On May 9, 2017 (2017-05-09) 42nd → 34 seats, 39.71% 1 seat, 8.13% 35 1 | 49 seats, 44.14% 34 seats, 39.71% 47 35 | |
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The 41st British Columbia general election is tentatively scheduled for May 9, 2017, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It will take place after the Premier of British Columbia formally advises the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.
Contents
The election will be the first contested on a new electoral map completed in 2015, with the total number of constituencies increased from 85 in the current legislature to 87. New districts will be added for Richmond and Surrey, while the boundaries to 48 existing electoral districts will be adjusted.
Timing
Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the second Tuesday in May of the fourth calendar year after the last election. As an election was held on May 14, 2013, the next election will be scheduled for May 9, 2017. The same section, though, makes the fixed election date subject to the Lieutenant Governor's right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as he or she sees fit (in practice, on the advice of the Premier).
Background
In the 2013 general election, the BC Liberal Party under the leadership of Premier Christy Clark were re-elected with a majority government. The New Democratic Party, under the leadership of Adrian Dix, again formed the Official Opposition with a slightly reduced total of 34 seats. Despite the victory, Clark was defeated by NDP candidate David Eby in her riding but was elected in the Westside-Kelowna by-election following Ben Stewart's resignation in July 2013. The Green Party, under the leadership of Jane Sterk, won its first seat in the legislature, though Sterk herself was not elected. Dix resigned as NDP leader following the election, and was succeeded by John Horgan. On August 13, 2013 Sterk announced she would resign as Green Party leader, Adam Olsen was appointed interim leader on August 25, 2013. The Conservative Party, under the leadership of John Cummins, failed to win a seat and Cummins resigned after the Westside-Kelowna by-election. On February 2, 2016, two by-elections occurred in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain to replace Jenny Kwan and Douglas Horne who had resigned to seek election in the 2015 federal election.
In preparation of the election, the Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act, 2014 increased the number of electoral districts to 87 and required that the number of electoral districts in the North, Cariboo-Thompson, and the Columbia-Kootenay regions not be decreased despite lower population. The Electoral Districts Act was updated in November 2015 to establish the new electoral districts, adding one new electoral district in Surrey and one in Richmond.
The Election Amendment Act, 2015 requires the chief electoral officer to provide each party with a copy of the voters list, allows constituency associations to incur election expenses, limits vouching to amend voter information to only family members of the voter, and eliminates the 60-day pre-campaign period, including its expense limits.
Candidates
The following is a list of candidates nominated or known to be running in the 2017 election by electoral district..
Sources for candidates without reference below:
BC Liberal
Green
BC Libertarian
Your Political Party
BC Cascadia Party
CBC's updated list of candidates