British Columbia

British Columbia (BC; French: Colombie-Britannique) is one of the coastal provinces of Canada. Nestled between the Pacific Ocean, Alberta, Alaska, and Oregon, British Columbia features an impressively diverse array of landscapes, including rocky beaches, temperate rainforests, warm deserts, and soaring peaks. While Victoria is British Columbia's capital city, the province's largest city is Vancouver. British Columbia is home to over 3.6 million people, largely residing in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island, and within the Okanagan Valley.

British Columbia is a distinctly cosmopolitan province, due to various immigration waves during the 20th century. Hundreds of languages are commonly spoken within British Columbian communities, including 34 indigenous languages. BC is similarly diverse when it comes to religious affiliation; while a slim majority of residents identify as Christian, there are also significant Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim communities within the province. Despite this, BC's population has not grown substantially within recent years, largely due to a 8.8 magnitude Cascadian earthquake that occured in the 2000s.

British Columbia's economy is reliant on industries in natural resources, agriculture, retail, real estate, film production and tourism. The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada, and, along with its neighboring ports near Seattle and Tacoma, supply the west coast with vital resources.

In recent years, British Columbia has been considered a swing province due to its rapidly shifting political views. Due to the diverse nature of the province, it is difficult to pin down the ideological leanings of British Columbians, though most experts agree that they vary from region to region.

Election results
British Columbia currently represents 8 out of 420 seats in Canada.

1993 Election
The 1993 federal election had the Conservatives with a 5-point and 11-point lead over the Democrats and Progressives respectively. However, all three parties were ultimately tied in the seat count. Both the Reform and National parties managed to win a seat in the province.

1997 Election
The 1997 federal election in British Columbia saw the Greens gain one seat as their voteshare tripled to 10.25%. The Progressives suffered a blow to their provincial voteshare and a seat. The Democrats ended up winning the popular vote, but remained tied with the Conservatives in the seat count.

2001 Election
In 2001, the National party lost their only seat within British Columbia, and the Progressives regained a second seat. While the earthquake provided a boost to the sagging Democratic party, Conservatives also increased their voteshare, keeping the margin relatively constant. Despite having a decent national showing, Greens failed to make inroads from their previous one seat.