political realignment due to the high turnover in MLAs and the effective end of the Socreds as a political force. The party was completely shut out of the legislature in the 1996 election, never to return. Meanwhile, the Liberals replaced them as the main non-socialist party in British Columbia. The NDP and Liberals would go on to be the two main parties in the province until 2024, when the Liberals, who by then had renamed themselves BC United, withdrew from that year's general election and endorsed the Conservative Party of British Columbia.

However, neither Harcourt, Wilson, or Johnston would contest the subsequent 1996 election as leaders of the major parties, with Johnston and Harcourt having retired from politics by that campaign. Johnston, having lost her seat, resigned the leadership of the Socreds immediately in early 1992. Harcourt resigned as premier in 1996 due to a scandal among the MLAs in his caucus. Wilson proved unable to consolidate the party's leadership due to inexperience and he was eventually deposed in 1993, and he crossed to the NDP in 1997 after a brief spell as founder, leader and sole MLA of the Progressive Democratic Alliance. He served as an MLA and minister until his defeat in 2001. Wilson was also a candidate for the NDP's leadership in 2000, won by Ujjal Dosanjh.

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

References

1. "B.C. Voter Participation: 1983 to 2013" (PDF). Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
3. "Elections BC – SOV91 Forword". Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
4. "Gordon Wilson's debate triumph in B.C." CBC News Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 8, 1991. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
5. Tom Barrett (October 12, 1991). "Liberals leap into second, poll suggests: Socreds overtaken by narrow margin; NDP still in the lead". Vancouver Star. p. A1.
6. The Canadian Press (September 28, 1991). "Poll shows NDP lead on decline". Vancouver Star. p. B13.
7. The Canadian Press (July 29, 1990). "NDP lead widening in B.C., poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A15.
8. The Canadian Press (January 21, 1990). "Vander Zalm gets boost, poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A15.
9. Chris Rose (May 2, 1989). "Harcourt, NDP sweep voter poll: 53 per cent would vote for party to oust Socreds". Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
10. The Canadian Press (October 19, 1988). "Most in B.C. see Vander Zalm as liability to party, poll shows". Toronto Star. p. A18.
11. The Canadian Press (November 29, 1987). "Majority unhappy with Vander Zalm B.C. poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A12.
12. Kieran, Brian (December 12, 1989). "Political pundits pick the NDP, 7 to 5". The Province. p. 6.
13. Hume, Mark (December 9, 1989). "Poll shows close race in Oak Bay: Generation, gender gaps split conservative riding". The Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
14. Hauka, Don (December 8, 1989). "Neck and neck in Oak Bay". The Province. p. 1.
15. Macdonald was not eligible to run as a candidate in 1991. He moved to Canada at the age of 10 and only discovered during the election campaign that he was a British subject and had never obtained his Canadian citizenship. (Matas, Robert, "B.C. Tory leader ineligible for election He discovered just two weeks ago that he isn't a Canadian citizen", Globe and Mail, October 2, 1991
16. Elections BC 2002, pp. 5–14.

Further reading

• Electoral History of British Columbia: Supplement, 1987–2001 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN   0-7726-4789-5.
• Leyton-Brown, David, ed. (1998). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1991 . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442672048.

External links

• Elections BC 1991 Election