1996 British Columbia general election

The 1996 British Columbia general election was the 36th 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 30, 1996,[2] and held on May 28, 1996. Voter turnout was 59.1 per cent of all eligible voters. The election is notable for producing a "false-winner" outcome, rewarding a party that got second in the popular vote with a majority government.

1996 British Columbia general election
May 28, 1996
75 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout71.50%[1] Decrease 3.57 pp
  First party Second party
 
Leader Glen Clark Gordon Campbell
Party New Democratic Liberal
Leader since 1996 1993
Leader's seat Vancouver Kingsway Vancouver-Point Grey
Last election 51 seats 17 seats
Seats won 39 33
Seat change Decrease12 Increase16
Popular vote 624,395 661,929
Percentage 39.45 41.82
Swing Decrease1.26 Increase8.58
  Third party Fourth party
 
Ref
PDA
Leader Jack Weisgerber Gordon Wilson
Party Reform Progressive Democrat
Leader since 1995 1993
Leader's seat Peace River South Powell River-Sunshine Coast
Last election 0 seats pre-creation
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Increase2 Increase1
Popular vote 146,734 90,797
Percentage 9.27 5.74
Swing Increase9.09 Increase5.74
Premier before election

Glen Clark
New Democratic

 Premier after election

Glen Clark
New Democratic

New Democratic Party leader and provincial premier Mike Harcourt had resigned as the result of a fundraising scandal involving one of the members of his caucus. Glen Clark was chosen by the party to replace Harcourt. Clark led the party to a second majority government, defeating the Liberal Party of Gordon Campbell, who had become leader of the Liberal Party after Gordon Wilson had been forced out of the position because of his relationship with another Liberal member of the legislature, Judi Tyabji.

After Wilson was defeated by Campbell in the convention to choose a new leader, he and Tyabji left the Liberal Party to establish the Progressive Democratic Alliance. Wilson was able to win re-election, but Tyabji was not, who went down to defeat with all of the other candidates fielded by the new party.

The once-dominant Social Credit Party collapsed. It elected Grace McCarthy as its leader in 1993, but she was unable to make a bid to get into the legislature until 1994, when she lost a by-election in the longtime Socred stronghold of Matsqui. Soon afterward, four of its remaining six members defected to Reform BC, leaving Social Credit without official status in the legislature. One more seat was lost in a by-election, reducing the party's representation to one MLA, Cliff Serwa. Serwa retired before the election, however, leaving the party with no incumbents. Party leader Larry Gillanders withdrew from the race while the campaign was in progress, saying that all right-wing parties should unite to topple the ruling NDP. The Socreds won only 0.4% of the vote and were completely shut out of the legislature. While the party still nominally exists, it has never elected another MLA and even lost its registration from 2013 to 2016.

Reform BC held on to two of its four seats.

Although the Liberals won the largest share of the popular vote, most of their votes were wasted in the outer regions of the province, and it won only 8 seats in the Vancouver area. That allowed the NDP to win 6 more seats than the opposition Liberals, eking out a majority government. This was the last election to return an NDP majority until 2020, 24 years later.

Opinion polls
Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm Last day
of survey		 Source BCNDP BCLP RPBC PDA BCSC Other ME Sample
Election 1996 May 28, 1996 39.45 41.82 9.27 5.74 0.40 3.32
McIntyre & Mustel May 23, 1996 [3] 43.3 40.9 9.9 — 0 — 4.4 630
Angus Reid May 14, 1996 [4] 40 41 12 — — — 3.5 800
McIntyre & Mustel May 11, 1996 [5] 45 35.4 14.7 1.7 0.5 — 4.8 516
Angus Reid May 2, 1996[4] [6] 45 33 17 — — — — —
McIntyre & Mustel May 1, 1996 [7] 44 36 16 1.6 1.4 — 4.2 544
Election called (April 30, 1996)[2]
Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm Last day
of survey		 Source BCNDP BCLP RPBC PDA BCSC Other ME Sample
Marktrend April 14, 1996 [8] 38 32 21 — — — 4.4 503
Angus Reid March 12, 1996 [9] 40 38 16 3 1 — 4.0 600
McIntyre & Mustel March 1996 [10] 38 38 20 — 1 3 — 295
MarkTrend February 23, 1996 [11] 29 38 27 — — — 4.4 502
Viewpoints January 17, 1996 [12] 34.9 40.6 20 — — — 2.5 1,600
MarkTrend January 1996 [12] 28 37 27 — — — — —
Glen Clark becomes leader of the NDP and Premier (February 22, 1996)
Angus Reid December 12, 1995 [13] 35 40 22 — — — 4.1 605
Mike Harcourt announces resignation as Premier and leader of the NDP (November 15, 1995)|[14]
Angus Reid November 8, 1995 [15] 24 49 22 — — — — 805
McIntyre & Mustel March 1995 [16] 28 47 21 — 2 3 — 284
McIntyre & Mustel March 1995 [10] 28 47 21 — 2 3 — 284
Jack Weisgerber becomes leader of the BC Reform Party (January 15, 1995)[17]
MarkTrend December 1994 [18] 25 41 28 — — — 4.4 500
McIntyre & Mustel December 1994 [19] 31 42 20 — — — — —
Viewpoints November 1994 [20] 30 42 22 — — — — 2,000
McIntyre & Mustel September 1994 [10] 25 41 26 — 5 3 — 304
Angus Reid September 1994 [21] 30 44 19 — — 7 — —
McIntyre & Mustel June 5, 1994 [22] 21 39 28 — 7 5 4.5 505
Viewpoints June 1994 [23] 30 39 24 — — 3 — —
Marktrend June 1994 [23] 23 38 34 — — 3 — —
Angus Reid March 1994 [24] 25 53 7 0.4[25] 10 — 4 600
March 1994 [26] 25 38 21 — 10 — — —
Angus Reid December 1993 [27] 21 47 — — 14 — — 603
McIntyre & Mustel December 1993 [28] 20 49 — — 18 — 4.5 502
PDA founded (December 5, 1993)
Gordon Campbell becomes leader of the BC Liberals (September 11, 1993)
McIntyre & Mustel September 1993 [29] 27 50 — — 19[28] — 5 —
Election 1991 October 17, 1991 40.71 33.25 0.18 - 24.27 1.59

Results
Elections to the 36th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1996)[30]
Party Leader Candidates Votes Seats
# ±  % Change (pp) 1991 1996 ±
New Democratic Glen Clark 75624,39529,004Increase39.45 -1.26
 
 51
39 / 75
 12Decrease
Liberal Gordon Campbell 75661,929175,721Increase41.82 8.58 8.58
 
 17
33 / 75
 16Increase
Reform Jack Weisgerber 75146,734143,701Increase9.27 9.09 9.09
 
 –
2 / 75
 2Increase
Progressive Democrat Gordon Wilson 6690,79790,797Increase5.74 5.74 5.74
 
 –
1 / 75
 1Increase
Social Credit Larry Gillanders 386,276345,384Decrease0.40 -23.65
 
 7
0 / 75
 7Decrease
Green Stuart Parker 7131,51118,861Increase1.99 1.13 1.13
 
Independent 2310,067214Decrease0.64 -0.07
Family Coalition 144,1502,840Increase0.26 0.17
Natural Law 382,9192,919Increase0.18 New
Libertarian 172,0411,181Increase0.13 0.07
Conservative Peter B. Macdonald 81,002576Increase0.06 0.03
Western Canada Concept Doug Christie 5374277Decrease0.02 -0.02
Common Sense, Community, Family Ross Ellis 5291291Increase0.02 New
Communist 3218126Decrease0.01 0.01
Total513 1,582,704 100.00%
Rejected ballots[1] 9,95120,782Decrease
Turnout[1] 1,592,65599,455Increase 71.50%3.57Decrease
Registered voters[1] 2,227,424238,370Increase

    MLAs elected

    Synopsis of results
    Results by riding - 1996 British Columbia general election[31]
    Riding Winning party Turnout
    [a 1]    		 Votes[a 2]
    Name 1991 Party Votes Share Margin
    #    		 Margin
    %    		 NDP Lib Ref PD Grn SC FCP NLP Ind Oth Total
     
    Abbotsford SC Lib 10,99850.24%5,59325.55%69.25%5,40510,9984,0861,126274–––––21,889
    Alberni NDP NDP 7,39852.01%2,29916.16%73.32%7,3985,099823578195––58–7214,223
    Bulkley Valley-Stikine NDP NDP 4,77937.02%1,0538.16%71.05%4,7793,7263,473624151155––––12,908
    Burnaby-Edmonds NDP NDP 9,91246.45%1,1425.35%70.63%9,9128,7701,0081,067387120–77––21,341
    Burnaby North NDP NDP 8,92645.47%7663.90%72.70%8,9268,1601,081976395––62–3119,631
    Burnaby-Willingdon NDP NDP 10,50145.54%8233.57%71.73%10,5019,6789991,161458––74–19023,061
    Cariboo North NDP Lib 5,53340.87%3532.61%70.05%5,1805,5332,561–168––––9713,539
    Cariboo South NDP NDP 6,37241.45%3222.09%70.88%6,3726,0502,684–267–––––15,373
    Chilliwack Lib Lib 9,27337.90%3,28413.42%68.57%5,9899,2733,237–232–––5,736–24,467
    Columbia River-Revelstoke NDP NDP 6,26442.52%1,0927.41%71.04%6,2645,1722,687282270––58––14,733
    Comox Valley NDP NDP 13,23042.76%2,5098.11%72.86%13,23010,7213,4511,0391,296–398–804–30,939
    Coquitlam-Maillardville NDP NDP 10,81245.91%1,3725.83%72.33%10,8129,4401,4341,289–133–123–32023,551
    Cowichan-Ladysmith NDP NDP 12,24949.85%4,46618.18%73.97%12,2497,7832,4341,459645–––––24,570
    Delta North NDP Lib 9,30545.50%6483.17%74.88%8,6579,3057551,385347–––––20,449
    Delta South Lib Lib 13,41558.78%7,43132.56%74.55%5,98413,4151,3711,215333200304–––22,822
    Esquimalt-Metchosin NDP NDP 13,83359.54%7,06330.40%68.16%13,8336,7701,179921376––60583523,232
    Fort Langley-Aldergrove Lib Lib 12,00547.30%4,63618.26%76.09%7,36912,0053,4841,737472–316–––25,383
    Kamloops NDP NDP 10,13544.30%8623.77%69.56%10,1359,2731,7211,241–508––––22,878
    Kamloops-North Thompson NDP Lib 7,31343.43%3682.19%72.65%6,9457,3131,710–401468––––16,837
    Kootenay NDP NDP 6,39838.59%5113.08%68.15%6,3985,8873,718–363–––215–16,581
    Langley Lib Lib 9,27746.62%3,48217.50%73.19%5,7959,2773,2241,195262148––––19,901
    Malahat-Juan de Fuca NDP NDP 10,68648.63%3,13014.24%72.91%10,6867,5561,8871,061601–––988421,973
    Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows NDP NDP 12,94646.07%1,9867.07%73.30%12,94610,9601,4702,011464––90–15828,099
    Matsqui SC Lib 10,90350.81%5,55425.88%68.41%5,34910,9034,405–216–385199––21,457
    Mission-Kent NDP NDP 8,23244.16%1,1206.01%70.92%8,2327,1121,6181,243324–––113–18,642
    Nanaimo NDP NDP 11,21048.75%3,53815.39%69.79%11,2107,6721,8671,337486–311––11322,996
    Nelson-Creston NDP NDP 9,17944.90%2,74513.43%75.20%9,1796,4342,114–2,282–36073––20,442
    New Westminster NDP NDP 10,41846.69%1,8278.19%70.41%10,4188,5911,4461,121488––107142–22,313
    North Coast NDP NDP 7,29864.82%4,39939.07%63.33%7,2982,899830–232–––––11,259
    North Island NDP NDP 8,38545.80%1,6048.76%69.55%8,3856,7811,776887479–––––18,308
    North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP Lib 9,32546.37%2,17410.81%71.16%7,1519,3251,2411,736417––93–14920,112
    North Vancouver-Seymour Lib Lib 14,16556.35%7,48929.79%76.91%6,67614,1651,7371,713645105–44–5425,139
    Oak Bay-Gordon Head NDP Lib 12,34046.59%6402.42%79.49%11,70012,340675937566485647118–26,487
    Okanagan-Boundary NDP Lib 7,01138.35%270.15%75.05%6,9847,0112,810775356183–163––18,282
    Okanagan East Lib Lib 9,38238.37%2,95012.06%70.24%5,1769,3823,1166,432347–––––24,453
    Okanagan-Penticton NDP Lib 10,66143.07%1,5696.34%73.41%9,09210,6612,9761,444464––113––24,750
    Okanagan-Vernon SC Lib 9,77639.06%2,2799.11%71.03%7,4979,7765,3561,839334227––––25,029
    Okanagan West SC Lib 15,57546.00%7,29421.54%71.02%8,28115,5754,8584,225519399––––33,857
    Parksville-Qualicum NDP Lib 13,45941.19%4831.48%77.12%12,97613,4593,9551,669422––110–8132,672
    Peace River North SC Ref 5,29948.41%2,16219.75%60.49%1,9753,1375,299169–240––125–10,945
    Peace River South SC Ref 3,90131.89%1231.01%62.60%3,7783,7743,901183145452––––12,233
    Port Coquitlam NDP NDP 14,76746.37%1,4574.58%73.48%14,76713,3101,3351,789417124–––10231,844
    Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain NDP Lib 10,27244.73%4682.04%73.40%9,80410,2721,0391,408441–––––22,964
    Powell River-Sunshine Coast Lib PD 10,83349.05%4,74521.49%75.37%6,0883,91167710,833518––––5722,084
    Prince George-Mount Robson NDP NDP 4,71340.67%9498.19%63.84%4,7133,7642,076788247–––––11,588
    Prince George North NDP NDP 5,83739.58%9146.20%66.75%5,8374,9232,430891173–––495–14,749
    Prince George-Omineca SC Lib 5,51436.88%3082.06%67.79%5,2065,5142,9981,023209–––––14,950
    Richmond Centre Lib Lib 9,92555.52%4,20223.51%68.67%5,7239,925614996235154–386512617,876
    Richmond East Lib Lib 10,20555.60%4,44224.20%71.62%5,76310,2057921,093235139–43–8318,353
    Richmond-Steveston Lib Lib 9,64356.65%4,60227.04%74.36%5,0419,64355691918888–384509917,022
    Rossland-Trail NDP NDP 8,63550.74%2,71215.94%74.99%8,6355,9231,366660434–––––17,018
    Saanich North and the Islands Lib Lib 13,37447.57%2,82810.06%77.89%10,54613,3741,6271,533898––72–6328,113
    Saanich South NDP NDP 11,39446.11%5272.13%77.16%11,39410,8676761,198343––86–14424,708
    Shuswap NDP Lib 8,59634.55%7272.92%72.79%7,8698,5965,6171,325237221––1,014–24,879
    Skeena NDP NDP 5,35340.34%6354.79%70.72%5,3534,7182,744–205249––––13,269
    Surrey-Cloverdale Lib Lib 14,29748.27%5,46618.46%74.75%8,83114,2972,6902,417366306709–––29,616
    Surrey-Green Timbers NDP NDP 10,27850.11%3,34816.32%69.40%10,2786,9301,1831,1502281142553210124120,512
    Surrey-Newton NDP NDP 13,96949.54%4,18114.83%71.33%13,9699,7881,2441,84134017457748–21728,198
    Surrey-Whalley NDP NDP 7,39650.14%2,82019.12%65.38%7,3964,5761,302968243115–70–8214,752
    Surrey-White Rock Lib Lib 18,03958.04%9,82431.61%75.89%8,21518,0392,5191,110677226––295–31,081
    Vancouver-Burrard NDP NDP 10,64649.70%2,67112.47%62.68%10,6467,9756711,014563––93–45821,420
    Vancouver-Fraserview NDP NDP 8,77445.97%3801.99%71.94%8,7748,394[a 3]643815225177–57––19,085
    Vancouver-Hastings NDP NDP 9,89454.01%3,54919.37%67.96%9,8946,345568824486137–64––18,318
    Vancouver-Kensington NDP NDP 9,49650.74%1,88810.09%70.25%9,4967,608472537349135119–––18,716
    Vancouver-Kingsway NDP NDP 10,52555.46%3,52818.59%71.07%10,5256,99736751826475–65699818,978
    Vancouver-Langara Lib Lib 11,03860.20%5,52330.12%68.66%5,51511,038519839337––89––18,337
    Vancouver-Little Mountain NDP Lib 12,03650.25%2,64611.05%68.32%9,39012,0364891,06271485–8296–23,954
    Vancouver-Mount Pleasant NDP NDP 11,15564.05%6,91239.69%60.50%11,1554,24335458475986–114–12117,416
    Vancouver-Point Grey NDP Lib 12,63748.86%1,5636.04%71.03%11,07412,637406857683–6276–7025,865
    Vancouver-Quilchena Lib Lib 15,50968.68%10,53246.64%75.71%4,97715,50949582762791–57––22,583
    Victoria-Beacon Hill NDP NDP 11,96052.51%4,32418.98%68.17%11,9607,6366541,0931,00896–647319422,778
    Victoria-Hillside NDP NDP 11,58553.32%4,72321.74%67.53%11,5856,8629791,227790––97–18821,728
    West Vancouver-Capilano Lib Lib 16,67571.29%13,18956.38%76.63%3,48616,6751,3261,182461–17447–4023,391
    West Vancouver-Garibaldi Lib Lib 12,32657.17%6,03828.00%73.03%6,28812,3261,43069353298–36–15921,562
    Yale-Lillooet NDP NDP 7,08041.06%1,1686.77%72.21%7,0805,9123,419706––124–––17,241
    1. including spoilt ballots
    2. parties receiving more than 1% of the popular vote, or fielding candidates in at least half of the constituencies, are listed separately. Family Coalition is also shown separately, as it received more votes than Natural Law while fielding fewer candidates.
    3. Gulzar Singh Cheema was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
      = 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 by-election gain
      = other incumbents renominated
      = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
      = Multiple candidates

    Summary analysis
    Party candidates in 2nd place[32]
    Party in 1st placeParty in 2nd placeTotal
    NDPLibPD
    New Democratic 3939
    Liberal 32133
    Reform 112
    Progressive Democrat 11
    Total 3440175
    Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[32]
    Parties1st2nd3rd4th5th
    █ New Democratic 39342
    █ Liberal 33402
    █ Reform 244245
    █ Progressive Democrat 1124373
    █ Green 2952
    █ Independent 14
    █ Social Credit 42
    █ Family Coalition 15
    █ Libertarian 2

    Seats changing hands

    Of the 75 seats, 23 were open, of which 21 had members who chose not to stand for reelection, and two arose from MLAs campaigning in another riding. Voters in only 20 seats changed allegiance from the previous election in 1991:

    Resulting composition of the 36th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
    SourceParty
    NDP Lib Ref PD Total
    Seats retainedIncumbents returned 28836
    Open seats held 11516
    Ouster of incumbents changing affiliation 33
    Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated 88
    Open seats gained - new MLAs 55
    Open seats gained - taken by MLAs previously incumbent in another riding 22
    Byelection gains held 22
    Incumbents changing allegiance 213
    Total 39332175

    References
    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. Haysom, Ian (May 1, 1996). "B.C. calls vote after budget". Calgary Herald. p. A3.
    3. McInnes, Craig (May 25, 1996). "B.C. vote too close to call, poll finds: Key to outcome may lie in how many Reformers opt for Liberals to block a win by NDP". The Globe and Mail. p. A13.
    4. "B.C. NDP, Liberals in dead heat poll shows". The Gazette. May 16, 1996. p. A9.
    5. McInnes, Craig (May 13, 1996). "NDP pads lead in B.C. campaign poll: Liberal Leader still slips as voters' pick for premier despite publicity efforts last week B.C. Poll". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
    6. Haysom, Ian (May 6, 1996). "No one is ready to dismiss third-place Reform party". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A6.
    7. McInnes, Craig (May 3, 1996). "NDP climbs into lead in B.C. poll Support for opposition drops as new Premier pulls party past early-favourite Liberals". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.
    8. Hauka, Don (April 18, 1996). "Poll surge heartens NDP: Premier urged to drop writ as voters sour on Liberals". The Province. p. A5.
    9. Rowlands, Bob (May 16, 1996). "NDP, Grits in dead heat". The Times Colonist. p. 1.
    10. McInnes, Craig (May 3, 1996). "NDP climbs into lead in B.C. poll: Support for opposition drops as new Premier pulls party past early-favourite Liberals". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.
    11. "Poll shows NDP stalled". The Vancouver Sun. March 2, 1996. p. A18.
    12. "New poll shows NDP closing gap on Grits". The Times Colonist. January 24, 1996. p. A4, 1.
    13. Fong, Petti (December 18, 1995). "New Democrats surge ahead in latest B.C. poll". The Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
    14. Schreiner, John; Damsell, Keith (November 16, 1995). "B.C. premier quits after poll results". Financial Post. p. 5.
    15. "Grits likely next B.C. government". Times Colonist. November 12, 1995. p. 1.
    16. "Poll rains on hopes of NDP in B.C. Liberals get twice the backing no matter who takes over". The Globe and Mail. November 21, 1995. p. N4.
    17. Leyne, Les (January 15, 1995). "Weisberger elected leader on first ballot". Times Colonist. p. 1.
    18. Hunter, Justine (December 15, 1994). "Voters say they still prefer Liberals". The Vancouver Sun. p. B8.
    19. McLintock, Barbara (December 14, 1996). "NDP on rise, says survey". The Province. p. A12.
    20. Baldrey, Keith (November 25, 1994). "NDP's own poll puts Liberals in lead". The Vancouver Sun. p. B4.
    21. Kieran, Brian (January 15, 1995). "NDP facing an uphill election battle". The Province. p. A6.
    22. Austin, Ian; Hauka, Don (June 10, 1994). "Support grows for B.C. Reform: Gain from Grits: Poll". The Province. p. A12.
    23. "Two polls put B.C. Liberals on top". Times Colonist. June 4, 1994. p. 1.
    24. Smyth, Michael (March 19, 1994). "Poll: Grits leave NDP in distance". Times Colonist. p. 1.
    25. Hunter, Justine (March 19, 1994). "Harcourt's popularity on rise, poll says: Liberals still first with voters, Reform party shows gains". The Vancouver Sun. p. A3.
    26. Cernetig, Miro (March 10, 1994). "Socreds' collapse creates a political vacuum". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
    27. Leyne, Les (January 6, 1994). "B.C. Liberals keep big lead in Reid poll". Times Colonist. p. 1.
    28. McLintock, Barbara; Colebourn, John (December 15, 1993). "Campbell's Grits No. 1: NDP, Socreds eat Liberals' dust". The Province. p. A6.
    29. McLintock, Barbara (September 10, 1993). "We like Gordon Campbell best, for now: Poll". The Province. p. A5.
    30. Elections BC 2002, p. 21.
    31. Elections BC 2002, pp. 21–34.
    32. Summarized from "1996 Voting Results by Voting Area". Elections BC. Retrieved March 13, 2024.

    Further reading
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