Political context
Non-party system
There were to be no political parties in the new province. The designations "Government" and "Opposition" and "Independent" (and variations on these) functioned in place of parties, but they were very loose and do not represent formal coalitions, more alignments of support during the campaign. "Government" meant in support of the current Premier; "Opposition" meant campaigning against him, and often enough the Opposition would win and immediately become the Government. The Elections British Columbia notes for this election describe the designations as "Government (GOV.) candidates supported the administration of G.A.B. Walkem. Those opposed ran as Reform (REF.), Opposition (OPP.), Independent Reform (IND.REF.), or Independent Opposition (IND.OPP.) candidates. Those who ran as straight Independents (IND.) were sometimes described as Government supporters (IND./GOV.).
The Beaven and Smithe governments
The election was precipitated by the resignation of Premier George Anthony Boomer Walkem. The Premiership was taken over by Robert Beaven, who managed to retain the reins of government though not with as much support as had been enjoyed by Walkem. His government lasted only about seven months, after which William Smithe became Premier due to shifting loyalties in the House, seeking and winning approval in the next election in May 1886.
The premier of British Columbia is the first minister, head of government, and de facto chief executive for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s the title prime minister of British Columbia was often used. The word premier is derived from the French word of the same spelling, meaning "first"; and ultimately from the Latin word primarius, meaning "primary".
George Anthony "Boomer" Walkem was a British Columbian politician and jurist.
Robert Beaven, son of James Beaven, was a British Columbia politician and businessman. Beaven moved to British Columbia from Toronto, where he had been educated at Upper Canada College, because of the gold rush. He entered business in Victoria, which was then the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island. After the colony's union with British Columbia, Beaven became involved with politics as secretary of Amor De Cosmos' Confederation League which advocated that the colony enter Canadian confederation.
Byelections not shown
Any changes due to byelections are shown below the main table showing the theoretical composition of the House after the election. A final table showing the composition of the House at the dissolution of the Legislature at the end of this Parliament can be found below the byelections. The main table represents the immediate results of the election only, not changes in governing coalitions or eventual changes due to byelections.
List of ridings
The original ridings were increased by one (Cassiar) and Cowichan was reduced to a one-member seat, although the total of 25 members remained. There were no political parties were not acceptable in the House by convention, though some members were openly partisan at the federal level (usually Conservative, although both Liberal and Labour allegiance were on display by some candidates).
The British Columbia Conservative Party, formerly the British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. From the early 1900s until the 1950s, the Conservatives were, along with the British Columbia Liberal Party, one of the two major parties in the province. Since the 1950s, the party has gradually declined in prominence, last winning a seat in a 1978 by-election. The Conservatives enjoyed a brief resurgence after Liberal MLA John van Dongen joined the party in 2012, and won nearly 5% of the vote in the 2013 provincial election. The party plays a minor role in provincial politics today.
The British Columbia Liberal Party is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The base of the BC Liberal Party is made up of supporters of both the federal Liberal Party and Conservative Party, and its policies are a mixture of Liberal and Conservative. The party forms the Official Opposition. Andrew Wilkinson became leader of the party on February 3, 2018, after winning the Leadership Election on the fifth ballot, making him the Leader of the Official Opposition of British Columbia.
These ridings were:
Cariboo was one of the twelve original electoral districts created when British Columbia became a Canadian province in 1871. Roughly corresponding to the old colonial electoral administrative district of the same name, it was a three-member riding until the 1894 election, when it was reduced through reapportionment and became a two-member riding until the 1916 election, after which it has been a single-member riding. It produced many notable Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), including George Anthony Boomer Walkem, third and fifth holder of the office of Premier of British Columbia and who was one of the first representatives elected from the riding; John Robson, ninth Premier of British Columbia; and Robert Bonner, a powerful minister in the W.A.C. Bennett cabinet, and later CEO of MacMillan Bloedel and BC Hydro.
Cassiar was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared in the British Columbia general election of 1882.
Comox was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was one of the first twelve ridings representing that province upon its joining Confederation, and was a one-member constituency. The core of this once-vast riding, which at its inception stretched to the Yukon border, is now named Comox Valley.
Polling conditions
Natives (First Nations) and Chinese were disallowed from voting, although naturalized Kanakas (Hawaiian colonists) and American and West Indian blacks and certain others participated. The requirement that knowledge of English be spoken for balloting was discussed but not applied.
Byelections
As customary, byelections were held to confirm the appointment of various members to the Executive Council (cabinet).
- William James Armstrong, New Westminster City, April 21, 1884
- Simeon Duck, Victoria City, April 15, 1885
- Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, Lillooet, March 31, 1883
- William Smithe, Cowichan, March 31, 1883
- John Robson, New Westminster, March 31, 1883
William James Armstrong was a merchant, miller and politician in British Columbia. He represented New Westminster District from 1871 to 1878 and New Westminster City from 1881 to 1884 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
New Westminster City was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1871 to 1912. For other electoral districts in New Westminster, please see New Westminster.
Simeon Duck was a businessman and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Victoria City in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1871 to 1875, from 1882 to 1886 and from 1888 to 1890.
Smithe's byelection acclamation confirmed him as Premier; Executive Council appointments were decided and made by the Lieutenant-Governor in this period, not by the Premier directly, but by the L-G in Consultation with the Premier (as still is the case, though only as a formal technicality, not in practice). The Premier's position itself was technically an appointment, as there were no political parties nor leaders, other than unofficial ones for each faction in the House to whom the Lieutenant-Governor would turn if their known caucus was sufficient to form a government.
Other byelections were held on the occasion of death, ill health, retirement and/or resignation for other reasons. These were won by:
- James Cunningham, New Westminster City, April 21, 1884, byelection held upon J. Armstrong's appointment as Sherriff April 5, 1884
- George Bohun Martin, Yale, October 13, 1882, byelection held because of death of P. Bennett August 9, 1882
Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, QC -- referred to as A. E. B. Davie -- was a British Columbia politician and lawyer, and was premier of British Columbia from 1887 until his death. Called to the bar in 1873, he was the first person to receive his entire law education in British Columbia. Davie was first elected to the provincial legislature in 1875 from the riding of Cariboo as independent opposition candidate. He lost his seat in 1877 after a brief stint in the cabinet of Premier Andrew Charles Elliott, as provincial secretary. Davie returned to the legislature in 1882, this time from the riding of Lillooet, and became Attorney-General under Premier William Smithe. He went to Ottawa and argued before the Supreme Court of Canada in favour of provincial rights pleading that the province had a right to regulate its liquour sales. When Smithe died in 1887, the lieutenant-governor asked Davie to become Premier but he fell ill within months and left for California to recuperate. In his absence, Provincial Secretary John Robson ran the government on a day-to-day basis, though Davie kept in touch through letters. He returned in May 1888, but his health was in a poor state, and he ultimately died in office. His brother, Theodore Davie, later became premier in 1892.
William Smithe was a British Columbia politician.
John Robson was a Canadian journalist and politician, who served as the ninth Premier of the Province of British Columbia.
The British Columbia general election of 1933 was the eighteenth 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 September 13, 1933, and held on November 2, 1933. The new legislature met for the first time on February 20, 1934.
Formerly a British colony, British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. An interim Cabinet was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, and election writs for the first general election as a province of Canada were issued to choose 25 members of the first provincial legislature from 12 ridings. These ridings were:
Cariboo District was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1871 to 1872.
The Lillooet electoral district was a riding in the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the town of the same name and with various boundaries. Originally with two members, the constituency was split into Lillooet West and Lillooet East in the 1894, 1898, and 1900 elections, with Lillooet West being recomprised as one riding in the 1903 election.
This was the second election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. Many of the politicians in the House had served with the Legislative Council or Assembly or the Executive Council, or had otherwise been stalwarts of the colonial era - some supporters of Confederation, others not. Some were ranchers or mining bosses from the Interior, others were colonial gentry from the Island and New Westminster, and others direct arrivals from Britain, Ireland or "Canada", which was still considered a different place not only in the minds of the politicians but in the language used in Hansard during this period.
This was the third election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871.
This was the fourth election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. The number of members was increased for this election from 25 to 27, and the number of ridings increased to 13.
This was the sixth election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. The number of members was increased for this election from 27 in the previous election to 33, although the number of ridings was decreased to 18.
This was the seventh election held after British Columbia became a province of Canada on July 20, 1871. The number of members remained at 33 with the number of ridings increased to 26 as a result of the partition of the Yale and Westminster ridings.
George Cowan was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, for the riding of Cariboo. He was first elected in a byelection in 1877 at the encouragement of George Walkem, the former and, at the time, future Premier. Cowan defeated the incumbent A.E.B. Davie, also a future Premier, who sought to win a seat in the House via the Cariboo byelection but who unlike Cowan did not have the advantages of Walkem's influence and support in the Cariboo riding. Cowan was re-elected consistently until retiring before the 1890 election.
The Legislative Council of British Columbia was an advisory body created in 1867 to the governor of the "new" Colony of British Columbia, which had been created from the merger of the old Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The new colony, like its predecessors, did not have responsible government, and while its debates and resolutions carried considerable weight, executive power remained in the hands of the governor, who at the time of the council's founding was Frederick Seymour.
The British Columbia electoral redistribution of 2008 was undertaken over a lengthy period that began in late 2005 and was completed with the passage of the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 on April 10, 2008. The redistribution modified most electoral boundaries in the province, and increased the number of MLAs from 79 to 85. The electoral boundaries created by the redistribution were first used in the 2009 provincial election.
The 2nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1875 to 1878. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in September and October 1875. The government of George Anthony Walkem was defeated on a confidence motion on January 25, 1876, and Andrew Charles Elliott was asked to form a new government. On March 29, 1878, a government bill to redistribute the seats in the legislature was defeated and the assembly was dissolved on April 12, 1878.
The 3rd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1878 to 1882. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in May 1878. George Anthony Walkem was asked to form a government. Robert Beaven succeeded Walkem as premier in June 1882.
