Greenwood (provincial electoral district)

For the defunct Ontario federal electoral district, see Greenwood (electoral district). For the defunct Ontario provincial electoral district, see Greenwood (Ontario electoral district).

Greenwood was the name of a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was located in the Boundary Country west of Grand Forks around the city of Greenwood. It first appeared on the hustings in the large redistribution prior to the 1903 election. For the 1924 election it was merged with the Grand Forks riding to form Grand Forks-Greenwood.

For other historical and current provincial electoral districts in the Kootenay region, please see Kootenay (electoral districts).

Political Geography and History

When the Greenwood riding was formed the Boundary and Slocan mining districts were booming and Greenwood was not a city in name only (as it is today, proudly retaining the city status as official vestige of its wealthy past). Like other ridings in the West Kootenay created in advance of the 1903 election out of the West Kootenay (south riding), during the glory days of the Kootenay and Boundary silver and galena booms. Slocan, Kaslo, Rossland, Grand Forks, Nelson City, Ymir and other ridings were also created at this time out of the former West Kootenay (south riding)).

The need for extra ridings ended when the mining era did, and so as the population of Greenwood and neighbouring towns dwindled the Greenwood riding made its last appearance in the 1924 election and was merged with Grand Forks riding into Grand Forks-Greenwood.

Grand Forks-Greenwood remained on the hustings until 1966 when even lower populations resulted in a merger with the valley of the Similkameen river, also a mining district in decline and represented by Similkameen, which was combined with the smelter and railway towns of the Grand Forks-Greenwood area and the southern end of the Okanagana to form the new riding of Boundary-Similkameen.

For other historical and current electoral districts in the West Kootenay region, please see Kootenay (electoral districts).

Demographics

Population, 1901
Population change, 1901–1921 Population Grand Forks-Greenwood 1926-1966 Population Boundary-Similkameen 1966-1986
Area (km²)
Population density (people per km²)

Notable MLAs

Electoral history

Note: Winners in each election are in bold.

10th British Columbia election, 1903
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Liberal John Robert Brown 1 238 36.73% unknown
SocialistRobert Low Drury 229 35.34% unknown
     Conservative James Ernest Spankie 181 27.93% unknown
Total valid votes 648 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
The Vancouver Province newspaper gave 380, 332, and 265 respectively.
11th British Columbia election, 1907
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
SocialistEdgar William Dynes 176 30.19% unknown
     Liberal George Ratcliffe Naden 217 37.22% unknown
     Conservative Edward George Warren 190 32.59% unknown
Total valid votes 583 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
8 Sixteenth Premier of British Columbia.
12th British Columbia election, 1909
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
SocialistGeorge Heatherton 204 33.01% unknown
     Conservative John Robert Jackson 260 42.07% unknown
     Liberal Alexander MacDonald 154 24.92% unknown
Total valid votes 618 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
13th British Columbia election, 1912
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
SocialistGeorge Heatherton 102 21.89% unknown
     Conservative John Robert Jackson 364 78.11% unknown
Total valid votes 466 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
14th British Columbia election, 1916
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
     Conservative John Robert Jackson 205 29.45% unknown
     Liberal John Duncan MacLean 491 70.55% unknown
Total valid votes 696 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
British Columbia general election, 1920
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalJohn Duncan MacLean 392 49.06%
ConservativeGeorge Bell 292 36.55%
Independent FarmerGeorge Henry Pitman 115 14.39%
Total valid votes 799 100.00%

Sources