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The Drive for Proportional Representation in British Columbia

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The Drive for Proportional Representation in British Columbia The Drive for Proportional Representation ;I; bl:;rsh Columbia, 19 17-23 Dennis Pilon Bachelor of Arts (History and Sociology) Simon Fraser University, 1994 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History O Dennis Pilon 1996 SMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1996 A11 rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliotheque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibiiographic Senices Branch des services bibliographiques 395 f,WeI!inytm Strw! 395, rue Weliingtm Ottava Ontario Klntarioj K 1A ON4 KIA ON4 Your lrle Volre reference Our Irle Nofre reference The author has granted an L'auteur a aceorde une licence irrevocable non-exclusive licence irrevocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of permettant a la Bibliotheque Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, preter, distribuer ou - his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or formai, making de quelque rnaf-iiiire et seus this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. mettre des exemplaires de cette these h la disposition des personnes interessees. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriete du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui protege sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la these ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celled ne otherwise reproduced without doivent 6tre imprimes ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son - autorisation. PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I herebyJ grant to Simon Fraser Universi the right to lmd my thesis, pro'ect or extended essay (the title o'Y which is shown below) to users of' the Simon Fraser University Library, and to ~nztlw partial or single copies only for such users or in response to ;I request from the library of any other university, or other educational Institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay Author: . (signature] (date) Name: Dennis Pilon Degree: Master of Arts (History) Title of Thesis: The Drive for Proportional Representation in British Columbia, 19 17-23 Examining Committee: Chair: David Ross Mark Leier Senior Supervisor Tina Loo - Michael Fellman University of British Cgknrrtiia Date Approved: ~/l.;y" Abstract The drive for proportional representation [PR] was an international event that swept through mosi of Europe, England, Australasia. and North America in the period between 1900 and 1920. Liberal theorists have typically explained its success or failure either in terms of an inevitable unfolding of democratic progress or the product of a competition between plural groups for scarce democratic resources. Both explanations suffer from n lack of attention to the historical emergence of the reform and an unnecessarily constrained and ahistorical definition of democracy. This thesis argues that PR can only be understood with reference to the historical relationship of democracy to capitii 1'ism. The struggle to determine what democracy meant in the period surrounding World War 1 was judged primarily by what democracy might do. Expanding or 1imiti;lg democracy's incursion into private economic decision-making representzd a class struggle wnere PR might help or hinder the project depending on the balance of class forces. From 1917 to 1920 eight municipalities acrcss British Columbia adopted a proportional system of voting for their civic elections. Yet by mid-1923 nearly all had rescinded their adoption of the reform. Explaining the rise and fali of PR in North America has often been a story of earnest reformers, scheming ward bosses, and the time- consuming intricacies of the system itself. In B.C. PR's success was described as the victory of some "hardworking, public spirited citizens," its failure the responsibility of the darker elements of politics md a lack of public education efforts on the part of the reformers themselves. Yet the success of PR in B.C. had everything to do with the larger upheaval occurring in Canadian society during and after World War I. As labour and soldiers became more militant, as new third parties like the farmers captured power in other provinces, and as business split over issues like taxation and how to respond to labour militancy, PR reformers adapted their rhetoric to address the situation. During the social upheaval of 1919 elements of the business elite and government came to see PR as a way to accommodate "reasonable" labour men by a:,:,:r:ng minority representation and marginalizing the militants and their calls for more substantive social change. Yet elements of organized labour supported PR as well, seeing it as an effective strategy in the pursuit of their bioader goals while avoiding the extra-legal character of direct action. But cross-class support for PR lasted only so long as the threat of successful militant or electoral action on the part of labour and others could be sustained. PR's election to the starus quo in Europe rested on the continuing vitality of organized labour. PR's demise in BC then can be explained in terms of the defeat of all challenges to the established order in the early 1920s. iii This work is dedicated to my grandparents, Thomas and Vera Samuelson. Acknowledements This thesis grew out of a number of related projects so I have quite a varied group of people to thank for their help. My friend Bill Chadwick first got me interesteci in PR, and encouraged me to explore it as a political and academic subject. Bob Webster saw it 3s an important issue for the New Democratic Party and helped me attempt to raise thc issue t5ere. Alan Alvare gave tireless editorial advice on my initial submision on PR to the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing. Howard Cherniak argued with everything I proposed in our joint projects for electoral reform and proved to be a great guy to work with. Over the years I have also received much encouragement and research help from the British Electoral Reform Society and recently from the American Center for Voting and Democracy as well. In the research for this thesis I received a great deal of help from academics across Yorth America. William Winter sent me a copy of a paper he prepared on PR in Boulder. Bernard Grofman gave me some excellent suggestions for reading matter I had somehow overlooked. And Kathleen Barber kindly sent me a copy of her book before it was published. Librarians and archivists were also a constant source of illumination. Thanks to the SFU Interlibrary Loans Department, particularly Nancy Blake, for taking a special interest in my topic and keenly pursuing arcane volumes across many continents. Thanks as well to the Vancouver Archives, Special Collections at the University of British Columbia, West Vancouver Museum and Archives, and Mrs. Shawn F. Lamb at the Kootenay Museum for her help with the Nelson Liberal party minutes and the Newton Wolverton biographical information. Others who helped considerably include Rupert Harrison, former city clerk of West Vancouver, who gave generousiy of his time in filling in the details of the experience of PR in that municipality, and Harold Wolverton who lent me some important biographical material on his grandfather and responded enthusiastically to my calls and notes. I have benefited from working with a very talented and diverse committee. Tina Loo, Michael Fellman, and Mark Leier all contributed to making this thesis better with their prodding critiques and helpful editorial suggestions. Thanks also to Bob McDonald of the University of British Columbia for agreeing to be the external examiner and for his helpfkl comments. Of course, all the responsibility for any mistakes or problems herein are entireiy my own. Particuiarly I would like to thank my supervisor, Mark Leier, for encouraging me to do this work in history and for showing an interest in my topic when few others did. I also enjoyed many discussions with other members of the SFU History Department, particularly Professors Andrea Tone and Allen Seager, as well as fellow graduate students Scott Perchali, Jane Power, and Laura Quiiici. I must also thank the History Department and the Dean of Graduate Studies for their financial support in the form of two fe!lowships and aid to attend conferences, as well as the Eoag Foundation for their generous scholarship. I should also mention that in my two years in the graduate program we have had three very different but equally helpful graduate secretaries: Julie Bowman, Erin Geary, and Cyd Stroud. This thesis is dedicated to my grandparents but I would also like to draw attention to the support I have received from my parents, Tom and Peggy Pilon, as well as my brothers, sisters, and sister-in-law, all of whom have endured many hours of speech- maicing over the years on this and other causes. Thanks also to my friends Nancy Smith, James Koester, David Pehota, Mihaela Yeung, Graham Peat, Jim Walker, Theresa Kiefer, Peter Schneider, Don Profili, and David Curnick. Finally I must confess that I could not have completed this project without the love and irreverence of my partner, Dann Huxsey. He has made all the difference in my life and my work.
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