Robert Smith

Robert Smith was an Irish-born The Yale riding in this period included the Okanagan, Similkameen, Nicola and Shuswap areas. After stepping down at the 1878 provincial election, he never sought provincial office again.

He represented Yale and Lytton in the Legislative Council of British Columbia before 1871. Smith was an unsuccessful candidate for the Yale seat in the Canadian House of Commons in 1872. Smith introduced a motion in the assembly that, if the railway to the Pacific was not started by January 1876, that British Columbia be allowed to withdraw from Confederation and be awarded 30 million dollars in compensation from Canada.