British Columbia Liberal Party

The British Columbia Liberal Party (usually called the BC Liberal Party) is a right-of-centre provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada, differing from some other right-of-centre parties in being fiscally conservative and socially moderate (or neoliberal). The party has often remained separate from the federal Liberal Party of Canada, and is currently not formally linked to the federal party. The party is probably best described as a coalition of many ideological groups, united by an opposition to the New Democratic Party (NDP), and in favour of bringing more free market reforms to the province.

The 1952 election

In order to prevent the British Columbia CCF from winning in a three party competition, the government introduced instant-runoff voting, with the expectation that Conservative voters would list the Liberals as their second choice and vice versa. What they had not counted on was what would happen with the CCF second preferences. Most CCF voters chose BC Social Credit League ahead of the Liberals and the Conservatives. Voters were tired of both the Liberals and the Tories and were looking for alternatives.

Related Topics:
British Columbia CCF - Instant-runoff voting - BC Social Credit League

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Social Credit was able to exploit this system, and emerged as the largest party when the ballots were counted in the 1952 general election. Social Credit's de facto leader during the election, W.A.C. Bennett, was formally named party leader after the election.

Related Topics:
1952 general election - W.A.C. Bennett

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The CCF tried to argue that with Tom Uphill, Labour Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Kootenays, that they had as many seats as Social Credit but much more parliamentary experience than the Socreds and therefore should be allowed to govern. But Bennett had foreseen this and had managed to get Uphill's support for Social Credit.

Related Topics:
Tom Uphill - Member of the Legislative Assembly

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the CCF having only one seat less than Social Credit, and the Liberals with 6 seats and Tories with 4, it was Social Credit that emerged as the new party of choice for business and voters who wanted to keep the CCF out of power. Bennett became premier of BC.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Social Credit government was defeated in the house on March 24, 1953. An election was not immediately called as Harold Winch insisted that the CCF would still be able to govern. But Liberal Leader E.T. Kenney said that his party would not support the CCF. Kenney resigned as leader, and federal Member of Parliament Arthur Laing took over for the election.

Related Topics:
Harold Winch - E.T. Kenney - Member of Parliament - Arthur Laing

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the June 9 1953 general election, Bennett won a majority government. The Liberals were reduced to 4 seats, taking 23.36% of the vote. Arthur Laing defeated Tilly Rollston in Vancouver Point Grey. Even though Social Credit won a majority of seats in the legislature, their finance minister Einar Gunnarson was defeated in Oak Bay by Archie Gibbs of the Liberals. Gordon Gibson Sr, nicknamed the "Bull Moose of the Woods", was elected for Lillooet as a Liberal.

Related Topics:
June 9 1953 general election - Majority government - Tilly Rollston - Einar Gunnarson - Oak Bay - Archie Gibbs - Gordon Gibson Sr - Lillooet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bennett and the CCF both agreed that the experiment in increased vote choice should be shelved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During this time, the Liberals' most prominent member was Gordon Gibson Sr. He was a cigar smoking gregarious logging contractor who could have been premier but for major political error. He was elected in 1953 for the Lillooet riding under the AV system. In 1955, the Sommers scandal surfaced and he was the only leader in the legislature to make an issue of it. W.A.C. Bennett and his attorney general tried many dirty tricks to stop the information from coming out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In frustration, Gordon Gibson Sr resigned his seat and forced a by-election, hoping to make the Sommers scandal the issue. Unfortunately, the voting system had changed, and he came a close second after Social Credit because the left wing vote was split between the Liberals and the CCF.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~