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1991 British Columbia general election

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1991 British Columbia general election
← 1986 October 17, 1991 1996 →
75 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout64.03%[1] Decrease 1.77 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
BCL
SC
Leader Mike Harcourt Gordon Wilson Rita Johnston
Party New Democratic Liberal Social Credit
Leader since 1987 1987 1991
Leader's seat Vancouver-Mount Pleasant Powell River-Sunshine Coast Surrey-Newton (lost re-election)
Last election 22 seats 0 seats 47 seats
Seats won 51 17 7
Seat change Increase29 Increase17 Decrease40
Popular vote 595,391 486,208 351,660
Percentage 40.71% 33.25 24.27
Swing Decrease1.89 Increase26.51 Decrease25.27
Premier before election

Rita Johnston
Social Credit

Premier after election

Mike Harcourt
New Democratic

The 1991 British Columbia general election 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 New Democratic Party of Mike Harcourt defeated the incumbent Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which had been beset by scandals during Bill Vander Zalm's only term as premier. Liberal Party leader Gordon Wilson surprised observers by leading his party to winning one-third of the votes cast and 23 percent of the seats, and forming the official opposition in the legislature after having held no seats at all since 1979. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1992.

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

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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.

Campaign

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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 NDP went into the elections as heavy favourites after leading in opinion polls for almost four years.

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]

Opinion polls

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Last day
of poll 		New Democratic Liberal Social Credit Others Pollster Sample Margin Source
Results 40.7 33.3 24.1 1.9
10 October 1991 38 30 29 3 Angus Reid 1,004 ± 3,1 [5]
25 September 1991 48
(39) 		11
(9) 		39
(32) 		2
(2) 		— — — [6]
15 July 1990 47 8 36 9 Angus Reid 801 ± 3,5 [7]
21 January 1990 49 — 43 — Angus Reid 470 ± 4,2 [8]
25 April 1989 53 10 32 5 Angus Reid 807 ± 3,5 [9]
20 April 1989 48 11 35 6 Marktrend — — [9]
4 November 1988 43 18 34 5 Marktrend — — [9]
1 October 1988 41 — 23 — Goldfarb 1,000 ± 3,0 [10]
29 November 1987 46
(31) 		6
(4) 		40
(27) 		7
(5) 		— 475 ± 4,5 [11]
1986 Elections 42.6 6.7 49.3 1.4

Riding-specific polls

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Oak Bay-Gordon Head by-election

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Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm Last day
of survey 		Source BCNDP BCSC BCLP Other ME Sample
By-election 1989 December 13, 1989 45.26 43.68 9.11 1.94
Angus Reid December 1989 [12] 52 38 — — — —
Angus Reid December 1989 [13] 45 41 — — — 400
McIntyre & Mustel December 7, 1989 [14] 49 44 4 — 5.0 350
Election 1986 December 13, 1989 35.91 52.50 2.38 9.21

Results

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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.

Party Party leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular vote
1986 Elected % Change # % % Change
  New Democrats Michael Harcourt 75 22 51 +131.8% 595,391 40.71% -1.89%
Liberal Gordon Wilson 71 - 17   486,208 33.25% +26.51%
Social Credit Rita Johnston 74 47 7 -85.1% 351,660 24.27% -25.27%
Green   42 - - – 12,650 0.86% +0.62%
  Independents 16 - - – 10,281 0.70% +0.57%
Reform Ron Gamble 4 * - * 2,673 0.18% *
Family Coalition   8 * - * 1,310 0.09% *
  Libertarian   11 - - – 860 0.06% +0.04%
  Western Canada Concept Doug Christie 5 - - – 651 0.04% +0.02%
  Conservative Peter B. Macdonald[15] 4 - - – 426 0.03% -0.70%
  Human Race   2 * - * 110 0.01% *
  Green Go (Green Wing/Rhino)   1 * - * 93 0.01% *
  Communist League   3 - - – 92 0.01% -0.02%
  Interdependence Party   1 * - * 62 x *
Total 317 69 75 +8.7% 1,462,467 100%  
Source: Elections BC

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

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Popular vote
NDP
 
 40.71%
Liberal
 
 33.25%
Social Credit
 
 24.05%
Others
 
 1.99%
Seats summary
NDP
 
 68.00%
Liberal
 
 22.67%
Social Credit
 
 9.33%

Synopsis of results

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1991 British Columbia general election – results by riding[16]
Riding Winning party Votes[a 1]
1st place Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		2nd place % NDP Lib. SC Green Ind Other Total
 
Abbotsford SC 6,647 36.12% 138 0.75% Lib 35.37% 5,246 6,509 6,647 – – – 18,402
Alberni NDP 7,136 53.39% 3,471 25.97% SC 27.42% 7,136 2,358 3,665 – – 206 13,365
Bulkley Valley-Stikine NDP 3,744 33.97% 265 2.40% Lib 31.56% 3,744 3,479 – – 3,799[a 2] – 11,022
Burnaby-Edmonds NDP 9,947 47.15% 3,049 14.45% Lib 32.70% 9,947 6,898 3,900 199 74 77 21,095
Burnaby North NDP 9,809 48.43% 3,472 17.14% Lib 31.29% 9,809 6,337 3,833 194 – 81 20,254
Burnaby-Willingdon NDP 10,597 44.36% 2,574 10.78% Lib 33.59% 10,597 8,023 5,036 232 – – 23,888
Cariboo North NDP 4,919 39.10% 714 5.67% SC 33.42% 4,919 2,317 4,205 – – 1,141 12,582
Cariboo South NDP 6,369 45.37% 1,639 11.68% SC 33.70% 6,369 2,567 4,730 – – 371 14,037
Chilliwack Lib 8,601 38.83% 982 4.43% SC 34.40% 5,688 8,601 7,619 241 – – 22,149
Columbia River-Revelstoke NDP 6,241 45.08% 1,879 13.57% SC 31.51% 6,241 3,241 4,362 – – – 13,844
Comox Valley NDP 10,355 39.20% 1,601 6.06% Lib 33.14% 10,355 8,754 6,734 432 49 93 26,417
Coquitlam-Maillardville NDP 11,136 47.18% 2,206 9.35% Lib 37.84% 11,136 8,930 3,354 – 117 65 23,602
Cowichan-Ladysmith NDP 11,038 48.53% 4,229 18.59% SC 29.94% 11,038 4,896 6,809 – – – 22,743
Delta North NDP 8,068 38.65% 762 3.65% Lib 35.00% 8,068 7,306 5,252 – 72 178 20,876
Delta South Lib 8,783 39.82% 2,070 9.39% SC 30.44% 6,559 8,783 6,713 – – – 22,055
Esquimalt-Metchosin NDP 13,458 59.16% 6,570 28.88% Lib 30.28% 13,458 6,888 2,402 – – – 22,748
Fort Langley-Aldergrove Lib 8,663 43.57% 2,636 13.26% NDP 30.31% 6,027 8,663 4,880 – 227 87 19,884
Kamloops NDP 8,926 43.67% 2,893 14.15% Lib 29.52% 8,926 6,033 5,481 – – – 20,440
Kamloops-North Thompson NDP 5,843 39.43% 1,149 7.75% Lib 31.67% 5,843 4,694 4,283 – – – 14,820
Kootenay NDP 7,352 46.48% 2,338 14.78% SC 31.70% 7,352 3,450 5,014 – – – 15,816
Langley Lib 7,149 38.95% 1,387 7.56% NDP 31.39% 5,762 7,149 5,201 – 62 180 18,354
Malahat-Juan de Fuca NDP 8,579 44.18% 940 4.84% Lib 39.34% 8,579 7,639 2,628 380 – 193 19,419
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows NDP 11,591 45.16% 2,805 10.93% Lib 34.23% 11,591 8,786 4,986 305 – – 25,668
Matsqui SC 8,236 43.74% 1,805 9.59% Lib 34.15% 4,163 6,431 8,236 – – – 18,830
Mission-Kent NDP 7,659 44.78% 3,080 18.01% Lib 26.77% 7,659 4,579 4,556 246 63 – 17,103
Nanaimo NDP 11,135 51.24% 3,579 16.47% Lib 34.77% 11,135 7,556 2,480 342 – 216 21,729
Nelson-Creston NDP 8,583 46.90% 2,844 15.54% SC 31.36% 8,583 3,510 5,739 467 – – 18,299
New Westminster NDP 10,384 49.89% 3,267 15.70% Lib 34.20% 10,384 7,117 3,311 – – – 20,812
North Coast NDP 6,365 59.75% 3,896 36.58% Lib 23.18% 6,365 2,469 1,818 – – – 10,652
North Island NDP 8,427 50.39% 2,757 16.49% Lib 33.91% 8,427 5,670 2,217 408 – – 16,722
North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP 7,535 38.63% 476 2.44% Lib 36.19% 7,535 7,059 4,622 207 – 85 19,508
North Vancouver-Seymour Lib 12,120 50.84% 4,994 20.95% NDP 29.89% 7,126 12,120 4,304 205 – 84 23,839
Oak Bay-Gordon Head NDP 10,522 39.61% 837 3.15% Lib 36.46% 10,522 9,685 5,556 – – 803 26,566
Okanagan-Boundary NDP 7,228 46.82% 3,250 21.05% SC 25.77% 7,228 3,859 3,978 374 – – 15,439
Okanagan East Lib 8,578 38.47% 682 3.06% SC 35.41% 5,825 8,578 7,896 – – – 22,299
Okanagan-Penticton NDP 7,885 34.84% 448 1.98% Lib 32.86% 7,885 7,437 6,894 416 – – 22,632
Okanagan-Vernon SC 8,615 37.99% 895 3.95% NDP 34.05% 7,720 6,065 8,615 – 275 – 22,675
Okanagan West SC 11,667 41.15% 2,657 9.37% Lib 31.78% 7,361 9,010 11,667 312 – – 28,350
Parksville-Qualicum NDP 10,408 40.24% 1,282 4.96% Lib 35.29% 10,408 9,126 5,846 303 – 180 25,863
Peace River North SC 5,758 54.79% 3,411 32.45% NDP 22.33% 2,347 2,048 5,758 303 54 – 10,510
Peace River South SC 4,617 37.21% 773 6.23% NDP 30.98% 3,844 3,512 4,617 435 – – 12,408
Port Coquitlam NDP 11,435 45.48% 1,506 5.99% Lib 39.49% 11,435 9,929 3,781 – – – 25,145
Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain NDP 9,821 45.62% 1,730 8.04% Lib 37.59% 9,821 8,091 3,450 151 – 14 21,527
Powell River-Sunshine Coast Lib 11,486 54.68% 4,369 20.80% NDP 33.88% 7,117 11,486 2,174 161 66 – 21,004
Prince George-Mount Robson NDP 5,751 50.99% 1,616 14.33% SC 36.66% 5,751 – 4,135 – 1,393 – 11,279
Prince George North NDP 5,468 38.74% 962 6.82% Lib 31.93% 5,468 4,506 4,139 – – – 14,113
Prince George-Omineca SC 6,656 52.05% 525 4.11% NDP 47.95% 6,131 – 6,656 – – – 12,787
Richmond Centre Lib 7,806 42.44% 1,284 6.98% NDP 35.46% 6,522 7,806 3,889 108 – 68 18,393
Richmond East Lib 6,870 40.91% 774 4.61% NDP 36.30% 6,096 6,870 3,703 123 – – 16,792
Richmond-Steveston Lib 6,664 38.32% 610 3.51% NDP 34.81% 6,054 6,664 4,609 – – 65 17,392
Rossland-Trail NDP 8,340 51.73% 4,538 28.15% Ind 23.58% 8,340 – 3,267 713 3,802[a 3] – 16,122
Saanich North and the Islands Lib 13,633 52.53% 4,888 18.84% NDP 33.70% 8,745 13,633 2,917 – – 656 25,951
Saanich South NDP 10,254 44.63% 1,945 8.47% Lib 36.17% 10,254 8,309 4,218 – – 193 22,974
Shuswap NDP 7,687 35.50% 405 1.87% Lib 33.63% 7,687 7,282 6,262 422 – – 21,653
Skeena NDP 5,597 46.67% 831 6.93% SC 39.74% 5,597 1,629 4,766 – – – 11,992
Surrey-Cloverdale Lib 9,012 38.28% 1,751 7.44% NDP 30.84% 7,261 9,012 6,920 – – 348 23,541
Surrey-Green Timbers NDP 8,708 46.16% 2,384 12.64% Lib 33.52% 8,708 6,324 3,744 89 – – 18,865
Surrey-Newton NDP 10,193 42.28% 2,397 9.94% SC 32.34% 10,193 5,923 7,796 197 – – 24,109
Surrey-Whalley NDP 7,243 47.76% 2,381 15.70% Lib 32.06% 7,243 4,862 2,922 137 – – 15,164
Surrey-White Rock Lib 11,008 38.84% 1,945 6.86% NDP 31.98% 9,063 11,008 8,062 – – 209 28,342
Vancouver-Burrard NDP 9,725 50.93% 2,998 15.70% Lib 35.23% 9,725 6,727 2,201 441 – – 19,094
Vancouver-Fraserview NDP 8,016 44.16% 2,179 12.00% Lib 32.16% 8,016 5,837 4,060 141 – 98 18,152
Vancouver-Hastings NDP 10,087 55.93% 4,995 27.69% Lib 28.23% 10,087 5,092 2,589 268 – – 18,036
Vancouver-Kensington NDP 8,323 46.85% 3,623 20.39% Lib 26.45% 8,323 4,700 4,389 155 – 200 17,767
Vancouver-Kingsway NDP 9,292 54.79% 4,902 28.90% Lib 25.88% 9,292 4,390 3,112 137 – 29 16,960
Vancouver-Langara Lib 7,241 36.95% 467 2.38% NDP 34.56% 6,774 7,241 5,374 134 – 75 19,598
Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP 10,383 45.43% 2,203 9.64% Lib 35.79% 10,383 8,180 3,944 259 90 – 22,856
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant NDP 10,108 63.33% 6,971 43.67% Lib 19.65% 10,108 3,137 2,143 432 – 142 15,962
Vancouver-Point Grey NDP 12,076 49.26% 3,054 12.46% Lib 36.80% 12,076 9,022 2,817 388 138 75 24,516
Vancouver-Quilchena Lib 11,373 49.53% 5,201 22.65% NDP 26.88% 6,172 11,373 5,113 302 – – 22,960
Victoria-Beacon Hill NDP 10,939 47.95% 3,505 15.36% Lib 32.59% 10,939 7,434 3,712 728 – – 22,813
Victoria-Hillside NDP 11,117 51.39% 3,884 17.95% Lib 33.44% 11,117 7,233 2,714 569 – – 21,633
West Vancouver-Capilano Lib 13,194 56.63% 7,033 30.18% SC 26.44% 3,740 13,194 6,161 140 – 65 23,300
West Vancouver-Garibaldi Lib 11,182 58.36% 6,676 34.84% NDP 23.52% 4,506 11,182 3,020 454 – – 19,162
Yale-Lillooet NDP 7,740 52.31% 683 4.62% SC 47.69% 7,740 – 7,057 – – – 14,797
  1. ^ Minor political parties receiving less than 1% of the popular vote (and fielding candidates in fewer than half the ridings) are aggregated under Other
  2. ^ Jack Kempf, who received 2,842 votes, was the incumbent Social Credit MLA for Omineca, but opted to campaign as an Independent in 1991.
  3. ^ Christopher D'Arcy was the incumbent NDP MLA for Rossland-Trail.
  = Winning candidate held seat 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
  = Previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = Multiple candidates

Legacy

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This was considered a political realignment 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. The NDP and Liberals would go on to be the two main parties in the province until 2024, when the Liberals, who by then had renamed themselves BC United, withdrew from that year's general election and endorsed the Conservative Party of 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 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

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  1. ^ "B.C. Voter Participation: 1983 to 2013" (PDF). Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Elections BC – SOV91 Forword". Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  4. ^ "Gordon Wilson's debate triumph in B.C." CBC News Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 8, 1991. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  5. ^ Tom Barrett (October 12, 1991). "Liberals leap into second, poll suggests: Socreds overtaken by narrow margin; NDP still in the lead". Vancouver Star. p. A1.
  6. ^ The Canadian Press (September 28, 1991). "Poll shows NDP lead on decline". Vancouver Star. p. B13.
  7. ^ The Canadian Press (July 29, 1990). "NDP lead widening in B.C., poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A15.
  8. ^ The Canadian Press (January 21, 1990). "Vander Zalm gets boost, poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A15.
  9. ^ a b c Chris Rose (May 2, 1989). "Harcourt, NDP sweep voter poll: 53 per cent would vote for party to oust Socreds". Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
  10. ^ The Canadian Press (October 19, 1988). "Most in B.C. see Vander Zalm as liability to party, poll shows". Toronto Star. p. A18.
  11. ^ The Canadian Press (November 29, 1987). "Majority unhappy with Vander Zalm B.C. poll finds". Toronto Star. p. A12.
  12. ^ Kieran, Brian (December 12, 1989). "Political pundits pick the NDP, 7 to 5". The Province. p. 6.
  13. ^ Hume, Mark (December 9, 1989). "Poll shows close race in Oak Bay: Generation, gender gaps split conservative riding". The Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
  14. ^ Hauka, Don (December 8, 1989). "Neck and neck in Oak Bay". The Province. p. 1.
  15. ^ 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
  16. ^ Elections BC 2002, pp. 5–14.

Further reading

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