Gordon Campbell Liberal
The 2005 British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The British Columbia Liberal Party (BC Liberals) formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell. The main opposition was the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), whose electoral representation was reduced to two MLAs in the previous provincial election in 2001.
The BC Liberals retained power, with a reduced majority of 46 out of 79 seats, down from the record 77 out of 79 in 2001. While the popularity of Campbell's government was affected by various factors such as its resolution of the Fast ferry scandal inherited from the previous NDP government, the sale of BC Rail, and Campbell being convicted for driving under the influence in January 2003, the overwhelming majority they earned at the previous election held up well enough for them to remain comfortably in control of the Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout was 58.2 per cent.
Under amendments to the BC Constitution Act passed in 2001, BC elections are now held on fixed dates: the second Tuesday in May every four years. This was the first provincial election for which elector data in the provincial elector list was synchronised with the National Register of Electors.[2]
Coincidental with the general election, BC voters also voted on whether or not to change the province's electoral system.
The BC electoral reform referendum was held in conjunction with this election. This referendum asked voters whether or not they support the proposed electoral reforms of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform, which included switching to a single transferable vote (STV) system. Had it been approved by 60% of voters in 60% of ridings), the new electoral system would have been implemented for the general election in 2009. Although the proposed reform attracted a clear majority (58% of the popular vote in favour, with 77 out of 79 ridings showing majority support), the level of support was just short of that required for mandatory implementation. A new vote on a revamped version of STV was held in conjunction with the 2009 British Columbia general election.
xx Denotes party received less than 0.1%
Besides the usual public polling by market research firms, other organizations have been attempting to predict the results of the upcoming election using alternate methods. Results suggest that all three projections below underestimated NDP seats and overestimated Liberal seats:
UBC's Election Stock Market tracks the prices of contracts whose value depend on election results: [1] Popular vote: Lib 44.5%, NDP 35.9%, Green 13.9%, Other 5.3% Seats: Lib 48.6 (61.5), NDP 29.4 (37.2), Other 1.6 (2.0)(values in parentheses are values of actual contracts, in cents)
The Election Prediction Project aggregates submissions from the Internet and subjectively predicts winners based on the submissions (see methodology): Seats: Lib 50, NDP 29, Other 0
Will McMartin at the progressive online newspaper The Tyee makes his predictions by looking at "historic election results and selected demographics, as well as public opinion polls, regional sources and input from Election Central readers" (see details): Seats: Lib 51, NDP 28, Other 0.
British Columbia has Canada's least restrictive elections laws with regard to political party registration, and consequently there are currently nearly 50 parties registered with Elections BC, by far the most of any jurisdiction in the country. Twenty-five parties contested the 2005 election, also a considerably greater number than anywhere else in Canada.
Leader: Gordon Campbell
The BC Liberals won 77 of 79 seats in the 2001 election. At dissolution, the party held 72 seats. One member elected as a Liberal left the party to sit as a member of Democratic Reform British Columbia; one member elected as a Liberal left to sit as an independent; the party lost one by-election to the opposition New Democratic Party; and two former Liberal seats were vacant when the election was called. In 2005 election, the Liberal party dropped from 72 to 46 seats in the legislature, yet still won the election.
Leader: Carole James
The NDP's legislative caucus was reduced from a majority to just two seats in the 2001 election. It won another seat in an October 2004 by-election to bring the total to three. Carole James led the NDP to 33 seats to become the Leader of the Opposition.
Leader: Adriane Carr
The Green Party ran 72 candidates in 2001, winning 12 percent of the vote but no seats in the legislature. Some argued that the Green Party support peaked in 2001, drawing on dissatisfied NDP voters, and they would remain incapable of winning a seat in 2005 under the First-Past-the-Post system; others believed that if there had been four or more competitive parties in this election, the Greens might elect a handful of members. Alternatively, if they had received more votes, they would have been more likely to win a seat. The Greens may benefit if a later election is conducted using the proposed BC-STV system. In 2005, the Greens received 9% of the popular vote and no seats.
Leader: Tom Morino
Democratic Reform British Columbia is a new party created in early 2005 by the merger of the British Columbia Democratic Coalition—a coalition of minor centrist parties— with the All Nations Party of British Columbia and key elements of the Reform BC. Independent MLA Elayne Brenzinger, a former Liberal, became DRBC's first MLA on January 19, 2005. Controversially, no invitation was extended for Morino to participate in the leader's debate.
Leader: Marc Emery
The BC Marijuana Party nominated 43 candidates in this election. It was the only party other than the Liberals and NDP to run candidates in all 79 districts in 2001. The party chose not to run in certain districts and instead endorse New Democrat and Green candidates who publicly favour the legalization of marijuana. Party founder Marc Emery ran against Solicitor General Rich Coleman, an anti-drug hardliner, in staunchly conservative Fort Langley-Aldergrove. He gained controversy early in the campaign for claiming that the government spends too much money on senior citizens.
Work Less Party of British Columbia
Leader: Conrad Schmidt
The WLP is an anti-materialist political movement that hopes to achieve socialist and green ends through, among other things, the promotion of a four-day work-week. The 2005 BC election marked the debut in Western politics of any registered party expressly driven by the ideology of voluntary simplicity. It nominated 11 candidates, all in urban ridings.
Platinum Party of Employers Who Think and Act to Increase Awareness
Leader: Jeff Evans
Nominated eleven candidates.
British Columbia Conservative Party
Leader: Barry Chilton
Nominated seven candidates. Former provincial affiliate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
British Columbia Libertarian Party
No registered leader
Nominated six candidates. Provincial affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Canada
People's Front
Leader: Charles Boylan
Nominated five candidates. Provincial affiliate of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).
Western Refederation Party of British Columbia
A new autonomist/separatist party that nominated four candidates around the province.
Communist Party of British Columbia
Leader: George Gidora
Nominated three candidates. Provincial affiliate of the Communist Party of Canada.
Sex Party
Leader: John Ince
Nominated three candidates in the City of Vancouver. Billed itself as "the world's first sex-positive party."
Bloc British Columbia Party
Leader: Paddy Roberts
Libertarian separatist movement. Nominated three candidates in the Interior.
British Columbia Social Credit Party
Although Social Credit governed British Columbia for most of the period from 1952 to 1991, the party is now a minor party, with little organization or support. It nominated the minimum two candidates in order to retain party status this election.
Freedom Party of British Columbia
Leader: Kenneth Montgomery Keillor
Nominated two candidates.
British Columbia Patriot Party
Leader: Andrew Hokhold
Western Canada Concept Party of British Columbia
Leader: Doug Christie
Although the WCC did not run in the 2001 election, it has been a constant, if minor, force in the BC political fringes for decades. Christie, its controversial leader, and a second candidate were nominated by the party in Greater Victoria.
British Columbia Party
Leader: Grant Mitton
The BC Party is also a relatively old minor party, one of several populist conservative organizations that attempted to fill the vacuum after the collapse of Social Credit in the mid-nineties. This was the first election in which it nominated candidates. It nominated two candidates. A third possible candidate, Summer Davis in Surrey-Tynehead, ran as an independent.
British Columbia Moderate Democratic Movement
The majority of the Moderates, including leader Matthew Laird, joined DRBC. The party's registration did not lapsed, however. The two candidates running under its banner opposed the merger.
British Columbia Youth Coalition
No registered leader.
British Columbia Unity Party
Interim Leader: Daniel Stelmacker
BC Unity finished fourth in 2001, winning slightly over 3% of the vote with a slate of 56 candidates. It stood poised to potentially benefit from right-of-centre voters disenchanted with Campbell, but instead fell victim to serious internal division following a failed merger with the BC Conservative Party, which led to Chris Delaney's resignation as party leader. It appointed Daniel Stelmacker as its interim leader until it can hold a full leadership convention in the autumn of 2005. Stelmacker was its only nominated candidate, in Skeena riding.
Reform Party of British Columbia
Aborted mergers with BC Unity and DRBC drained supporters left and right from BC Reform, leaving only a tiny core of what was briefly BC's third party. Party founder Ron Gamble was the party's sole candidate in North Vancouver-Lonsdale.
Your Political Party of British Columbia
Leader: James Filippelli
YPP appears to be a one-man political movement; its website made mention of no figures other than Filippelli, the party's founder and leader, who was its sole candidate in this election. He ran in Port Moody-Westwood.
Emerged Democracy Party of British Columbia
Leader: Tony Luck
Nominated one candidate, Rob Nordberg, in Surrey-Green Timbers.