# 31st Parliament of British Columbia

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. The Social Credit Party led by Bill Bennett formed the government. 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.
Dean Smith served as speaker for the assembly until 1978 when he resigned as speaker. Harvey Schroeder replaced Smith as speaker in 1979.

## Members of the 31st General Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1975:
| Member | Electoral district | Party | First elected / previously elected |
| Robert Evans Skelly | Alberni | NDP | 1972 |
| Frank Arthur Calder | Atlin | Social Credit | 1949, 1960 |
| James J. (Jim) Hewitt | Boundary-Similkameen | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Raymond L. Loewen | Burnaby-Edmonds | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Eileen Dailly | Burnaby North | NDP | 1966 |
| Elwood Neal Veitch | Burnaby-Willingdon | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Alexander Vaughan Fraser | Cariboo | Social Credit | 1969 |
| Harvey Schroeder | Chilliwack | Social Credit | 1972 |
| James Roland Chabot | Columbia River | Social Credit | 1963 |
| Karen Elizabeth Sanford | Comox | NDP | 1972 |
| George Herman Kerster | Coquitlam | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Barbara Brookman Wallace | Cowichan-Malahat | NDP | 1975 |
| Kenneth Walter Davidson | Delta | Social Credit | 1975 |
| George Mussallem | Dewdney | Social Credit | 1966, 1975 |
| Lyle Benjamin James Kahl | Esquimalt | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Howard John Lloyd | Fort George | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Rafe Kenneth Mair | Kamloops | Social Credit | 1975 |
| George Wayne Haddad | Kootenay | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Robert Howard McClelland | Langley | Social Credit | 1972 |
| Don Lockstead | Mackenzie | NDP | 1972 |
| David Daniel Stupich | Nanaimo | NDP | 1963, 1972 |
| Lorne Nicolson | Nelson-Creston | NDP | 1972 |
| Dennis Geoffrey Cocke | New Westminster | NDP | 1969 |
| Patricia Jordan | North Okanagan | Social Credit | 1966 |
| Dean Edward Smith | North Peace River | Social Credit | 1966 |
| Gordon Fulerton Gibson | North Vancouver-Capilano | Liberal | 1974 |
| John (Jack) Davis | North Vancouver-Seymour | Social Credit | 1975 |
| George Scott Wallace | Oak Bay | Progressive Conservative | 1969 |
| Victor Albert Stephens (1978) | Oak Bay | Progressive Conservative | 1978 |
| Jack Joseph Kempf | Omineca | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Graham Lea | Prince Rupert | NDP | 1972 |
| William Stewart King | Revelstoke-Slocan | NDP | 1968, 1972 |
| James Arthur Nielsen | Richmond | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Christopher D'Arcy | Rossland-Trail | NDP | 1972 |
| Hugh Austin Curtis | Saanich and the Islands | Social Credit | 1972 |
| Leonard Bawtree | Shuswap | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Cyril Morley Shelford | Skeena | Social Credit | 1952, 1975 |
| William Richards Bennett | South Okanagan | Social Credit | 1973 |
| Donald McGray Phillips | South Peace River | Social Credit | 1966, 1972 |
| William Nick (Bill) Vander Zalm | Surrey | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Rosemary Brown | Vancouver-Burrard | NDP | 1972 |
| Norman Levi | Vancouver-Burrard | NDP | 1968, 1972 |
| Emery Oakland Barnes | Vancouver Centre | NDP | 1972 |
| Gary Lauk | Vancouver Centre | NDP | 1972 |
| Alexander Barrett MacDonald | Vancouver East | NDP | 1960 |
| Robert Arthur Williams | Vancouver East | NDP | 1966 |
| David Barrett (1976) | Vancouver East | NDP | 1960, 1976 |
| Grace Mary McCarthy | Vancouver-Little Mountain | Social Credit | 1966, 1975 |
| Evan Maurice Wolfe | Vancouver-Little Mountain | Social Credit | 1966, 1975 |
| Garde Basil Gardom | Vancouver-Point Grey | Social Credit | 1966 |
| Patrick Lucey McGeer | Vancouver-Point Grey | Social Credit | 1962 |
| Charles Stephen Rogers | Vancouver South | Social Credit | 1975 |
| William Gerald Strongman | Vancouver South | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Charles Frederick Barber | Victoria | NDP | 1975 |
| Robert Samuel Bawlf | Victoria | Social Credit | 1975 |
| Louis Allan Williams | West Vancouver-Howe Sound | Social Credit | 1966 |
| Thomas Manville Waterland | Yale-Lillooet | Social Credit | 1975 |

## Party standings

| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members |
| | Social Credit | 35 |
| | New Democratic Party | 18 |
| | Liberal | 1 |
| | Progressive Conservative | 1 |
| Total | Total | 55 |
| Government Majority | Government Majority | 15 |

## By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:
| 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.