23rd Parliament of British Columbia


The 23rd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from February 1953 to March 1953. The members were elected in the [1952 British Columbia general election|British Columbia (electoral district)|Columbia general election] held in June 1952. The Social Credit Party led by W. A. C. Bennett formed the government. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by Harold Winch formed the official opposition.
Thomas James Irwin served as speaker for the assembly.
The government was defeated on Bill 79, known as the "Rolston formula", on March 24.

Members of the 23rd Parliament

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1952:
MemberElectoral districtPartyFirst elected / previously electedNo.# of term
Stanley John SquireAlberniCCF19521st term
Frank Arthur CalderAtlinCCF19492nd term
Ernest Edward WinchBurnabyCCF19336th term
William Ralph Talbot ChetwyndCaribooSocial Credit19521st term
William Kenneth KiernanChilliwackSocial Credit19521st term
Richard Orr NewtonColumbiaSocial Credit19521st term
Robert William Bonner Social Credit19521st term
William Campbell MooreComoxCCF19521st term
Robert Martin StrachanCowichan-NewcastleCCF19521st term
Leo Thomas NimsickCranbrookCCF19492nd term
Thomas IrwinDeltaSocial Credit19521st term
Lyle WicksDewdneySocial Credit19521st term
Frank MitchellEsquimaltCCF19512nd term
Thomas Aubert UphillFernieLabour19209th term
Llewellyn Leslie KingFort GeorgeSocial Credit19521st term
Rupert Williams HaggenGrand Forks-GreenwoodCCF19492nd term
Philip Arthur GaglardiKamloopsSocial Credit19521st term
Randolph HardingKaslo-SlocanCCF19453rd term
Ernest Crawford CarsonLillooetProgressive Conservative1928, 19415th term*
Anthony John GargraveMackenzieCCF19521st term
Lorenzo (Larry) GiovandoNanaimo and the IslandsProgressive Conservative19521st term
Wesley Drewett BlackNelson-CrestonSocial Credit19521st term
John McRae (Rae) EddieNew WestminsterCCF19521st term
Lorne ShantzNorth OkanaganSocial Credit19521st term
Martin Elliott SowdenNorth VancouverLiberal19521st term
Philip Archibald GibbsOak BayLiberal19521st term
Cyril Morley ShelfordOminecaSocial Credit19521st term
Charles William ParkerPeace RiverSocial Credit19521st term
George Edwin HillsPrince RupertCCF19521st term
Vincent SegurRevelstokeCCF1943, 19522nd term*
Robert Edward SommersRossland-TrailSocial Credit19521st term
Frank SnowsellSaanichCCF19521st term
James Allan ReidSalmon ArmSocial Credit19521st term
Harry Denyer FrancisSimilkameenSocial Credit19521st term
Einar Maynard Gunderson Social Credit19521st term
Edward Tourtellotte KenneySkeenaLiberal19336th term
William Andrew Cecil BennettSouth OkanaganSocial Credit1941, 19494th term*
Eric Charles Fitzgerald MartinVancouver-BurrardSocial Credit19521st term
Bert Price19521st term
James Campbell BuryVancouver CentreCCF19521st term
Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson1939, 19523rd term*
Arthur James TurnerVancouver EastCCF19414th term
Harold Edward Winch19336th term
Albert Reginald MacDougallVancouver-Point GreyProgressive Conservative19463rd term
George Clark Miller19521st term
Tilly Jean RolstonSocial Credit19414th term
Nancy HodgesVictoria CityLiberal19414th term
Daniel John Proudfoot19492nd term
William Thomas Straith19375th term
Irvine Finlay CorbettYaleSocial Credit19521st term
--------------------------------Columbia------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Similkameen------------------Vancouver-BurrardSocial Credit------Vancouver CentreCCF------Vancouver EastCCF------Vancouver-Point GreyProgressive Conservative----------Victoria CityLiberal-------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vancouver-Point Grey-----------Victoria CityLiberal-------------

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:
Electoral districtMember electedPartyElection dateReason
ColumbiaRobert William BonnerSocial CreditNovember 24, 1952R.O. Newton resigned to provide seat for R.W. Bonner
SimilkameenEinar Maynard GundersonSocial CreditNovember 24, 1952H.D. Francis resigned to provide seat for E.M. Gunderson

Other changes