British Columbia general election, 1991

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British Columbia general election, 1991
Flag of British Columbia.svg
  1986 October 17, 1991 1996  

75 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout64.03% [1] Decrease2.svg 1.77 pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Mike Harcourt.jpg
BCL
SC
Leader Mike Harcourt Gordon Wilson Rita Johnston
Party New Democratic Liberal Social Credit
Leader since198719871991
Leader's seat Vancouver-Mount Pleasant Powell River-Sunshine Coast Surrey-Newton (lost re-election)
Last election22047
Seats won51177
Seat changeIncrease2.svg29Increase2.svg17Decrease2.svg40
Popular vote595,391486,208351,660
Percentage40.7133.2524.05
SwingDecrease2.svg1.89Increase2.svg26.51Decrease2.svg25.27

Premier before election

Rita Johnston
Social Credit

Premier-designate

Mike Harcourt
New Democratic

The British Columbia general election of 1991 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 incumbent Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which had been beset by scandals during Bill Vander Zalm's only term as premier, was defeated by the New Democratic Party of Mike Harcourt. Liberal Party leader Gordon Wilson surprised observers by leading his party to winning one-third of the votes cast, and forming the official opposition in the legislature. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1992.

British Columbia Province of Canada

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. With an estimated population of 5.016 million as of 2018, it is Canada's third-most populous province.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia single house of the Parliament of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, while the other is Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

Contents

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.

A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in which the personal interest of an individual or organization might adversely affect a duty owed to make decisions for the benefit of a third party.

Rita Margaret Johnston is a Canadian politician in British Columbia. Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th Premier of British Columbia.

Grace Mary McCarthy, OC, OBC, LLD, DTech, FRAIC (Hon.) was a Canadian politician and florist in British Columbia. A high-ranking member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia, she was largely responsible for rebuilding that party after its defeat in the 1972 provincial 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 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]

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.

51177
New DemocraticLiberalSocial Credit
PartyParty leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1986 Elected% Change#%% Change
  New Democrats Michael Harcourt 752251+131.8%595,39140.71%-1.89%
Liberal Gordon Wilson 71-17 486,20833.25%+26.51%
Social Credit Rita Johnston 74477-85.1%351,66024.05%-25.27%
Green  42---12,6500.86%+0.62%
 Independents16---10,2810.70%+0.57%
Reform Ron Gamble 4*-*2,6730.18%*
Family Coalition  8*-*1,3100.09%*
  Libertarian  11---8600.06%+0.04%
  Western Canada Concept Doug Christie 5---6510.04%+0.02%
  Conservative Peter B. Macdonald [5] 4---4260.03%-0.70%
  Human Race  2*-*1100.01%*
  Green Go (Green Wing/Rhino)  1*-*930.01%*
  Communist League  3---920.01%-0.02%
  Interdependence Party  1*-*62x*
Total3176975+8.7%1,462,467100% 
Source: Elections BC

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

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Legacy

This was considered a realigning election 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.

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 one of 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

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References

  1. "B.C. Voter Participation: 1983 to 2013" (PDF). Elections BC . Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
  4. "Gordon Wilson's debate triumph in B.C." CBC News Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 October 1991. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. 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