Parliament of British Columbia

Parliament of British Columbia
40th Parliament of British Columbia
Type
Type	Unicameral
Houses	Legislative Assembly
History
Founded	July 20, 1871
Preceded by	Legislative Council & Governor of British Columbia

The Parliament of British Columbia is the unicameral legislature of the province of British Columbia, Canada. The parliament is made of two elements: the Queen of Canada in Right of British Columbia, represented by the Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The Parliament has existed since British Columbia became part of Canada in 1871, before which it was preceded by the Legislature of the United Colony of British Columbia.

Like the Canadian federal government, British Columbia uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which members are sent to the Legislative Assembly after general elections and from there the party with the most seats chooses a Premier of British Columbia and Executive Council of British Columbia. The premier acts as British Columbia's head of government, while the Queen of Canada in Right of British Columbia acts as its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Before 1903, candidates in British Columbia elections were not affiliated with political parties.

List of Parliaments

Following is a list of the 40 times the Parliament has been convened since 1871. This article only covers the time since 1871. For the governing body from 1867 to 1871, see Legislative Council of British Columbia.

Assembly Sessions	Election	From To[1] [nb 1]	Governing Party	Premier[2]	Official Opposition Party Leader[3]	Other Official Party Leader[4]	Speaker of the House[5]
1st Assembly 4 sessions	1st general	Nov. 20, 1871 Aug. 30, 1875	none[nb 2]	John Foster McCreight[nb 3] Amor De Cosmos[nb 4] George Anthony Walkem	none[nb 5]	none	James Trimble
2nd Assembly 3 sessions	2nd general	Jan. 10, 1876 Apr. 12, 1878	none	George Anthony Walkem[nb 6] Andrew Charles Elliott	none	none	James Trimble
3rd Assembly 5 sessions	3rd general	Jul. 29, 1878 June 13, 1882	none	George Anthony Walkem[nb 7] Robert Beaven	none	none	Frederick W. Williams
4th Assembly 4 sessions	4th general	Jan. 25, 1883 June 3, 1886	none	Robert Beaven[nb 8] William Smithe	none	none	John Andrew Mara
5th Assembly 4 sessions	5th general	Jan. 24, 1887 May 10, 1890	none	William Smithe[nb 9] Alexander Edmund Batson Davie[nb 10] John Robson	none	none	Charles Edward Pooley[nb 11] David Williams Higgins
6th Assembly 4 sessions	6th general	Jan. 15, 1891 June 2, 1894	none	John Robson[nb 12] Theodore Davie	none	none	David Williams Higgins
7th Assembly 4 sessions	7th general	Nov. 12, 1894 June 7, 1898	none	Theodore Davie[nb 13] John Herbert Turner	none	none	David Williams Higgins[nb 14] John Paton Booth
8th Assembly 2 sessions	8th general	Jan. 5, 1899 April 10, 1900	none	John Herbert Turner[nb 15] Charles Augustus Semlin[nb 16] Joseph Martin	none	none	William Thomas Forster
9th Assembly 4 sessions[6]	9th general	July 19, 1900 June 16, 1903	none	James Dunsmuir[nb 17] Edward Gawler Prior[nb 18] Richard McBride	none	none	John Paton Booth[nb 19] Charles Edward Pooley
10th Assembly	10th general	Nov. 26, 1903 Dec. 24, 1906	Conservative	Richard McBride	Liberal James Alexander MacDonald	none	Charles Edward Pooley
11th Assembly	11th general	Mar. 7, 1907 Oct. 20, 1909	Conservative	Richard McBride	Liberal James Alexander MacDonald	none	David McEwen Eberts
12th Assembly	12th general	Jan. 20, 1910 Feb. 27, 1912	Conservative	Richard McBride	Liberal James Alexander MacDonald	none	David McEwen Eberts
13th Assembly	13th general	Jan. 16, 1913 May 31, 1916	Conservative	Richard McBride[nb 20] William John Bowser	Liberal Harlan Carey Brewster	none	David McEwen Eberts
14th Assembly	14th general	Mar. 1, 1917 Oct. 23, 1920	Liberal	Harlan Carey Brewster[nb 21] John Oliver	Conservative William John Bowser	none	John Walter Weart[nb 22] John Keen
15th Assembly	15th general	Feb. 8, 1921 May 10, 1924	Liberal	John Oliver	Conservative James Alexander MacDonald	none	Alexander Malcolm Manson[nb 23] Frederick Arthur Pauline
16th Assembly	16th general	Nov. 3, 1924 June 7, 1928	Liberal	John Oliver[nb 24] John Duncan MacLean	Conservative Robert Henry Pooley	Provincial Alexander Duncan McRae	John Andrew Buckham
17th Assembly	17th general	Jan. 22, 1929 Aug. 1, 1933	Conservative	Simon Fraser Tolmie	Liberal Thomas Dufferin Pattullo	none	James William Jones[nb 25] Cyril Francis Davie
18th Assembly	18th general	Feb. 20, 1934 Apr. 12, 1937	Liberal	Thomas Dufferin Pattullo	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Robert Connell[nb 26]	Unionist Simon Fraser Tolmie	Henry George Thomas Perry
19th Assembly	19th general	Oct. 26, 1937 Jul. 21, 1941	Liberal	Thomas Dufferin Pattullo	Conservative Frank Porter Patterson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Harold Winch[nb 27]	Norman William Whittaker
20th Assembly	20th general	Dec. 4, 1941 Aug. 31, 1945	Liberal-Conservative coalition	John Hart	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Harold Winch	none	Norman William Whittaker
21st Assembly	21st general	Feb. 1, 1946 Apr. 16, 1949	Liberal-Conservative coalition	John Hart[nb 28] Byron Ingemar Johnson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Harold Winch	none	Norman William Whittaker[nb 29] Robert Henry Carson[nb 30] John Hart
22nd Assembly	22nd general	Feb. 14, 1950 Apr. 10, 1952	Liberal-Conservative coalition	Byron Ingemar Johnson	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation[nb 31] Harold Winch Conservative Herbert Anscomb	none	Nancy Hodges
23rd Assembly	23rd general	Feb. 3, 1953 Mar. 27, 1953	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Harold Winch	Liberal Arthur Laing Progressive Conservative Herbert Anscomb	Thomas James Irwin
24th Assembly	24th general	Sep. 15, 1953 Aug. 13, 1956	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Arnold Webster	Liberal Arthur Laing Progressive Conservative Deane Finlayson	Thomas James Irwin
25th Assembly	25th general	Feb. 7, 1957 Aug. 3, 1960	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Robert Strachan	Liberal Ray Perrault	Thomas James Irwin[nb 32] Lorne Shantz
26th Assembly	26th general	Jan. 26, 1961 Aug. 21, 1963	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Robert Strachan	Liberal Ray Perrault	Lorne Shantz
27th Assembly	27th general	Jan. 23, 1964 Aug. 5, 1966	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	New Democratic Party Robert Strachan	Liberal Ray Perrault	William Harvey Murray
28th Assembly	28th general	Jan. 24, 1967 Jul. 21, 1969	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	New Democratic Party Robert Strachan	Liberal Ray Perrault	William Harvey Murray
29th Assembly 3 sessions	29th general	Jan. 22, 1970 Jul. 24, 1972	Social Credit	W. A. C. Bennett	New Democratic Party Dave Barrett	Liberal Pat McGeer	William Harvey Murray
30th Assembly 5 sessions	30th general	Oct. 17, 1972 Nov. 3, 1975	New Democratic Party	Dave Barrett	Social Credit W. A. C. Bennett[nb 33] Bill Bennett	Liberal David Anderson Progressive Conservative Derril Thomas Warren	Gordon Dowding
31st Assembly 4 sessions	31st general	Mar. 17, 1976 Apr. 3, 1979	Social Credit	Bill Bennett	New Democratic Party William Stewart King[nb 34] Dave Barrett	Liberal Gordon Gibson Progressive Conservative George Scott Wallace	Dean Smith[nb 35] Harvey Schroeder
32nd Assembly 4 sessions	32nd general	June 6, 1979 Apr. 7, 1983	Social Credit	Bill Bennett	New Democratic Party Dave Barrett	none	Harvey Schroeder[nb 36] Kenneth Walter Davidson
33rd Assembly 4 sessions	33rd general	June 23, 1983 Sep. 24, 1986	Social Credit	Bill Bennett[nb 37] Bill Vander Zalm	New Democratic Party Dave Barrett[nb 38] Bob Skelly	none	Kenneth Walter Davidson
34th Assembly 5 sessions	34th general	Mar. 9, 1987 Sep. 19, 1991	Social Democrat	Bill Vander Zalm[nb 39] Rita Johnston	New Democratic Party Bob Skelly	none	John Douglas Reynolds[nb 40] Stephen Rogers
35th Assembly 5 sessions	35th general	Mar. 17, 1992 April 30, 1996	New Democratic Party	Mike Harcourt[nb 41] Glen Clark	Liberal Gordon Wilson	Social Credit Rita Johnston	Joan Sawicki[nb 42] Emery Barnes
36th Assembly 5 sessions	36th general	June 25, 1996 April 18, 2001[7]	New Democratic Party	Glen Clark[nb 43] Dan Miller[nb 44] Ujjal Dosanjh	Liberal Gordon Campbell	Reform Jack Weisgerber Progressive Democrat Gordon Wilson	Dale Lovick[nb 45] Gretchen Brewin[nb 46] William James Hartley
37th Assembly 6 sessions	37th general	June 19, 2001 2005	Liberal	Gordon Campbell	New Democratic Party Ujjal Dosanjh	none	Claude Richmond
38th Assembly 5 sessions	38th general	Sep. 12, 2005 2009	Liberal	Gordon Campbell	New Democratic Party Carole James	none	Bill Barisoff
39th Assembly 5 sessions[8]	39th general	Aug. 29, 2009 April 16, 2013	Liberal	Gordon Campbell[nb 47] Christy Clark	New Democratic Party Adrian Dix	none	Bill Barisoff
40th Assembly	40th general	June 26, 2013 present	Liberal	Christy Clark	New Democratic Party Adrian Dix replaced by John Horgan as of mid-2014	Green Party of British Columbia	Linda Reid

Notes:

1. From opening day of legislature to the day that the legislature was dissolved.
2. Political parties did not exist in the British Columbia legislature before 1903
3. Until December 1872
4. Until February 1874
5. Did not exist until 1903
6. Until January 25, 1876
7. Until June, 1882
8. Until January, 1883
9. Until March, 1887
10. Until August, 1889
11. Until 1889
12. Until June, 1892
13. Until March, 1895
14. Until March, 1898
15. Until August, 1898
16. Until February, 1900
17. Until November, 1902
18. Until June, 1902
19. Until February 26, 1902
20. Until December, 1915
21. Until March, 1918
22. Until February, 1918
23. Until January 28, 1922
24. Until August 17, 1927
25. Until 1930
26. After August 1936, following a split in the party, the Social Constructive Party ledy by Connell became the official opposition
27. From June, 1939
28. Until December 28, 1947
29. Until 1947
30. Until January, 1949
31. Until February, 1952
32. Until April, 1957
33. Until November, 1973
34. Until June, 1976
35. Until 1978
36. Until 1982
37. Until August 1986
38. Until May 1984
39. Until April 2, 1991
40. Until 1989
41. Until February 22, 1996
42. Until 1994
43. Until August 25, 1999
44. Until February 24, 2000
45. Until 1998
46. Until 2000
47. Until March 14, 2001

References

1. "Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
2. "Premiers of British Columbia 1871-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
3. "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
4. "Party Leaders in British Columbia 1900-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
5. "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
6. Magurn, A J (1905). Canadian Parliamentary Guide 1905.
7. "Electoral History of British Columbia, Supplement, 1987-2001" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
8. "Previous Sessions Debates and Indexes". Hansard Services. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2014-04-01.

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