Yale (electoral district)

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Yale was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1892 and from 1917 to 1953.

It first appeared when the original Yale District riding, which was created and filled by special byelection in 1871 at the time of BC's entry into the Canadian Confederation, was abolished and replaced by "Yale" riding. Yale riding spanned both Yale and Kootenay Land Districts, that is to say, the entirety of the southern province from the Fraser Canyon to the Rockies. It was last used in the 1891 election, and was merged in 1892 with the Cariboo riding to form Yale—Cariboo.

That arrangement lasted until 1914 when a further redistribution separated Yale and Cariboo once again. This second incarnation was considerbaly smaller than the first because Kootenay district was now in a different riding. In 1903, the riding of Kootenay was split off from what had been the original Yale riding.

The "new" Yale riding excluded the Town of Yale, and when it was reconstituted, coincided with the provincial Okanagan riding except for the city of Salmon Arm.

The new incarnation of Yale lasted until the 1952, when the Yale name vanished from the Commons and the Okanagan ridings, Okanagan Boundary and Okanagan—Revelstoke were created. The old core area around the town of historic and once-important Yale, which has long since became depopulated by being bypassed by massive growth elsewhere, was attached to the Fraser Valley riding, then to its successor Fraser Valley East, and then to today's Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon. It was not in the second incarnation of the Yale riding when it was reconstituted in 1914.

Contents

[edit] Demographics

Population, 1871 Population, 1961
Population change, 1871-1966  %
Area (km²)
Population density in 1871 (people per km²) 0.0%

[edit] History and political geography

This riding was created as Yale District in 1871 as a result of British Columbia joining Confederation. In 1872, it was abolished and replaced by "Yale" for the 1872 federal election. This original version of the riding covered both Yale and Kootenay Land Districts, in other words the whole of the southern portion of the province from the Fraser Canyon to the Rocky Mountains. It existed in this form until 1892, when Yale was amalgamated with Cariboo to form Yale—Cariboo, also known as "Yale and Cariboo" when recognized by the Speaker. The first election had only 62 voters, the second 109, and most of these were in the area of the Fraser Canyon towns of Boston Bar, Hope, Yale. The rest were a scattered handful of ranches and mining camps in the Okanagan, Nicola and Similkameen districts.

It was reconstituted as Yale in 1914 and lasted until 1952. This version of the riding comprised the provincial electoral district of Okanagan, excepting the parts of the city and district municipality of Salmon Arm contained in the provincial riding, and the provincial electoral districts of Similkameen, Greenwood and Grand Forks. Yale therefore contained the entire Okanagan, Boundary and Similkameen country, and the Fraser Canyon immediately around the town of Yale itself. The main difference from the earlier version of the riding is the absence of the Kootenays.

The district was recreated in 1914 for use in the Canadian federal election of 1917. It was again abolished in 1952, being redistricted into Okanagan Boundary and Okanagan—Revelstoke.

[edit] Members of Parliament

[edit] Election results

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

Canadian federal election, 1872: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Edgar Dewdney 43
     Unknown Robert Smith 19
Total 62
1 Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories 1881-1888, and
Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia 1892-1897.
Canadian federal election, 1874: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Edgar Dewdney 89
     Unknown D. Chisholm 20
Total 109
Canadian federal election, 1878: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Edgar Dewdney Acclaimed
Total -
Byelection, September 29, 1879: Yale 2
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Francis Jones Barnard 3 212
     Unknown John Trapp 99
Total 311
2 By-Election: On Mr. Dewdney's resignation to become Indian Commissioner of Manitoba and the North West Territories, May 30, 1879.
3 By-Election: Frank (Francis Jones) Barnard of Barnard's Express, premier freight company on the Cariboo Wagon Road and one of the mainland colony's first entrepreneurs. His son Sir Francis Stillman Barnard was later 10th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia (1914-1919) and was Knighted by the time of his appointment.
Canadian federal election, 1882: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative F.J. Barnard 266
     Unknown Jas. Robinson 109
     Unknown F.G. Vernon 78
Total 453
Canadian federal election, 1887: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative John Andrew Mara Acclaimed
Canadian federal election, 1891: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative John Andrew Mara Acclaimed

Under the Representation Act of 1892, the constituencies of Yale and Cariboo were united to form Yale—Cariboo. In 1914, that riding was broken up and the Yale and Cariboo riding-names were restored, although the new constituencies were considerably smaller than before. The restored Yale riding included the Boundary Country around Grand Forks and Greenwood, but the Kootenay was now a separate riding and the town of Yale itself was not in the restored Yale riding, but in the new riding of Westminster District. The first election using the new boundaries was in 1917, although the seat was won by acclamation by the Hon. Martin Burrell, who had been the member for Yale—Cariboo.

Canadian federal election, 1917: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Government Hon. Martin Burrell Acclaimed
Byelection, November 22, 1920: Yale 4
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative John Armstrong MacKelvie 4,989 52.03%
     United Farmers Charles Edgar Edgett 4,600 47.97%
Total 9,589 100.00
4 By-Election: On Mr. Burrell being appointed joint Librarian of Parliament.
Canadian federal election, 1921: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative John Armstrong MacKelvie 6,475 52.18%
     Liberal Daniel Wilbur Sutherland 5,933 47.82%
Total 12,408 100.00%
Byelection, November 6, 1924: Yale 5
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Grote Sterling 6,354 51.48%
     Liberal Daniel Wilbur Sutherland 5,988 48.52%
Total 12,342 100.00
5 On Mr. MacKelvie's death April 6, 1924.
Canadian federal election, 1925: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Grote Sterling 7,573 60.86%
     Liberal Charles Edgar Edgett 4,870 39.14%
Total 12,443 100.00%
Canadian federal election, 1926: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Grote Sterling 7,815 66.55%
     Liberal Fremont Blakeslee Cossitt 3,928 33.45%
Total 11,743 100.00%
Canadian federal election, 1928: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Grote Sterling 8,447 63.25%
     Liberal Walter Gordon Wilkins 4,908 36.75%
Total 13,355 100.00%

A redistribution in 1933 rearranged the riding's boundaries, once again including the original core area around Yale and Hope, though the bulk of the riding's population remained in the orchard towns of the Okanagan.

Canadian federal election, 1935: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Conservative Grote Sterling 6,791 41.27%
     Liberal Charles Edward Oliver 5,113 31.07%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Edward Woodford MacKay 4,551 27.66%
Total 16,455 100.00%
Canadian federal election, 1940: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     National Government Grote Sterling 8,599 37.66%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Owen Lewis Jones 7,428 32.53%
     Liberal Charles William Morrow 6,805 29.81%
Total 22,832 100.00%
Canadian federal election, 1945: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Progressive Conservative Grote Sterling 9,625 39.21%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Owen Lewis Jones 7,713 31.42%
     Liberal Arthur Wilfred Gray 4,705 19.17%
     Social Credit James Allan Reid 1,685 6.86%
     Labour Progressive Party Allan Conway Clapp 820 3.34%
Total 24,548 100.00%
By-Election May 31, 1948: Yale 6
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Owen Lewis Jones 12,838 45.38%
     Progressive Conservative William Andrew Cecil Bennett 7 7,953 28.11%
     Liberal Edward John Chambers 7,500 26.51%
Total 28,291 100.00%
6 By-Election: On Mr. Stirling's resignation, October 21, 1947
7 25th Premier of British Columbia, 1952-1972
Canadian federal election, 1949: Yale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. Owen Lewis Jones 13,298 42.44%
     Progressive Conservative Theodore Robert Bruce Adams 11,562 36.89%
     Liberal Charles James McDowell 5,576 17.79%
     Social Credit James Allan Reid 902 2.88%
Total 31,338 100.00%

Yale riding was rablished in 1952. Its successor ridings were Okanagan Boundary and Okanagan—Revelstoke. Areas of the original core area around Yale are now part of Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, which extends up the Fraser River to Lillooet.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Riding history from the Library of Parliament