Similkameen (electoral district)

Similkameen was the name of a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia formed around the historic mining district of the same name. It made its first appearance on the hustings in the election of 1903. After the 1963 election, which was the occasion of this riding's last appearance, this electoral district was combined with Grand Forks-Greenwood to form Boundary-Similkameen for the 1966 election.

## Demographics

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Population, 1901  |

|

Population change, 1901–1961  |
Area (km2)  |
Population density (people per km2)  |

## Notable MLAs

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* Lytton Wilmot Shatford (Conservative, 1903–1917)
* William Alexander McKenzie (Conservative, 1918–1933)
* Charles Herbert Percy Tupper (Liberal, 1933–1941)
* Frank Richter, Jr. (Social Credit, 1953–1966)

## Electoral history

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Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

10th British Columbia election, 1903 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | Lytton Wilmot Shatford | 299 | 58.28% |  | unknown
| Liberal | William Alexander McLean  | 214  | 41.72%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 513  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
11th British Columbia election, 1907 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | Lytton Wilmot Shatford | 298 | 56.55% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Curtis Smith  | 200  | 37.95%  |  | unknown
| Socialist | George Edgar Winkler | 29 | 5.50% | - | unknown
Total valid votes  | 527  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
12th British Columbia election, 1909 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | Lytton Wilmot Shatford | 440 | 68.22% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Richard Elmhirst  | 205  | 31.78%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 645  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
1 Also spelled Elmhurst.
13th British Columbia election, 1912 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | Lytton Wilmot Shatford | Acclaimed  |  -.-% |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | n/a  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
14th British Columbia election, 1916 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | Lytton Wilmot Shatford | 650 | 55.41% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Robert Scott Conklin  | 523  | 44.59%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 1,173  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
15th British Columbia election, 1920 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | William Alexander McKenzie | 1,354 | 51.72% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Edward John Chambers  | 1,264  | 48.28%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 2,618  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
16th British Columbia election, 1924 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | William Alexander McKenzie | 1,306 | 39.56% |  | unknown
| Provincial | Percy Walter Gregory | 1,224 | 37.08% | - | unknown
| Liberal | Zella May McGregor  | 771  | 23.36%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 3,301  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
17th British Columbia election, 1928 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Conservative | William Alexander McKenzie | 2,079 | 55.53% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Charles Herbert Percy Tupper 2 | 1,665  | 44.47%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 3,744  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 63  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
2 Not to be confused with Canadian Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper or his son, Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper.
18th British Columbia election, 1933 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Liberal | Charles Herbert Percy Tupper | 1,765 | 43.23% |  | unknown
| Non-Partisan Independent Group | William Alexander McKenzie | 1,386 | 33.95% | - | unknown
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Francis Henry (Frank) Brown  | 730  | 17.88%  |  | unknown
| Independent  | Thomas Heeney  | 202  | 4.95%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 4,083  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 81  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
18th British Columbia election, 1937 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Liberal | Charles Herbert Percy Tupper | 2,266 | 43.55% |  | unknown
| Conservative | Harry Howes Boyle | 2,130 | 40.94% |  | unknown
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Francis Henry (Frank) Brown  | 807  | 15.51%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 5,203  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 71  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
19th British Columbia election, 1941 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Bernard George Webber | 2,601 | 41.16% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Charles Herbert Percy Tupper | 1,965  | 31.10%  |  | unknown
| Conservative | Thomas F. Daly | 1,753 | 27.74% |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 6,319  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 118  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
19th British Columbia election, 1945 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Coalition | Reginald Robert Laird | 3,447 | 57.09% | - | unknown
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Bernard George Webber | 2,591  | 42.91%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 6,038  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 53  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
20th British Columbia election, 1949 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Coalition | Maurice Patrick Finnerty | 5,744 | 58.78% | - | unknown
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Bernard George Webber | 4,028  | 41.22%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 9,772  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 284  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
21st British Columbia election, 1952 3

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
1st count | %  | Votes
final count | %  | ±%
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Harold Sidney Kenyon  | 3,433  | 32.02%  | 4,668  | 49.77%  |  | unknown
| B.C. Social Credit League | Harry Denyer Francis | 3,344 | 31.19% | 4,712 | 50.23% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Maurice Patrick Finnerty | 2,545  | 23.73%  | \-  | -.- %  |  | unknown
| Progressive Conservative | Edward Titchmarsh  | 1401  | 13.07%  | \-  | -.- %  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 10,723  | 100.00%  | 9,380  |  |
Total rejected ballots  | 296  |  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |  |  |
3 Preferential ballot. First and final of three counts only shown.
22nd British Columbia election, 1953 4

Party  | Candidate  | Votes
1st count | %  | Votes
final count | %  | ±%
| Social Credit | Frank Richter, Jr. | 4,465 | 43.29% | 5,418 | 56.89%
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Harold Sidney Kenyon  | 3,419  | 33.14%  | 4,105  | 43.11%  |  | unknown
| Liberal | James Bowie Fairley  | 2,109  | 20.44%  | \-  | -.- %  |  | unknown
| Progressive Conservative | John Brown McLaren Clarke  | 323  | 3.13%  | \-  | -.- %  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 10,316  | 100.00%  | 9,523  |  |
Total rejected ballots  | 347  |  |  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |  |  |
4 Preferential ballot. First and second of three counts only shown.
23rd British Columbia election, 1956 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Social Credit | Frank Richter, Jr. | 5,189 | 53.94% | - | unknown
| Liberal | Frank William Laird  | 1,181  | 37.94%  |  | unknown
| Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Stephen Archibald Mepham  | 2,200  | 22.87%  |  | unknown
| Progressive Conservative | James Douglas Southworth  | 487  | 5.06%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 9,620  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 90  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
24th British Columbia election, 1960 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Social Credit | Frank Richter, Jr. | 4,797 | 46.84% | - | unknown
| CCF | Francis Douglas Stuart  | 3,151  | 30.77%  |  | unknown
| Liberal | Johannes Joseph Winkelaar  | 1,454  | 14.20%  |  | unknown
| Progressive Conservative | Winnifred Odetta Mathias  | 840  | 8.20%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 10,242  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 75  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |
25th British Columbia election, 1963 Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±  | Expenditures

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| Social Credit | Frank Richter, Jr. | 5,093 | 48.71% | - | unknown
| New Democratic | Francis Douglas Stuart | 2,636 | 25.21% |  | unknown
| Liberal | Alwyn Day Coleman Washington  | 1,423  | 13.61%  |  | unknown
| Progressive Conservative | Evelyn Annie McElroy  | 1,303  | 12.46%  |  | unknown
Total valid votes  | 10,455  | 100.00%  |
Total rejected ballots  | 86  |  |
Turnout  | %  |  |

The riding was redistributed following the 1963 election. The main successor riding was Boundary-Similkameen.

## Sources

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Elections BC Historical Returns