Canadian federal election, 1945
Encyclopedia
The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 of the 20th Parliament
20th Canadian Parliament
The 20th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 6, 1945 until April 30, 1949. The membership was set by the 1945 federal election on June 11, 1945, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1949 election.It was controlled by a...

 of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...

's Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 government was re-elected to its third consecutive government, although this time with a minority government as the Liberals fell 9 seats short of a majority.

Although the election officially resulted in a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

, the election of eight "Independent Liberal" MPs, most of whom did not run as official Liberals because of their opposition to conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 (see Conscription Crisis of 1944
Conscription Crisis of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging....

), gave the King government an effective working majority in parliament. Most of the Independent Liberal MPs joined (or re-joined) the Liberal caucus following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 when the conscription issue became moot. As King was defeated in his own riding of Prince Albert
Prince Albert (electoral district)
Prince Albert is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1908 to 1988, and since 1997.-Geography:...

, fellow Liberal William MacDiarmid
William MacDiarmid
William Burton MacDiarmid was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Athol, Ontario and became a physician by career....

, who was re-elected in the safe seat
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...

 of Glengarry
Glengarry (electoral district)
Glengarry was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917, and from 1925 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario...

, resigned so that a by-election could be held, which was subsequently won by King.

The federal election was the first since the victory of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...

 in the Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 provincial election, and many predicted a major breakthrough for the CCF nationally. A Gallup poll from September 1943 showed the CCF with a one point lead over both the Liberals and Conservatives. The party was expected to win 70 to 100 seats, possibly even enough to form a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

. Despite the expectations, the party only won 28 seats.

1945 was also the first test of the newly named Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

. The Conservative Party had changed its name in 1942 when former Progressive Party
Progressive Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I...

 Premier of Manitoba
Premier of Manitoba
The Premier of Manitoba is the first minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. Until the early 1970s, the title "Prime Minister of Manitoba" was used frequently. Afterwards, the word Premier, derived from the French...

 John Bracken
John Bracken
John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....

 became its leader. The party improved its standing in terms of number of seats compared to the old Conservative Party, but also recorded a reduced share of the popular vote (indeed, the lowest in any election prior to 1993) and fell far short of challenging Liberal hegemony.

A key issue in this election seems to have been electing a stable government. The Liberals urged voters to "Return the Mackenzie King Government", and argued that only the Liberal Party had a "preponderance of members in all nine provinces". Mackenzie King threatened to call a new election if he was not given a majority: "We would have confusion to deal with at a time when the world will be in a very disturbed situation. The war in Europe is over, but unrest in the east is not over."

The Progressive Conservatives tried to capitalize on the massive mid-campaign victory by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in the 1945 Ontario provincial election
Ontario general election, 1945
The Ontario general election of 1945 was held on June 4, 1945, to elect the 90 members of the 22nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

. PC campaign ads exhorted voters to rally behind their party: "Ontario shows! Only Bracken can win!", and suggesting that it would be impossible to form a majority government in the country without a plurality of seats in Ontario, which only the Tories could win. In the event, the Liberals fell just short of a majority even though they won only 34 seats in Ontario to the PCs' 48 seats. Eight "Independent Liberal" MPs could be expected to support the government.

Social welfare programs were also an issue in the campaign. Another Liberal slogan encouraged voters to "Build a New Social Order" by endorsing the Liberal platform, which included
  • $750 million to provide land, jobs and business support for veterans;
  • $400 million of public spending to build housing;
  • $250 million for family allowances;
  • establishing an Industrial development Bank;
  • loans to farmers, floor prices for agricultural products;
  • tax reductions.


Campaigning under the slogan, "Work, Security, and Freedom for All -- with the CCF", the CCF promised to retain war-time taxes on high incomes and excess profits in order to fund social services, and to abolish the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

. The CCF fought hard to prevent the support of labour from going to the Labour-Progressive Party
Labour-Progressive Party
For the Labour-Progressive Coalition Government in New Zealand see the Fifth Labour Government of New ZealandThe Labor-Progressive Party was the legal political organization of the Communist Party of Canada between 1943 and 1959....

 (i.e., the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

).

The LPP, for its part, pointed out that the CCF's refusal to enter into an electoral pact with the LPP had cost the CCF 100,000 votes in the Ontario election, and had given victory to the Ontario PCs. It urged voters to "Make Labor a Partner in Government."

The Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

 tried, with modest success, to capitalize on the positive image of the Alberta Socred
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....

 government of William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...

, asking voters, "Good Government in Alberta -- Why Not at Ottawa?". Referring to social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...

 monetary theories, the party encouraged voters to "Vote for the National Dividend".

National results

Party Party leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular vote
1940
Canadian federal election, 1940
The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...

Elected % Change # % % Change
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...

236 177 118 -33.9% 2,086,545 39.78% -11.54%
Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

1
John Bracken
John Bracken
John Bracken, PC was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ....

203 39 66 +66.7% 1,448,744 27.62% -2.79%
Co-operative Commonwealth
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...

M.J. Coldwell 205 8 28 +250% 815,720 15.55% +7.31%
Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

2
Solon Low
Solon Earl Low
Solon Earl Low was a Canadian politician in the 20th century.Low was born in Cardston, Alberta, and was a farmer, school teacher and school principal. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1935 provincial that swept the Social Credit Party of Alberta to power...

93 10 13 +30.0% 212,220 4.05% +1.46%
Independent Liberal 20 2 8 +300% 93,791 1.79% -1.40%
Independent 64 1 6 +500% 256,381 4.89% +3.65%
Bloc populaire canadien Maxime Raymond
Maxime Raymond
Maxime Raymond was a Canadian politician, businessman and lawyer in Quebec.Raymond was born in Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka. In the 1925 Canadian federal election he ran as a Liberal candidate in the district of Beauharnois, and won. He was re-elected in 1926 and 1930. In 1935 and 1940 he was...

35 * 2 * 172,765 3.29% *
Labour Progressive3 Tim Buck
Tim Buck
Timothy "Tim" Buck was a long-time leader of the Communist Party of Canada...

68 - 1   111,892 2.13% +1.94%
Independent PC 8 * 1 * 14,541 0.28% *
Independent CCF4 2 * 1 * 6,402 0.12% *
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1926 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no formal Liberal-Progressive party, but it was an alliance between two separate parties...

  1 3 1 -66.7% 6,147 0.12% -0.48%
National Government5   1   -   4,872 0.09%  
Trades Union   1 * - * 4,679 0.09% *
Farmer-Labour   2 - - - 3,620 0.07% -0.11%
Independent Conservative 1 - - -100% 2,653 0.05% -0.18%
Democratic
Democratic Party of Canada
The Democratic Party of Canada was a short-lived political party in Canada.Its leader was William Richard Nathaniel Smith.In the July 11, 1945 federal election, five candidates unsuccessfully sought election in ridings in Vancouver, British Columbia as Democratic Party candidates...

W.R.N. Smith 5 * - * 2,603 0.05% *
Union of Electors   1 * - * 596 0.01% *
Socialist Labour
Socialist Labour Party (Canada)
The Socialist Labour Party was a political party in Canada that was formed by Canadian supporters of the ideas of American socialist Daniel De Leon and the Socialist Labor Party of America. The party never won any seats...

  2 * - * 459 0.01% *
Labour   1 - - - 423 0.01% -0.07%
Liberal-Labour
Liberal-Labour (Canada)
The Liberal-Labour banner has also been used several times by candidates in Canadian elections:In the early twentieth century when the idea of trade unionists running for elected office under their own banner gained ground, several working class candidates on the provincial or federal level were...

  1 * - * 345 0.01% *
Independent Labour 1 * - * 241 x *
Unknown 1 - - - 70 x x
Total 952 243 245 - 5,245,709 100%  
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867


Notes:

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote.

1 1945 Progressive Conservative vote compared to 1940 National Government + Conservative vote.

2 1945 Social Credit vote compared to 1940 New Democracy + Social Credit vote.

3 1945 Labour Progressive vote compared to 1940 Communist vote.

4 The successful "Independent CCF" candidate ran as a People's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
People's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The People's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a label used by candidates in elections in the Canadian province of British Columbia who were not endorsed by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, but who were supportive of its policies....

 candidate.

5 One Progressive Conservative candidate ran under the "National Government" label that the party had used in the 1940 election.

Results by province

>
Party name BC
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

AB
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

SK
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

MB
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

ON
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

QC
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

NB
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

NS
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

PE
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

YK
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

Total
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

Seats: 5 2 2 9 34 47 7 9 3   118
Popular Vote: 27.5 21.8 33.0 32.7 40.8 46.5 50.0 45.7 48.4   39.8

| rowspan="2"|Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

Seats: 5 2 1 2 48 1 3 2 1 1 66
Vote: 30.0 18.7 18.8 24.9 41.4 9.7 38.3 36.8 47.4 40.0 27.6
Co-operative Commonwealth
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...

Seats: 4 - 18 5 - - - 1 - - 28
Vote: 29.4 18.4 44.4 31.6 14.3 2.4 7.4 16.7 4.2 27.5 15.6
Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

Seats: - 13 - - - -         13
Vote: 2.3 36.6 3.0 3.2 0.2 4.4         4.0
Independent Liberal Seats: 1         7 -       8
Vote: 1.7         5.9 1.1       1.8
Independent Seats:       - - 6 - -     6
Vote:       0.8 0.4 16.9 3.2 0.2     4.9
Bloc populaire
Bloc populaire canadien
The Bloc populaire canadien was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942 by opponents of conscription during World War II...

Seats:         - 2         2
Vote:         0.3 11.9         3.3
Labour Progressive Seats: - - - - - 1   -   - 1
Vote: 5.9 4.5 0.8 5.0 2.0 1.0   0.6   32.4 2.1
Independent PC Seats:         - 1         1
Vote:         xx 1.0         0.3
Independent CCF Seats: 1         -         1
Vote: 1.4         xx         0.1
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1926 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no formal Liberal-Progressive party, but it was an alliance between two separate parties...

Seats:       1             1
Vote:       1.9             0.1
Total Seats 16 17 21 17 82 65 10 12 4 1 245
Parties that won no seats:
National Government Vote:         0.3           0.1
Trades Union Vote: 1.1                   0.1
Farmer-Labour Vote:         0.2           0.1
Independent Conservative Vote:           0.2         0.1
Democratic
Democratic Party of Canada
The Democratic Party of Canada was a short-lived political party in Canada.Its leader was William Richard Nathaniel Smith.In the July 11, 1945 federal election, five candidates unsuccessfully sought election in ridings in Vancouver, British Columbia as Democratic Party candidates...

Vote: 0.6                   xx
Union of Electors Vote:           xx         xx
Socialist Labour
Socialist Labour Party (Canada)
The Socialist Labour Party was a political party in Canada that was formed by Canadian supporters of the ideas of American socialist Daniel De Leon and the Socialist Labor Party of America. The party never won any seats...

Vote: 0.1                   xx
Labour Vote:           xx         xx
Liberal-Labour
Liberal-Labour (Canada)
The Liberal-Labour banner has also been used several times by candidates in Canadian elections:In the early twentieth century when the idea of trade unionists running for elected office under their own banner gained ground, several working class candidates on the provincial or federal level were...

Vote:           xx         xx
Independent Labour Vote:         0.1           xx
Unknown Vote:           xx         xx


xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote.

See also

  • List of Canadian federal general elections
  • List of political parties in Canada
  • 20th Canadian Parliament
    20th Canadian Parliament
    The 20th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 6, 1945 until April 30, 1949. The membership was set by the 1945 federal election on June 11, 1945, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1949 election.It was controlled by a...

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