The 2001 British Columbia general election was the 37th 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 April 18, 2001 and held on May 16, 2001. Voter turnout was 55.4 per cent of all eligible voters.

The incumbent British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), in office since 1991, had been rocked by two major scandals—the Fast Ferries Scandal and a bribery scandal involving Premier Glen Clark. With the NDP's ratings flatlining, Clark resigned in August 1999, and Deputy Premier Dan Miller took over as caretaker premier until Ujjal Dosanjh was elected his permanent successor in February. Dosanjh was not, however, able to restore the party's public image, and the BC NDP suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the British Columbia Liberal Party (BC Liberals), led by former Vancouver mayor Gordon Campbell. The BC Liberals won over 57% of the popular vote, and an unprecedented 77 of the 79 seats in the provincial legislature—the largest victory in the province's electoral history.

The BC NDP, on the other hand, suffered a near-total political collapse. The party lost almost half of the share of the popular vote that it had won in the 1996 election, while its seat count fell from 39 seats to only two—those of Deputy Premier and Education Minister Joy MacPhail and Community Development Minister Jenny Kwan. It was easily the worst defeat of a sitting government in British Columbia history. It was also the fourth worst defeat of a sitting provincial government in Canada, eclipsed only by the New Brunswick election of 1987, the Alberta election of 1935, and the Prince Edward Island election of 1935. In each of those elections, the governing party–the New Brunswick Tories, the United Farmers of Alberta and the PEI Tories–was completely wiped off the map. Dosanjh resigned as party leader soon after the election; he had actually conceded defeat a week before voters went to the polls. Despite being the only other party in the Assembly, the BC NDP lacked the four seats then required for official party status.

2000 redistribution of ridings An Act was passed in 2000 providing for an increase of seats from 75 to 79, upon the next election. The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridingsRenaming of districts Kootenay East Kootenay Mission-Kent Maple Ridge-MissionWith part of Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Matsqui Abbotsford-Mount Lehman Okanagan East Kelowna-Lake Country Okanagan-Penticton Penticton-Okanagan ValleyWith part of Okanagan-Boundary Okanagan West Kelowna-Mission Vancouver-Little MountainParts also went to Vancouver-Fraserview, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Vancouver-Langara Vancouver-FairviewDrawn from other districts Okanagan-WestsideFrom parts of Okanagan West, Okanagan-Vernon and Okanagan-Penticton Surrey-Panorama RidgeFrom parts of Surrey-Newton and Surrey-Cloverdale Surrey-TyneheadFrom parts of Surrey-Cloverdale, Surrey-Whalley and Surrey-Green TimbersMerger of districts Okanagan-Boundary Rossland-Trail West Kootenay-BoundaryReorganization of districts Abbotsford Chilliwack Abbotsford-Clayburn Chilliwack-Kent Chilliwack-Sumas Alberni Nanaimo Parksville-Qualicum Alberni-Qualicum Nanaimo Nanaimo-Parksville Port Coquitlam Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain Burquitlam Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Port Moody-Westwood

Opinion polls During campaign period + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCLP BCNDP BCG BCUP BCMP RPBC Other SampleElection 2001May 16, 200157.6221.5612.393.233.220.221.76COMPASMay 12, 200161161233Ipsos-ReidMay 7, 2001631613331MarkTrendMay 6, 200165141533COMPASMay 1, 20016415135Ipsos-ReidApril 23, 200170161021McIntyre & MustelApril 19, 2001721872Election called (April 18, 2001)

During 36th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

+ Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCLP BCNDP BCG BCUP BCMP RPBC Other SampleCOMPASApril 1, 200166177322Ipsos-ReidMarch 12, 20016320773McIntyre & MustelFebruary 20015920512COMPASFebruary 5, 20015918812McIntyre & MustelJanuary 12, 20015127Ipsos-ReidDecember 10, 200051179194MarkTrendNovember 2000581822McIntyre & MustelOctober 21, 2000671710MarkTrendSeptember 2000551925Ipsos-ReidSeptember 11, 200048198223McIntyre & MustelAugust 2000532119

Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCLP BCNDP BCG RPBC PDA Other SamplePDA unregistered as official party (June 2000)Ipsos-ReidJune 13, 2000571661551MarkTrendApril 20005816215Ipsos-ReidMarch 2000502461631MarkTrendFebruary 2000532717McIntyre & MustelFebruary 27, 20005225515Ujjal Dosanjh becomes leader of the NDP and premier (February 24, 2000)Angus ReidDecember 15, 199955171810MarkTrendOctober 19995319225Angus ReidSeptember 10, 199957151611Angus ReidAugust 24, 199956168172MarkTrendAugust 1999611522Premier Glen Clark resigns (August 21, 1999)Angus ReidJune 8, 1998581631432MarkTrendApril 11, 1999591820Angus ReidMarch 10, 1999521861842Angus ReidDecember 1998461851810Angus ReidSeptember 19984618Angus ReidJune 12, 199842236208McIntyre & MustelMarch 19984825Angus ReidMarch 1998472017Angus ReidDecember 12, 199743245188PollaraDecember 1997412031Angus ReidSeptember 15, 1997333022492Angus ReidJune 16, 1997342732862Angus ReidMarch 10, 1997442421892Angus ReidDecember 1996522921134Angus ReidSeptember 15, 1996453711233Angus ReidJune 199639422963Election 1996May 28, 199641.8239.451.999.275.741.73

Region-specific polls Southern Vancouver Island Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCLP BCNDP BCG BCUP SampleCompasMay 12, 2001492715CompasMay 2, 20015915135

Riding-specific polls Vancouver-Kensington + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCLP BCNDP BCG BCMP BCUP SampleElection 2001May 16, 200147.5638.829.322.681.62McIntyre & MustelMay 1, 200153311023COMPASMay 1, 2001522914Election 1996May 28, 199640.6550.741.89——

Results

PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1996Elected% Change#%Change Gordon Campbell 79 33 77 +133.3% 916,888 57.62% +15.80% New DemocratsUjjal Dosanjh 79 39 2 -94.9% 343,156 21.56% -17.89%Adriane Carr 72- – – 197,231 12.39% +10.40%Chris Delaney 56 – – – 51,426 3.23% +2.97% Brian Taylor 79 * – * 51,206 3.22% *Independent30-- – 14,588 0.92% +0.28%Bill Vander Zalm9 2- -100% 3,439 0.22% -9.05%6 *- * 3,380 0.21% *ConservativeSusan Power6-- – 2,417 0.15% +0.09%Grant Mitton2 –- – 1,948 0.12% -0.27%BC Action5 *- * 1,636 0.10% *No affiliation6 *- * 727 0.05% *11 *- * 720 0.05% *Western Reform1 *- * 621 0.04% *Citizens Alliance Now2 *- * 584 0.04% *Council of British Columbians2 *- * 399 0.03% *4 –- – 381 0.02% +0.01%2 *- * 240 0.02% *Party of Citizens....2 *- * 147 0.01% *1 *- * 82 0.01% *Citizens Commonwealth4 *- * 49 x *Central3 *- * 41 x *Total 456 75 79 +5.3% 1,591,306 100% 

Notes

x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote.

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Unity Party results are calculated relative to Family Coalition Party results.

Vote and seat summaries

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results