Vancouver Centre (provincial electoral district)

This page is for the defunct British Columbia provincial electoral district. For the federal electoral district of the same name please see Vancouver Centre.

Vancouver Centre was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created before the general election of 1933. It and the other new Vancouver ridings in this year, Vancouver-Burrard, Vancouver-Point Grey and Vancouver East, were created from the old Vancouver City riding, which was a six-member seat. Vancouver Centre was a two-member seat throughout its existence.

For a full listing of Vancouver ridings, historical and current, please see Vancouver (electoral districts).

Demographics

Population, 2001	55,510
Population Change, 1931–2001	8.2%
Area (km²)	23.77
Pop. Density	2,335

Notable MLAs

• Alexander Small Matthew
• Leslie Raymond Peterson
• Herb Capozzi
• Evan Maurice Wolfe
• Mike Harcourt
• Gary Lauk
• Emery Barnes

Electoral history 1933-1986

18th British Columbia election, 1933
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gordon McGregor Sloan	6,925	24.45%
	Liberal	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	6,723	23.74%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Wallis Walter LeFeaux	5,352	18.90%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	James Samuel Taylor	5,102	18.01%
	Independent Conservative	Daryl Herbert Kent	1,437	5.07%
	Independent Conservative	Albert DeBurgo McPhillips	1,304	4.60%
	Independent CCF	Gerald Vincent Pelton	407	1.44%
	United Front (Workers and Farmers)	Fred Grange	325	1.15%
	United Front (Workers and Farmers)	Charles James McKendrick	321	1.13%
	Independent CCF	Henry Edward Lyon	293	1.03%
	Socialist	Sydney Earp	71	0.25%
	Socialist	Rodney J. Young	63	0.22%
Total valid votes			28,323	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			138

19th British Columbia election, 1937
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	6,444	18.63%
	Liberal	Fred Crone	6,377	18.44%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Matthew Glenday	5,771	16.68%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Frank Roberts	5,690	16.45%
	Conservative	Montague Gregory Caple	4,214	12.18%
	Conservative	Adam Smith Johnston	4,047	11.70%
	Social Credit League	Paul McDowell Kerr	922	2.67%
	Social Constructive	John Towers Burnett	476	1.38%
	Social Constructive	Alfred Molineux Lester	415	1.20%
	Socialist	James King	234	0.68%
Total valid votes			34,590	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			400

British Columbia general election, 1941
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson	7,434	17.85%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Wallis Walter LeFeaux	7,371	17.70%
	Liberal	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	6,865	16.48%
	Liberal	Edward Allan Jamieson	6,858	16.46%
	Conservative	Montague Gregory Caple	6,325	15.18%
	Conservative	Albert DeBurgo McPhillips	6,198	14.88%
	Socialist Labour	Eric Thomas Reaville	393	0.94%
	Victory Without Debt	Mary Louise Bollert	209	0.50%
Total valid votes			41,653	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			445

British Columbia general election, 1945
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Coalition	Allan James McDonell	10,976	26.01%
	Coalition	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	10,878	25.77%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson	7,549	17.89%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Wallis Walter LeFeaux	7,451	17.65%
	Labor–Progressive	Nigel Morgan	2,101	4.98%
	Labor–Progressive	Maurice Rush	1,866	4.42%
	Social Credit Alliance	Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin	511	1.21%
	Social Credit Alliance	Carl J. Julson	448	1.06%
	Independent Liberal	William Raymond McKay	199	0.47%
	Socialist Labour	Horace Warner	122	0.29%
	Socialist	Raymond Harold MacLeod	105	0.25%
Total valid votes			42,206	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			154
Source: http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf

British Columbia general election, 1949
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Coalition	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	14,595	30.25%
	Coalition	Allan James McDonell	14,576	30.22%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	James Campbell Bury	9,430	19.55%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Wallis Walter LeFeaux	8,539	17.70%
	Social Credit League	John Chmelyk	465	0.96%
	Social Credit League	Ernest Ruble	349	0.72%
	Socialist Labour	John Alexander Fedoruk	286	0.59%
Total valid votes			48,240	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			996

For the elimination-ballot elections of 1952 and 1953 the riding's voters were presented with two ballots, one for each seat, with two separate candidate-races:

23rd British Columbia election, 1952 - Vancouver Centre Ballot A ^1
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	James Campbell Bury	6,912	31.02%	9,363	54.06%		unknown
	Liberal	Anna Ethel Sprott	5,234	23.49%	7,956	45.94%		unknown
	BC Social Credit League	George Churchill Moxham	4,694	21.07%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Allan James McDonell	4,120	18.49%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Christian Democratic	Ferdinand Theodor Peters	667	2.99%
	Labour Representation Committee	Orville Garfield Braaten	654	2.94%	-	-.- %		unknown
Total valid votes			22,281	100.00%	17,319	%
Total rejected ballots			2,119
Turnout			%
^1 Preferential ballot; first and final of five (5) counts only shown.

23rd British Columbia election, 1952 - Vancouver Centre Ballot B ^2
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson	7,350	33.17%	9,893	53.80%
	Liberal	Gordon Sylvester Wismer	5,394	24.34%	8,496	46.20%
	Social Credit League	Emil Peter Schafer	4,497	20.29%
	Progressive Conservative	Frederick Wellington Taylor	3,951	17.83%
	Christian Democratic	James Byrne Reardon	691	3.12%
	Socialist	William Harold Holtby	276	1.25%
Total valid votes			22,159	100.00%	18,389
Total rejected ballots			1,901
^2 Preferential ballot; first and final of five (5) counts only shown.

24th British Columbia election, 1953 Vancouver Centre Ballot A ^3
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Social Credit	Alexander Small Matthew	7,066	36.37%	9,016	53.75%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	James Campbell Bury	6,238	32.10%	7,757	46.25%		unknown
	Liberal	Anna Ethel Sprott	4,079	20.99%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Glenholme Ferguson McMaster	971	5.00%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Labor–Progressive	Mary Chomyn	572	2.94%	-	-.- %
	Christian Democratic	Ferdinand Theodor Peters	505	2.60%
Total valid votes			19,431	100.00%	16,773	%
Total rejected ballots			1,638
Total Registered Voters
Turnout			%
^3 Preferential ballot; first and final of five (5) counts only shown.

24th British Columbia election, 1953 Vancouver Centre Ballot B ^4
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Social Credit	George Churchill Moxham	6,782	35.48%	8,679	52.97%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson	6,283	32.87%	7,707	47.03%		unknown
	Liberal	Michael Leo Sweeney	3,985	20.85%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Frederick Wellington Taylor	1,007	5.27%	-	-.- %		unknown
	Labor–Progressive	William Angus Stewart	580	3.03%	-	-.- %
	Christian Democratic	James Byrne Reardon	480	2.50%
Total valid votes			19,117	100.00%	16,386	%
Total rejected ballots			1,727
Total Registered Voters
Turnout			%
^4 Preferential ballot; first and final of five (5) counts only shown.

25th British Columbia election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Leslie Raymond Peterson	9,112	25.10%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Alexander Small Matthew	8,614	23.73%	–	unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Charles Patrick (Paddy) Neale	4,561	12.56%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	William Giesbrecht	4,393	12.10%		unknown
	Liberal	James Allen Macdonald	3,996	11.01%		unknown
	Liberal	Ralph Goodman	3,727	10.27%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Reginald Atherton	969	2.67%		unknown
	Labor–Progressive	Nigel Morgan	485	1.34%		unknown
	Labor–Progressive	Jack Gillett	445	1.23%		unknown
Total valid votes			36,302	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			168
Turnout			%

26th British Columbia election, 1960
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Leslie Raymond Peterson	8,516	20.91%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Alexander Small Matthew	8,227	20.20%	–	unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Thomas Henry Berger	6,530	16.03%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	William James Dennison	6,378	15.66%		unknown
	Liberal	Charles Jordan-Knox	3,726	9.15%		unknown
	Liberal	Henry Greer Castillou	3,724	9.14%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Patrick Lockhart Reid	1,421	3.49%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Lawrence Smith Eckhardt	1,411	3.46%		unknown
	Labor–Progressive	Maurice Rush	420	1.03%		unknown
	Communist	Sonia Rutka	380	0.93%		unknown
Total valid votes			40,733	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			504
Turnout			%

27th British Columbia election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Leslie Raymond Peterson	8,060	20.26%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Alexander Small Matthew	7,594	19.09%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	John M. Norris	5,806	14.60%		unknown
	New Democratic	Fred Vulliamy	5,538	13.92%		unknown
	Liberal	Thomas Warnett Kennedy	3,477	8.74%		unknown
	Liberal	Alexander Forst	3,467	8.72%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Harold G. Haggart	2,741	6.89%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Arthur L. Johnson	2,588	6.51%		unknown
	Communist	Ronald J. Forkin	266	0.67%		unknown
	Communist	William E. Stewart	240	0.60%		unknown
Total valid votes			39,777	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			419
Turnout			%

28th British Columbia election, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Harold Peter (Herb) Capozzi	8,157	21.15%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Evan Maurice Wolfe	7,938	20.58%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Paul A. Phillips	7,257	18.82%		unknown
	New Democratic	F.C. Christopher Huddlestan	6,871	17.81%		unknown
	Liberal	William Griffiths Black	4,147	10.75%		unknown
	Liberal	Phillip James Lipp	3,803	9.86%		unknown
	Communist	James William (Jim) Beynon	253	.66%		unknown
	Independent	Gerard A. Goeujon	144	0.37%	unknown
Total valid votes			38,570	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			432
Turnout			%

29th British Columbia election, 1969
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Harold Peter (Herb) Capozzi	10,751	21.78%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Evan Maurice Wolfe	10,711	21.70%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	9,446	19.14%		unknown
	New Democratic	William Herbert Deverell	9,441	19.13%		unknown
	Liberal	Daniel Terence Devlin	4,551	9.22%		unknown
	Liberal	Robert Gary Miller	4,454	9.02%		unknown
Total valid votes			49,354	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			528
Turnout			%

30th British Columbia election, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	12,120	22.68%		unknown
	New Democratic	Gary Vernon Lauk	11,749	21.99%		unknown
	Social Credit	Harold Peter (Herb) Capozzi	10,037	18.78%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Evan Maurice Wolfe	9,908	18.54%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Thomas Alexander Kennedy	4,869	9.11%		unknown
	Liberal	Henry Greer Castillou	4,751	8.89%		unknown
Total valid votes			53,434	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			539
Turnout			%

31st British Columbia election, 1975
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Gary Vernon Lauk	12,846	24.73%		unknown
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	12,252	23.59%		unknown
	Social Credit	Harold Peter (Herb) Capozzi	11,253	21.67%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Tin Chao Alan Lau	7,214	13.89%	–	unknown
	Independent (Social Credit)	Thomas Warnett Kennedy^5	2,545	4.90%		unknown
	Liberal	Thomas Smith Hammond	1,949	3.75%		unknown
	Liberal	Jack Say Yee	1,870	3.60%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Malcolm Caldwell Wright	1,513	2.91%		unknown
	Independent	David John Bader	191	0.37%		unknown
	Communist	Michael Christopher Gidora	164	0.32%		unknown
	Communist	Nicholas Podovinnikoff	140	0.27%		unknown
Total valid votes			51,937	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			669
Turnout			%
^5 Campaigned as Ind.SC but listed as Independent in Statement of Votes since the Election Act prohibits the use of a recognized party name by Independent candidates.

32nd British Columbia election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Gary Vernon Lauk	17,464	28.07%		unknown
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	17,361	27.91%		unknown
	Social Credit	Thomas Warnett Kennedy	12,233	19.66%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Richmond Desmond Fitzgerald Kimmitt	11,649	18.73%	–	unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Douglas David Henderson	1,511	2.43%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Keith Donald Eady	1,475	2.37%		unknown
	Communist	Maurice Rush	277	0.45%		unknown
	Communist	Miguel Figueroa	237	0.38%		unknown
Total valid votes			62,207	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			1,310
Turnout			%

British Columbia general election, 1983
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	18,960	28.70%
	New Democratic	Gary Vernon Lauk	18,743	28.37%
	Social Credit	Avril Kim Campbell	12,740	19.28%
	Social Credit	Philip W. Owen	12,415	18.79%
	Liberal	Shirley McLoughlin	2,084	3.16%
	Progressive Conservative	Kevin Baden Bruce	880	1.33%
	Communist	Maurice Rush	244	0.37%
Total valid votes			66,066
Total rejected ballots			84

34th British Columbia election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Michael Franklin Harcourt	22,301	31.71%		unknown
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	20,885	29.69%		unknown
	Social Credit	Robert Gardner	10,965	15.59%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	John Archibald Murchie	10,679	15.18%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Steven R. Bourne	2,564	3.65%		unknown
	Liberal	Vito Palmieri	2,036	2.89%		unknown
	Green	Gavin L. Ross	446	0.63%	–	unknown
	Green	Murray Gudmundson	317	0.45%	–	unknown
	People's Front	Brian Keith Sproule	144	0.21%
Total valid votes			70,337	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			1,548
Turnout			%

A redistribution before the 1991 election dramatically changed Vancouver's long-standing electoral map by the abandonment of the century-old tradition of multiple member districts. Vancouver Centre was abolished. Its principal successor ridings were Vancouver-Fairview, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Vancouver-Langara. Some portions may have gone to Vancouver-Burrard or Vancouver-Little Mountain.

External links

• Elections BC Historical Returns