The 1937 British Columbia general election was the nineteenth general election in the Province of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. It was held to elect members of the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

. The election was called on April 14, 1937, and held on June 1, 1937. The new legislature met for the first time on October 26, 1937. The governing

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, despite winning only 37% of the popular vote, benefited from the split in the opposition vote between the Conservative Party and the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

. Liberals won a solid majority of the seats in the legislature with barely more than a third of the votes cast. The rift in the Conservative Party that led to its decision not to nominate candidates in the 1933 election had been resolved, and the party was able to form the official opposition. The Conservatives and CCF each won about 29% of the vote, and only 8 seats and 7 seats, respectively (they were each due about 14 based on their vote share). Two other seats were won by an Independent and a Labour party candidate.

Health insurance plebiscite

In 1936, the Legislature passed an Act providing for the creation of a health insurance plan for the Province. This was 26 years ahead of its introduction in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in 1962. The medical profession resisted its implementation to such a degree that a plebiscite was held on the same day as the election. The question asked was, "Are you in favour of a comprehensive Health Insurance plan progressively applied?" The results were as follows: Despite the majority in favour, the legislation was never brought into force, but it would not be repealed until 1973. Medicare was finally introduced after the 1967 passage of the ''Medical Services Act''.

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=4 , MLAs ! colspan=4 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

Assembly was increased mid-term by the division of Columbia-Revelstoke, thus reviving the previous districts of Columbia and Revelstoke. !1937 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;" , Duff Pattullo , 48 , , 35 , , 31 , , 4 , , 156,074 , , 3,057 , , 37.34 , , 4.40 Compared to the 1933 aggregate of all Conservative factions. , style="text-align:left;" , Frank Porter Patterson , 43 , , 4 , , 8 , , 4 , , 119,521 , , 54,278 , , 28.60 , , 11.48 , - , rowspan="3" , , style="text-align:left;" colspan="10", CCF split , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;" , NoneCCF leader Robert Connell was expelled from the party over doctrinal differences. , 46 , , 7 , , 7 , , , , 119,400 , , 785 , , 28.57 , , 2.96 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Robert Connell , 14 , , – , , – , , – , , 8,086 , , 8,086 , , 1.93 , , ''New'' , , , 11 , , 1 , , 1 , , , , 7,341 , , 18,317 , , 1.76 , , 4.97 (all factions) , , , 2 , , 1 , , 1 , , , , 1,787 , , 570 , , 0.43 , , 0.19 , style="text-align:left;" , Andrew Henry Jukes , 18 , , – , , – , , – , , 4,812 , , 4,812 , , 1.15 , , ''New'' , , , 1 , , – , , – , , – , , 567 , , 567 , , 0.14 , , ''New'' , - , style="background:red" , , style="text-align:left;" , Socialist Party of Canada , , , 2 , , – , , – , , – , , 287 , , 287 , , 0.07 , , ''Returned'' , , , 1 , , – , , – , , – , , 54 , , 54 , , 0.01 , , ''New'' , - ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 186 , 48 ! colspan="2", 48 ! colspan="2", 417,929 ! colspan="2", 100.00% , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Rejected ballots , 4,143 , , 763 , colspan="2", , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Actual voters who voted , 265,446 , , 29,031 , 71.20% , , 1.87 , - , colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" , Registered voters , 372,781 , , 49,241 , colspan="2",

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = 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

Health insurance plebiscite

Results

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

See also

Notes

References

Further reading