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1890 British Columbia general election
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Canadian provincial election
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1890 British Columbia general election British Columbia parliamentary no no no 1886 British Columbia general election 1886 5th Parliament of British Columbia 1890 06 6th Parliament of British Columbia 1894 British Columbia general election 1894 33 seats in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 150x150px BC Government nohash John Robson BC Government name August 2, 1889 19John Robson won two seats, meaning the government caucus held 19 seats, but was made up of 18 people. BC Opposition nohash N/A BC Opposition name N/A 8 BC Labour nohash N/A BC Labour name N/A 2 BC Farmer nohash N/A Farmer N/A 1
The 1890 British Columbia general election was held in 1890. The number of members was increased for this election from 27 in the previous election to 33, although the number of ridings was decreased to 18.
Political context
Issues and debates
Non-party system
There were to be no political parties in the new province. The designations "Government" and "Opposition" and "Independent" (and variations on these) functioned in place of parties, but they were very loose and do not represent formal coalitions, more alignments of support during the campaign. "Government" meant in support of the current Premier; "Opposition" meant campaigning against him, and often enough the Opposition would win and immediately become the Government.
Although Labour as a party had run candidates in previous election, this election saw the first victories by Labour candidates (in Nanaimo and Nanaimo City), and a "Farmer" candidate (in the second Nanaimo seat). There were five successful independents.
The Robson Government
Robson ministry
The government of newspaperman John Robson received a mandate after assuming power the year before. Robson died in office in 1892, yielding to Theodore Davie.
Byelections not shown
Any changes due to byelections are shown below the main table showing the theoretical composition of the House after the election. A final table showing the composition of the House at the dissolution of the Legislature at the end of this Parliament can be found below the byelections. The main table represents the immediate results of the election only, not changes in governing coalitions or eventual changes due to byelections.
List of ridings
The original ridings were thirteen in number, and Cowichan was restored to a two-member seat while New Westminster was increased to three, with the new total being 33 members. There were no political parties were not acceptable in the House by convention, though some members were openly partisan at the federal level (usually Conservative, although both Liberal and Labour allegiance were on display by some candidates).
These ridings were:
Alberni
Cariboo (three members)
Cassiar
Comox
Cowichan (two members)
East Kootenay
Esquimalt (two members)
The Islands (formerly part of Nanaimo
Lillooet (two members)
Nanaimo
Nanaimo City
New Westminster City
Vancouver City (two members)
Victoria (two members)
Victoria City (four members)
East Kootenay
Westminster (three members, formerly New Westminster
Yale (three members)
Polling conditions
Natives (First Nations) and Chinese were disallowed from voting, although naturalized Kanakas (Hawaiian colonists) and American and West Indian blacks and certain others participated. The requirement that knowledge of English be spoken for balloting was discussed but not applied.
Results by riding
Results of British Columbia general election, 1890
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Thomas Fletcher
|align="center" |AlberniGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Independent background rowspan=2|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |CaribooIndependent
|align="center" rowspan=2 |George Cowan
|BC Independent background rowspan=2|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Joseph Mason
|align="center" rowspan=3 |CaribooGovernment
|BC Government background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|John Robson 1
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background rowspan=2|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |EsquimaltOpposition
|align="center"|David Williams Higgins
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Samuel Augustus Rogers
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Charles Edward Pooley
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Robert Hanley Hall
|align="center" |CassiarGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" |LillooetOpposition
|align="center"|David Alexander Stoddart
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Joseph Hunter
|align="center" |ComoxGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |New WestminsterOpposition
|align="center"|William Henry Ladner
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Henry Croft
|align="center" rowspan=2 |CowichanGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center"|James Orr
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Theodore Davie
|BC Government background|
|BC Independent background|
|align="center" |New Westminster CityIndependent
|align="center"|John Cunningham Brown
|BC Independent background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|James Baker
|align="center" |East KootenayGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver CityOppositionIndependent
|align="center"|Francis Lovett Carter-Cotton
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Alfred Wellington Smith
|align="center" |LillooetGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Independent background|
|align="center"|James Welton Horne
|BC Independent background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|George William Anderson
|align="center" rowspan=2 |VictoriaGov
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" rowspan=3 |Victoria CityOpposition
|align="center"|Robert Beaven
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|David McEwen Eberts
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center"|John Grant
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|John Herbert Turner
|align="center" |Victoria CityGov
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center"|George Lawson Milne
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|John Robson
|align="center" |WestminsterGov
|BC Government background|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" |YaleOpposition
|align="center"|Charles Augustus Semlin
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|George Bohun Martin
|align="center" rowspan=2 |YaleGovernment
|BC Government background|
|BC Labour background|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |NanaimoLabourFarmer
|align="center"|Thomas William Forster
|BC Labour background|
|-
|BC Government background|
|align="center"|Forbes George Vernon
|BC Government background|
|BC Farmer background|
|align="center"|Colin Campbell McKenzie
|BC Farmer background|
|-
|
|
|
|
|BC Labour background|
|align="center" |Nanaimo CityLabour
|align="center"|Thomas Keith
|BC Labour background|
|-
|
|
|
|
|BC Independent background|
|align="center" |West KootenayIndependent
|align="center"|James M. Kellie
|BC Independent background|
|-
|
|
|
|
|BC Opposition background|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |WestminsterOppositionIndependent
|align="center"|James Punch
|BC Opposition background|
|-
|
|
|
|
|BC Independent background|
|align="center"|Thomas Edwin Kitchen
|BC Independent background|
|-
|
|-
|
|align-left"|1 Premier-Elect and Incumbent Premier
|-
| align="center" colspan="10"|Source: Elections BC
|-
|}
See also
List of British Columbia political parties
Notes
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.
Category: elections in Canada
Election
Category:June 1890 in Canada