The British Columbia general election of 1996 was the thirty sixth provincial election in the Province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996. Voter turnout was 59.1 per cent of all eligible voters.

New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party of British Columbia

The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...

 leader and provincial premier Mike Harcourt

Michael Harcourt

Michael Franklin Harcourt served as the 30th Premier of the province of British Columbia in Canada from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of BC's major city, Vancouver from 1980 to 1986....

 had resigned as the result of a fundraising scandal involving one of the members of his caucus. Glen Clark

Glen Clark

Glen David Clark is a politician in British Columbia, Canada who served as the 31st Premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999.-Early life and education:...

 was chosen by the party to replace Harcourt. Clark led the party to a second majority government

Majority government

A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

, defeating the Liberal Party of Gordon Campbell. Campbell had become leader of the Liberal Party after Gordon Wilson

Gordon Wilson (Canadian politician)

Gordon Wilson is a former provincial politician in British Columbia. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of BC from 1987–1993, leader and founder of the Progressive Democratic Alliance from 1993–1997, and in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Finance and Minister of Employment, Investment...

 had been forced out of the position because of his relationship with another Liberal member of the legislature, Judi Tyabji. Campbell is believed to have lost the election because of a promise to privatize BC Rail.

After Wilson was defeated by Campbell in the convention to chose a new leader, he and Tyabji left the Liberal Party to establish the Progressive Democratic Alliance

Progressive Democratic Alliance

The Progressive Democratic Alliance was a centrist political party in British Columbia, Canada founded by Gordon Wilson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Powell River—Sunshine Coast....

. Wilson was able to win re-election, but Tyabji was not, going down to defeat with all of the other candidates fielded by the new party.

Reform BC

Reform Party of British Columbia

The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...

, a splinter group from the once-dominant Social Credit Party, won two seats. The Social Credit party collapsed, with party leader Larry Gillanders withdrawing from the race while the campaign was in progress, saying that all right wing parties should unite to topple the ruling NDP.

Although the Liberal Party won a larger share of the popular vote, the NDP won a majority

Majority government

A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

 of the seats in the Legislature.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1991 British Columbia general election, 1991 The British Columbia general election of 1991 was the 35th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on September 19, 1991, and held on October 17, 1991...	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change	New Democrats New Democratic Party of British Columbia The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...	Glen Clark Glen Clark Glen David Clark is a politician in British Columbia, Canada who served as the 31st Premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999.-Early life and education:...	75	51	39	-23.53%	624,395	39.45%	-1.26%	BC Liberal British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...	Gordon Campbell	75	17	33	+94.12%	661,929	41.82%	+8.58%	Reform Reform Party of British Columbia The Reform Party of British Columbia is a populist right wing political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the federal party was and it did not have any formal association with...	Jack Weisgerber Jack Weisgerber John Sylvester Weisgerber is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is a former member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. During his political career he was briefly the leader of both the British Columbia Social Credit Party and the Reform Party of British Columbia...	75	-	2		146,734	9.27%	+9.09%	Progressive Democratic Progressive Democratic Alliance The Progressive Democratic Alliance was a centrist political party in British Columbia, Canada founded by Gordon Wilson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Powell River—Sunshine Coast....	Gordon Wilson Gordon Wilson (Canadian politician) Gordon Wilson is a former provincial politician in British Columbia. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of BC from 1987–1993, leader and founder of the Progressive Democratic Alliance from 1993–1997, and in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Finance and Minister of Employment, Investment...	66	*	1	*	90,797	5.74%	*	Green Green Party of British Columbia The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...	Stuart Parker Stuart Parker Stuart Parker was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. In 2009, during the Ontario by-election to replace MPP Michael Byrant, he unsuccessfully sought the Ontario New Democratic Party nomination for the St...	71	-	-	-	31,511	1.99%	+1.13%	Independent/No affiliation		23	-	-	-	10,067	0.64%	-0.07%	Social Credit British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...	Larry Gillanders	38	7	-	-100%	6,276	0.40%	-23.65%	Family Coalition Family Coalition Party of British Columbia The Family Coalition Party of British Columbia was a conservative, pro-life political party in British Columbia, Canada.In the 1991 election, it nominated 8 candidates in the province's 75 ridings. They won a total of 1,310 votes, or 0.09% of the provincial total. In the 1996 election, it nominated...		14	-	-	-	4,150	0.26%	+0.17%	Natural Law Natural Law Party of Canada The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practiced Transcendental Meditation....		38	*	-	*	2,919	0.18%	*	Libertarian British Columbia Libertarian Party The British Columbia Libertarian Party is a libertarian political party in British Columbia, Canada.It first nominated candidates in the 1986 provincial election...		17	-	-	-	2,041	0.13%	+0.07%	Conservative British Columbia Conservative Party The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...	Peter B. Macdonald	8	-	-	-	1,002	0.06%	+0.03%	Western Canada Concept Western Canada Concept Party of British Columbia The Western Canada Concept Party of BC is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It was the British Columbia branch of the Western Canada Concept, a political party that operated at the federal level, advocating the separation of the four western provinces of Canada and the...	Doug Christie Doug Christie (lawyer) Douglas Hewson "Doug" Christie, Jr. is a Canadian lawyer and far-right political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia.-Career:...	5	-	-	-	374	0.02%	-0.02%	Common Sense, Community, Family		5	*	-	*	291	0.02%	*	Communist Communist Party of British Columbia The Communist Party of British Columbia is the British Columbia branch of the Communist Party of Canada. Its leader is Sam Hammond.From the 1945 British Columbia election to the 1956 election, it was known as the Labour Progressive Party....		3	-	-	-	218	0.01%	+0.01%
Total			513	75	75	-	1,582,704	100%
Source: Elections BC

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

External links

• Elections BC 1996 Election
• Losing the vote, winning the election, CBC video