# 21st Parliament of British Columbia

The 21st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1946 to 1949. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in October 1945. The Liberals and Conservatives formed a coalition government led by John Hart. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by Harold Winch formed the official opposition. Hart retired as premier in December 1947 and was replaced by Byron Ingemar "Boss" Johnson.
Norman William Whittaker served as speaker for the assembly until September 1947. Robert Henry Carson then served as speaker until January 1949. Former premier John Hart became speaker the following month.

## Members of the 21st General Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1945:
| Member | Electoral district | Party | First elected / previously elected |
| James Mowat | Alberni | Coalition | 1941 |
| William Duncan Smith | Atlin | Coalition | 1945 |
| Ernest Edward Winch | Burnaby | CCF | 1933 |
| Louis LeBourdais | Cariboo | Coalition | 1937 |
| Walter Hogg (1948) | Cariboo | Coalition | 1948 |
| Leslie Harvey Eyres | Chilliwack | Coalition | 1937 |
| Thomas King | Columbia | Coalition | 1931, 1934 |
| Herbert John Welch | Comox | Coalition | 1945 |
| Samuel Guthrie | Cowichan-Newcastle | CCF | 1920, 1937 |
| Frank William Green | Cranbrook | Coalition | 1941 |
| Alexander Campbell Hope | Delta | Coalition | 1945 |
| Roderick Charles MacDonald | Dewdney | Coalition | 1941 |
| Charles Taschereau Beard | Esquimalt | Coalition | 1945 |
| Thomas Aubert Uphill | Fernie | Labour | 1920 |
| John McInnis | Fort George | CCF | 1907, 1945 |
| Thomas Alfred Love | Grand Forks-Greenwood | Coalition | 1941 |
| Robert Henry Carson | Kamloops | Coalition | 1933 |
| Randolph Harding | Kaslo-Slocan | CCF | 1945 |
| Ernest Crawford Carson | Lillooet | Coalition | 1928, 1941 |
| Herbert Gargrave | Mackenzie | CCF | 1941 |
| George Sharratt Pearson | Nanaimo and the Islands | Coalition | 1928 |
| Frank Putnam | Nelson-Creston | Coalition | 1933 |
| Byron Ingemar Johnson | New Westminster | Coalition | 1933, 1945 |
| Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald | North Okanagan | Coalition | 1916, 1933 |
| Charles William Morrow (1945) | North Okanagan | Coalition | 1945 |
| John Henry Cates | North Vancouver | Coalition | 1945 |
| Herbert Anscomb | Oak Bay | Coalition | 1933 |
| Edward Fraser Rowland | Omineca | CCF | 1945 |
| Joseph Hardcastle Corsbie | Peace River | CCF | 1945 |
| William Henry Brett | Prince Rupert | CCF | 1945 |
| William James Johnson | Revelstoke | Coalition | 1945 |
| James Lockhart Webster | Rossland-Trail | Coalition | 1945 |
| James O'Donnell Quinn (1948) | Rossland-Trail | Coalition | 1948 |
| Norman William Whittaker | Saanich | Coalition | 1933 |
| Arthur James Richard Ash (1948) | Saanich | Coalition | 1948 |
| Arthur Brown Ritchie | Salmon Arm | Coalition | 1945 |
| Reginald Robert Laird | Similkameen | Coalition | 1945 |
| Edward Tourtellotte Kenney | Skeena | Coalition | 1933 |
| William Andrew Cecil Bennett | South Okanagan | Coalition | 1941 |
| Robert Denis Browne-Clayton (1948) | South Okanagan | Coalition | 1948 |
| Donald Cameron Brown | Vancouver-Burrard | Coalition | 1945 |
| George Moir Weir | Vancouver-Burrard | Coalition | 1933, 1945 |
| Allan James McDonell | Vancouver Centre | Coalition | 1945 |
| Gordon Sylvester Wismer | Vancouver Centre | Coalition | 1933, 1945 |
| Arthur James Turner | Vancouver East | CCF | 1941 |
| Harold Edward Winch | Vancouver East | CCF | 1933 |
| Royal Lethington Maitland | Vancouver-Point Grey | Coalition | 1928, 1937 |
| James Alexander Paton | Vancouver-Point Grey | Coalition | 1937 |
| Tilly Jean Rolston | Vancouver-Point Grey | Coalition | 1941 |
| Albert Reginald MacDougall (1946) | Vancouver-Point Grey | Coalition | 1946 |
| Leigh Forbes Stevenson (1946) | Vancouver-Point Grey | Coalition | 1946 |
| John Hart | Victoria City | Coalition | 1916, 1933 |
| Nancy Hodges | Victoria City | Coalition | 1941 |
| William Thomas Straith | Victoria City | Coalition | 1937 |
| John Joseph Alban Gillis | Yale | Coalition | 1928 |
Notes:
* ↑ Died after the election and before the start of the first session

## Party standings

| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members |
| | Liberal-Conservative coalition | 37 |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | 10 |
| | Labour | 1 |
| Total | Total | 48 |
| Government Majority | Government Majority | 26 |

## By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:
| Electoral district | Member elected | Party | Election date | Reason |
| North Okanagan | Charles William Morrow | Coalition | December 19, 1945 | K.C. MacDonald died November 19, 1945 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | Albert Reginald MacDougall | Coalition | June 24, 1946 | J.A. Paton died February 19, 1946 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | Leigh Forbes Stevenson | Coalition | June 24, 1946 | R.L. Maitland died March 28, 1946 |
| Cariboo | Walter Hogg | Coalition | February 23, 1948 | L. LeBourdais died September 27, 1947 |
| Saanich | Arthur James Richard Ash | Coalition | February 23, 1948 | N.W. Whittaker resigned September 13, 1947; named to B.C. Supreme Court |
| Rossland-Trail | James O'Donnell Quinn | CCF | November 29, 1948 | J.L. Webster died August 8, 1948 |
| South Okanagan | Robert Denis Browne-Clayton | Coalition | February 23, 1948 | W.A.C. Bennett resigned May 17, 1948, to contest federal by-election |