31st Parliament of British Columbia explained

The 31st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1976 to 1979. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in December 1975.^[1] The Social Credit Party led by Bill Bennett formed the government.^[2] The New Democratic Party (NDP) led by William Stewart King formed the official opposition. Dave Barrett had lost his seat in the election; he was reelected in a by-election held in June 1976 and resumed his role as party leader.^[3]

Dean Smith served as speaker for the assembly until 1978 when he resigned as speaker. Harvey Schroeder replaced Smith as speaker in 1979.^[4]

Members of the 31st General Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1975:^[1]

	Member	Electoral district	Party	Robert Evans Skelly	Alberni	NDP	Frank Arthur Calder	Atlin	Social Credit	James J. (Jim) Hewitt	Boundary-Similkameen	Social Credit	Raymond L. Loewen	Burnaby-Edmonds	Social Credit	Eileen Dailly	Burnaby North	NDP	Elwood Neal Veitch	Burnaby-Willingdon	Social Credit	Alexander Vaughan Fraser	Cariboo	Social Credit	Harvey Schroeder	Chilliwack	Social Credit	James Roland Chabot	Columbia River	Social Credit	Karen Elizabeth Sanford	Comox	NDP	George Herman Kerster	Coquitlam	Social Credit	Barbara Brookman Wallace	Cowichan-Malahat	NDP	Kenneth Walter Davidson	Delta	Social Credit	George Mussallem	Dewdney	Social Credit	Lyle Benjamin James Kahl	Esquimalt	Social Credit	Howard John Lloyd	Fort George	Social Credit	Rafe Kenneth Mair	Kamloops	Social Credit	George Wayne Haddad	Kootenay	Social Credit	Robert Howard McClelland	Langley	Social Credit	Don Lockstead	Mackenzie	NDP	David Daniel Stupich	Nanaimo	NDP	Lorne Nicolson	Nelson-Creston	NDP	Dennis Geoffrey Cocke	New Westminster	NDP	Patricia Jordan	North Okanagan	Social Credit	Dean Edward Smith	North Peace River	Social Credit	Gordon Fulerton Gibson	North Vancouver-Capilano	Liberal	John (Jack) Davis	North Vancouver-Seymour	Social Credit	George Scott Wallace	Oak Bay	Progressive Conservative	Jack Joseph Kempf	Omineca	Social Credit	Graham Lea	Prince Rupert	NDP	William Stewart King	Revelstoke-Slocan	NDP	James Arthur Nielsen	Richmond	Social Credit	Christopher D'Arcy	Rossland-Trail	NDP	Hugh Austin Curtis	Saanich and the Islands	Social Credit	Leonard Bawtree	Shuswap	Social Credit	Cyril Morley Shelford	Skeena	Social Credit	William Richards Bennett	South Okanagan	Social Credit	Donald McGray Phillips	South Peace River	Social Credit	William Nick (Bill) Vander Zalm	Surrey	Social Credit	Rosemary Brown	Vancouver-Burrard	NDP	Norman Levi	Emery Oakland Barnes	Vancouver Centre	NDP	Gary Lauk	Alexander Barrett MacDonald	Vancouver East	NDP	Robert Arthur Williams	Grace Mary McCarthy	Vancouver-Little Mountain	Social Credit	Evan Maurice Wolfe	Garde Basil Gardom	Vancouver-Point Grey	Social Credit	Patrick Lucey McGeer	Charles Stephen Rogers	Vancouver South	Social Credit	William Gerald Strongman	Charles Frederick Barber	Victoria	NDP	Robert Samuel Bawlf	Social Credit	Louis Allan Williams	West Vancouver-Howe Sound	Social Credit	Thomas Manville Waterland	Yale-Lillooet	Social Credit

Notes:

1. Web site: Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110613200446/http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf . dead . 2011-06-13 . Elections BC . 2011-07-27 .
2. Web site: Premiers of British Columbia 1871- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.
3. Web site: Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903- . https://web.archive.org/web/20110220035338/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/reference/leaders_of_the_opposition.pdf . dead . 2011-02-20 . BC Legislature . 2011-07-20 .
4. Web site: Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.

Party standings

Affiliation		Members	35	New Democratic Party	18	1	1
Total		55
Government Majority		15

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:^[1]

Electoral district	Member elected	Party	Election date	Reason
Vancouver East	David Barrett	NDP	June 3, 1976	R.A. Williams resigned February 27, 1976, to provide seat for D. Barrett
Oak Bay	Victor Albert Stephens	Progressive Conservative	March 20, 1978	G.S. Wallace resigned December 31, 1977, to return to medical practice

Notes:Two by-elections were called in 1979 for the ridings of North Vancouver-Seymour and North Vancouver-Capilano but they were cancelled when a 1979 general election was scheduled.

1. Web site: Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110613200446/http://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf . dead . 2011-06-13 . Elections BC . 2011-07-27 .
2. Web site: Premiers of British Columbia 1871- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.
3. Web site: Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903- . https://web.archive.org/web/20110220035338/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/reference/leaders_of_the_opposition.pdf . dead . 2011-02-20 . BC Legislature . 2011-07-20 .
4. Web site: Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.