Canadian federal election, 1980 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 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 32nd Parliament

32nd Canadian Parliament

The 32nd Canadian Parliament was in session from April 14, 1980 until July 9, 1984. The membership was set by the 1980 federal election on February 18, 1980, and it only changed slightly due to resignations and by-elections prior to being dissolved before the 1984 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...

. It was called when the minority

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...

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....

government led by 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...

Joe Clark

Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

was defeated on a motion of no confidence in the Commons.

Clark and his government had been under attack for its perceived inexperience, for example, in its handling of its 1979 election campaign commitment to move Canada's embassy in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

from Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

to Jerusalem. Clark had maintained uneasy relations with the fourth largest party in the House of Commons, 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...

. While he needed the six votes that the conservative-populist Quebec-based party had in order to get legislation passed, he was unwilling to agree to the conditions they imposed for their support. Clark had managed to recruit one Social Credit MP, Richard Janelle

Richard Janelle

Richard Janelle was a member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a secretary and coordinator by career.Janelle represented Quebec's Lotbinière electoral district at which he won a 16 October 1978 by-election...

, to join the PC caucus.

Clark's Minister of Finance, John Crosbie

John Crosbie

John Carnell Crosbie, PC, OC, ONL, QC is a retired provincial and federal politician and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...

, introduced an austere government budget in late 1979 that proposed to increase the excise tax on gasoline by 18¢ per Imperial gallon (about 4¢ a litre) to reduce the federal government's deficit. The five remaining Social Credit MPs demanded that the revenues raised be allocated to Quebec, and decided to abstain from a vote of non-confidence introduced by Bob Rae

Bob Rae

Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

of the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

. In addition, several Conservative MPs were either stuck abroad or too ill to attend the crucial vote, while the Liberals had assembled their entire caucus, even going as far as to bring in several bedridden MPs by ambulance. This resulted in the defeat of the government in the House of Commons, and forced a new election to be called.

Clark's Tories campaigned under the slogan, "Real change deserves a fair chance", but the voters were unwilling to give Clark another chance. The loss of the budget vote just seven months into his mandate and his subsequent defeat in the February 18 general election would eventually cost him the leadership

Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1983

The 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 11, 1983 in Ottawa, Ontario to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...

of the Progressive Conservatives.

Former 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...

prime minister Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...

had announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party following its defeat in 1979. However, no leadership convention had been held when the Progressive Conservative government fell. Trudeau quickly rescinded his resignation to lead the party to victory, winning 34 more seats than in the 1979 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1979

The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...

. This enabled the Liberals to form a majority government

Majority government

A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

that would last until its defeat in the 1984 election

Canadian federal election, 1984

The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

.

The abstention by Social Credit on the crucial budget vote (while the Liberals and NDP voted to bring down the government) contributed to the growing perception that the party had become irrelevant following the death of iconic leader Réal Caouette

Réal Caouette

David Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes...

. The Social Credit Party

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...

lost its last five seats in the House of Commons, and rapidly declined into obscurity after this election.

Voter turn-out: 69.3%

National results

Despite winning at least one seat in every province and territory, the Progressive Conservatives lost to the Liberals, who won a majority government. This was mainly because the Liberals won all but one seat in their stronghold of Quebec, and captured the majority of the seats in Ontario, Canada's two most populous provinces. Progressive Conservative Premier Bill Davis

Bill Davis

William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...

's criticism of the gas tax was brought up by the Trudeau's Liberals and that sapped federal PC support in Ontario

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....

. The Liberals were shut out west of Manitoba, highlighting a sharp geographical divide in the country.

Party	Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party	Party leader	# of candidates	1979 Canadian federal election, 1979 The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...	font style="font-size: 75%;">Dissolution Dissolution of parliament In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...	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...	Pierre Trudeau Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...	282	114	114	147	+28.9%	4,855,425	44.34%	+4.23%	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....	Joe Clark Joe Clark Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...	282	136	136	103	-24.3%	3,552,994	32.45%	-3.44%	New Democratic Party New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...	Ed Broadbent Ed Broadbent John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...	280	26	27	32	+23.1%	2,165,087	19.77%	+1.89%	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...	Fabien Roy Fabien Roy Fabien Roy was a politician in Quebec, Canada, in the 1970s. Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec and the Canadian House of Commons, and advocated social credit theories of monetary reform.-Background:...	81	6	5	-	-100%	185,486	1.70%	-2.91%	Rhinoceros	Cornelius I Cornelius the First Cornelius the First was a Canadian black rhinoceros from the Granby Zoo in Granby, Quebec, who was the nominal leader of the federal political party, the Rhinoceros Party of Canada from 1965 to 1993...	121	-	-	-	110,597	1.01%	+0.46%	Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Canada is a Canadian federal Marxist–Leninist political party.The party is registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada...	Hardial Bains Hardial Bains Hardial Bains was the founder of the Communist Party of Canada and its leader until his death...	177	-	-	-	-	14,728	0.13%	+0.01%	Libertarian Libertarian Party of Canada The Libertarian Party of Canada is a political party in Canada that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian movement across Canada.-History:...	58	-	-	-	-	14,656	0.13%	-0.01%	Union Populaire Union Populaire The Union populaire was a federal political party in Canada that nominated candidates in the 1979 and 1980 federal elections. The party also nominated one candidate in the 4 May 1981 by-election in the riding of Levis, Quebec....	54	-	-	-	-	14,474	0.13%	-0.04%	Independent	55	-	-	-	-	14,472	0.13%	-0.13%	Unknown	41	-	-	-	-	12,532	0.11%	-0.07%	Communist 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...	William Kashtan William Kashtan William Kashtan became general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada in January 1965, several months following the death of Leslie Morris. The delay in his assuming the position was due to the opposition of Tim Buck to his appointment....	52	-	-	-	-	6,022	0.05%	-0.02%	No affiliation	14	-	-	-	-	3,063	0.03%	+0.03%
Total		1,497	282	282	282	-	10,934,475	100%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca,History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

"% change" refers to change from previous election.

Changes to party standings from previous election: Social Credit MP Richard Janelle cross the floor to join the PC Party. PC MP John Diefenbaker

John Diefenbaker

John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...

died during the parliamentary session. A New Democrat was elected in the subsequent by-election.

147	103	32

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...	NL Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...	NT Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...	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:	-	-	-	2	52	74	7	5	2	5	-	-	147	Popular Vote:	22.2	22.2	24.2	28.0	41.9	68.2	50.1	39.9	46.8	47.0	35.8	39.6	44.3	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:	16	21	7	5	38	1	3	6	2	2	1	1	103	Vote:	41.5	64.9	38.9	37.7	35.5	12.6	32.5	38.7	46.3	36.0	24.7	40.6	32.4	New Democratic Party New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...	Seats:	12	-	7	7	5	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	32	Vote:	35.3	10.3	36.3	33.5	21.8	9.1	16.2	20.9	6.6	16.7	38.4	19.8	19.8
Total seats:	28	21	14	14	95	75	10	11	4	7	2	1	282
Parties that won no seats:														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...	Vote:	0.1	1.0	xx		xx	5.9							1.7	Rhinoceros	Vote:	0.4	0.7	0.1	0.4	0.2	3.0	0.5	0.2			1.1		1.0	Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Canada (Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Canada is a Canadian federal Marxist–Leninist political party.The party is registered with Elections Canada as the Marxist–Leninist Party of Canada...	Vote:	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	xx	xx	xx	0.1			0.1	Libertarian Libertarian Party of Canada The Libertarian Party of Canada is a political party in Canada that subscribes to the tenets of the libertarian movement across Canada.-History:...	Vote:			xx		0.3	0.1	xx						0.1	Union Populaire Union Populaire The Union populaire was a federal political party in Canada that nominated candidates in the 1979 and 1980 federal elections. The party also nominated one candidate in the 4 May 1981 by-election in the riding of Levis, Quebec....	Vote:						0.5							0.1	Independent	Vote:	0.3	0.3	0.1	xx	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.1	Unknown	Vote:	xx	0.5	0.2	0.1	xx	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1	Communist 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...	Vote:	0.1	0.1	xx	0.1	0.1	xx	0.1	No affiliation	Vote:	xx	0.1	0.1	xx

xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote.

External links

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National results

Results by province

See also

External links