Atlin (electoral district)

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Atlin was a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. It made its first appearance on the hustings in the 10th provincial general election in 1903 and last appeared in the 34th provincial general election in 1986, after which it was merged with the Skeena riding and was succeeded by Bulkley Valley-Stikine.

Contents

Geography

Always one of the province's largest ridings by area, it was always among the smallest in population, and is often cited as an example of a lack of proper representation-by-population in the BC political system. From the perspective of riding residents, who are spread out in a handful of small settlements from the Nass River to the Yukon border, a riding incorporating larger population centres was unfair to them. Ultimately the pressure to redress lack of equality in voting-weight among BC ridings saw the Atlin riding being merged with Skeena riding.

First Nations

An important factor in the Atlin riding was the dominance of its First Nations population, including the whole of the Nisga'a Nation (Frank Calder and Larry Guno were both Nisga'a). Also in the riding in its entirety was the Tahltan Nation, centred on the isolated towns of Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake. The area of the town of Atlin is part of the Inland Tlingit Nation.

Towns and industry

A factor in the riding was the dominance of working men in its handful of industrial towns (principally mining).

The main towns in the riding were:

Members of the Legislative Assembly

The most notable member of the Legislative Assembly from Atlin was Frank Calder. A Nisga'a, he originally ran for the CCF, and then the NDP, but in the 1975 election he switched sides to Social Credit, but went down to defeat under that party's banner in 1979 and retired from electoral politics.

Electoral history

Due to its small electorate, battles over spoiled ballots were critical in Atlin's electoral history:

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

10th British Columbia election, 1903
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal John Kirkland20246.12%unknown
Conservative Henry Essen Young 23653.88%unknown
Total valid votes438100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
11th British Columbia election, 1907
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal John Irving4637.10%unknown
Conservative Henry Essen Young 7862.90%unknown
Total valid votes124100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
12th British Columbia election, 1909
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal John Irving6537.79%unknown
Conservative Henry Essen Young 10762.21%unknown
Total valid votes172100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
13th British Columbia election, 1912
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Conservative Henry Essen Young (acclamation)n/a%unknown
Total valid votes---.--%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
14th British Columbia election, 1916
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Conservative William X. McDonald27745.71%unknown
Liberal Frank Harry Mobley 32954.29%unknown
Total valid votes606100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
1920 British Columbia general election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Liberal Herbert Frederick Kergin 39036.69
Federated Labour George Bernard Casey30028.22
Conservative William Cameron Ross22921.542
Independent Harold Randolph King868.09
Independent Labour Patrick Daly302.8
Independent Oakley Beauport Bush282.63
Total valid votes1,063100.00
16th British Columbia election, 1924
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Provincial Robert Armour38031.77%unknown
Conservative Edmund John Conway35329.52%unknown
Liberal Herbert Frederick Kergin 46338.71%unknown
Total valid votes1,196100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout%
17th British Columbia election, 1928
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Conservative Thomas Wilbert Falconer54246.68%unknown
Liberal Herbert Frederick Kergin 56750.56%unknown
 IndependentWilliam Herbert Moult322.76%unknown
Total valid votes1,161100.00%
Total rejected ballots22
Turnout%
18th British Columbia election, 1933
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal William James Asselstine 41932.63%unknown
Independent ConservativeThomas Wilbert Falconer13610.59%
 Independent Herbert Frederick Kergin 26720.79%unknown
Total valid votes1,284100.00%
Total rejected ballots34
Turnout%
19th British Columbia election, 1937
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal William James Asselstine 56254.46%unknown
  Co-operative Commonwealth Charles H. Lake26325.53%unknown
Conservative Ernest Love20519.90%unknown
Total valid votes1,030100.00%
Total rejected ballots31
Turnout%
20th British Columbia election, 1941
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Liberal William James Asselstine 45454.83%unknown
 LabourJohn Scott37445.17%unknown
Total valid votes828100.00%
Total rejected ballots24
Turnout%
21st British Columbia election, 1945
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Norman Cunningham29249.58%
Coalition William Duncan Smith 29750.42%
Total valid votes589100.00%
Total rejected ballots0
22nd British Columbia election, 1949
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Frank Arthur Calder 37650.40%
Coalition William Duncan Smith37049.60%
Total valid votes746100.00%
Total rejected ballots190
Turnout%
23rd British Columbia election, 1952 1
PartyCandidateVotes
1st count
%Votes
final count
%±%
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Frank Arthur Calder 59556.61%59556.61%unknown
  Progressive Conservative Thomas Sutherland MacKay16415.60%16415.60%unknown
Liberal William Duncan Smith29227.78%29227.78%unknown
Total valid votes1,051100.00%1,051%
Total rejected ballots44
Turnout%
1 preferential ballot - only 1 count needed
24th British Columbia election, 1953 2
PartyCandidateVotes
1st count
%Votes
final count
%±%
Social Credit Frank Assu10811.54%10811.54%
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Frank Arthur Calder 55359.08%55359.08%unknown
Liberal William Duncan Smith27529.38%27529.38%unknown
Total valid votes936100.00%936%
Total rejected ballots125
Total Registered Voters5,933 (1952 list)
Turnout%
Preferential ballot; only one count needed
25th British Columbia election, 1956
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit William James Asselstine 45448.04%unknown
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Frank Arthur Calder 36038.10%unknown
Liberal George Douglas Frizzell13113.86%unknown
Total valid votes945100.00%
Total rejected ballots59
Turnout%
26th British Columbia election, 1960
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit William James Asselstine 26732.05%unknown
Conservative Charles Jewell Brown12214.65%unknown
  Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Frank Arthur Calder 44453.30%unknown
Total valid votes833100.00%
Total rejected ballots85
Turnout%
27th British Columbia election, 1963
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit William James Asselstine 30830.56%unknown
New Democratic Frank Arthur Calder 54954.46%unknown
Liberal Cyril Felix Dopson44453.30%unknown
Total valid votes1,008100.00%
Total rejected ballots19
Turnout%
28th British Columbia election, 1966
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
New Democratic Frank Arthur Calder 57259.71%unknown
Liberal Robin Roy Datziel12513.05%unknown
Social Credit Kirkwood, Thomas James27127.24%unknown
Total valid votes958100.00%
Total rejected ballots10
Turnout%
29th British Columbia election, 1969
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
New Democratic Frank Arthur Calder 63953.12%unknown
Social Credit Peter John Curran23019.12%unknown
Liberal Basil Edward Studer33427.76%unknown
Total valid votes1,203100.00%
Total rejected ballots13
Turnout%
30th British Columbia election, 1972
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit John Norman Anderson24514.88%unknown
New Democratic Frank Arthur Calder 67540.98%unknown
  Progressive Conservative Glen Leslie Clayton653.95%unknown
 IndependentPeter John Curran24214.69%unknown
Liberal Basil Edward Studer24214.69%unknown
Total valid votes1,467100.00%
Total rejected ballots27
Turnout%
31st British Columbia election, 1975
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit Frank Arthur Calder 98455.50%unknown
Liberal Peter John Curran29216.47%unknown
New Democratic Gordon Steidl49728.03%unknown
Total valid votes1,773100.00%
Total rejected ballots22
Turnout%
32nd British Columbia election, 1979
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit Frank Arthur Calder 74949.97%unknown
New Democratic Al Passarell 75050.03%unknown
Total valid votes1,499100.00%
Total rejected ballots39
Turnout%
33rd British Columbia election, 1983
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit Robert Edmund Allen (Bobby) Ball1,20840.48%unknown
 IndependentPaul Danny Brohman842.82%unknown
 IndependentBurgess A. Longson1053.52%unknown
New Democratic Al Passarell 1,58753.18%unknown
Total valid votes2,98470.76%
Total rejected ballots393
Turnout%
34th British Columbia election, 1986
PartyCandidateVotes %±Expenditures
Social Credit Andrew (Andy) Burton 85837.29%unknown
New Democratic Larry Guno 1,44362.71%unknown
Total valid votes2,301100.00%
Total rejected ballots31
Turnout%

See also

References