Elections in Canada
Elections in Canada provides information on
elections and election results in
Canada. The
Parliament of Canada (
French:
Parlement du Canada) has two
chambers. The
House of Commons (
French:
Chambre des Communes) has 308 members, elected for a maximum five-year term in single-seat
constituencies. The
Senate (French:
Sénat) has 105 appointed members.
Although four parties are currently represented in Parliament, Canada has
two dominant political parties, the
Conservatives and
Liberals, that have governed the country since its formation in 1867.
The
Prime Minister may ask the
Governor General to call an election at virtually any time, although one must be called within five years of the last election under
section 4 of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Traditionally, governments have waited four years between elections, but under
Jean Chrétien's Liberal government in the 1990s, elections were held on average every three and half years. Parties generally only wait the maximum of five years between elections if they expect to lose, and hope a postponement will allow more time for things to change in their favour.
Elections are generally held in either the fall or spring. This avoids the problems of a winter campaign, where outdoor events are harder to hold. It also avoids the problems of the summer, when many Canadians are on holiday.
Using the
plurality voting system, Canadians vote for their local
Member of Parliament (MP), who sits in the House of Commons. Canadians do not vote directly for the Prime Minister, nor do they vote for senators.
By-elections can be held between general elections when seats become vacant. It is at the discretion of the Prime Minister to call by-elections. The federal government can also hold nation-wide
referendums on major issues. The last referendum was held in 1992 on proposed constitutional changes in the
Charlottetown Accord. On occasion, one particular issue will dominate an election, and the election will in a sense be a virtual referendum. The most recent instance of this was the
1988 election, which was considered by most parties to be a referendum on
free trade with the
United States.
Election turn-out has been steadily falling for many decades, although turnout rose by four percent in the last election. Currently, about sixty percent of registered voters vote in federal elections, but this amounts to less than 50% of the eligble, adult population.
The
most recent election was held on
January 23,
2006.
The length of election campaigns can vary, but under the
Canada Elections Act the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days. There is no explicit maximum length for a campaign, although
section 5 of the Charter requires that the Parliament sit at least once every twelve months, and thus a campaign would have to conclude in time for returns to be completed and parliament to be called into session within twelve months of the previous sitting. The federal election date must be set on a Monday (or Tuesday if the Monday is a statutory holiday).
The longest election campaign was the
1926 election following the
King-Byng Affair which lasted 74 days. Prior to the adoption of the minimum of 36 days in law, there were six elections that lasted shorter periods of time. The last of these was the
1904 election which occurred many decades before the time limit was imposed.
The
1997,
2000 and
2004 elections were all of the minimum 36 days in length which has led to a common misconception that elections
must be 36 days long. However, prior to 1997, elections averaged much longer: aside from the 47 day campaign in
1993, the shortest election period after
World War II was 57 days and many were over 60 days in length.
Much speculation had surrounded how long of the campaign for the
39th federal election would be in 2006, especially as it became certain the election would be called in the weeks preceding Christmas 2005. The government of
Joe Clark, which fell on
December 12,
1979, recommended a campaign of 66 days for the
resulting election, and nothing legal barred a similarly lengthed campaign. In the end, the 2006 election was called on
November 29,
2005, for
January 23,
2006 — making a 55-day long campaign.
1867-1879
*
1867 - 1st general election,
Conservative Party led by
Sir John A. Macdonald is elected to form Canada's first
majority government, defeating the
Liberals and their de facto leader
George Brown.
*
1872 - 2nd general election, Conservatives under Macdonald are re-elected with a second majority, defeating the Liberals and their de facto leader
Edward Blake.
*
1874 - 3rd general election,
Liberal Party, led by
Alexander Mackenzie, retains power after having formed a government when Macdonald lost the
confidence of the House in 1873, with a majority.
*
1878 - 4th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, defeat Mackenzie's Liberals, returning Macdonald to power with a third majority.
1880-1899
*
1882 - 5th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Edward Blake's Liberals.
*
1887 - 6th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a fifth majority, defeating Edward Blake's Liberals.
*
1891 - 7th general election, Conservatives, led by Macdonald, are re-elected with a sixth majority, in Macdonald's final election before his death shortly after. Macdonald defeated rookie Liberal
opposition leader Wilfrid Laurier.
*
1896 - 8th general election, Liberals, led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, are elected with a majority, defeating the Conservatives of prime minister Sir
Charles Tupper.
1900-1919
*
1900 - 9th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a second majority, defeating Tupper's Conservatives.
*
1904 - 10th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating the Conservatives of
Sir Robert Borden.
*
1908 - 11th general election, Liberals, led by Laurier, are re-elected with a fourth majority, defeating Borden and the Conservatives.
*
1911 - 12th general election, Conservatives, led by Sir Robert Borden, defeat Laurier's Liberals with a majority.
*
1917 - 13th general election, Conservatives, led by Borden, are re-elected with a majority as part of a pro-conscription
unionists coalition, which had former Liberals and Conservatives in the cabinet. The Unionists defeat Laurier's anti-conscription Liberals in the most bitter campaign in Canadian history.
1920-1939
*
1921 - 14th general election, Liberals, led by
William Lyon Mackenzie King, win a
minority government, defeating Conservative prime minister
Arthur Meighen, whose party is reduced to third-place in the House. Meighen becomes opposition leader, however, as the Progressives decline the title of official opposition.
*
1925 - 15th general election, Conservatives, led by Arthur Meighen, win more seats than Mackenzie King's Liberals, who hold on to power with the help of
Progressive Robert Forke. The Progressives withdraw support from scandal-plagued Liberals and refuse to support the Conservatives, triggering the 1926 election.
*
1926 - 16th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, defeat Meighen's Conservatives, winning a majority with a
Liberal-Progressive coalition. Also see the
King-Byng Affair.
*
1930 - 17th general election, Conservatives, led by
R.B. Bennett, defeat Mackenzie King's Liberals, winning a majority.
*
1935 - 18th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, defeat Bennett's Conservatives with a majority.
1940-1959
*
1940 - 19th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a second consecutive majority, defeating
Robert Manion's National Government party, a failed attempt to recreate Robert Borden's World War I-era Unionists.
*
1945 - 20th general election, Liberals, led by Mackenzie King, are re-elected with a third consecutive majority, defeating the newly renamed
Progressive Conservatives, led by
John Bracken.
*
1949 - 21st general election, Liberals, led by Liberal prime minister
Louis St-Laurent, are re-elected with a majority, defeating the Progressive Conservatives led by
George Drew.
*
1953 - 22nd general election, Liberals, led by St. Laurent, are re-elected with a second majority government, defeating George Drew's Progressive Conservatives.
*
1957 - 23rd general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by
John Diefenbaker, defeat Liberals, led by St-Laurent with an upset minority victory.
*
1958 - 24th general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Diefenbaker, are re-elected with the largest majority to date in Canadian history, defeating the Liberals and their new leader
Lester Pearson.
1960-1979
*
1962 - 25th general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by Diefenbaker, are re-elected, but with a minority.
*
1963 - 26th general election, Liberals, led by Lester Pearson, defeat Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives, winning a minority.
*
1965 - 27th general election, Liberals, led by Pearson, are re-elected with a second minority, defeating Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives.
*
1968 - 28th general election, Liberals, led by prime minister
Pierre Trudeau, are re-elected with a majority, defeating the Progressive Conservatives led by
Robert Stanfield.
*
1972 - 29th general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, are re-elected, but with a minority, defeating Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives by only two seats.
*
1974 - 30th general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, are re-elected with a majority government, defeating Robert Stanfield's Progressive Conservatives.
*
1979 - 31st general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by
Joe Clark, defeat Liberals, led by Trudeau, and win a minority, despite winning a significantly smaller share of the vote than the Liberals. The Progressive Conservatives won the highest vote share in seven provinces, but the Liberals captured an enormous lead in Quebec.
1980-1999
*
1980 - 32nd general election, Liberals, led by Trudeau, defeat Clark's Progressive Conservatives with a majority.
*
1984 - 33rd general election, Progressive Conservatives, led by
Brian Mulroney, defeat Liberals, led by prime minister
John Turner and win the most seats in Canadian history. The election is both the best showing ever for the Progressive Conservatives (211 seats), and the worst showing ever for the Liberals (40 seats).
*
1988 - 34th general election, Mulroney is re-elected with a second majority, contending with a much stronger performance from Turner, and a strong third-party showing from
Ed Broadbent's New Democrats, winning that party's best result ever (43 seats).
*
1993 - 35th general election, Liberals, led by Liberal
Jean Chrétien, defeat Progressive Conservatives, led by prime minister
Kim Campbell, with a majority. The election changes the political landscape as ex-Mulroney cabinet minister
Lucien Bouchard's separatist
Bloc Québécois become the official opposition, and the upstart right-wing western protest
Reform Party, led by
Preston Manning, becomes the third party. Meanwhile
Audrey McLaughlin's New Democrats and Campbell's Progressive Conservatives both have their worst electoral results ever, with 9 and 2 seats, respectively.
*
1997 - 36th general election, Liberals, led by Chretien, are re-elected with a second majority. Manning becomes opposition leader. The Progressive Conservatives, hoping to regain their place as the natural alternative to the Liberals under
Jean Charest win nearly as many votes as Manning's Reform Party, but only one-third as many seats.
Since 2000
*
2000 - 37th general election, Liberals, led by Chretien, are re-elected with a third majority, defeating
Stockwell Day and the
Canadian Alliance, the failed attempt to unite the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives. Former prime minister Joe Clark leads the Progressive Conservatives to a disappointing result in their final election, but is able to keep the party as an official party in the House of Commons by winning the necessary 12 seats.
*
2004 - 38th general election, Liberals, led by prime minister
Paul Martin, are re-elected with a minority, defeating
Conservative Stephen Harper, the former leader of the Canadian Alliance and now leader of the united Conservative Party.
Jack Layton's New Democrats come 1 seat short of winning enough seats to be able to guarantee the survival of Martin's government, resulting in a highly unstable parliament. The Bloc Quebecois under
Gilles Duceppe, which had been drifting into irrelevance, also experiences a revival due to a Quebec-based Liberal scandal.
*
2006 - 39th general election, Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, win a minority, defeating Martin's Liberals, who finish 21 seats behind them. The BQ retains most of its seats, while the New Democrats improve their fourth-place position. It is expected that the Conservatives will negotiate for the support they will need to pass legislation, while the opposition parties will not force another election at least until Martin has been replaced as Liberal leader.
Latest election results
The following table lists the results of the most recent
provincial and territorial elections. A link to complete lists for each province and territory is below. The winning party is indicated in
bold and by the coloured bar at the left of the table. The table does
not show the current state of the parties within the
leglislative bodies - click the name of the province / territory for the current state.
It is important to note that in some cases the provincal parties are not associated with its federal equivalent. Most notably, in British Columbia the BC Liberals are wholly emancipated from the federal Liberals and associate more strongly with the federal Conservatives while the BC NDP is affiliated with the federal NDP. Thus, names of provincial parties are sometimes misleading when associating a provincial party with a national party.
*
List of British Columbia general elections*
List of Alberta general elections*
List of Saskatchewan general elections*
List of Manitoba general elections*
List of Ontario general elections*
List of Quebec general elections*
List of New Brunswick general elections*
List of Nova Scotia general elections*
List of Prince Edward Island general elections*
List of Newfoundland and Labrador general elections*
List of Yukon Territory general elections*
List of Northwest Territories general elections*
List of Nunavut general elections*Nunavut does not have political parties. Political parties in the
Northwest Territories were disbanded in 1905.
*
Ontario municipal elections, 2003*
Ontario municipal elections, 2006*
List of Toronto municipal elections*
List of Ottawa municipal elections*
Results of mayoral elections in Winnipeg*
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989*
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1998*
Alberta Senate nominee election, 2004*
List of elections in the Province of Canada (pre-Confederation)
*
Canadian federal election results since 1867*
Electronic voting in Canada*
Electoral calendar*
Electoral system*
Canadian electoral calendar*
List of Canadian federal electoral districts*
Past Canadian electoral districts*
Maple Leaf Web - Political Education Website*
Electionworld*
Adam Carr's Election Archive*
Pollingreport.ca*
Nodice Elections: Canada*
Predicting the 2006 Canadian Election by Elmer G. Wiens
*
Undecided in 2006 - Join the confusion
*
CBC Digital Archives - Voting in Canada: How a Privilege Became a Right*
CBC Digital Archives - Campaigning for CanadaThe Hill Times: Canada's national newsweekly of politics and government
The Tyee's Election Blog: Canada's Daily Election Blog based in British Columbia
The Tyee: Daily Election stories from this daily independent BC-based online news source
