1916 British Columbia general election

The 1916 British Columbia general election was the fourteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on July 5, 1916, and held on September 14, 1916. The new legislature met for the first time on March 1, 1917.

A 1916 Act of the Legislature provided for the life of the Assembly to be extended to five years,S.B.C. 1916, c. 14, s.6 and members of the clergy were no longer disqualified from being elected as MLAs.S.B.C. 1916, c. 14, s.5

The Liberal Party defeated the governing Conservative Party, winning 50% of the vote, almost double its share from the previous election. The Liberals won 36 of the 47 seats in the legislature.

The Conservatives' popular vote fell from almost 60% to just over 40%, and took nine seats, forming the Official Opposition.

Two other seats were won by independents, including one Independent Socialist.

Soldiers serving overseas in the First World War were able to vote in the election, and their votes were cast between August 5 and Election Day.

Two referendums were also held on Election Day (concerning Prohibition and women's suffrage), but their results were not announced until later in the year.

1915 redistribution of ridings An Act was passed in 1915, providing for an increase in the seats in the Assembly from 42 to 47 upon the next election. The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridingsAbolition of multi-member district Cariboo Cariboo Fort George OminecaMerger of districts Nelson City Ymir NelsonDivision of districts Okanagan North Okanagan South Okanagan Rossland City Rossland Trail Vancouver City (5 members) Vancouver City (6 members) North Vancouver South VancouverRenaming of districts Nanaimo City Nanaimo New Westminster City New Westminster Skeena Prince Rupert

Results

|style="text-align:left;"|Harlan Brewster |45 ||– ||36 ||36 ||89,892 ||68,459 ||50.00 ||24.63

|style="text-align:left;"|William Bowser |46 ||39 ||9 ||30 ||72,842 ||22,419 ||40.52 ||19.13

|7 || – ||1 ||1 ||4,926 ||3,413 ||2.74 ||0.95

|3 || – ||1 ||1 ||1,321 ||1,321 ||0.74 ||

|4 ||1 || – ||1 ||3,014 ||1,851 ||1.68 ||0.31

|4 ||1 || – ||1 ||2,106 ||7,260 ||1.17 ||9.91

|3 ||1 || – ||1 ||1,012 ||391 ||0.56 ||0.18

|2 || – || – || – ||2,985 ||2,985 ||1.66 ||

|1 || – || – || – ||1,518 ||1,518 ||0.84 ||

|1 || – || – || – ||158 ||158 ||0.09 || |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total |116||42 ! " colspan="2"|47 ! " colspan="2"|179,774 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00%

+ Seats and popular vote by party Party Seats Votes Change (pp)

Results by riding The following MLAs were elected:

Synopsis of results + Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) Riding Winning party VotesName 1912Party Votes Share Margin#Margin% Lib Con Soc Total Alberni Con Lib 393 39.26% 38 3.80% 393 355 – – – – 253 – 1,001 Atlin Con Lib 329 54.29% 52 8.58% 329 277 – – – – – – 606 Cariboo New Lib 453 68.64% 246 37.28% 453 207 – – – – – – 660 Chilliwhack Con Lib 987 55.64% 200 11.28% 987 787 – – – – – – 1,774 Columbia Lib 541 66.63% 270 33.26% 541 271 – – – – – – 812 Comox Con Lib 916 43.07% 34 1.60% 916 882 246 – – 83 – – 2,127 Cowichan Con Ind 539 56.92% 131 13.84% 408 – – – – – 539 – 947 Cranbrook Con Lib 727 59.06% 223 18.12% 727 504 – – – – – – 1,231 Delta Con Con 964 51.55% 58 3.10% 906 964 – – – – – – 1,870 Dewdney Con Lib 927 54.08% 140 8.16% 927 787 – – – – – – 1,714 Esquimalt Con Con 655 50.08% 2 0.16% 653 655 – – – – – – 1,308 Fernie Con Lib 903 46.38% 77 3.96% 903 826 218 – – – – – 1,947 Fort George New Con 499 43.43% 7 0.61% – 499 – – 492 – – 158 1,149 Grand Forks Con Lib 584 63.62% 250 27.24% 584 334 – – – – – – 918 Greenwood Con Lib 491 70.55% 286 41.10% 491 205 – – – – – – 696 The Islands Con Lib 358 50.28% 4 0.56% 358 354 – – – – – – 712 Kamloops Con Lib 1,519 61.27% 559 22.54% 1,519 960 – – – – – – 2,479 Kaslo Con Lib 456 54.94% 82 9.88% 456 374 – – – – – – 830 Lillooet Con Con 296 52.39% 27 4.78% 269 296 – – – – – – 565 Nanaimo Lib 1,137 57.14% 562 28.25% 1,137 575 – – 278 – – – 1,990 Nelson New Con 607 48.99% 100 8.07% 507 607 – – – – 125 – 1,239 Newcastle Soc 551 56.11% 120 12.22% – 431 – – 551 – – – 982 New Westminster Con Lib 1,369 53.58% 183 7.16% 1,369 1,186 – – – – – – 2,555 North Okanagan New Lib 1,261 57.08% 313 14.16% 1,261 948 – – – – – – 2,209 North Vancouver New Lib 980 52.80% 382 20.58% 980 598 – 278 – – – – 1,856 Omineca New Lib 473 62.16% 185 24.32% 473 288 – – – – – – 761 Prince Rupert Con Lib 1,062 52.89% 116 5.78% 1,062 946 – – – – – – 2,008 Revelstoke Con Lib 802 60.62% 281 21.24% 802 521 – – – – – – 1,323 Richmond Con Lib 1,441 54.07% 252 9.45% 1,441 1,189 – 35 – – – – 2,665 Rossland Con Lib 424 55.79% 88 11.58% 424 336 – – – – – – 760Saanich Con Lib 1,033 58.53% 301 17.06% 1,033 732 – – – – – – 1,765 Similkameen Con Con 650 55.41% 127 10.82% 523 650 – – – – – – 1,173 Slocan Con Lib 448 50.06% 1 0.12% 448 447 – – – – – – 895 South Okanagan New Con 845 54.52% 140 9.04% 705 845 – – – – – – 1,550 South Vancouver New Lib 1,579 45.75% 205 5.94% 1,579 1,374 – – – – – 498 3,451 Trail New Con 626 45.56% 142 10.33% 484 626 262 – – – – – 1,372 Yale Con Lib 809 57.05% 200 14.10% 809 609 – – – – – – 1,418

= open seat = turnout is above provincial average = winning candidate was in previous Legislature = incumbent had switched allegiance = previously incumbent in another riding = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature = incumbency arose from byelection gain = other incumbents renominated = multiple candidates

+ Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) Party Vancouver City Victoria City Votes Share Change Votes Share Change 47,263 49.38% 18.53% 15,772 51.29% 26.17% 39,050 40.80% -13.94% 11,347 36.90% -30.00% 2,824 2.95% 1.01% 1,185 3.85% 0.01% 2,701 2.82% New – – – 2,487 2.60% New – – – 1,380 1.44% -11.02% – – -4.13% – – – 1,518 4.94% New – – – 929 3.02% NewTotal 46,285 100.00% 16,034 100.00%Seats won Incumbents returned –

See also List of British Columbia political parties

Notes and references Notes

References

1916 British Columbia general election

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