The 2009 British Columbiageneral election was held on May 12, 2009, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The British Columbia Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of PremierGordon Campbell. The British Columbia New Democratic Party under the leadership of Carole James is the Official Opposition. The election was the first contested on a new electoral map completed in 2008, with the total number of constituencies increased from 79 in the previous legislature to 85. Under amendments to the BC Constitution Act passed in 2001, BC elections are now held on fixed dates which are the second Tuesday in May every four years. A second referendum on electoral reform was held in conjunction with the election. The election did not produce a significant change in the province's political landscape. The BC Liberals, who had been in power since the 2001 provincial election, were returned to power, constituting the first time in 23 years a party has won three elections in a row. As a result of the seat redistribution, both the Liberals and the New Democrats gained seats, and both parties increased their popular vote by less than one per cent over 2005. Each party lost two incumbent MLAs: the BC NDP's Jenn McGinn and Charlie Wyse, and the Liberals' John Nuraney and Wally Oppal were defeated. All other seat changes in the election resulted from the new seats or from retiring incumbents. Voter turnout was 50.99% of eligible voters.
April 10, 2008, passage of the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 moving BC from 79 to 85 constituencies. October 29, 2008, by-elections in Vancouver-Burrard and Vancouver-Fairview, both won by the New Democrats. April 14, 2009, the campaign will officially begin when the writ is issued. April 24, 2009 1pm close of nominations for the election. May 12, 2009, Election day.
Debates
There was one TV debate featuring the leaders of the three major parties: Gordon Campbell, Carole James, and Jane Sterk on all three major BC networks on Sunday May 3 at 5:00 p.m. CKNW had a debate of the three leaders on April 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. CBC Radio One had a debate of the three leaders on April 21 at 7:30 a.m.
Incumbents who did not seek re-election are denoted by †
Because of the realignment of electoral boundaries, most incumbents did not represent the entirety of their listed district during the preceding legislative term.
