Yale-Lillooet

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Yale—Lillooet is 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 It first appeared in the 1966 General Election, when it superseded the older Lillooet riding, which was one of the province's original twelve ridings, as well as the equally-old Yale riding, parts of which are also in Yale—Lillooet.

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[edit] Demographics

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

[edit] Geography

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

Since creation in time for the 1996 General Election its shape has 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 have remained permanently in the riding.

Its boundary is 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 is Merritt. The riding is heavily mountainous and all its towns are all fairly isolated from each other by terrain and the necessarily difficult roads of the canyons 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 has 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 First Nations are included within the riding, as well as those of the Upper St'at'imc and the upriver Sto:lo around Hope and Yale.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Member of Legislative Assembly

Its MLA is Harry Lali. He was first elected in 2005. He represents the New Democratic Party of British Columbia.

[edit] Election results

B.C. General Election 2005: Yale-Lillooet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     NDP Harry S. Lali 8,489 48.84%
     BC Liberal Lloyd George Forman 7,009 40.33%%
     Green Mike McLean 1,583 9.11%
     DRBC Arne Jensen Zabell 185 1.06%
     People's Front Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell 115 0.66%
Total 17,381 100.00%
B.C. General Election 2001: Yale-Lillooet
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     BC Liberal Dave Chutter 9,845 60.07% $35,513
     NDP Victor York 2,817 17.19% $26,185
     Green Harue Kanemitsu 1,657 10.11% $2,116
     All Nations Don Moses 1,126 6.87% $6,419
     Marijuana Vincent Royer 807 4.92% $494
     People's Front Dorothy-Jean O'Donnell 136 0.84% $252
Total Valid Votes 16,388 100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots 84 0.51%
Turnout 16,472 68.99%
B.C. General Election 1996: Yale-Lillooet
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     NDP Harry S. Lali 7,080 41.06% $41,454
     BC Liberal Jim Rabbitt 5,912 34.29% $50,073
     BC Reform John Calvin Stinson 3,419 19.83% $23,749
     PDA Richard Bennett 706 4.09%
     Family Coalition Ed Vanwoudenberg 124 0.72% $426
Total Valid Votes 17,241 100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots 76 0.44%
Turnout 17,317 72.21%
B.C. General Election 1991: Yale-Lillooet
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     NDP Harry S. Lali 7,740 52.31% $36,378
     Social Credit James T. Rabbitt 7,057 47.69% $38,170
Total Valid Votes 14,797 100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots 697 4.50%
Turnout 15,494 72.17%

[edit] External links

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British Columbia provincial electoral districts
North / Central
Southern Interior
Fraser Valley / South
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See also: