Kootenay (provincial electoral district)

Last updated April 10, 2023

Kootenay was a provincial electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, from 1871 to 1890. It was originally a two-member riding until the 1875 election; from 1878, it was a one-member seat until its partition for the 1890 election into East Kootenay and West Kootenay. For the 1966 election, the riding-name was re-established, but the area described was only the East Kootenay and included none of the West Kootenay.

Demographics

Population
Population Change,	%
Area (km²)
Pop. Density (people per km²)

Geography

History

Notable MLAs

Election results 1871-1890

1st British Columbia election, 1871
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Independent	John Andrew Mara	17	43.59%	unknown
	Independent	William Cosgrove Milby	9	23.08%	unknown
	Independent	Charles Todd	13	13.33%	unknown
Total valid votes			39	100.00%

1875 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Reform caucus	Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith	16	25.40%
	Reform caucus	Charles Gallagher	16	25.40%	Y
	Government	William Cosgrove Milby	15	23.80%
	Reform caucus	Arthur Wellesley Vowell	48	23.88%	Y
Total valid votes			63
To break a three-way tie, the Returning Officer cast the deciding votes for Gallagher and Vowell (Victoria Colonist 24 October 1875)

v t e 1878 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Opposition (?)	Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith	Accl.	Y
	Opposition (?)	Charles Gallagher	Accl.	Y
Total valid votes			187

4th British Columbia election, 1882 ¹
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Robert Leslie Thomas Galbraith	Accl.	--%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			--	--%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
¹Seat reduced to one member from two.

5th British Columbia election, 1886
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	James Baker	111	60.00%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William M. Brown	74	40.00%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			185	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

The riding was partitioned for the 1894 election.

Election results 1966-1986

The riding-name was re-established in time for the 1966 election, but covered only the East Kootenay region rather than the entire Kootenays as had been the case in its first incarnation.

28th British Columbia election, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Robert Owen Jones	3,070	34.89%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Henry Cartmell (Harry) McKay	2,123	24.13%		unknown
	NDP	Leo Thomas Nimsick	3,605	40.98%		unknown
Total valid votes			8.798	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			54
Turnout			%

29th British Columbia election, 1969
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	J. Harry Broadhurst	4,267	38.26%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Henry Nelson	2,604	23.35%		unknown
	NDP	Leo Thomas Nimsick	4,282	38.39%		unknown
Total valid votes			11,153	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			173
Turnout			%

30th British Columbia election, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Harry Edwards Caldwell	1,872	13.64%		unknown
	NDP	Leo Thomas Nimsick	6,065	44.20%		unknown
	Social Credit	Ronald Powell	1,615	11.77%	–	unknown
	PC	David John Reeves	4,169	30.38%		unknown
Total valid votes			13,721	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			180
Turnout			%

31st British Columbia election, 1975
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	George Wayne Haddad	7,915	52.29%	–	unknown
	NDP	Leo Thomas Nimsick	7,223	47.71%		unknown
Total valid votes			15,138	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			220
Turnout			%

32nd British Columbia election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	PC	Roy Wilburn Paul	975	7.80%		unknown
	Social Credit	Terence Patrick Segarty	6,167	49.37%	–	unknown
	NDP	Douglas Wayne Right	5,350	42.83%		unknown
Total valid votes			12,492	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			102
Turnout			%

33th British Columbia election, 1983
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Harry Edwin Mathias	8,245	47.36%		unknown
	Liberal	Kory Palmer	374	1.99%		unknown
	Social Credit	Terence Patrick Segarty	8,819	50.65%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			17,411	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			208
Turnout			%

34th British Columbia election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Kathleen Anne Edwards	8,000	47.94%		unknown
	Liberal	Paul R. Kershaw	539	3.23%		unknown
	Social Credit	Terence Patrick Segarty	7,649	45.84%	–	unknown
	Progressive Conservative	James G. Smith	499	2.99%		unknown
Total valid votes			16,687	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			271
Turnout			%

Sources

Elections BC Historical Returns 1871-1986

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