British Columbia

British Columbia, or simply B.C. (French: Colombie-Britannique) is the westernmost of Canada's provinces. It was the sixth province to join Confederation (in 1871). As of 2005, the population estimate is 4,220,000 (British Columbians).

Politics

BC has a 79-member elected Legislative Assembly, elected by the First Past the Post system.

Related Topics:
Legislative Assembly - First Past the Post

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Politically, British Columbia has tended to swing between right and left, with little middle ground. Within Canada, BC is viewed much as California is in the United States, prone to unusual politics and scandals. Currently it is governed by the more conservative British Columbia Liberal Party under Gordon Campbell. However, for a decade before, it was led by the left-wing NDP. Before that, the government was led by the right-wing Social Credit Party for many years, but in the early 1990s the party collapsed due to scandal.

Related Topics:
Right and left - California - United States - Conservative - British Columbia Liberal Party - Gordon Campbell - Left-wing - NDP - Right-wing - Social Credit Party

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Recall and Initiative

British Columbia is the only province in Canada with recall election and initiative legislation.

Related Topics:
Recall election - Initiative

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Only one recall petition was ever deemed to have had any success, compelling MLA Paul Reitsma to resign his seat hours before he would have been removed from office.

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Electoral Reform

A Citizens' Assembly in 2004 recommended replacing the First Past the Post system with a Single Transferable Vote system to be implemented in 2009, and a referendum was held on May 17, 2005 to determine if this change should go ahead. The referendum nearly passed with 57% of the popular vote of the 60% required. The second requirement was a simple majority in 60% of the current ridings and 77 of the 79 ridings achieved this, far more than the 48 minimum. The close result has provoked further interest in electoral reform.

Related Topics:
Citizens' Assembly - 2004 - First Past the Post - Single Transferable Vote - 2009 - Referendum - May 17 - 2005 - Popular vote - Simple majority - Electoral reform

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See also: List of British Columbia general elections

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