1991 British Columbia recall and initiative referendum
The British Columbia Recall and Initiative Referendum was a referendum held in British Columbia on October 17, 1991. It was concurrent with that year's general election. The referendum posed two questions. They were on whether elected officials should be able to be recalled and whether voters should be given a citizen's initiative. Both questions were decisively approved with over 80% of the electorate voting yes to both questions.
Lead up
editBritish Columbia has had several referendums in its history.[1] A previous bill, the Direct Legislation Act, was passed by the Oliver government in 1919. the Direct Democracy Act was given royal assent in March of that year, but was never proclaimed. A similar statute was struck down by the Manitoba Court of Appeals later that year. These combined to leave the BC law in legislative limbo until it was removed in a 1924 statute consolidation.[2]
A promise to hold referendums was included in the British Columbia Social Credit Party (Socred) government's speech from the throne in April 1990.[3] In preparation, the Socreds had invited two experts from California familiar with recall and initiative to their annual convention.[4] Appropriate legislation was introduced on July 5, 1990.[5]
The two questions were:
A: Should the voters be given the right, by legislation, to vote between elections for the removal of their member of the Legislative Assembly?[6]
B: Should the voters be given the right, by legislation, to propose questions that the Government of British Columbia must submit to voters by referendum?[6]
Both of the questions were announced by Premier Rita Johnston during a news conference on September 5, 1991, although by then they were an open secret. NDP leader Mike Harcourt criticized the timing, saying that the Socreds had moved too slowly in launching the proposals.[4] Liberal leader Gordon Wilson also criticized the referendum, saying that it was intended to divert attention away from the scandal-plagued Socreds.[7] In response, Johnston said she could not comment on either timing or structure for the proposals because they would be decided after the referendum.[4]
The referendum was run by Attorney-General Russ Fraser. The total cost was 1.7 million dollars. The cost includes information pamphlets, advertising, toll-free information telephone lines, and costs related to running the referendum.[4]
The referendum also got caught up in the campaign going on at the same time. Both Premier Johnston and British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Harcourt announced that they would be voting yes in the referendum.[4]
Results
editThere was overwhelming support for both questions. Support was over 80% of yes votes for both questions.[8] However, more than nine percent of ballots for question A were rejected, and more than eleven percent were rejected for question B. Turnout was slightly less than that in the general election.[2]
Question A: Recall
editDistrict | Yes | Percentage | No | Percentage | Rejected |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abbotsford | 14214 | 82.46 | 3023 | 17.54 | 1571 |
Alberni | 10092 | 83.81 | 1949 | 16.19 | 1716 |
Bulkley Valley-Stikine | 8077 | 80.18 | 1996 | 19.82 | 1220 |
Burnaby-Edmonds | 16003 | 82.57 | 3378 | 17.43 | 2247 |
Burnaby North | 15374 | 83.22 | 3099 | 16.78 | 2173 |
Burnaby-Willingdon | 18091 | 81.9 | 3999 | 18.1 | 2215 |
Cariboo North | 9899 | 85.65 | 1658 | 14.35 | 1294 |
Cariboo South | 10606 | 82.5 | 2249 | 17.5 | 1439 |
Chilliwack | 16527 | 82.48 | 3510 | 17.52 | 2372 |
Columbia River-Revelstoke | 10237 | 81.78 | 2281 | 18.22 | 1531 |
Comox Valley | 18435 | 75.7 | 5918 | 24.3 | 2424 |
Coquitlam-Maillardville | 18311 | 82.86 | 3788 | 17.14 | 2026 |
Cowichan-Ladysmith | 16652 | 80.54 | 4024 | 19.46 | 2319 |
Delta North | 16784 | 84.74 | 3022 | 15.26 | 1517 |
Delta South | 17299 | 82.11 | 3770 | 17.89 | 1226 |
Esquimalt-Metchosin | 17539 | 82.68 | 3674 | 17.32 | 1915 |
Fort Langley-Aldergrove | 15998 | 84.32 | 2975 | 15.68 | 1253 |
Kamloops | 14595 | 76.55 | 4471 | 23.45 | 1587 |
Kamloops-North Thompson | 10876 | 77.86 | 3093 | 22.14 | 1135 |
Kootenay | 11770 | 81.9 | 2602 | 18.1 | 1651 |
Langley | 14301 | 83.97 | 2731 | 16.03 | 1628 |
Malahat-Juan de Fuca | 14933 | 83.67 | 2911 | 16.31 | 2046 |
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows | 19897 | 83.01 | 4073 | 16.99 | 1977 |
Matsqui | 13838 | 81.91 | 3056 | 18.09 | 2046 |
Mission-Kent | 12657 | 80.24 | 3117 | 19.76 | 1680 |
Nanaimo | 15919 | 79.64 | 4069 | 20.36 | 2189 |
Nelson-Creston | 13131 | 78.50 | 3597 | 21.50 | 1869 |
New Westminster | 15568 | 81.39 | 3560 | 18.61 | 2019 |
North Coast | 7631 | 80.83 | 1810 | 19.17 | 1288 |
North Island | 12185 | 78.53 | 3332 | 21.47 | 1385 |
North Vancouver-Lonsdale | 15214 | 83.53 | 3000 | 16.47 | 1749 |
North Vancouver-Seymour | 18469 | 80.68 | 4423 | 19.32 | 1224 |
Oak Bay-Gordon Head | 17982 | 73.08 | 6624 | 26.92 | 2299 |
Okanagan-Boundary | 10627 | 77.94 | 3008 | 22.06 | 2013 |
Okanagan East | 16477 | 81.05 | 3852 | 18.95 | 2324 |
Okanagan-Penticton | 15529 | 78.04 | 4369 | 21.96 | 2299 |
Okanagan-Vernon | 16602 | 79.65 | 4242 | 20.35 | 2206 |
Okanagan West | 20447 | 80.58 | 4929 | 19.42 | 2480 |
Parksville-Qualicum | 18866 | 79.54 | 4852 | 20.46 | 2499 |
Peace River North | 7897 | 82.66 | 1657 | 17.34 | 1275 |
Peace River South | 9706 | 86.15 | 1561 | 13.85 | 1436 |
Port Coquitlam | 19931 | 84.68 | 3606 | 15.32 | 1990 |
Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain | 17662 | 82 | 3877 | 18 | 430 |
Powell River-Sunshine Coast | 14294 | 77.4 | 4174 | 22.6 | 1606 |
Prince George-Mount Robson | 8668 | 83.05 | 1769 | 16.95 | 1201 |
Prince George North | 11553 | 83.09 | 2351 | 16.91 | 368 |
Prince George-Omineca | 10170 | 82.66 | 2133 | 17.34 | 1139 |
Richmond Centre | 13260 | 80.74 | 3164 | 19.26 | 1484 |
Richmond East | 12764 | 82.34 | 2737 | 17.66 | 1757 |
Richmond-Steveston | 13098 | 80 | 3275 | 20 | 1314 |
Rossland-Trail | 11886 | 81.92 | 2624 | 18.08 | 1653 |
Saanich North and the Islands | 18911 | 77.4 | 5523 | 22.6 | 1786 |
Saanich South | 17153 | 79.15 | 4518 | 20.85 | 1527 |
Shuswap | 15531 | 79.46 | 4014 | 20.54 | 2448 |
Skeena | 8668 | 78.86 | 2324 | 21.14 | 1031 |
Surrey-Cloverdale | 18698 | 84.27 | 3490 | 15.73 | 1726 |
Surrey-Green Timbers | 15171 | 86.88 | 2291 | 13.12 | 1869 |
Surrey-Newton | 19214 | 85.88 | 3158 | 14.12 | 2296 |
Surrey-Whalley | 12110 | 86.32 | 1919 | 13.68 | 1339 |
Surrey-White Rock | 21702 | 82.62 | 4566 | 17.38 | 2622 |
Vancouver-Burrard | 14233 | 79.22 | 3734 | 20.78 | 1613 |
Vancouver-Fraserview | 13893 | 84.05 | 2636 | 15.95 | 2054 |
Vancouver-Hastings | 13562 | 84.1 | 2564 | 15.9 | 2526 |
Vancouver-Kensington | 13718 | 85.16 | 2390 | 14.84 | 2204 |
Vancouver-Kingsway | 13033 | 86.16 | 2093 | 13.84 | 2463 |
Vancouver-Langara | 14846 | 80.24 | 3656 | 19.76 | 1454 |
Vancouver-Little Mountain | 16046 | 76.13 | 5032 | 23.87 | 2166 |
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant | 11635 | 81.82 | 2586 | 18.18 | 2310 |
Vancouver-Point Grey | 16536 | 71.62 | 6553 | 28.38 | 1623 |
Vancouver-Quilchena | 15498 | 71.6 | 6148 | 28.4 | 1593 |
Victoria-Beacon Hill | 15671 | 75.38 | 5117 | 24.62 | 2599 |
Victoria-Hillside | 16102 | 79.59 | 4128 | 20.41 | 1976 |
West Vancouver-Capilano | 16842 | 78.01 | 4747 | 21.99 | 1705 |
West Vancouver-Garibaldi | 14168 | 79.01 | 3765 | 20.99 | 1376 |
Yale-Lillooet | 11225 | 83.14 | 2277 | 16.86 | 1883 |
Total | 1090023 | 80.89 | 257522 | 19.11 | 135363 |
Source:[9]
|
Question B: Initiative
editDistrict | Yes | Percentage | No | Percentage | Rejected |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abbotsford | 14335 | 84.78 | 2573 | 15.22 | 1900 |
Alberni | 10084 | 86.36 | 1593 | 13.64 | 2080 |
Bulkley Valley-Stikine | 8221 | 83.53 | 1621 | 16.47 | 1451 |
Burnaby-Edmonds | 15944 | 84.35 | 2959 | 15.65 | 2727 |
Burnaby North | 15359 | 84.9 | 2731 | 15.1 | 2556 |
Burnaby-Willingdon | 18185 | 84.03 | 3456 | 15.97 | 2664 |
Cariboo North | 9923 | 87.86 | 1371 | 12.14 | 1557 |
Cariboo South | 10746 | 85.78 | 1781 | 14.22 | 1767 |
Chilliwack | 16642 | 85.33 | 2862 | 14.67 | 2905 |
Columbia River-Revelstoke | 10495 | 86.24 | 1674 | 13.76 | 1880 |
Comox Valley | 18996 | 79.72 | 4833 | 20.28 | 2948 |
Coquitlam-Maillardville | 18468 | 85.19 | 3210 | 14.81 | 2447 |
Cowichan-Ladysmith | 16905 | 83.89 | 3247 | 16.11 | 2843 |
Delta North | 16385 | 84 | 3122 | 16 | 1816 |
Delta South | 16880 | 81.16 | 3918 | 18.84 | 1497 |
Esquimalt-Metchosin | 17591 | 84.33 | 3268 | 15.67 | 2269 |
Fort Langley-Aldergrove | 16000 | 85.95 | 2615 | 14.05 | 1611 |
Kamloops | 15257 | 81.63 | 3433 | 18.37 | 1963 |
Kamloops-North Thompson | 11212 | 82.13 | 2439 | 17.87 | 1453 |
Kootenay | 12187 | 87.39 | 1758 | 12.61 | 2078 |
Langley | 14244 | 85.42 | 2431 | 14.58 | 1994 |
Malahat-Juan de Fuca | 15070 | 85.7 | 2514 | 14.3 | 2306 |
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows | 20090 | 85.52 | 3401 | 14.48 | 2456 |
Matsqui | 13963 | 85.35 | 2397 | 14.65 | 2995 |
Mission-Kent | 12874 | 83.45 | 2553 | 16.55 | 2027 |
Nanaimo | 16154 | 82.5 | 3426 | 17.5 | 2597 |
Nelson-Creston | 13464 | 82.66 | 2824 | 17.34 | 2309 |
New Westminster | 15731 | 84.07 | 2981 | 15.93 | 2435 |
North Coast | 7759 | 84.05 | 1472 | 15.95 | 1498 |
North Island | 12793 | 84.14 | 2412 | 15.86 | 1697 |
North Vancouver-Lonsdale | 15275 | 85.51 | 2588 | 14.49 | 2100 |
North Vancouver-Seymour | 18420 | 81.33 | 4229 | 18.67 | 1467 |
Oak Bay-Gordon Head | 17701 | 73.38 | 6420 | 26.62 | 2784 |
Okanagan-Boundary | 10611 | 80.36 | 2594 | 19.64 | 2594 |
Okanagan East | 16854 | 84.98 | 2980 | 15.02 | 2819 |
Okanagan-Penticton | 15560 | 80.7 | 3721 | 19.3 | 3662 |
Okanagan-Vernon | 16961 | 83.65 | 3314 | 16.35 | 2775 |
Okanagan West | 20684 | 84.23 | 3874 | 15.77 | 4298 |
Parksville-Qualicum | 18999 | 81.66 | 4266 | 18.34 | 2952 |
Peace River North | 7959 | 85.52 | 1348 | 14.48 | 1522 |
Peace River South | 9759 | 88.86 | 1223 | 11.14 | 1721 |
Port Coquitlam | 20260 | 86.99 | 3029 | 13.01 | 2238 |
Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain | 17895 | 84.03 | 3402 | 15.97 | 672 |
Powell River-Sunshine Coast | 14847 | 82.4 | 3171 | 17.6 | 2056 |
Prince George-Mount Robson | 8588 | 84.64 | 1559 | 15.36 | 1491 |
Prince George North | 11498 | 84.35 | 2133 | 15.65 | 641 |
Prince George-Omineca | 10188 | 84.29 | 1899 | 15.71 | 1355 |
Richmond Centre | 13347 | 82.71 | 2791 | 17.29 | 1770 |
Richmond East | 12782 | 84.41 | 2361 | 15.59 | 2115 |
Richmond-Steveston | 13222 | 81.97 | 2909 | 18.03 | 1556 |
Rossland-Trail | 11989 | 85.17 | 2088 | 14.83 | 2086 |
Saanich North and the Islands | 18816 | 78.37 | 5192 | 21.63 | 2212 |
Saanich South | 17053 | 79.55 | 4383 | 20.45 | 1762 |
Shuswap | 15661 | 82.58 | 3304 | 17.42 | 3028 |
Skeena | 8987 | 83.63 | 1759 | 16.37 | 1277 |
Surrey-Cloverdale | 18600 | 85.44 | 3169 | 14.56 | 2145 |
Surrey-Green Timbers | 14733 | 86.38 | 2324 | 13.62 | 2274 |
Surrey-Newton | 18928 | 86.18 | 3035 | 13.82 | 2705 |
Surrey-Whalley | 11933 | 86.63 | 1841 | 13.37 | 1594 |
Surrey-White Rock | 20960 | 81.74 | 4681 | 18.26 | 3249 |
Vancouver-Burrard | 14232 | 80.18 | 3518 | 19.82 | 1830 |
Vancouver-Fraserview | 13713 | 85.01 | 2418 | 14.99 | 2452 |
Vancouver-Hastings | 13343 | 85.34 | 2292 | 14.66 | 3017 |
Vancouver-Kensington | 13428 | 86.34 | 2124 | 13.66 | 2760 |
Vancouver-Kingsway | 12688 | 87.26 | 1852 | 12.74 | 3049 |
Vancouver-Langara | 14901 | 81.73 | 3332 | 18.27 | 1723 |
Vancouver-Little Mountain | 16366 | 78.75 | 4419 | 21.25 | 2459 |
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant | 11530 | 84.25 | 2156 | 15.75 | 2845 |
Vancouver-Point Grey | 16972 | 74.38 | 5847 | 25.62 | 1893 |
Vancouver-Quilchena | 15568 | 72.91 | 5783 | 27.09 | 1888 |
Victoria-Beacon Hill | 15567 | 76.8 | 4703 | 23.2 | 3117 |
Victoria-Hillside | 16146 | 81.58 | 3645 | 18.42 | 2415 |
West Vancouver-Capilano | 16764 | 78.68 | 4542 | 21.32 | 1988 |
West Vancouver-Garibaldi | 14258 | 80.45 | 3464 | 19.55 | 1587 |
Yale-Lillooet | 11378 | 86.53 | 1771 | 13.47 | 2236 |
Total | 1095100 | 83.02 | 223902 | 16.98 | 163906 |
Source:[10]
|
Aftermath
editBritish Columbia's legislation made a referendum binding only on the government that called it. As the Socreds had been defeated, the incoming NDP government was not required to enable recall and initiative. Nevertheless, Premier-elect Mike Harcourt announced that his government would be bound by the results.[11] As a consequence, the Recall and Initiative Act was passed and entered into force on February 24, 1995.[6] In 1998, MLA Paul Reitsma resigned his seat when it appeared that a recall petition would be successful and he could be the first person ever recalled under the legislation.
As of April 2023, according to Elections BC the Recall and Initiative Act has been invoked:
- 29 times with registered Recall petitions, all of which are deemed to have failed;[12][13]
- 14 times with registered Initiative petitions, of which only one passed (see 2011 British Columbia sales tax referendum).[14]
See also
edit- Politics of British Columbia
- Referendums in Canada
- William Aberhart, the first politician in Canada ever to be subject to a recall campaign
References
edit- ^ "Plebiscites and Referenda". Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986. Elections BC. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
- ^ a b Ruff, Norman (1993). "Institutionalizing Populism in British Columbia". Canadian Parliamentary Review. Archived from the original on November 24, 2004. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
- ^ As spoken by The Honourable David Lam (April 5, 1990). "Speech from the Throne". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Hansard. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Justine Hunter (September 6, 1991). "B.C. voters to face two referendums; Government dragged feet, NDP claims". Vancouver Sun. p. H9.
- ^ Don Hauka (July 6, 1990). "Plebiscite bill 'good democracy'". Vancouver Province. p. 4.
- ^ a b c "Electoral History of British Columbia Supplement, 1987-2001" (PDF). Elections BC. March 2002. p. 60. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2007.
- ^ Ian Austin (September 6, 1991). "Questions unveiled; Opposition says exercise is a smokescreen to divert attention". Vancouver Province. p. 6.
- ^ "Electoral History of British Columbia Supplement, 1987-2001" (PDF). Elections BC. March 2002. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ "Referendum Summary". Statement of Votes. Elections BC. June 1992. Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "Referendum Summary". Statement of Votes. Elections BC. June 1992. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ Justine Hunter (October 19, 1991). "Early referendum count shows B.C. voters want power to remove, rescind, recall". Vancouver Sun. p. B9.
- ^ "Summary of Recall Petitions" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Bob Mackin (March 21, 2023). "Recall David Eby campaign falls far short of goal". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ "Summary of Initiative Petitions" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved April 13, 2023.