Sources of Change in the B.C. Party System

Abstract

Observers of British Columbia's politics often find them peculiar. Distinctive features include : the virtual elimination of the major federal parties; the reputed power of organized labour matched by that of business; the salience of class in voting; the volatility of election results; the populist flavour of both Social Credit and NDP election campaigns; and bitterness and personal animosity in legislative debate. The stakes in provincial politics are seen to be high enough to justify, among other things, the sabotage of the provincial Liberal party by its own leadership and continued opposition by federal Tories to the revival of their provincial party. Parties sabotage each other as well. In this paper we look for pattern beneath the surface chaos of B.C. politics. In particular we shall examine the extent to which the elections of the 1970s reflected short-term strategic considerations and long-term policy or ideological ones. We shall show that the development of the two coalitions which now command the support of nearly 95 percent of B.C. voters has been asymmetric in two senses. First, voters attaching themselves to one or the other of the coalitions have done so for quite different