Nanaimo City was a provincial electoral district in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia in Canada from 1890 to 1912. It was one of two Nanaimo ridings at the time, created out of the older Nanaimo riding (1871 to 1928), with intermediary ridings The Islands and Nanaimo and the Islands. The name Nanaimo was restored as a riding name in the 1996 election.

For other current and historical federal and provincial Nanaimo-area ridings please see Nanaimo (electoral districts).

Demographics edit

Population, 1911
Population Change, 1891–1911 %
Area (km²)
Pop. Density (people per km²)

Geography edit

Other historical Nanaimo ridings edit

Nanaimo riding did not appear in the 1909 election, but Nanaimo City and The Islands were the Nanaimo-area ridings in the 1909 or 1912 election.

In 1933 there was a Cowichan-Newcastle riding, while in 1937 the riding of Newcastle (southern and upland of metropolitan Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands to the southeast) appeared in the 1916 election, as did a new riding called The Islands which lasted until the 1937 election. Part of that area is now represented by North Saanich and the Islands, which had previously been Saanich and the Islands.

Current Nanaimo-area ridings edit

Election results edit

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

6th British Columbia election, 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
  Labour 1 Thomas Keith Accl. -.- % unknown
Total valid votes n/a -.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
1 The first labour candidates elected to the Legislature. Forster and Keith were both nominated by the Miners' and Mine Labourers' Protective Association (MMLPA) and campaigned on the "Workingmen's Platform" of the Workingmen's Campaign Committee.
7th British Columbia election, 1894
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
  Labour Thomas Keith 411 48.81% unknown
Government James McGregor 431 51.19% unknown
Total valid votes 842 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
8th British Columbia election, 1898
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Government Archibald McGregor 170 20.05% unknown
Opposition Robert Edward McKechnie 678 79.95% unknown
Total valid votes 848 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout 55.37%
9th British Columbia election, 1900
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
  Labour 2 Ralph Smith 763 89.87% unknown
Government James Stuart Yates 86 10.13% unknown
Total valid votes 849 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
2 Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party candidate supported by R.E. McKechnie, former Member and supporter of the Provincial Party. Also endorsed by Nanaimo Trades and Labour Council. The N(I)LP appears to have been only loosely organized although a detailed platform was drawn up.
10th British Columbia election, 1903
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Socialist James Hurst Hawthornthwaite 486 43.98% unknown
Conservative Edward Quennell 325 29.41% unknown
  Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party 3 Henry (Harry) Shepherd 294 26.61% unknown
Total valid votes 1,105 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
3 Nominated by the Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party which had the support and participation of local Liberals (Loosmore, pp. 195–6). During the 1907 election he was referred to as having been a "Liberal-Labour candidate" in the 1903 election.
11th British Columbia election, 1907
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Socialist James Hurst Hawthornthwaite 455 50.22% unknown
Conservative Robert Stuart Brock O'Brian 161 17.77% unknown
  Independent) Labour Party 4 Henry (Harry) Shepherd 290 32.01% unknown
Total valid votes 906 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
4 The nomination list printed in the newspapers identifies Shepherd as a Liberal. CPG labels both Shepherd and Thomas "Socialists" and Gosnell (who spells Shepherd as Sheppard, as do some other sources) has them as "L.-Soc.", which could be either Liberal or Labour-Socialist. One newspaper refers to Shepherd as a member of the "Nanaimo Liberal Party", another as a nominee of the "Independent Labour Party", "a peculiar combination of Liberal politicians" (Vancouver Province 29 December 1906, p. 1). Thomas is also reported as a nominee of the "Independent Labour Party" in Ladysmith. Shepherd ran as a Liberal in 1912, Thomas as a straight Independent in 1909.
12th British Columbia election, 1909
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Socialist James Hurst Hawthornthwaite 786 62.88% unknown
Conservative Albert Edward Planta 464 37.12% unknown
Total valid votes 1,250 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
13th British Columbia election, 1912
Party Candidate Votes % ± Expenditures
Social Democratic John Thomas Wilmot Place 621 39.45%
Conservative Albert Edward Planta 578 36.72% unknown
  Liberal Henry (Harry) Shepherd 375 23.82% unknown
Total valid votes 1,574 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %

The name Nanaimo City was dropped after the 1912 election. In the 1916 election the Nanaimo name was used.

External links edit