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Yale (federal electoral district)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yale
British Columbia electoral district
Defunct federal electoral district
LegislatureHouse of Commons
District created1917
District abolished1953
First contested1917
Last contested1949

Yale was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada 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 considerably 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 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.

Demographics

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

History and political geography

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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 regions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yale riding was abolished 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.

Members of Parliament

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Parliament Years Member Party
Riding created from Yale District
2nd  1872–1874     Edgar Dewdney Conservative
3rd  1874–1878
4th  1878–1879
 1879–1882     Francis Jones Barnard Conservative
5th  1882–1887
6th  1887–1891     John Andrew Mara Conservative
7th  1891–1896
Riding dissolved into Yale—Cariboo
Riding re-created from Yale—Cariboo
13th  1917–1920     Martin Burrell Government (Unionist)
 1920–1921     John Armstrong MacKelvie Conservative
14th  1921–1924†
 1924–1925     Grote Stirling Conservative
15th  1925–1926
16th  1926–1930
17th  1930–1935
18th  1935–1940
19th  1940–1945
20th  1945–1947
 1948–1949     Owen Jones Co-operative Commonwealth
21st  1949–1953
Riding dissolved into Okanagan Boundary and Okanagan—Revelstoke

Election results

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Yale, 1917–1953

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1949 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Co-operative Commonwealth Owen Lewis Jones 13,298 42.44 -2.94
Progressive Conservative Theodore Robert Bruce Adams 11,562 36.89 +8.78
Liberal Charles James McDowell 5,576 17.79 -8.72
Social Credit James Allan Reid 902 2.88
Total valid votes 31,338 100.0  
Co-operative Commonwealth hold Swing -5.86
Canadian federal by-election, 31 May 1948
On the resignation of Grote Stirling, 21 October 1947
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Co-operative Commonwealth Owen Lewis Jones 12,838 45.38 +13.96
Progressive Conservative William Andrew Cecil Bennett 7,953 28.11 -11.10
Liberal Edward John Chambers 7,500 26.51 +7.34
Total valid votes 28,291 100.0  
Co-operative Commonwealth gain from Progressive Conservative Swing +12.53
1945 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Grote Stirling 9,625 39.21 +1.55
Co-operative Commonwealth Owen Lewis Jones 7,713 31.42 -1.11
Liberal Arthur Wilfred Gray 4,705 19.17 -10.64
Social Credit James Allan Reid 1,685 6.86
Labor–Progressive Allan Conway Clapp 820 3.34
Total valid votes 24,548 100.0  
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +1.33
1940 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Government Grote Stirling 8,599 37.66 -3.61
Co-operative Commonwealth Owen Lewis Jones 7,428 32.53 +4.87
Liberal Charles William Morrow 6,805 29.81 -1.26
Total valid votes 22,832 100.0  
National Government hold Swing -4.24
1935 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Grote Stirling 6,791 41.27 -21.98
Liberal Charles Edward Oliver 5,113 31.07 -5.68
Co-operative Commonwealth Edward Woodford MacKay 4,551 27.66
Total valid votes 16,455 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -8.15
1930 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Grote Stirling 8,447 63.25 -3.30
Liberal Walter Gordon Wilkins 4,908 36.75 +3.30
Total valid votes 13,355 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -3.30
1926 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Grote Stirling 7,815 66.55 +5.69
Liberal Fremont Blakeslee Cossitt 3,928 33.45 -5.69
Total valid votes 11,743 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing +5.69
1925 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Grote Stirling 7,573 60.86 +9.38
Liberal Charles Edgar Edgett 4,870 39.14 -9.38
Total valid votes 12,443 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing +9.38
Canadian federal by-election, 6 November 1924
On the death of John MacKelvie, 6 April 1924
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Grote Stirling 6,354 51.48 -0.70
Liberal Daniel Wilbur Sutherland 5,988 48.52 +0.70
Total valid votes 12,342 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -0.70
1921 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Armstrong MacKelvie 6,475 52.18 +0.15
Liberal Daniel Wilbur Sutherland 5,933 47.82
Total valid votes 12,408 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -23.84
Canadian federal by-election, 22 November 1920
On Martin Burrell being appointed joint Librarian of Parliament
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative John Armstrong MacKelvie 4,989 52.03
United Farmers Charles Edgar Edgett 4,600 47.97
Total valid votes 9,589 100.0  
1917 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Government (Unionist) Martin Burrell acclaimed
This riding was created from parts of Yale—Cariboo, where Conservative Martin Burrell was the incumbent.

Yale, 1872–1892

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1891 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative John Andrew Mara acclaimed
1887 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative John Andrew Mara acclaimed
1882 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative F.J. Barnard 266 58.72 -9.45
Liberal James Robinson[1] 109 24.06
Conservative F.G. Vernon[1] 78 17.22
Total valid votes 453 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -16.76
Canadian federal by-election, 29 September 1879
On the appointment of Edgar Dewdney to the position of Indian Commissioner of Manitoba and the North West Territories, 30 May 1879
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Francis Jones Barnard 212 68.17
Unknown John Trapp 99 31.83
Total valid votes 311 100.0  
1878 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative Edgar Dewdney acclaimed
1874 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edgar Dewdney 89 81.65 +12.30
Unknown D. Chisholm 20 18.35
Total valid votes 109 100.0  
Conservative hold Swing -3.02
1872 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Edgar Dewdney 43 69.35
Unknown Robert Smith 19 30.65
Total valid votes 62 100.0  
This district was created from Yale District, which elected a Liberal in the previous election.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Influx of Chinese—The elections". Montreal Gazette. August 8, 1882. p. 1. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
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Riding history from the Library of Parliament