Cariboo (provincial electoral district)

For the federal electoral district, see Cariboo (federal electoral district). For the historical-geographic region, see Cariboo.

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.

Demographics

Population, 1871	Population, 1961
Population change,
Area (km2)
Population density

Political geography

When the riding was created, the bulk of its population was in the Cariboo goldfields district around Barkerville, although its boundaries extended to the Yukon boundaries - the original Cariboo riding at its creation included all of the former New Caledonia fur district, north of those parts of it now in the Lillooet Land District which formed the Lillooet riding.¹ As mining exploration and other settlement spread northwards from the Cariboo mining areas, the Omineca, Fort George and Peace River ridings were split off by the end of the 19th century, and the Cariboo riding was reduced to the Cariboo Plateau, south from Quesnel to just south of Williams Lake and 150 Mile House, and including the Barkerville, British Columbia region as well as the remote Chilcotin region, which had no voting (settler) population when the riding was formed other than isolated traders and trappers who may have had time or means to vote. Nearly all of the 785 voters in the first election were in the goldfield towns, Quesnel (then Quesnellemouthe), Williams Lake or towns and ranches south along the Cariboo Road and other routes of the era, and those along the West Fraser from the Chilcotin River, including the Gang Ranch south to just north of Big Bar, an isolated canyon ranching, river-crossing and wagon-trail town in the Fraser Canyon, which was in the Lillooet riding.

Following the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), increased settlement on the Cariboo Plateau south of the goldfields region shifted the population weight of the riding to that area, which was increasingly centred on the town of Williams Lake and the plateau between there and Kamloops, British Columbia. The southern Cariboo region, later added in a redistribution and division of the Cariboo riding into Cariboo South and Cariboo North, which exist today, was originally part of the Lillooet riding. The Lillooet and Cariboo provincial ridings combined formed the original definition of the Cariboo federal riding.

¹New Caledonia's southern boundary was vague, but it was generally accepted to include the Thompson area although its heartland is the Fort Saint James-Fraser Lake region northwest of Prince George.

First Nations

When the riding was created its boundaries stretched from the Quesnel Lake and Chilcotin areas, flanking the great plateau of central BC on its east and west, all the way north to the Yukon border. At that time, although irrelevant to the issue of electoral representation, the riding's population included members of the Shuswap, Carrier, Chilcotin, Sekani and other more northerly nations. As the riding was reduced to roughly correspond with the Cariboo district (excluding Lillooet-Ashcroft, which were in the Lillooet electoral district, at least until the mid-20th century) the native population became only Shuswap, along the Fraser and east of it, and the Chilcotin people, who lived to the west of it. First Nations people, even in the reduced riding area, mostly outnumbered the total figure for non-natives until the early 20th century, but were not allowed to vote or run for office.

Notable MLAs

• Alexander Edmund Batson Davie, became the eighth premier of British Columbia
• Alex Fraser, held the seat for 20 years

Electoral history

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

1st British Columbia general election, 1871

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Cornelius Booth	155	19.74%		unknown
	Independent	John Evans	107	13.63%		unknown
	Independent	Joseph Hunter	162	20.64%		unknown
	Independent	John Spencer Thompson	132	16.82%		unknown
	Independent	George Anthony Boomer Walkem 1	229	29.17%		unknown
Total valid votes			785	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
1 Premier 1874-1876

British Columbia provincial by-election, November 27, 1871
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Independent	George Anthony Boomer Walkem	Acclaimed
The byelection was called due to Walkem's resignation upon appointment to the Executive Council (cabinet) on November. This byelection was one of a series held to confirm appointments to the Executive Council, which was the old parliamentary convention. As this byelection writ was filled by acclamation, no polling day was required and the seat was filled within two weeks. The stated date is the date the return of writs was received by the Chief Electoral Officer.

British Columbia byelection: Cariboo, June 22, 1872 ³

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Abraham Barlow	23	9.35%		unknown
	Independent	John George Barnston	132	53.66%		unknown
	Independent	Edward Pearson	91	36.99%		unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
3Caused by resignation of C. Booth 23 April 1872 upon appointment as Clerk to the Bench at Kootenay 19 April 1872.

2nd British Columbia election, 1875

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Alexander Edmund Batson Davie	199	23.36%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Evans	173	20.31%	–	unknown
	Government	Edward Pearson	117	13.73%	–	unknown
	Government	John Johnston Robertson	68	7.98%	–	unknown
	Government	George Anthony Boomer Walkem 4	254	29.81%	–	unknown
	Government	Samuel Walker	41	4.81%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			852	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
4Incumbent Premier from 1874; term ended in 1876

3rd British Columbia election, 1878

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	George Cowan	238	30.20%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Evans	230	29.19%	–	unknown
	Government	Jonathan Nutt	68	8.63%	–	unknown
	Opposition	George Anthony Boomer Walkem 5	252	31.98%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			788	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
5 Elected Premier

British Columbia byelection: Cariboo, August 3, 1878 ⁶

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	George Anthony Boomer Walkem	Acclaimed	-.- %	–	unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
6Byelection caused by Walkem's resignation upon appointment to the Executive Council June. Date is that of return of writ, as a polling day was not necessary.

British Columbia byelection: Cariboo, October 29, 1879⁷

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Unknown	George Ferguson	94	41.23%
	Unknown	John Glasson	55	24.12%
	Unknown	Robert McLeese	79	34.65%
Total valid votes			228
7Cause of byelection was the death of John Evans August.

4th British Columbia election, 1882

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	George Cowan	217	24.46%		unknown
	Opposition	George Ferguson	117	13.19%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Daniel McKay	82	9.25%	–	unknown
	Government	Robert McLeese	169	19.05%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Samuel Walker	107	12.06%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Charles Wilson	195	21.98%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			887	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

5th British Columbia election, 1886

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Neil R. Campbell	39	5.17%	–	unknown
	Government	George Cowan	111	14.70%	–	unknown
	Opposition	George Ferguson	90	11.92%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Robert McLeese	113	14.97%	–	unknown
	Government	Joseph Mason	125	16.56%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Denis Murphy	88	11.65%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Robert Lauderdale Shaw	38	5.03%	–	unknown
	Independent	Samuel Walker	61	8.08%		unknown
	Government	Charles Wilson	90	11.92%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			755	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

6th British Columbia election, 1890

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Joseph Mason	187	29.13%	–	unknown
	Government	John Robson 8	158	24.61%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Samuel Augustus Rogers	163	25.39%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William Pinchbeck	134	20.87%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			642	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
8 Incumbent Premier since 1889; term ended in 1892

7th British Columbia election, 1894

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	William Adams	147	21.33%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Charlton Kinchant	95	13.79%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Robert McLeese	142	20.61%	–	unknown
	Government	Samuel Augustus Rogers	167	24.24%	–	unknown
	Government	Hugh Watt	138	20.03%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			689	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

8th British Columbia election, 1898

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Hans Lars Helgesen	218	28.76%	–	unknown
	Government	Joseph Hunter	173	22.82%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Charlton Kinchant	195	25.73%	–	unknown
	Government	Samuel Augustus Rogers	172	22.69%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			758	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

v t e 1900 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Conservative	Joseph Hunter	302	31.17	Y
	Conservative	Samuel Augustus Rogers	289	29.82	Y
	Progressive	Harry Jones	201	20.74
	Progressive	John Charlton Kinchant	177	18.27
Total valid votes			969

10th British Columbia election, 1903

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	William Adams	411	23.76%		unknown
	Liberal	Harry Jones	439	25.37%		unknown
	Liberal	James Murphy	501	28.96%		unknown
	Conservative	Samuel Augustus Rogers	379	21.91%		unknown
Total valid votes			1,730	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

11th British Columbia election, 1907

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Leon Frederick James Champion	135	20.64%		unknown
	Liberal	Harry Jones	184	28.14%		unknown
	Conservative	Charles Wilson	152	23.34%		unknown
	Liberal	John McKay Yorston	183	27.98%		unknown
Total valid votes			654	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

12th British Columbia election, 1909

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Michael Callanan	273	31.86%		unknown
	Conservative	John Anderson Fraser	267	31.15%		unknown
	Liberal	Harry Jones	159	18.55%	–	unknown
	Liberal	John McKay Yorston	158	18.54%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			857	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

13th British Columbia election, 1912

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Michael Callanan	310	37.48%		unknown
	Conservative	John Anderson Fraser	335	40.51%		unknown
	Liberal	John Holt	182	22.01%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			827	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

14th British Columbia election, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	John Anderson Fraser	207	31.36%		unknown
	Liberal	John McKay Yorston	453	68.64%		unknown
Total valid votes			660	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

15th British Columbia election, 1920

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	John Anderson Fraser	349	38.35%		unknown
	Liberal	John McKay Yorston	561	61.65%		unknown
Total valid votes			910	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

16th British Columbia election, 1924

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	John Anderson Fraser	397	30.44%		unknown
	Provincial	David Alexander Stoddart	561	61.65%	–	unknown
	Liberal	John McKay Yorston	414	31.75%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			1,304	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

17th British Columbia election, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Robert Neil Campbell	400	28.25%	–	unknown
	Conservative	Roderick Mackenzie	623	44.00%		unknown
	Independent	David Alexander Stoddart	393	27.75%		unknown
Total valid votes			1,416	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			157
Turnout			%

18th British Columbia election, 1933

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Rupert Williams Haggen	398	19.92%		unknown
	Liberal	Donald Morrison MacKay	1,089	54.50%		unknown
	Non-Partisan Independent Group	Roderick Mackenzie	511	25.58%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			1,998	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			38
Turnout			%

19th British Columbia election, 1937

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Jennie E. Clarke	655	25.43%		unknown
	Liberal	Louis LeBourdais	1,921	74.57%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,578	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			62
Turnout			%

20th British Columbia election, 1941

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Richmond Charles Biss	338	11.86%		unknown
	Independent	Truman Charles Docherty	404	14.18%		unknown
	Independent	John Hargreaves	257	9.02%		unknown
	Liberal	Louis LeBourdais	1,429	50.16%		unknown
	Conservative	Christy McDevitt	257	9.02%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,849	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			92
Turnout			%

21st British Columbia election, 1945

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Louis LeBourdais	1,370	57.93%	–	unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Charles Archibald Thomas	995	42.07%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,365	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			67
Turnout			%

22nd British Columbia election, 1949

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Nicholas Charles Bird	1,314	33.12%		unknown
	Coalition	Angus MacLean	2,653	66.88%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			3,967	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			110
Turnout			%

23rd British Columbia election, 1952 9
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Social Credit League	William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd	2,684	51.84%	2,684	51.84%
	Liberal	Angus McLean	1,029	19.88%	1,029	19.88%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Roland Riley	689	13.31%	689	13.31%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Kenneth Winston Thibaudeau	775	14.97%	775	14.97%		unknown
Total valid votes			5,177	%	5,177	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			216
Turnout			77.94%
9 Preferential ballot; only one count necessary due to majority on first count

24th British Columbia election, 1953 10
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jack Gardner Boultbee	509	9.63%	509	9.63%		unknown
	Social Credit League	William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd	2,733	51.73%	2,733	51.73%
	Liberal	Gideon Earl Malcolm	1,050	19.87%	1,050	19.87%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Joseph Wilson McConnell	992	18.77%	992	18.77%		unknown
Total valid votes			5,284	100.00%	5,284	%
Total rejected ballots			288
Total Registered Voters
Turnout			%
10 Preferential ballot; only one count shown due to majority on first count

25th British Columbia election, 1956

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd	3,014	60.86	–	unknown
	Liberal	Felix Rudolph Kohnke	1,141	23.04%	–	unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	James Lehman	797	16.09%		unknown
Total valid votes			4,952	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			45
Turnout			%

26th British Columbia election, 1960

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Stanley Doubleday Crowe	1,842	24.37%		unknown
	Liberal	Felix Rudolph Kohnke	2,073	27.43%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	William Collins Speare	3,091	40.90%	–	unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Celian Orvian Tingley	552	7.30%		unknown
Total valid votes			7,558	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			112
Turnout			%

27th British Columbia election, 1963

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	John Alfred Vernon Cade	1,551	21.60%		unknown
	New Democratic	Stanley Doubleday Crowe	1,482	20.63%		unknown
	Liberal	Felix Rudolph Kohnke	1,134	15.79%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	William Collins Speare	3,015	41.98%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			7,182	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			49
Turnout			%

28th British Columbia election, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Hartley Douglas Dent	2,530	35.74%		unknown
	Liberal	Ronald Charles MacKay	719	10.16%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	William Collins Speare	3,830	54.10%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			7,079	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			74
Turnout			%

29th British Columbia election, 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	5,766	52.05%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Kirby Gerald Seabrook	2,961	26.73%		unknown
	Liberal	David Zirnhelt	2,351	21.22%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			11,078	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			85
Turnout			%

30th British Columbia election, 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ronald Hjalmar Anderson	5,435	38.68%		unknown
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	6,780	48.25%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Lawrence Albert Gladue	1,837	13.07%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			14,052	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			220
Turnout			%

31st British Columbia election, 1975

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Grethyl Verda Adams	6,122	30.13%		unknown
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	14,194	69.87%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			20,316	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			235
Turnout			%

32nd British Columbia election, 1979

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	13,736	64.09%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Byron Ralph Kemp	7,233	33.75%		unknown
	Independent	Brian Hartley Mayne	462	2.16%		unknown
Total valid votes			21,431	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			315
Turnout			%

33rd British Columbia election, 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	16,446	61.82%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Steven Edward Hilbert	8,990	33.80%		unknown
	Green	Jeremie Louis LeBourdais 11	212	0.80%	–	unknown
	Western Canada Concept	Harold Alexander Paley	405	1.52%		unknown
	Liberal	Quintin Robert McAdam Robertson	549	2.06%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			26,602	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			393
Turnout			%
11 Son of former MLA Louis Lebourdais

34th British Columbia election, 1986 ¹²

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Michael George D'Arcy	1,738	3.61%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	John Dressler	8,386	17.41%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Peter V. Epp	555	1.15%		unknown
	Social Credit	Alex Fraser	14,954	30.312%	–	unknown
	Independent	Jeremie Louis LeBourdais	214	0.44%		unknown
	New Democratic	Christine M. Slater	8,250	17.13%		unknown
	Social Credit	T. Neil Vant	12,715	26.40%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Sylvia Anne Louise Warn	927	1.93%	–	unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Richard Wyse	778	1.62%		unknown
Total valid votes			48,157	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			778
Turnout			%
12 Seat increased to two members from one.

Sources

• Elections BC website - historical election data