Skeena (provincial electoral district)

Skeena

British Columbia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
MLA	Claire Rattée Conservative
District created	1924
First contested	1924
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2001)	32,021
Area (km²)	23,569
Pop. density (per km²)	1.4
Census division(s)	Kitimat-Stikine
Census subdivision(s)	Kitimat, Terrace

Skeena is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It first appeared in the provincial election of 1924. It should not be confused with the former federal electoral district of Skeena, which encompassed a larger area.

Demographics

Population	32,021
Population change, 1996–2001	−6.4%
Area (km2)	23,569
Population density (people per km2)	1.4

Geography

As of the 2020 provincial election, Skeena comprises the southern portion of the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, with the exception of the southern tip of the region which is part of the North Coast electoral district. It is located in western British Columbia, with the northwest bordering Alaska, United States. Communities in the electoral district consist of Terrace and Kitimat.

History

This electoral district has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly:

Skeena
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
16th	1924–1928		Horace Cooper Wrinch	Liberal
17th	1928–1933
18th	1933–1937		Edward Tourtellotte Kenney
19th	1937–1941
20th	1941–1945
21st	1945–1949			Coalition
22nd	1949–1952
23rd	1952–1953			Liberal
24th	1953–1956		Frank Howard	Co-operative Commonwealth
25th	1956–1960		Hugh Addison Shirreff	Social Credit
26th	1960–1963		Dudley George Little
27th	1963–1966
28th	1966–1969
29th	1969–1972
30th	1972–1975		Hartley Douglas Dent	New Democratic
31st	1975–1979		Cyril Morley Shelford	Social Credit
32nd	1979–1983		Frank Howard	New Democratic
33rd	1983–1986
34th	1986–1991		David Parker	Social Credit
35th	1991–1996		Helmut Giesbrecht	New Democratic
36th	1996–2001
37th	2001–2005		Roger Harris	Liberal
38th	2005–2009		Robin Austin	New Democratic
39th	2009–2013
40th	2013–2017
41st	2017–2020		Ellis Ross	Liberal
42nd	2020–2023
	2023–2024			United
43rd	2024–present		Claire Rattée	Conservative

Member of the Legislative Assembly

Its MLA is Ellis Ross, the former Chief Councillor for the Haisla Nation. He was first elected in 2017. He represents the British Columbia Liberal Party. He briefly served as Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing in the Government of Christy Clark.

Election results

Graph of provincial election results in Skeena (Since 1960, minor parties are grouped into "Others")

2024 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Christian Heritage	Irwin Jeffrey
	Conservative	Claire Rattée
	Green	Teri Young
	New Democratic	Sarah Zimmerman
Total valid votes				–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered voters
Source: Elections BC

2020 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ellis Ross	5,810	52.06	−0.17	$47,839.99
	New Democratic	Nicole Halbauer	4,961	44.45	+1.16	$42,856.47
	Independent	Martin Holzbauer	389	3.49	–	$0.00
Total valid votes			11,160	99.47	–
Total rejected ballots			59	0.53	−0.05
Turnout			11,219	51.89	−10.87
Registered voters			21,621
	Liberal hold		Swing		–0.67
Source: Elections BC

2018 British Columbia electoral reform referendum
Side		Votes	%
	First Past the Post	4,863	66.83
	Proportional representation	2,414	33.17
Total valid votes		7,277	100.00
Rejected ballots		57	0.78
Source: Elections BC

2017 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ellis Ross	6,772	52.23	+9.02	$60,169
	New Democratic	Bruce Alan Bidgood	5,613	43.29	−4.42	$53,814
	Land Air Water	Merv Ritchie	580	4.48	–
Total valid votes			12,965	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			75	0.58	+0.03
Turnout			13,040	62.76	+6.91
Registered voters			20,779
Source: Elections BC

2013 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Robin Austin	5,609	47.71	-3.06	$41,610
	Liberal	Carol Joan Leclerc	5,087	43.27	+5.81	$82,805
	Conservative	Mike Brousseau	797	6.78	-0.95	$24,924
	British Columbia Party	Trevor Hendry	263	2.24		$250
Total valid votes			11,756	100.00
Total rejected ballots			65	0.55
Turnout			11,821	55.85
Source: Elections BC

B.C. General Election 2009 Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Robin Austin	5,865	50.77	+2.47	$68,501
	Liberal	Donny Van Dyk	4,328	37.46	-7.76	$84,795
	Conservative	Michael Brousseau	893	7.73		$6,594
	Green	Anita Norman	467	4.04	-0.74	$1,346
Total Valid Votes			11,553	100%
Total Rejected Ballots			64	0.7%
Turnout			11,617	55%

B.C. General Election 2005 Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Robin Austin	6,166	48.12%		$56,311
	Liberal	Roger Harris	5,807	45.32%		$122,214
	Green	Patrick Hayes	616	4.81%	–	$900
	Unity	Daniel Stelmacker	224	1.75%		$1,312
Total Valid Votes			12,813	100%
Total Rejected Ballots			89	0.7%
Turnout			12,902	63%

B.C. General Election 2001: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Roger Harris	8,653	65.15%		$34,842
	NDP	Helmut Giesbrecht	2,644	19.91%		$16,230
	Green	Roger Colin Benham	695	5.23%	–	$1,893
	Marijuana	Bob Erb	810	6.10%		$4,908
	All Nations	Gerald Victor Amos	479	3.61%	–	$3,918
Total Valid Votes			13,281	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			68	0.51%
Turnout			13,349	72.13%

B.C. General Election 1996: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Helmut Giesbrecht	5,353	40.34%		$29,298
	Liberal	Rick Wozney	4,718	35.56%		$53,331
	Reform	Andy Burton	2,744	20.68%		$21,615
	Social Credit	Dave Serry	249	1.88%	–	$3,731
	Green	Doug Bodnar	205	1.54%	–	$100
Total Valid Votes			13,269	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			93	0.70%
Turnout			13,362	70.72%

B.C. General Election 1991: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Helmut Giesbrecht	5,597	46.67%		$31,137
	Social Credit	Dave Parker	4,766	39.74%	–	$65,535
	Liberal	Juanita Hatton	1,629	13.59%		$983
Total Valid Votes			11,992	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			201	1.65%
Turnout			12,193	72.46%

B.C. General Election 1986: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	David Fletcher Hewlett Parker	8,259	48.61%	–
	NDP	Frank Howard	7,101	41.79%
	Liberal	William Hayes	839	4.94%
	Independent	Sebastian Gordon	793	4.66%		$983
Total Valid Votes			16,992	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			225	1.65%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1983: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Frank Howard	9,682	51.12%
	Social Credit	Joanne B. Monaghan	8,962	47.31%	–
	Independent	Lionel Wayne Sears	297	1.57%
Total Valid Votes			18,941	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			242	1.65%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1979: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Frank Howard	7,561	50.29%
	Social Credit	Cyril Morley Shelford	7,193	47.85%	–
	Independent	David L. McCreery	197	1.31%
	Independent	Arthur David Serry	83	0.55%
Total Valid Votes			15,034	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			233	1.65%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1975: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Cyril Morley Shelford	6,863	50.00%	–
	NDP	Hartley Douglas Dent	6,145	44.77%
	Liberal	Ronald N. Gowe	484	3.52%
	Progressive Conservative	Victor Charles George Jolliffe	235	1.71%
Total Valid Votes			13,727	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			141	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1972: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	NDP	Hartley Douglas Dent	5,442	46.90%
	Social Credit	Cyril Morley Shelford	3,605	31.07%	–
	Liberal	Ian Charles MacDonald	1,441	12.42%
	Progressive Conservative	Richard William Sargent	1,040	8.96%
	Independent	Lionel Wayne Sears	76	0.65%
Total Valid Votes			11,604	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			206	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1969: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Dudley George Little	5,044	51.20%	–
	NDP	James Harold Robertson	4,059	41.20%
	Liberal	Kurt Theodor Kolterhoff	748	7.59%
Total Valid Votes			9,851	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			180	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1966: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Dudley George Little	3,046	55.39%	–
	NDP	Ronald Douglas	1,742	31.68%
	Liberal	William Ivor Donald	711	12.93%
Total Valid Votes			5,499	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			56	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1963: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Dudley George Little	2,963	50.23%	–
	NDP	Richard Mouat Toynbee	1,975	33.48%
	Liberal	William Ivor Donald	961	16.29%
Total Valid Votes			5,899	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			65	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1960: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Dudley George Little	2,379	41.19%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Monty Alton	2,137	37.00%
	Liberal	William Donald Stickney	848	14.68%
	Conservative	Guy Ronald Williams	411	7.12%
Total Valid Votes			5,775	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			109	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1956: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Hugh Addison Shirreff	1,886	37.01%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Frank Howard	1,823	35.77%
	Liberal	Paul Wilbur Hallman	1,387	27.22%
Total Valid Votes			5,096	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			132	%
Turnout				%

Total

24th British Columbia election, 1953 2
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Frank Howard	1,768	37.04%	2,110	50.15%
	Liberal	Lionel Charles Houle	1,413	29.60%	2,097	49.85%
	Social Credit	Richard Stanley Lawrence	1,372	28.75%	-	- %
	Progressive Conservative	William John O'Neill	220	4.61%	-	-%
Total valid votes			4,773	100.00%	4,207	%
Total rejected ballots			279
Total Registered Voters			5,933 (1952 list)
Turnout			70.15%
Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 3) not shown

1952 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%
	Liberal	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	1,500	41.27	1,865	58.59
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Frank Howard	1,048	28.83	1,318	41.41
	Progressive Conservative	Herbert Wallace Leach	586	16.12	–	–
	Social Credit	Kenneth Oroville McAmmond	501	13.78	–	–
Total valid votes			3,635	%	3,183	100.00
Total rejected ballots			147
Note: Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 3) not shown

B.C. General Election 1949: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	2,048	73.20%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Joseph Daney Denicola	750	26.80%
Total Valid Votes			2,798	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			91	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1945: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	901	58.70%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Floyd Forester Frank	634	41.30%
Total Valid Votes			1,535	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			47	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1941: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	877	61.89%
	Progressive Conservative	William John O'Neill	540	38.11%
Total Valid Votes			1,417	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			61	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1937: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	1,006	59.74%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	John Doney	678	40.26%
Total Valid Votes			1,684	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			68	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1933: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	902	56.34%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Joseph Edgar Panter	451	28.17%
	Independent	Ralph Carmichael Bamford	248	15.49%
Total Valid Votes			1,601	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			49	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1928: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Horace Cooper Wrinch	910	54.33%
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Maurice Dockrill	765	45.67%
Total Valid Votes			1,675	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots			36	%
Turnout				%

B.C. General Election 1924: Skeena

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Horace Cooper Wrinch	794	50.41%
	Provincial	Frank Maurice Dockrill	535	33.97%	–
	Conservative	Richard Strong Sargent	246	15.62%
Total Valid Votes			1,575	100.00%
Total Rejected Ballots				%
Turnout				%

External links

• BC Stats Profile - 2001 (pdf)
• Results of 2001 election (pdf)
• 2001 Expenditures
• Results of 1996 election
• 1996 Expenditures
• Results of 1991 election
• 1991 Expenditures
• Website of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
• Elections BC historical returns