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.

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.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1912	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal ^1	Harlan Carey Brewster	45	-	36		89,892	50.00%	+24.63%
	Conservative ²	William John Bowser	46	39	9	-76.9%	72,842	40.52%	-19.13%
	Independent		7	-	1	-	4,926	2.74%	+0.95%
	Independent Socialist		3	*	1	*	1,321	0.74%	*
	Independent Conservative		4	1	-	-100%	3,014	1.68%	+0.31%
	Independent Labour		2	*	-	*	2,985	1.66%	*
	Socialist		4	1	-	-100%	2,106	1.17%	-9.91%
	Independent Liberal		1	*	-	*	1,518	0.84%	*
	Social Democratic		3	1	-	-100%	1,012	0.56%	-0.18%
	Independent Progressive		1	*	-	*	158	0.09%	*
Total			116	42	47	+11.9%	179,774	100%
Sources: Elections BC

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ One candidate, H.C. Brewster (Liberal) who contested and was elected in both Alberni and Victoria City, is counted twice.

² Also included as a candidate is R. McBride (Conservative, Richmond) who withdrew before the 14 September polling day but received some overseas votes.

Popular vote Liberal   50.00% Conservative   40.52% Others   9.48%

Seats summary Liberal   76.60% Conservative   19.15% Others   4.26%

Results by riding

Results of British Columbia general election, 1916
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
	Harlan Carey Brewster ^1	Alberni Liberal			Cowichan Independent	William Henry Hayward
	Frank Harry Mobley	Atlin Liberal			Delta Conservative	Francis James Anderson MacKenzie
	John MacKay Yorston	Cariboo Liberal			Esquimalt Liberal	Robert Henry Pooley
	Edward Dodsley Barrow	Chilliwhack Liberal			Fort George Conservative	William Roderick Ross
	John Andrew Buckham	Columbia Liberal			Lillooet Conservative	Archibald McDonald
	Hugh Stewart	Comox Liberal			Nelson Conservative	William Oliver Rose
	James Horace King	Cranbrook Liberal			Similkameen Conservative	Lytton Wilmot Shatford
	John Oliver	Dewdney Liberal			South Okanagan Conservative	James William Jones
	Alexander Ingram Fisher	Fernie Liberal			Trail Conservative	James Hargrave Schofield
	James Edwin Wallace Thompson	Grand Forks Liberal			Vancouver City Conservative	William John Bowser [1]
	John Duncan MacLean	Greenwood Liberal			Newcastle Independent Socialist	Parker Williams
	Malcolm Bruce Jackson	The Islands Liberal
	Frederick William Anderson	Kamloops Liberal
	John Keen	Kaslo
	William Sloan	Nanaimo Liberal
	David Whiteside	New Westminster Liberal
	Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald	North Okanagan Liberal
	George Samuel Hanes	North Vancouver Liberal
	Alexander Malcolm Manson	Omineca Liberal
	Thomas Dufferin Pattullo	Prince Rupert Liberal
	William Henry Sutherland	Revelstoke Liberal
	Gerald Grattan McGeer	Richmond Liberal
	William David Wilson	Rossland Liberal
	Frederick Arthur Pauline	Saanich Liberal
	Charles Franklin Nelson	Slocan Liberal
	John Walter Weart	South Vancouver Liberal
	John Sedgwick Cowper	Vancouver City Liberal
	John Wallace deBeque Farris
	Malcolm Archibald Macdonald
	John William McIntosh
	Ralph Smith
	George Bell	Victoria City Liberal
	Harlan Carey Brewster [2]
	Henry Charles Hall
	John Hart
	Joseph Walters	Yale Liberal
Source: Elections BC

1. Leader of the Conservative Party and incumbent Premier
2. Leader of the Liberal Party and Premier-designate

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading & references

• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.