Yale-Lillooet

Yale-Lillooet was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.

It first appeared in the 1966 General Election, when it superseded the older Lillooet riding, which was one of the province's original twelve ridings, as well as the equally old Yale riding, parts of which were also in Yale-Lillooet. Yale-Lillooet was last contested in the 2005 General Election; in 2009 it was largely replaced by Fraser-Nicola, with the Fraser Canyon portions in the southwest transferred to Chilliwack-Hope and the town of Keremeos in the extreme southeast transferred to Boundary-Similkameen.

Demographics
Population, 2001 37,197
Population Change, 1996–2001 -2.9%
Area (km²) 31,889.62
Pop. Density (people per km²) 1.2

Geography

The riding was largely rural and wilderness in character despite its proximity to the Lower Mainland, it spanned the Bridge River-Lillooet, Ashcroft-Thompson Canyon, Fraser Canyon, Nicola and Similkameen Districts.

Since creation its shape remained relatively unchanged despite some minor boundary adjustments, with (e.g.) Ashcroft-Cache Creek joining Cariboo South in some elections and the Similkameen area joined to one of the Okanagan ridings. Its core towns - Lillooet, Lytton, Yale, Boston Bar, Hope, Princeton, Merritt and Spences Bridge remained permanently in the riding until its demise.

Its boundary was roughly described by a quadrangle formed by and including the towns of:

Other towns within the riding are:

The riding's largest and therefore electorally dominant population centre was Merritt. The riding was heavily mountainous and all its towns were all fairly isolated from each other by terrain and the necessarily difficult roads of the canyons and mountain valleys interconnecting them. Many of the electorate are scattered through smaller communities throughout the region, particularly on Indian Reserves and in recreational property areas of the Bridge River Country, the Nicola-Similkameen and the Fraser Canyon.

Yale-Lillooet had the highest proportion of aboriginal voters in southern British Columbia and one of the highest proportions in the province. All reserves and local bands of the Nlaka'pamux and Nicola peoples were included within the riding, as well as those of the Upper St'at'imc and the upriver Sto:lo around Hope and Yale.

History

Hope, Yale, Boston Bar, Lillooet, Lytton and Princeton are some of the oldest towns in the province, dating to the founding of the Crown Colony during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Merritt is of slightly later date and was an isolated ranching town until the opening of the Coquihalla Highway in the mid-1980s, which caused its population to boom.

The riding has traditionally been a swing riding with both strong conservative and liberal elements in its politics, and is also considered a bellwether riding although not always winding up in Government benches. The major industries are forestry and transportation-oriented services and tourism and recreation.

Members of Legislative Assembly

Over the district's existence, it elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia:

Parliament Years Member Party
28th 1966–1969     Bill Hartley New Democrat
29th 1969–1972
30th 1972–1976
31st 1976–1979     Thomas Waterland Social Credit
32nd 1979–1983
33rd 1986–1991
34th 1986–1991     James Rabbitt Social Credit
35th 1991–1996     Harry Lali NDP
36th 1996–2001
37th 2001–2005     David Chutter Liberal
38th 2005–2009     Harry Lali NDP

Election results
2005 British Columbia general election
Party Candidate Votes%
New DemocraticHarry S. Lali8,48948.84
LiberalLloyd George Forman7,00940.33
GreenMike McLean1,5839.11
Democratic ReformArne Jensen Zabell1851.06
People's FrontDorothy-Jean O'Donnell1150.66
Total 17,381 100.00
B.C. General Election 2001: Yale-Lillooet
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
LiberalDavid Chutter9,84560.07%$35,513
  NDP Victor York 2,817 17.19% $26,185
GreenHarue Kanemitsu1,65710.11%–$2,116
All NationsDon Moses1,1266.87%–$6,419
MarijuanaVincent Royer8074.92%$494
People's FrontDorothy-Jean O'Donnell1360.84%$252
Total valid votes 16,388 100.00%
Total rejected ballots 84 0.51%
Turnout 16,472 68.99%
1996 British Columbia general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticHarry Lali7,08041.06-11.25$41,454
LiberalJames Rabbitt5,91234.29-13.40$50,073
ReformJohn Calvin Stinson3,41919.83–$23,749
Progressive DemocratRichard Bennett7064.09––
Family CoalitionEd Vanwoudenberg1240.72–$426
Total valid votes 17,241 100.00
Total rejected ballots 76 0.44
Turnout 17,317 72.21
New Democratic hold Swing -12.33
  • Liberal totals reflect James Rabbitt's personal swing when he was a Social Credit Member.
1991 British Columbia general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticHarry Lali7,74052.31+7.60$36,378
Social CreditJames Rabbitt7,05747.69-0.45$38,170
Total valid votes 14,797 100.00
Total rejected ballots 697 4.50
Turnout 15,494 72.17
New Democratic gain from Social Credit Swing +4.03
1986 British Columbia general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Social CreditJames Rabbitt7,42448.14-8.64
New DemocraticHoward C. McDiarmid6,89544.71+4.04
LiberalRichard A.Y. Lee6174.00+1.45
Progressive ConservativeGlenn Henderson4853.15–
Total valid votes 15,421 100.00
Total rejected ballots 2771.79
Turnout 15,698
Social Credit hold Swing -6.34

References
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