Canadian federal election, 1993
Encyclopedia
The Canadian federal election of 1993 (officially, the 35th general election) was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons
of the 35th Parliament
of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election
. The Liberals
, led by Jean Chrétien
, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada.
The election was called by the new Progressive Conservative Party
leader, Prime Minister Kim Campbell
, near the end of her party's five-year mandate. When she assumed office, the party was deeply unpopular, and was further weakened by the emergence of new parties that were competing for its core supporters. Campbell's initial efforts helped the party recover somewhat in pre-election polls before the writs were issued. However, this momentum did not last, and the Progressive Conservatives suffered the most lopsided defeat for a governing party at the federal level, and among the worst ever suffered by a governing party in the Western world. They lost more than half their vote from 1988 and all but two of their 151 seats. Though they recovered slightly in the 1997 election, the Progressive Conservatives lost seats in 2000 and would never be a major force in Canadian politics again. In 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party disappeared entirely when it merged with the larger Canadian Alliance
party to create the new Conservative Party of Canada
.
Two new parties emerged in this election, largely from the supporters of the Progressive Conservatives. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois
won almost half the votes in Quebec and became the Official Opposition
. To date, this is the only time that a party committed to the political secession of a region of Canada has become the Official Opposition of Canada. The Western-based Reform Party
won nearly as many seats and replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada.
The traditional third party, the NDP
, collapsed to nine seats only one election after having its best performance ever. It remains the NDP's worst result in a federal election since its formation and the only election where the party polled less than one million votes.
Voter turn-out was 70.9 percent, adjusted from initial tallies of 69.6% to account for deceased electors.
and 1984
. The Conservatives only formed government five times in this period.
led the Progressive Conservatives to the biggest majority government in Canadian history, winning a majority of the seats in every province. The Liberals were decimated, losing 95 seats in the worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level at the time. Especially important was the Conservative breakthrough in Quebec, a province where they had been almost unelectable for much of the century. Between 1896 and 1984, the Conservatives had only managed to win the majority of seats in that province once, in their landslide of 1958
--the only other time besides 1984 that a party has won 200 seats in an election. After winning only one seat in the province (out of 75) in 1980
, the Tories won 58 seats in 1984, virtually wiping out the Liberals outside of Montreal
.
Mulroney's government was based on a "grand coalition" of socially conservative populists from the West
, fiscal conservatives from Atlantic Canada
and Ontario
, and Quebec nationalists
. This coalition helped him win reelection in 1988, with a considerably smaller mandate. That election was almost wholly focused on the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Over the next five years, the popularity of Mulroney and his party collapsed. The late 1980s recession
badly harmed the Canadian economy, as unemployment
increased dramatically and the federal budget deficit grew. When the Conservatives had come to office in 1984, the federal deficit was at an unprecedented $34.5 billion. Despite pledges to reduce it, the deficit had grown to over $40 billion by 1993. The federal debt
had also grown to $500 billion. In an attempt to restore the fiscal balance, Mulroney had brought in the highly unpopular Goods and Services Tax
.
failed when the provincial legislatures of Newfoundland
and Manitoba
adjourned without bringing the issue to a vote; all 10 provincial legislatures had to ratify the accord for it to become law. The Charlottetown Accord
was defeated by the Canadian people in a 1992 referendum. In the case of the Charlottetown Accord, the majority of Canada's population voted against an agreement endorsed by every First Minister and most other political groups. This stinging rebuke against the "political class" in Canada was a preview of things to come, as the upcoming election would be held on October 25, 1993, a year less a day after the Charlottetown referendum.
Kim Campbell
quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Mulroney as party leader and prime minister. Despite a vigorous challenge from Environment Minister
Jean Charest
, Campbell emerged victorious from the June leadership election and became Canada's
first female prime minister
.
Campbell enjoyed a brief period of high popularity upon being sworn in, becoming the eponym of "Campbellmania," just as Pierre Trudeau
had been the subject of late-1960s Trudeaumania
. Campbell did extensive campaigning during the summer, touring the nation and attending barbecues and other events.
and the Liberal leadership supported Meech, there was significant internal disagreement, with Trudeau returning from retirement to speak out against it. After the Liberals' disappointing showing in the 1988 election, Turner stayed on
for a couple years before resigning. The party had selected veteran politician Jean Chrétien
over Paul Martin
as their leader in 1990, but the leadership contest had proven to be divisive
and Chrétien was unpopular, especially in his native Quebec after declaring his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord, being rocked by caucus defects. The federal Liberals were disorganized, near bankruptcy, and dropped in the polls from 50 to 32 per cent, so Chrétien appointed Jean Pelletier
as chief of staff to reinvigorate his leadership and reorganize his office. As the ruling Conservatives suffered the most backlash from the unsuccessful constitutional amendments, the Liberals rapidly picked up support, and surged to a wide lead in opinion polling.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) had won a record 43 seats in 1988 under Ed Broadbent
, who retired the next year. In the following few years, their support continued to grow, at one point leading in the opinion polls. This helped the NDP win a series of victories at the provincial level. In 1990, in a surprise victory, Bob Rae
led the party to office in Ontario
–the first that had won government east of Manitoba
(until their election in Nova Scotia
in 2009). That same year, the NDP won a by-election
in Quebec to take its first-ever seat in the province. The next year, under the leadership of Mike Harcourt
, the New Democrats were elected in British Columbia
. Within a few years, however, both these provincial governments became deeply unpopular, and support for the federal NDP also began to fall. In a deviation from their traditional position as staunch federalists
, the NDP chose to align itself with the Liberals and Conservatives on the "yes" side of the 1992 Charlottetown Accord
. As well, new leader Audrey McLaughlin
made efforts to expand its support into Quebec instead of focusing on Western alienation
, having defeated Dave Barrett
who had campaigned for the opposite policies. These positions gained the NDP little headway in Quebec and it hurt the party's standing as the traditional voice of Western protest.
After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, Lucien Bouchard
led a group of Progressive Conservative and Liberal MPs to form the Bloc Québécois
. This party quickly gained the support of Quebec sovereigntists
and access to the networks of the provincial Parti Québécois
. Gilles Duceppe
won a 1990 by-election, and throughout the period leading up to the election, the Bloc polled as the most popular party in Quebec.
The Reform Party of Canada
was a Western
-based populist
party led by Preston Manning
, the son of former Alberta Premier
Ernest Manning
. Originally broadly focused on Western Canadian interests, it had quickly moved far to the right after its formation. It originally campaigned under the slogan "the West wants in
". Reform had nominated candidates in the 1988 election, but had failed to win any seats, and garnered only 2.5 percent of the popular vote. Many Western voters had never forgiven the Liberals for the National Energy Program
in the 1970s, and Mulroney's attempt to pacify Quebec caused them to rethink their support for the Tories. In early 1989, Deborah Grey
won a by-election in an Edmonton
-area riding to become the first Reform MP in parliament. This came as a considerable shock to the Tories, who had dominated Alberta's federal politics for a quarter-century, and as Grey had finished a distant fourth in the general election held few months earlier. As Conservative support collapsed over the next four years, Reform party support increased. Reform also picked up support from many longtime NDP voters. The NDP (and its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
) had been the traditional Western protest party for most of the last 40 years, but since the 1990s they attempted to make inroads in Quebec and joined the Conservatives and Liberals in supporting the Charlottetown Accord. Despite sharp ideological differences, Reform's populism struck a responsive chord in disaffected NDP supporters.
With this in mind, Campbell asked Governor General
Ray Hnatyshyn
to dissolve parliament
on September 8, only a few weeks before Parliament was due to expire. In accordance with Canadian constitutional practice, Hnatshyn granted the request, beginning the seven-week campaign.
At the ceremony at Rideau Hall
, Campbell made the first of a series of remarks that would dog the Conservative campaign. When she was running for the party leadership, Campbell's frank honesty was seen as an important asset and a sharp contrast from Mulroney's highly polished style (Mulroney was criticized for waiting until the last year of his mandate resignation, leaving only two-and-a-half months left in the Tories' five-year term, and for his international farewell tour without transacting any official business). However, during the campaign, Campbell repeatedly made statements that caused problems for the party. At the Rideau Hall event, she told reporters that it was unlikely that the deficit or unemployment would be much reduced before the "end of the century". Later in the campaign, she would famously state that 47 days were not enough to discuss the overhaul in social policy that she thought Canada needed. Unfortunately for Campbell, a reporter shortened the quote to "an election is no time to discuss serious issues."
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The Liberals had long prepared for the campaign. They had amassed a substantial campaign war chest, almost as large as that of the Tories. On September 19, the Liberals released their entire platform, which the media quickly named the Red Book
. This document gave a detailed account of exactly what a Liberal government would do in power. Several years of effort had gone into the creation of the document, which was unprecedented for a Canadian party. Several days later, the Conservatives released the hastily assembled A Taxpayer's Agenda, but the Liberals had captured the reputation of being the party with ideas. The Liberals were also consistently well organized and on message, in contrast to the Conservative campaign, which the Globe and Mail on September 25 stated was "shaping up to be the most incompetent campaign in modern political history."
The Bloc Québécois
benefited from a surge in support for Quebec nationalism after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord
in 1990 which resulted in a number of Liberal and Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) organizing to form the Bloc. The Bloc's leader Lucien Bouchard
campaigned on promising that the Bloc would represent Quebec's interests at the federal level, by running candidates exclusively in Quebec while endorsing and supporting Quebec sovereignty (political independence from Canada).
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The Reform Party developed an extensive grassroots network in much of the West and Ontario. Reform's appeal to populist
policies such as calling for a democratically-elected and regionally equal Senate as well as supporting the use of more plebiscites and referenda in the political process was very popular in Western Canada. Reform's appeal for smaller government, lower taxes, support of the North American Free Trade Agreement
, opposition to the Goods and Services Tax
, and social conservative
policies won over many conservatives in the West and Ontario.
Small "c" conservatives in the West and Ontario who traditionally supported of the Progressive Conservatives were drawn to Reform for several reasons. These conservative voters were disenchanted with the PCs for imposing the Goods and Services Tax, and the PC government's failure to reduce Canada's growing deficit and national debt. There was also the PC government's failure to deliver a democratically-elected Senate as it had promised (while appointing unelected Senators in 1990), the PC party's socially progressive policies, and due to the PC government's overarching focus and failed attempts to officially bring Quebec into the Constitution while being seen by some as ignoring the concerns of other regions, especially the west.
Reform had little money and few resources, so their limited funds led them to fly economy class, stay in cheap hotels, and rely on pre-packaged lunches, all which helped endear them to money conscious fiscal conservatives. The campaign was managed by seasoned professional Rick Anderson. Some Reformers had been annoyed that the moderate former Liberal and Ottawa insider had been made campaign manager, but he quickly proved highly able.
Reform found itself embroiled in controversy when Toronto-area candidate John Beck
made a series of anti-immigrant remarks in an interview with Excalibur, the York University
student paper. York students confronted Manning with the remarks, who immediately denounced them. Within an hour, Beck was forced to withdraw his candidacy.
The PC campaign was headed by chair John Tory
and chief strategist Allan Gregg
, both experienced Mulroney loyalists. It was the best-funded campaign, but it quickly ran into organizational problems. The party failed to get literature distributed to the local campaigns, forcing all of the PC candidates to print their own material, and preventing the party from putting forth a unified message. The Conservative campaign had been focused on three issues: job creation, deficit reduction, and improving quality of life. However, the party had little credibility on the first two, as over their time in office both unemployment and the deficit had increased dramatically. The party was also reluctant to propose new social programs, as in Quebec they had to appeal to nationalists who opposed federal government intervention, and in the West had to appeal to Reform supporters who opposed government intervention in general.
In addition, what remained of the initial euphoria over Campbell quickly wore off as the campaign progressed. Her style was initially seen as frank and honest, but as her numbers dropped she was seen as condescending and pretentious. The Tories also continued to be dogged by the long shadow of the now-widely detested Mulroney.
s were held October 3 and 4, and were generally regarded as inconclusive, with no party gaining a boost from them. The most memorable moment involved Lucien Bouchard
continuously questioning Campbell about the real deficit in the 1993 budget, and Campbell dodging the question. The French
debates were held on the first night. Manning, who did not speak French, read prepared opening and closing remarks, but did not participate in the debate itself.
, and would probably win a majority without dramatic measures. The PCs retained one advantage, as Campbell was still far more personally popular than Chrétien. Polling found that a considerable number of potential Liberal voters held negative opinions about Chrétien.
Believing they had no other way to keep the Liberals from winning a majority, Gregg and Tory decided to launch a series of commercials attacking Chrétien
. While the ad's creators had meant for the line "I would be very embarrassed if he became Prime Minister of Canada" to refer to Chrétien's policies and ethics, the intercutting with images of his face and its facial deformity were interpreted by many as an attack on Chrétien's appearance. The ad quickly received widespread attention as the Liberal war room under Roméo LeBlanc
immediately contacted media outlets. This generated a severe backlash from all sides of the spectrum, including some PC candidates, and Campbell ordered that the ads be pulled.
Chrétien turned the situation to his advantage, comparing his opponents to the children who teased him when he was a boy. "When I was a kid people were laughing at me. But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I'm grateful." Chrétien's approval ratings shot up, nullifying the only advantage the Conservatives still had over him. The Tories also pointed out that Chrétien himself had used his half-paralyzed face in the campaign, with Liberal signs in Quebec that translated as "Strange looking face, but reflect on what's inside." Furthermore, most newspapers and magazines had used similar photos that highlighted Chrétien's facial deformity.
Aside from raising Chrétien's personal popularity, nullifying one of his last shortcomings compared to Campbell, it is unclear what effect the ad had on the election. Prior to the controversy, the Campbell's Progressive Conservatives were already beset by many problems; notably the recession, the unpopular GST, and their support bases moving to the newly formed Reform Party
and Bloc Québécois
. Nonetheless, the negative backlash over the television spot made the Tories' defeat certain as their support plummeted into the teens, all but assuring that the Liberals would win a majority government.
was especially high. The federal deficit was also extremely high, and both the Reform and Progressive Conservatives focused on cutting it as the path to economic health. Reform proposed deep cuts to federal programs in order to do this, while the Progressive Conservatives were less specific. The Liberals also promised cuts, focusing on the unpopular and expensive plan to buy new military helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings
. They also promised new programs such as a limited public works programme and a national child care program. The Reform Party called for a "Zero in Three" plan that would reduce the deficit to zero in three years. The Liberals had a far more modest plan to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP by the end of their first term. All opposition parties pledged to repeal the Goods and Services Tax
. Once elected, however, the Liberals reneged on this pledge to much outcry, stating the Conservatives had understated the size of the deficit. Instead the GST remained. In some provinces it was Harmonized
with the Provincial sales tax, while in other provinces the GST and the Provincial Sales Tax remained separate.
The 1988 election had been almost wholly focused on the issue of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and similarly, the 1993 election was preceded by the agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). The Liberals opposed NAFTA and promised to try to renegotiate the FTA, but this was not a central campaign theme. The NDP did focus on opposition to NAFTA, but the Canadian people mostly felt that the free trade debate
was over. When in office, the Liberals signed on to NAFTA with little opposition. Similarly, while constitutional issues had dominated the national debate for several years, two failed reform proposals led most to support giving the issue a rest. Chrétien promised not to reopen the constitution, and that under the Liberals any change would be incremental in nature. In Quebec the election was seen as a prelude to the next Quebec election and the referendum on secession
that was sure to follow.
The Reform Party advanced proposals in a number of areas that challenged the status quo. It proposed extensive reform to Canada's parliamentary system, including more free votes, recall election
s, and change to the Senate
. The party also advocated a reduction in immigration
levels and a retreat from official bilingualism
.
, encouraging such pledges. The Conservatives had the largest budget, spending $10.4 million on their national campaign; the Liberals spent $9.9 million, while the NDP spent $7.4 million. The Bloc and Reform spent far less, both spending less than $2 million on their national campaigns. Actual election spending is far larger than these numbers indicate: each candidate raised substantial amounts of money independently of the national campaign. In this era there were also large expenses, such as polling and fundraising costs, that did not need to be disclosed.
The different parties drew their funding from different sources. In the year of the election, two traditional parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, each received about 60% of their funding from corporations and the rest from individuals. For the NDP half of the funding came from individuals, and a third came from trade union
s. The Reform Party relied almost wholly on individual donations, with only some 12% coming from corporations. The Bloc relied almost solely on individual donations, as its party charter barred donations from corporations. The NDP had by far the most donors, with over 65,000, but the average donation was only $80. By contrast the 45,000 Conservative donors gave more than $200 on average.
The Liberals quickly recouped their election expenses once they were in government. The Liberals held a substantial advantage in funding for the next two elections as they enjoyed the majority of corporate campaign contributions after the collapse of the Progressive Conservatives. Until 2003 when Jean Chrétien
passed Bill C-24, which banned business donations and provided a subsidy to each party based on their popular vote, the Liberals did not see the need to develop a system of extensive grassroots fundraising
like the other parties.
The Bloc and Reform had spent little during the campaign, and also received more support once their prominent position in parliament was made clear. One of the Reform Party's successful developments was its extensive grassroots fundraising network, which is still used by its latest incarnation (in a merger with the Progressive Conservatives), the Conservative Party of Canada
.
The NDP and Conservatives had more problems after the vote. The NDP found itself deeply in debt, but recouped some of it by selling their Ottawa headquarters to the Ukrainian Embassy
. The Conservatives, despite cutting back on spending late in the campaign, were some $7.5 million in debt by the end of the election, and it took years to clear this burden. The heavy debt load would hamper the party's ability to campaign in subsequent elections, and this would lead to its eventual merger with Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance
.
of the National Party
complained vehemently about. There was a debate between the leaders of seven of the minor parties on October 5, which was broadcast on CBC Newsworld
. The National Party and the Natural Law Party
did not attend.
Few of these parties had any hope of winning a seat. One exception was the National Party. Founded by Mel Hurtig, a prominent nationalist
, it campaigned on a strongly nationalist platform focusing on opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). The party ran 171 candidates, and for a time polling indicated it could potentially have an impact. However, the party failed to make a significant impression and disbanded after the election. Another prominent minor party was the Natural Law Party
. Linked to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
, it advocated yogic flying as the solution to most of Canada's ills. It ran 231 candidates, more than some of the major parties. Its campaign was also accompanied by several million dollars of advertising, and it was successful in attracting media attention. Some accused its efforts of actually being government-subsidized marketing for yogic flying centres. Other minor parties included the Libertarian Party of Canada
, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
and the Christian Heritage Party
, which was mainly dedicated to opposing abortion
. The election saw three minor parties focused on radical reform to the monetary system: the Canada Party
, the Abolitionist Party
, and the Party for the Commonwealth of Canada
, which was formed by supporters of U.S. fringe politician Lyndon LaRouche
.
This election was also the last time that the Social Credit Party
attempted to run candidates in an election. The part had been in headlong decline since losing its last Member of Parliament in 1980, and was now led by fundamentalist Christian preacher Ken Campbell
. Campbell briefly changed the party's name to the "Christian Freedom Party" in an attempt to appeal to social conservatives. However, the party failed to nominate at least 50 candidates and was deregistered by Elections Canada.
Several unrecognized parties also contested the election, including the Canadian Party for Renewal
(which was closely aligned with the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
).
The key reason for the demise of the Tories was because Mulroney's "grand coalition" imploded in spectacular fashion. Their support in the West, with few exceptions, migrated to Reform; while their support in Quebec was split between the Liberals and the Bloc. Their support in Atlantic Canada and Ontario largely migrated to the Liberals. The party did win over 2 million votes, almost as many as Reform and far ahead of the Bloc or NDP. However, this support was spread out across the country, and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into seats. For example, they were shut out of Ontario for the first time in party history. Mulroney's former riding, Charlevoix
in eastern Quebec, fell to Bloc candidate Gérard Asselin
in a landslide; the Tory candidate only received 6,800 votes and almost lost his deposit. In addition, 147 PC candidates failed to win 15% of the vote and thus lost their deposits and failed to qualify for funding from Elections Canada
. The party as a whole was left deeply in debt. Without official party status, the Progressive Conservatives lost access to funding and had a considerably reduced role in the Commons.
Campbell was defeated in her Vancouver riding by rookie Liberal Hedy Fry
— only the third time in Canadian history that a sitting prime minister lost an election and was unseated at the same time (it previously happened to Arthur Meighen
twice, in 1921
and 1926
). All of the other members of the Cabinet lost their seats except for Charest, who won re-election in Sherbrooke, Quebec
; it is also noteworthy that many prominent ministers such as Michael Wilson
, Don Mazankowski
, Joe Clark
, and John Crosbie
did not seek re-election. The only other Conservative to win was Elsie Wayne
, the popular mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick
. Gilles Bernier
, who had served two terms as a Conservative from Beauce, Quebec
; was also re-elected, but was forced to run as an independent after Campbell barred him from running under the PC banner due to fraud charges.
voters—fiscally conservative, but socially liberal, voters who were fed up with the Tories but found Reform too extreme for comfort.
They won all but one seat in Ontario; only a 123-vote loss to Reform's Ed Harper in Simcoe Centre
denied the Liberals the first clean sweep of Canada's most populous province by a single party. Ontario replaced Quebec (see below) as the main bastion of Liberal support; they easily won a majority of the province's seats in the next four elections. Though the party lost power in 2006
, they still won the most seats in that province. It was not until the 2008 election
in which the Liberals finished second in Ontario but they still dominated the Greater Toronto Area
, holding that stronghold until the 2011 election.
In the West, the Liberals dominated Manitoba, winning all but two seats. They also won seats in Saskatchewan for the first time since 1974, and in Alberta for the first time in an election since 1968 (Anne McLellan
in Edmonton Northwest
, John Loney
in Edmonton North
and Judy Bethel
in Edmonton East
). The Liberals also held onto the seat in Alberta that they had when the writ was dropped, which they picked up in 1990 when David Kilgour
crossed the floor from the Conservatives.
Despite being led by a Quebecer, the Liberals were unable to recover their dominant position in Quebec. This was in part due to the staunchly federalist Chrétien's opposition to the Meech Lake Accord, which was revealed when leadership rival Paul Martin
pressed him on the issue back in 1990. Chrétien's reputation in his home province never recovered, especially when the Bloc Québécois rallied on the issue. As a result, the Liberals were unable to capitalize on the collapse of Tory support in the province. The Tories had swept to power in 1984 largely by flipping many longtime Liberal bastions in Quebec, and held on to most of them in 1988. However, with few exceptions, most of that support bled to the Bloc in 1993 and would remain with the Bloc until 2011. While the Liberals dominated the Montreal area (home to almost 75% of the province's anglophones), they only won four seats outside of it. One of them belonged to Chrétien, who won in Saint-Maurice
, a strongly nationalist riding that he had previously represented from 1963 to 1986 (he had represented Beauséjour, New Brunswick
as Opposition Leader from 1990–93). The Liberals also did not do as well as hoped in British Columbia, winning almost no seats outside Vancouver.
Even with these disappointments, the Liberals won 177 seats — the third-best performance in party history, and their best performance since their record of 190 seats in 1949
. This gave them an overwhelming majority in the Commons; no other party crossed the 60-seat mark. The Liberals were also the only party to win seats in every province.
ridings there. In many cases, they pushed Tory cabinet ministers from the province into third place. This was the best showing by a third party since the 1921 election
when the Progressive Party
won 60 seats. The Bloc's results were considered very impressive since the party had only been formed only three years before, and because there were lingering questions about its viability.
Despite only running candidates in Quebec, their strong showing in that province and the fragmentation of the national vote made them the Official Opposition
as the second-largest party in the Commons. As the Official Opposition, they enjoyed considerable privilleges over other parties; for instance Quebec issues on national unity dominated Question Period.
While Reform was expected to win over PC support, it also won around a quarter of voters who selected the NDP in the previous federal election. They did this by raising the problem of Western alienation
and rallying against the disliked Charlottetown Accord
, two issues that the NDP made unpopular stands on. In one stroke, Reform replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada (despite being virtually nonexistent east of Manitoba) and replaced the NDP as the voice of Western discontent.
However, Reform's agenda was seen as too extreme for the liking of most of the country east of Manitoba. Reform had built up a large base of support in rural central Ontario, a strongly socially conservative region that had been the backbone of past provincial Tory governments. However, this support did not translate into actual seats; massive vote splitting
with the Tories allowed the Liberals to sneak up the middle and take all but one seat in the area. They did manage to win Simcoe Centre
—their only victory east of Manitoba, ever—but even this win came by a wafer-thin 123-vote margin over the Liberals. They were also shut out of Atlantic Canada and did not run candidates in Quebec. It is not likely they would have won any seats in Quebec in any case due to Manning's inability to speak fluent French, its uncompromising federalism and opposition to official bilingualism. Nonetheless, the election was a tremendous success for a party that only won 2.1 percent of the national vote in the previous election.
Reform's heavy concentration of Western support netted it 52 seats. However, the Bloc's concentration of support in Quebec was slightly larger, leaving Reform three seats short of making Manning Leader of the Opposition
. Though the Bloc was the Official Opposition, Reform was considered to be the main opposition to the Liberals on all other issues that were not specific to Quebec. Also notable was in 1995 when Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard
's position as Opposition Leader granted him a meeting with visiting US President Bill Clinton
, Manning was also given a meeting with Clinton in order to diffuse Bouchard's separatist leverage.
The NDP lost support in several directions. One was because of unpopular NDP provincial governments led by Bob Rae
in Ontario and Mike Harcourt
in British Columbia, which reflected badly on their federal counterpart. In 1988, the peak of federal NDP support was a major asset to the success of their provincial affiliates; however they ended up becoming a huge liability because of recessions, social policies, and scandals. Not coincidentally, the federal NDP was routed in both these provinces; they lost all 10 of their Ontario MPs and all but two of their British Columbia MPs—more than half of the party's caucus in the Commons. Defeated Ontario MP Steven Langdon
had called upon Rae to resign, having spent the 1993 election campaign disassociating himself from the provincial NDP's measures. The Ontario NDP would be reduced to third place in 1995, while the British Columbia NDP rebounded long enough to survive until it was almost wiped out in 2001.
The NDP was also indirectly hampered by the nationwide collapse of the Conservative vote. Even though it was obvious by October that Chrétien would be the next prime minister, the memory of vote splitting in 1988 (a major factor in the Conservative win that year) still resonated with many NDP supporters. This, along with the widespread antipathy toward Mulroney caused many NDP supporters to vote Liberal to ensure the Conservatives would be defeated. Of those who voted NDP in 1988, 27% switched to the Liberals.
Almost as many NDP voters switched to Reform. Despite sharp differences in ideology, Reform's populism struck a chord with many NDP voters. Twenty-four percent of those who voted NDP in 1988 switched to Reform. While Dave Barrett
argued that the party should be concerned with Western alienation
rather than focusing its attention on Quebec, he was not elected leader at the 1989 convention and his platform was not adopted by the party. The NDP also supported the Charlottetown Accord
, which Barrett referred to as a mistake since it was unpopular in Western Canada. Many NDP supporters went over to Reform, which raised the issue of Western alienation and was strongly opposed the Accord.
The NDP had never been a force in Quebec, but they had been supported by those who would not vote for either the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives. Audrey McLaughlin
, who defeated Barrett for the leadership, made efforts to make inroads in Quebec but this proved fruitless and likely contributed to Western discontent. These voters largely moved to the Bloc, with 14% of NDP voters supporting the Bloc in 1993. The NDP lost their only seat in the province, which it had gained in a 1990 by-election, as Phil Edmonston
opted not to see re-election because he disagreed with the party's support for the Charlottetown Accord
.
in 1867, Canada had a two-party system
with the Liberals and Conservatives alternating in government. Since the 1920s there had generally been one or more third parties
in the House of Commons. None of these parties came close to winning power and of those parties, the CCF, was the only one that achieved long-term success. The CCF became the NDP in 1961 by which time it had clearly established itself as the nation's third major party. It eventually gained enough strength to wield the balance of power in the Liberal minority governments of the 1960s and 1970s. After the 1984 election the NDP had ten less seats than the Liberals, there was considerable talk that the Liberals would follow their UK counterparts
into continuous minor party status but, by 1988 they reestablished themselves as the main opposition party.
The 1993 election fundamentally changed the balance of power among the parties. Together Ontario and Quebec are guaranteed a majority of seats in the Commons under both Constitution Acts. Both provinces constitute nearly two-thirds of the Canadian population, it is nearly impossible to form a government without considerable support in one or both provinces. The Liberals were the only party with a strong base in both provinces making them the only party with a realistic chance to form government. The Liberals dominated Canadian politics for the next decade retaining almost all of its Ontario ridings while making steady gains in Quebec. They would not be seriously challenged until 2004
, with the sponsorship scandal
and party infighting
reduced them to a minority government with continued strong support from Ontario. The Liberals retained the majority of the province's ridings, despite being defeated in 2006
, finally relinquishing their lead in 2008
.
As no party other than the Liberals had a realistic chance of forming government after 1993, some commentators felt that Canada had moved to a dominant-party system
. The opposition was divided between four parties. Many commentators thought it ironic that Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
consisted of a separatist party. Many considered the Reform Party the de facto opposition on issues that did not pertain to Quebec and national unity. Some political scientists felt that the new five-party parliament was an example of a multi-party system
. The five parties were reduced to four when the PC Party and Canadian Alliance
(successor to the Reform Party) merged in 2003. From 2004-2006, a Liberal minority government faced three opposition parties, the new Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc. In 2006, the Conservatives became the Government, the Liberals relegated to official opposition, while the NDP and Bloc retained a significant opposition presence.
The Progressive Conservatives never regained their former standing in Canadian politics. In December 1993, Kim Campbell resigned as Conservative leader and was replaced by Charest, the only surviving member of the previous Cabinet. Under Charest, they rebounded to 20 seats in 1997
. Despite the brief comeback of Joe Clark
as leader in 1998, they were reduced to 12 seats mostly in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, winning only two seats outside this region in the next two elections.
The Reform Party became the Official Opposition in the 1997 election
. Although Reform was now the major voice of the right in Canada, it was seen as too extreme by most Ontarians and thus had little chance of dislodging the Liberals. It was also hampered in Quebec because Manning could not speak French. In 2000, the party evolved into the Canadian Alliance
, but even then won only two seats outside its Western Canadian base (both in Ontario).
In 2003, the Canadian Alliance under Stephen Harper
and the Progressive Conservatives under Peter MacKay
merged, creating the Conservative Party of Canada
. The new party, led by Harper, was able to reduce the Liberals to a minority government in 2004 by capitalizing on the sponsorship scandal
, though it was not able to reach the combined totals of the Tories and Alliance in 2000. However, it formed its first government, a minority, in early 2006
with Harper as prime minister, just over two years after the merger. Key to its victory was being able to make inroads into the eastern part of Canada as well as distancing itself from its Reform legacy with a more moderate agenda, winning a significant number of seats in Ontario and making a breakthrough in Quebec. In the 2008 election
, the Conservatives won the majority of seats in Ontario for the first time since 1988.
The NDP recovered somewhat, regaining official party status in 1997. However, it would take another decade for the party to reach the same level of support it enjoyed in the 1980s. The NDP supported the Liberal minority government after the 2004 election but moved towards differentiating itself from the Liberals, including uniting with the other opposition parties to bring down the Liberals and force the 2006 election in which the NDP made substantial gains in the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois failed to propel the sovereigntist side to victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum
and lost Official Opposition status in the 1997 election
. It continued to lose seats 2000
,however, it remained a significant presence in the House of Commons bolstered in recent years by the sponsorship scandal
. The party nearly tied its 1993 vote total in 2004, but lost support to a resurgent Conservative Party in 2006. The Bloc's position continued to erode in 2008. The BQ won with 47 of Quebec's 75 seats but, saw its popular vote decline, although it remained an important force in federal politics for Quebec.
2011 saw massive change in the province, their popular vote fell to 25% and just 4 seats in the Commons, losing official party status and being treated as independents. Polls between elections showed their support was steady at 9% but, fell dramatically during the campaign to an exploding NDP. Gilles Duceppe lost his own riding of Laurier-Sainte Marie to the NDP candidate, and subsequently retired from federal politics.
(or first past the post) system in which the country was carved into 295 electoral districts, or ridings, with each one electing one representative to the House of Commons. Those eligible to vote cast their ballot for a candidate in their electoral district and the candidate with the most votes in that district became that riding's Member of Parliament. The party that elects the most candidates forms the government
by appointing its party leader as Prime Minister
and its Members of Parliament to the Cabinet of Canada
.
For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1993 election, see 35th Canadian parliament
.
candidates
!colspan="4"|Seats
!colspan="3"|Popular vote
|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"
|align=center|1988
|align=center|Dissol.
|align=center|Elected
|align=center|% Change
|align=center|#
|align=center|%
|align=center|Change
| Liberal
| Jean Chrétien
|align=right|295
|align=right|83
|align=right|79
|align=right|177
|align=right|+113.3%
|align=right|5,647,952
|align=right|41.24%
|align=right|+9.32%
| Bloc Québécois
| Lucien Bouchard
|align=right|75
|align=right|*
|align=right|8
|align=right|54
|align=right|*
|align=right|1,846,024
|align=right|13.52%
|align=right|*
| Reform
| Preston Manning
|align=right|207
|align=right|-
|align=right|1
|align=right|52
|align=right|
|align=right|2,559,245
|align=right|18.69%
|align=right|+16.59%
| New Democratic Party
| Audrey McLaughlin
|align=right|294
|align=right|43
|align=right|43
|align=right|9
|align=right|-79.1%
|align=right|939,575
|align=right|6.88%
|align=right|-13.50%
| Progressive Conservative
| Kim Campbell
|align=right|295
|align=right|169
|align=right|151
|align=right|2
|align=right|-98.8%
|align=right|2,186,422
|align=right|16.04%
|align=right|-26.97%
| colspan="2"|Independent
|align=right|129
|align=right|-
|align=right|3
|align=right|1
|align=right|
|align=right|60,434
|align=right|0.73%
|align=right| +0.56%
| National
| Mel Hurtig
|align=right|170
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|187,251
|align=right|1.38%
|align=right|*
| Natural Law
| Neil Paterson
|align=right|231
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|84,743
|align=right|0.63%
|align=right|*
|colspan="2"|No affiliation
|align=right|23
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|48,959
|align=right|0.09%
|align=right| −0.10%
| Green
| Chris Lea
|align=right|79
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|32,979
|align=right|0.24%
|align=right|-0.12%
| Christian Heritage
| Heather Stilwell
|align=right|59
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right| 30,358
|align=right|0.22%
|align=right|-0.55%
| Libertarian
| Hilliard Cox
|align=right|52
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|14,630
|align=right|0.11%
|align=right|-0.14%
| Abolitionist
| John C. Turmel
|align=right|80
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|9,141
|align=right|0.07%
|align=right|*
| Canada Party
| Joseph Thauberger
|align=right|56
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|7,506
|align=right|0.06%
|align=right|*
| Commonwealth
| Gilles Gervais
|align=right|59
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|7,316
|align=right|0.06%
|align=right|-
| Marxist-Leninist
| Hardial Bains
|align=right|51
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|5,136
|align=right|0.04%
|align=right|+0.04%
|-
|rowspan="2"|
|colspan="4"|Vacant
|align="right"|4
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="5"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Total
|align=right|2,155
|align=right|295
|align=right|295
|align=right|295
|align=right|±0.0%
|align=right|13,667,671
|align=right|100%
|align=right|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"|Notes: *Party did not nominate candidates in the previous; "% change" refers to change from previous election.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"|Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867
|}
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 35th Parliament
35th Canadian Parliament
The 35th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 17, 1994 until April 27, 1997. The membership was set by the 1993 federal election on October 25, 1993, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1997 election.It was controlled by...
of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
. The Liberals
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...
, led by Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada.
The election was called by the new Progressive Conservative Party
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....
leader, Prime Minister Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
, near the end of her party's five-year mandate. When she assumed office, the party was deeply unpopular, and was further weakened by the emergence of new parties that were competing for its core supporters. Campbell's initial efforts helped the party recover somewhat in pre-election polls before the writs were issued. However, this momentum did not last, and the Progressive Conservatives suffered the most lopsided defeat for a governing party at the federal level, and among the worst ever suffered by a governing party in the Western world. They lost more than half their vote from 1988 and all but two of their 151 seats. Though they recovered slightly in the 1997 election, the Progressive Conservatives lost seats in 2000 and would never be a major force in Canadian politics again. In 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party disappeared entirely when it merged with the larger Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
party to create the new Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
.
Two new parties emerged in this election, largely from the supporters of the Progressive Conservatives. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
won almost half the votes in Quebec and became the Official Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
. To date, this is the only time that a party committed to the political secession of a region of Canada has become the Official Opposition of Canada. The Western-based Reform Party
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
won nearly as many seats and replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada.
The traditional third party, the NDP
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...
, collapsed to nine seats only one election after having its best performance ever. It remains the NDP's worst result in a federal election since its formation and the only election where the party polled less than one million votes.
Voter turn-out was 70.9 percent, adjusted from initial tallies of 69.6% to account for deceased electors.
Background
The Liberal Party had dominated Canadian politics for much of the 20th century. The party had been in office for all but 22 years between 1896Canadian federal election, 1896
The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...
and 1984
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 Conservatives only formed government five times in this period.
The Mulroney era
In 1984, however, Brian MulroneyBrian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
led the Progressive Conservatives to the biggest majority government in Canadian history, winning a majority of the seats in every province. The Liberals were decimated, losing 95 seats in the worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level at the time. Especially important was the Conservative breakthrough in Quebec, a province where they had been almost unelectable for much of the century. Between 1896 and 1984, the Conservatives had only managed to win the majority of seats in that province once, in their landslide of 1958
Canadian federal election, 1958
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
--the only other time besides 1984 that a party has won 200 seats in an election. After winning only one seat in the province (out of 75) in 1980
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, the Tories won 58 seats in 1984, virtually wiping out the Liberals outside of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Mulroney's government was based on a "grand coalition" of socially conservative populists from the West
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, fiscal conservatives from Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
and 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....
, and Quebec nationalists
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
. This coalition helped him win reelection in 1988, with a considerably smaller mandate. That election was almost wholly focused on the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Over the next five years, the popularity of Mulroney and his party collapsed. The late 1980s recession
Late 1980s recession
The recession of the early 1990s describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the world in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Causes:...
badly harmed the Canadian economy, as unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
increased dramatically and the federal budget deficit grew. When the Conservatives had come to office in 1984, the federal deficit was at an unprecedented $34.5 billion. Despite pledges to reduce it, the deficit had grown to over $40 billion by 1993. The federal debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
had also grown to $500 billion. In an attempt to restore the fiscal balance, Mulroney had brought in the highly unpopular Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
.
Quebec constitutional status
Mulroney had also promised to change the constitutional status quo in favour of increasing provincial autonomy. This was one of the most important reasons for his party's support in Quebec. He attempted to amend the constitution twice, but both reform proposals failed. The Meech Lake AccordMeech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
failed when the provincial legislatures of Newfoundland
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...
and Manitoba
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...
adjourned without bringing the issue to a vote; all 10 provincial legislatures had to ratify the accord for it to become law. The Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
was defeated by the Canadian people in a 1992 referendum. In the case of the Charlottetown Accord, the majority of Canada's population voted against an agreement endorsed by every First Minister and most other political groups. This stinging rebuke against the "political class" in Canada was a preview of things to come, as the upcoming election would be held on October 25, 1993, a year less a day after the Charlottetown referendum.
Mulroney out, Campbell in
These factors combined to make Mulroney the least popular leader since opinion polling began in the 1940s. The Progressive Conservative Party's popularity reached a low of just over 15% in 1991. With polls showing him facing almost certain defeat in the next election, in February 1993, Mulroney announced his retirement from politics. While several senior members of cabinet had passed over contesting the leadership, Minister of JusticeMinister of Justice (Canada)
The Minister of Justice is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Department of Justice and is also Attorney General of Canada .This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone with formal legal training...
Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Mulroney as party leader and prime minister. Despite a vigorous challenge from Environment Minister
Minister of the Environment (Canada)
The Minister of the Environment is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's environment department, Environment Canada...
Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
, Campbell emerged victorious from the June leadership election and became Canada's
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...
first female 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...
.
Campbell enjoyed a brief period of high popularity upon being sworn in, becoming the eponym of "Campbellmania," just as 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 been the subject of late-1960s Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania was the nickname given in early 1968 to the excitement generated by Pierre Trudeau's entry into the leadership race of the Liberal Party of Canada...
. Campbell did extensive campaigning during the summer, touring the nation and attending barbecues and other events.
Opposition parties
The other traditional parties were also not faring well. While John TurnerJohn Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
and the Liberal leadership supported Meech, there was significant internal disagreement, with Trudeau returning from retirement to speak out against it. After the Liberals' disappointing showing in the 1988 election, Turner stayed on
Lame duck (politics)
A lame duck is an elected official who is approaching the end of his or her tenure, and especially an official whose successor has already been elected.-Description:The status can be due to*having lost a re-election bid...
for a couple years before resigning. The party had selected veteran politician Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
over Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
as their leader in 1990, but the leadership contest had proven to be divisive
2004 Liberal Party of Canada infighting
The period between Paul Martin's assumption of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada on November 14, 2003, and the 2004 federal election being called on May 23, 2004, saw a considerable amount of infighting within the party...
and Chrétien was unpopular, especially in his native Quebec after declaring his opposition to the Meech Lake Accord, being rocked by caucus defects. The federal Liberals were disorganized, near bankruptcy, and dropped in the polls from 50 to 32 per cent, so Chrétien appointed Jean Pelletier
Jean Pelletier
Jean Pelletier, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 37th mayor of Quebec City, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, and chairman of Via Rail...
as chief of staff to reinvigorate his leadership and reorganize his office. As the ruling Conservatives suffered the most backlash from the unsuccessful constitutional amendments, the Liberals rapidly picked up support, and surged to a wide lead in opinion polling.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) had won a record 43 seats in 1988 under 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...
, who retired the next year. In the following few years, their support continued to grow, at one point leading in the opinion polls. This helped the NDP win a series of victories at the provincial level. In 1990, in a surprise victory, 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....
led the party to office 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 first that had won government east of Manitoba
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...
(until their election in Nova Scotia
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...
in 2009). That same year, the NDP won a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Quebec to take its first-ever seat in the province. The next year, under the leadership of Mike Harcourt
Mike Harcourt
Michael Franklin Harcourt served as the 30th Premier of the province of British Columbia in Canada from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of BC's major city, Vancouver from 1980 to 1986....
, the New Democrats were elected in British Columbia
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...
. Within a few years, however, both these provincial governments became deeply unpopular, and support for the federal NDP also began to fall. In a deviation from their traditional position as staunch federalists
Canadian federalism
Canada is a federation with two distinct jurisdictions of political authority: the country-wide federal government and the ten regionally-based provincial governments. It also has three territorial governments in the far north, though these are subject to the federal government...
, the NDP chose to align itself with the Liberals and Conservatives on the "yes" side of the 1992 Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
. As well, new leader Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian...
made efforts to expand its support into Quebec instead of focusing on Western alienation
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
, having defeated Dave Barrett
Dave Barrett
David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...
who had campaigned for the opposite policies. These positions gained the NDP little headway in Quebec and it hurt the party's standing as the traditional voice of Western protest.
New parties
The greatest difference from 1988 was the rise of two new parties that cut into the Progressive Conservatives' support and caused Mulroney's "grand coalition" to implode.After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
led a group of Progressive Conservative and Liberal MPs to form the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
. This party quickly gained the support of Quebec sovereigntists
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
and access to the networks of the provincial Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
. Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe is a Canadian politician, and proponent of the Québec sovereignty movement. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for almost 15 years. He is the son of a well-known Quebec actor, Jean...
won a 1990 by-election, and throughout the period leading up to the election, the Bloc polled as the most popular party in Quebec.
The Reform Party of Canada
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
was a Western
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
-based populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
party led by Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
, the son of former Alberta Premier
Premier of Alberta
The Premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Alberta is Alison Redford. She became Premier by winning the Progressive Conservative leadership elections on...
Ernest Manning
Ernest Manning
Ernest Charles Manning, , a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any premier in the province's history, and was the second longest serving provincial premier in Canadian history...
. Originally broadly focused on Western Canadian interests, it had quickly moved far to the right after its formation. It originally campaigned under the slogan "the West wants in
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
". Reform had nominated candidates in the 1988 election, but had failed to win any seats, and garnered only 2.5 percent of the popular vote. Many Western voters had never forgiven the Liberals for the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
in the 1970s, and Mulroney's attempt to pacify Quebec caused them to rethink their support for the Tories. In early 1989, Deborah Grey
Deborah Grey
Deborah Cleland Grey, OC, sometimes called Deb Grey is a former Canadian Member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party of Canada....
won a by-election in an Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
-area riding to become the first Reform MP in parliament. This came as a considerable shock to the Tories, who had dominated Alberta's federal politics for a quarter-century, and as Grey had finished a distant fourth in the general election held few months earlier. As Conservative support collapsed over the next four years, Reform party support increased. Reform also picked up support from many longtime NDP voters. The NDP (and its predecessor, 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...
) had been the traditional Western protest party for most of the last 40 years, but since the 1990s they attempted to make inroads in Quebec and joined the Conservatives and Liberals in supporting the Charlottetown Accord. Despite sharp ideological differences, Reform's populism struck a responsive chord in disaffected NDP supporters.
Campaign
| Polls During the Campaign | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polling firm | Date | PC | Lib | NDP | BQ | Ref |
| Angus Reid | September 11 | |35 | 37 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Comquest Research | September 14 | |36 | 33 | 8 | 10 | 11 |
| Angus Reid | September 20 | |35 | 35 | 6 | 11 | 11 |
| Gallup | September 25 | |30 | 37 | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| Environics | September 26 | |31 | 36 | 7 | 11 | 13 |
| Leger & Leger | September 26 | |28 | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 |
| Ekos | September 30 | |25 | 39 | 6 | 12 | 17 |
| Compass Research | October 2 | |26 | 38 | 8 | 12 | 14 |
| Angus Reid | October 8 | |22 | 37 | 8 | 12 | 18 |
| Comquest Research | October 16 | |22 | 40 | 7 | 13 | 16 |
| Leger & Leger | October 19 | |21 | 39 | 6 | 14 | 17 |
| Angus Reid | October 22 | |18 | 43 | 7 | 14 | 18 |
| Gallup | October 22 | |16 | 44 | 7 | 12 | 19 |
| Results | October 25 | |16 | 41 | 7 | 14 | 19 |
Pre-campaign
An election had to be called in the fall of 1993, since Parliament's term would expire some time in September. By the end of the summer, Campbell's personal popularity was far ahead of that of Chrétien. Support for the Progressive Conservative Party had also increased after Campbell won the leadership, and they were only a few points behind the Liberals, while Reform had been reduced to single digits.With this in mind, Campbell asked Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Ray Hnatyshyn
Ray Hnatyshyn
Ramon John Hnatyshyn , commonly known as Ray Hnatyshyn, was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 24th since Canadian Confederation....
to dissolve parliament
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...
on September 8, only a few weeks before Parliament was due to expire. In accordance with Canadian constitutional practice, Hnatshyn granted the request, beginning the seven-week campaign.
At the ceremony at Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 0.36 km2 estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of 170 rooms across 9,500 m2 , and 24 outbuildings around the...
, Campbell made the first of a series of remarks that would dog the Conservative campaign. When she was running for the party leadership, Campbell's frank honesty was seen as an important asset and a sharp contrast from Mulroney's highly polished style (Mulroney was criticized for waiting until the last year of his mandate resignation, leaving only two-and-a-half months left in the Tories' five-year term, and for his international farewell tour without transacting any official business). However, during the campaign, Campbell repeatedly made statements that caused problems for the party. At the Rideau Hall event, she told reporters that it was unlikely that the deficit or unemployment would be much reduced before the "end of the century". Later in the campaign, she would famously state that 47 days were not enough to discuss the overhaul in social policy that she thought Canada needed. Unfortunately for Campbell, a reporter shortened the quote to "an election is no time to discuss serious issues."
Liberal
Red Book (Liberal Party of Canada)
The Red Book, officially titled Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada was the platform of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1993 federal election. It earned its name from its bright red cover, red being the official colour of the Liberals. It was a 112 page booklet; many thousands of...
. This document gave a detailed account of exactly what a Liberal government would do in power. Several years of effort had gone into the creation of the document, which was unprecedented for a Canadian party. Several days later, the Conservatives released the hastily assembled A Taxpayer's Agenda, but the Liberals had captured the reputation of being the party with ideas. The Liberals were also consistently well organized and on message, in contrast to the Conservative campaign, which the Globe and Mail on September 25 stated was "shaping up to be the most incompetent campaign in modern political history."
Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
benefited from a surge in support for Quebec nationalism after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
in 1990 which resulted in a number of Liberal and Progressive Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) organizing to form the Bloc. The Bloc's leader Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
campaigned on promising that the Bloc would represent Quebec's interests at the federal level, by running candidates exclusively in Quebec while endorsing and supporting Quebec sovereignty (political independence from Canada).
Reform
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
policies such as calling for a democratically-elected and regionally equal Senate as well as supporting the use of more plebiscites and referenda in the political process was very popular in Western Canada. Reform's appeal for smaller government, lower taxes, support of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
, opposition to the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
, and social conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
policies won over many conservatives in the West and Ontario.
Small "c" conservatives in the West and Ontario who traditionally supported of the Progressive Conservatives were drawn to Reform for several reasons. These conservative voters were disenchanted with the PCs for imposing the Goods and Services Tax, and the PC government's failure to reduce Canada's growing deficit and national debt. There was also the PC government's failure to deliver a democratically-elected Senate as it had promised (while appointing unelected Senators in 1990), the PC party's socially progressive policies, and due to the PC government's overarching focus and failed attempts to officially bring Quebec into the Constitution while being seen by some as ignoring the concerns of other regions, especially the west.
Reform had little money and few resources, so their limited funds led them to fly economy class, stay in cheap hotels, and rely on pre-packaged lunches, all which helped endear them to money conscious fiscal conservatives. The campaign was managed by seasoned professional Rick Anderson. Some Reformers had been annoyed that the moderate former Liberal and Ottawa insider had been made campaign manager, but he quickly proved highly able.
Reform found itself embroiled in controversy when Toronto-area candidate John Beck
John Beck (politician)
John Beck was a political candidate in Toronto, Canada. Beck was a Reform Party candidate in the 1993 federal election who was forced to abandon his candidacy after making a series of racially insensitive remarks....
made a series of anti-immigrant remarks in an interview with Excalibur, the York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
student paper. York students confronted Manning with the remarks, who immediately denounced them. Within an hour, Beck was forced to withdraw his candidacy.
New Democrat
The New Democratic Party suffered badly in the election. With the rising unpopularity of the Ontario NDP government of Bob Rae, many traditional NDP voters were disenchanted and voted for the Liberal Party. In Western Canada, the NDP vote was attracted to the right-wing populist Reform party as a protest vote, and some went to the Liberals as well.Progressive Conservative
John Tory
John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...
and chief strategist Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...
, both experienced Mulroney loyalists. It was the best-funded campaign, but it quickly ran into organizational problems. The party failed to get literature distributed to the local campaigns, forcing all of the PC candidates to print their own material, and preventing the party from putting forth a unified message. The Conservative campaign had been focused on three issues: job creation, deficit reduction, and improving quality of life. However, the party had little credibility on the first two, as over their time in office both unemployment and the deficit had increased dramatically. The party was also reluctant to propose new social programs, as in Quebec they had to appeal to nationalists who opposed federal government intervention, and in the West had to appeal to Reform supporters who opposed government intervention in general.
In addition, what remained of the initial euphoria over Campbell quickly wore off as the campaign progressed. Her style was initially seen as frank and honest, but as her numbers dropped she was seen as condescending and pretentious. The Tories also continued to be dogged by the long shadow of the now-widely detested Mulroney.
Leaders debates
Over the course of the campaign, Conservative support steadily bled away to the other parties. The leaders debateLeaders debate
In jurisdictions which use the parliamentary system of government or a similar system, leaders debates are often held, usually during a general election campaign. These debates are normally televised and are often organized by one or more television stations....
s were held October 3 and 4, and were generally regarded as inconclusive, with no party gaining a boost from them. The most memorable moment involved Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
continuously questioning Campbell about the real deficit in the 1993 budget, and Campbell dodging the question. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
debates were held on the first night. Manning, who did not speak French, read prepared opening and closing remarks, but did not participate in the debate itself.
Chrétien ad
By October, the Progressive Conservatives were considerably behind the Liberals in the polls, and it was obvious that they would not be reelected. The consensus was that the Liberals were on their way to at least a minority governmentMinority 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...
, and would probably win a majority without dramatic measures. The PCs retained one advantage, as Campbell was still far more personally popular than Chrétien. Polling found that a considerable number of potential Liberal voters held negative opinions about Chrétien.
Believing they had no other way to keep the Liberals from winning a majority, Gregg and Tory decided to launch a series of commercials attacking Chrétien
1993 Chrétien attack ad
During the 1993 Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservative Party produced a televised attack ad against Jean Chrétien, the Liberal leader. The ad was perceived by many as a focus on Chrétien's facial deformity, caused by Bell's palsy...
. While the ad's creators had meant for the line "I would be very embarrassed if he became Prime Minister of Canada" to refer to Chrétien's policies and ethics, the intercutting with images of his face and its facial deformity were interpreted by many as an attack on Chrétien's appearance. The ad quickly received widespread attention as the Liberal war room under Roméo LeBlanc
Roméo LeBlanc
Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc was a Canadian journalist, politician, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation....
immediately contacted media outlets. This generated a severe backlash from all sides of the spectrum, including some PC candidates, and Campbell ordered that the ads be pulled.
Chrétien turned the situation to his advantage, comparing his opponents to the children who teased him when he was a boy. "When I was a kid people were laughing at me. But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I'm grateful." Chrétien's approval ratings shot up, nullifying the only advantage the Conservatives still had over him. The Tories also pointed out that Chrétien himself had used his half-paralyzed face in the campaign, with Liberal signs in Quebec that translated as "Strange looking face, but reflect on what's inside." Furthermore, most newspapers and magazines had used similar photos that highlighted Chrétien's facial deformity.
Aside from raising Chrétien's personal popularity, nullifying one of his last shortcomings compared to Campbell, it is unclear what effect the ad had on the election. Prior to the controversy, the Campbell's Progressive Conservatives were already beset by many problems; notably the recession, the unpopular GST, and their support bases moving to the newly formed Reform Party
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
and Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
. Nonetheless, the negative backlash over the television spot made the Tories' defeat certain as their support plummeted into the teens, all but assuring that the Liberals would win a majority government.
Issues
The most important issue of the 1993 election was the economy. The nation was mired in the Early 1990s recession, and unemploymentUnemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
was especially high. The federal deficit was also extremely high, and both the Reform and Progressive Conservatives focused on cutting it as the path to economic health. Reform proposed deep cuts to federal programs in order to do this, while the Progressive Conservatives were less specific. The Liberals also promised cuts, focusing on the unpopular and expensive plan to buy new military helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings
H-3 Sea King
The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King is a twin-engined anti-submarine warfare helicopter. It served with the United States Navy and other forces, and continues to serve in many countries around the world. The Sea King has been built under license in Italy and Japan, and in the United Kingdom as the...
. They also promised new programs such as a limited public works programme and a national child care program. The Reform Party called for a "Zero in Three" plan that would reduce the deficit to zero in three years. The Liberals had a far more modest plan to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP by the end of their first term. All opposition parties pledged to repeal the Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
. Once elected, however, the Liberals reneged on this pledge to much outcry, stating the Conservatives had understated the size of the deficit. Instead the GST remained. In some provinces it was Harmonized
Harmonized Sales Tax
The Harmonized Sales Tax is the name used in Canada to describe the combination of the federal Goods and Services Tax and the regional Provincial Sales Tax into a single value added sales tax in five of the ten Canadian provinces: Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, British...
with the Provincial sales tax, while in other provinces the GST and the Provincial Sales Tax remained separate.
The 1988 election had been almost wholly focused on the issue of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and similarly, the 1993 election was preceded by the agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA). The Liberals opposed NAFTA and promised to try to renegotiate the FTA, but this was not a central campaign theme. The NDP did focus on opposition to NAFTA, but the Canadian people mostly felt that the free trade debate
Free trade debate
Free trade is one of the most debated topics in economics of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century. Arguments over free trade can be divided into economic, moral, and socio-political arguments. The academic debate among economists is currently settled in favor of free trade, with a consensus having...
was over. When in office, the Liberals signed on to NAFTA with little opposition. Similarly, while constitutional issues had dominated the national debate for several years, two failed reform proposals led most to support giving the issue a rest. Chrétien promised not to reopen the constitution, and that under the Liberals any change would be incremental in nature. In Quebec the election was seen as a prelude to the next Quebec election and the referendum on secession
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
that was sure to follow.
The Reform Party advanced proposals in a number of areas that challenged the status quo. It proposed extensive reform to Canada's parliamentary system, including more free votes, recall election
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
s, and change to the 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 party also advocated a reduction in immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
levels and a retreat from official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
.
Finances
The election was held under the Election Expenses Act of 1974. This forced parties to disclose most donations, but put few limits on who could donate and how much could be given. Individual donations up to $1,150 were given a tax creditTax credit
A tax credit is a sum deducted from the total amount a taxpayer owes to the state. A tax credit may be granted for various types of taxes, such as an income tax, property tax, or VAT. It may be granted in recognition of taxes already paid, as a subsidy, or to encourage investment or other behaviors...
, encouraging such pledges. The Conservatives had the largest budget, spending $10.4 million on their national campaign; the Liberals spent $9.9 million, while the NDP spent $7.4 million. The Bloc and Reform spent far less, both spending less than $2 million on their national campaigns. Actual election spending is far larger than these numbers indicate: each candidate raised substantial amounts of money independently of the national campaign. In this era there were also large expenses, such as polling and fundraising costs, that did not need to be disclosed.
The different parties drew their funding from different sources. In the year of the election, two traditional parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, each received about 60% of their funding from corporations and the rest from individuals. For the NDP half of the funding came from individuals, and a third came from trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s. The Reform Party relied almost wholly on individual donations, with only some 12% coming from corporations. The Bloc relied almost solely on individual donations, as its party charter barred donations from corporations. The NDP had by far the most donors, with over 65,000, but the average donation was only $80. By contrast the 45,000 Conservative donors gave more than $200 on average.
The Liberals quickly recouped their election expenses once they were in government. The Liberals held a substantial advantage in funding for the next two elections as they enjoyed the majority of corporate campaign contributions after the collapse of the Progressive Conservatives. Until 2003 when Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
passed Bill C-24, which banned business donations and provided a subsidy to each party based on their popular vote, the Liberals did not see the need to develop a system of extensive grassroots fundraising
Grassroots fundraising
Grassroots fundraising is a method of fundraising used by or for political candidates, which has grown in popularity with the emergence of the Internet and its use by US presidential candidates like Howard Dean and Ron Paul...
like the other parties.
The Bloc and Reform had spent little during the campaign, and also received more support once their prominent position in parliament was made clear. One of the Reform Party's successful developments was its extensive grassroots fundraising network, which is still used by its latest incarnation (in a merger with the Progressive Conservatives), the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
.
The NDP and Conservatives had more problems after the vote. The NDP found itself deeply in debt, but recouped some of it by selling their Ottawa headquarters to the Ukrainian Embassy
Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa
The Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa is Ukraine's diplomatic mission in Ottawa, Canada. Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukraine's independence on December 2, 1991. The existence of a large Ukrainian-Canadian community has led to continued close relations between the two nations. The...
. The Conservatives, despite cutting back on spending late in the campaign, were some $7.5 million in debt by the end of the election, and it took years to clear this burden. The heavy debt load would hamper the party's ability to campaign in subsequent elections, and this would lead to its eventual merger with Reform's successor, the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
.
Minor parties
Fourteen registered political parties contested the election, a Canadian record. Jackson and Jackson argue that the proliferation of minor parties was an outgrowth of the single-issue political movements that had come to prominence in Canada in the 1980s. For instance, the environmentalist, anti-abortion, and anti-free trade movements all had closely associated parties. Each candidate required a $1000 deposit, an increase from $200 in the last election. If the candidate did not win 15% of the vote, which none of the minor parties did, these deposits would be forfeit. Parties that nominated 50 candidates qualified as official parties and, most importantly, received government subsidies for advertising. The smaller parties were not invited to the main leaders debate, something Mel HurtigMel Hurtig
Mel Hurtig, is a Canadian publisher, author, political activist and former political candidate.He was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the former president of the Edmonton Art Gallery.-Businessman and Publisher:...
of the National Party
National Party of Canada
The National Party of Canada was a short-lived Canadian political party that contested the 1993 federal election. The party should not be confused by an earlier and unrelated National Party that was founded in 1979.-Formation:...
complained vehemently about. There was a debate between the leaders of seven of the minor parties on October 5, which was broadcast on CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
. The National Party and the Natural Law Party
Natural Law Party of Canada
The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practiced Transcendental Meditation....
did not attend.
Few of these parties had any hope of winning a seat. One exception was the National Party. Founded by Mel Hurtig, a prominent nationalist
Canadian nationalism
Canadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
, it campaigned on a strongly nationalist platform focusing on opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA). The party ran 171 candidates, and for a time polling indicated it could potentially have an impact. However, the party failed to make a significant impression and disbanded after the election. Another prominent minor party was the Natural Law Party
Natural Law Party of Canada
The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practiced Transcendental Meditation....
. Linked to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
, it advocated yogic flying as the solution to most of Canada's ills. It ran 231 candidates, more than some of the major parties. Its campaign was also accompanied by several million dollars of advertising, and it was successful in attracting media attention. Some accused its efforts of actually being government-subsidized marketing for yogic flying centres. Other minor parties included the Libertarian Party of Canada
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:...
, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
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...
and the Christian Heritage Party
Christian Heritage Party of Canada
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada, also referred to as CHP Canada, is a federal political party that advocates that Canada be governed according to Biblical principles...
, which was mainly dedicated to opposing abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. The election saw three minor parties focused on radical reform to the monetary system: the Canada Party
Canada Party
The Canada Party was a short-lived political party in Canada that nominated 56 candidates in the 1993 federal election and one candidate in a 1996 by-election. It was unable to win any seats. The party was populist and ran on a platform of banking and monetary reform...
, the Abolitionist Party
Abolitionist Party of Canada
The Abolitionist Party of Canada was a Canadian political party founded by perennial candidate John C. Turmel. The party ran on a platform of: monetary reform, including the abolition of interest rates and the income tax, the use of the local employment trading system of banking, and introducing a...
, and the Party for the Commonwealth of Canada
Party for the Commonwealth of Canada
The Party for the Commonwealth of Canada was a Canadian political party formed by Canadians who supported the ideology of U.S. politician Lyndon LaRouche in the 1984, 1988 and 1993 elections....
, which was formed by supporters of U.S. fringe politician Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...
.
This election was also the last time that 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...
attempted to run candidates in an election. The part had been in headlong decline since losing its last Member of Parliament in 1980, and was now led by fundamentalist Christian preacher Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (evangelist)
Kenneth Livingstone Campbell was a Canadian fundamentalist Baptist evangelist and political figure. He was the final leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1990 to 1993....
. Campbell briefly changed the party's name to the "Christian Freedom Party" in an attempt to appeal to social conservatives. However, the party failed to nominate at least 50 candidates and was deregistered by Elections Canada.
Several unrecognized parties also contested the election, including the Canadian Party for Renewal
Canadian Party for Renewal
The Canadian Party for Renewal was an unregistered political party in Canada, established in 1993. It was closely aligned with the Communist Party of Canada ....
(which was closely aligned with the Communist Party of Canada (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...
).
Results
Progressive Conservatives
The election was an unmitigated disaster for the Tories. Their popular vote plunged from 43% to 16%, and they lost all but two of their 151 seats when parliament was dissolved—far surpassing the Liberals' 95-seat loss in 1984. It was the worst defeat, both in absolute terms and in terms of percentage of seats lost, for a governing party at the federal level in Canada. It is one of the few occasions that a governing party in any country has gone from a strong majority to being almost wiped off the electoral map.The key reason for the demise of the Tories was because Mulroney's "grand coalition" imploded in spectacular fashion. Their support in the West, with few exceptions, migrated to Reform; while their support in Quebec was split between the Liberals and the Bloc. Their support in Atlantic Canada and Ontario largely migrated to the Liberals. The party did win over 2 million votes, almost as many as Reform and far ahead of the Bloc or NDP. However, this support was spread out across the country, and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into seats. For example, they were shut out of Ontario for the first time in party history. Mulroney's former riding, Charlevoix
Charlevoix (electoral district)
Charlevoix was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917 and from 1949 to 2004....
in eastern Quebec, fell to Bloc candidate Gérard Asselin
Gérard Asselin
Gérard Asselin is a Canadian politician.Asselin is a former Bloc Québécois member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Manicouagan from 2004 to 2011 and Charlevoix from 1993 to 2004. At the end of the 37th Canadian Parliament, Asselin was the Bloc's Forestry critic...
in a landslide; the Tory candidate only received 6,800 votes and almost lost his deposit. In addition, 147 PC candidates failed to win 15% of the vote and thus lost their deposits and failed to qualify for funding from Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
. The party as a whole was left deeply in debt. Without official party status, the Progressive Conservatives lost access to funding and had a considerably reduced role in the Commons.
Campbell was defeated in her Vancouver riding by rookie Liberal Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry
Hedy Fry, PC, MP is a Canadian politician and physician. She is the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre.-Early life:Fry was born into poverty in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago...
— only the third time in Canadian history that a sitting prime minister lost an election and was unseated at the same time (it previously happened to Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
twice, in 1921
Canadian federal election, 1921
The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...
and 1926
Canadian federal election, 1926
The Canadian federal election of 1926 was held on September 14 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called following an event known as the King-Byng Affair...
). All of the other members of the Cabinet lost their seats except for Charest, who won re-election in Sherbrooke, Quebec
Sherbrooke (electoral district)
Sherbrooke is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925.-Geography:This riding in the south of the province is located in the Quebec region of Estrie...
; it is also noteworthy that many prominent ministers such as Michael Wilson
Michael Wilson (politician)
Michael Holcombe Wilson, PC, CC is a Canadian diplomat, politician and business leader.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Wilson attended Upper Canada College, Trinity College at the University of Toronto where he joined The Kappa Alpha Society...
, Don Mazankowski
Don Mazankowski
Donald Frank "Don" Mazankowski, PC, OC, AOE is a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He was also Deputy Prime Minister under Mulroney....
, Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, and 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...
did not seek re-election. The only other Conservative to win was Elsie Wayne
Elsie Wayne
Elsie Eleanore Wayne is a Canadian politician, and a former Progressive Conservative MP for Saint John.-Political career:In 1977, she was elected to the Saint John municipal council...
, the popular mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
. Gilles Bernier
Gilles Bernier (Quebec politician)
Gilles Bernier, MP is a former Canadian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament representing the riding of Beauce from 1984 to 1997, initially as a Progressive Conservative and later as an Independent...
, who had served two terms as a Conservative from Beauce, Quebec
Beauce (electoral district)
Beauce is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867. In 2006, it had a population of 103,617 people, of whom 82,123 were eligible voters.-Geography:...
; was also re-elected, but was forced to run as an independent after Campbell barred him from running under the PC banner due to fraud charges.
Liberals
The Liberals swept Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; only Wayne's win in New Brunswick denied them a clean sweep of Atlantic Canada. In both Ontario and Atlantic Canada, they gained support from many longtime Red ToryRed Tory
A red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
voters—fiscally conservative, but socially liberal, voters who were fed up with the Tories but found Reform too extreme for comfort.
They won all but one seat in Ontario; only a 123-vote loss to Reform's Ed Harper in Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe South and Wellington—Dufferin—Simcoe ridings....
denied the Liberals the first clean sweep of Canada's most populous province by a single party. Ontario replaced Quebec (see below) as the main bastion of Liberal support; they easily won a majority of the province's seats in the next four elections. Though the party lost power in 2006
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, they still won the most seats in that province. It was not until the 2008 election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
in which the Liberals finished second in Ontario but they still dominated the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
, holding that stronghold until the 2011 election.
In the West, the Liberals dominated Manitoba, winning all but two seats. They also won seats in Saskatchewan for the first time since 1974, and in Alberta for the first time in an election since 1968 (Anne McLellan
Anne McLellan
|-...
in Edmonton Northwest
Edmonton Northwest
Edmonton Northwest was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997.It was created in 1987 from parts of Edmonton East, Edmonton North, Edmonton West and Pembina ridings...
, John Loney
John Loney
Edison John Clayton Loney was a member of the Canadian House of Commons in the 1960s and again in the 1990s. His career has been in agriculture and business....
in Edmonton North
Edmonton North
Edmonton North was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004.-Demographics:-Geography:The riding consisted of the northern part of the city of Edmonton, Alberta.-History:...
and Judy Bethel
Judy Bethel
Judith Claire Bethel was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Edmonton East electoral district from 1993 to 1997. Her career was in education and finance....
in Edmonton East
Edmonton East
Edmonton East is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.The district includes a portion of the city of Edmonton.-Geography:...
). The Liberals also held onto the seat in Alberta that they had when the writ was dropped, which they picked up in 1990 when David Kilgour
David Kilgour
David Kilgour, PC is a former Canadian politician.Kilgour graduated from the University of Manitoba in economics in 1962 and the University of Toronto law school in 1966. From crown attorney in northern Alberta to Canadian Cabinet minister, Kilgour ended his 27 year tenure in the Canadian House of...
crossed the floor from the Conservatives.
Despite being led by a Quebecer, the Liberals were unable to recover their dominant position in Quebec. This was in part due to the staunchly federalist Chrétien's opposition to the Meech Lake Accord, which was revealed when leadership rival Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
pressed him on the issue back in 1990. Chrétien's reputation in his home province never recovered, especially when the Bloc Québécois rallied on the issue. As a result, the Liberals were unable to capitalize on the collapse of Tory support in the province. The Tories had swept to power in 1984 largely by flipping many longtime Liberal bastions in Quebec, and held on to most of them in 1988. However, with few exceptions, most of that support bled to the Bloc in 1993 and would remain with the Bloc until 2011. While the Liberals dominated the Montreal area (home to almost 75% of the province's anglophones), they only won four seats outside of it. One of them belonged to Chrétien, who won in Saint-Maurice
Saint-Maurice (electoral district)
Saint-Maurice was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1892 and from 1968 to 2004....
, a strongly nationalist riding that he had previously represented from 1963 to 1986 (he had represented Beauséjour, New Brunswick
Beauséjour (electoral district)
Beauséjour riding is a federal electoral district in eastern New Brunswick, Canada, which has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988...
as Opposition Leader from 1990–93). The Liberals also did not do as well as hoped in British Columbia, winning almost no seats outside Vancouver.
Even with these disappointments, the Liberals won 177 seats — the third-best performance in party history, and their best performance since their record of 190 seats in 1949
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
. This gave them an overwhelming majority in the Commons; no other party crossed the 60-seat mark. The Liberals were also the only party to win seats in every province.
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc won 54 seats, winning half the vote in Quebec and nearly sweeping the francophoneFrancophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
ridings there. In many cases, they pushed Tory cabinet ministers from the province into third place. This was the best showing by a third party since the 1921 election
Canadian federal election, 1921
The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...
when the Progressive Party
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
won 60 seats. The Bloc's results were considered very impressive since the party had only been formed only three years before, and because there were lingering questions about its viability.
Despite only running candidates in Quebec, their strong showing in that province and the fragmentation of the national vote made them the Official Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
as the second-largest party in the Commons. As the Official Opposition, they enjoyed considerable privilleges over other parties; for instance Quebec issues on national unity dominated Question Period.
Reform
Reform had a major breakthrough, inheriting nearly all of the Tories' support in the West. The party won all but four seats in Alberta and dominated British Columbia as well. Reform also won four seats in Saskatchewan and one seat in Manitoba. It probably would have won many more seats in Saskatchewan and Manitoba had it not been for a strong tide of Liberal support.While Reform was expected to win over PC support, it also won around a quarter of voters who selected the NDP in the previous federal election. They did this by raising the problem of Western alienation
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
and rallying against the disliked Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
, two issues that the NDP made unpopular stands on. In one stroke, Reform replaced the PCs as the major right-wing party in Canada (despite being virtually nonexistent east of Manitoba) and replaced the NDP as the voice of Western discontent.
However, Reform's agenda was seen as too extreme for the liking of most of the country east of Manitoba. Reform had built up a large base of support in rural central Ontario, a strongly socially conservative region that had been the backbone of past provincial Tory governments. However, this support did not translate into actual seats; massive vote splitting
Vote splitting
Vote splitting is an electoral effect in which the distribution of votes among multiple similar candidates reduces the chance of winning for any of the similar candidates, and increases the chance of winning for a dissimilar candidate....
with the Tories allowed the Liberals to sneak up the middle and take all but one seat in the area. They did manage to win Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe South and Wellington—Dufferin—Simcoe ridings....
—their only victory east of Manitoba, ever—but even this win came by a wafer-thin 123-vote margin over the Liberals. They were also shut out of Atlantic Canada and did not run candidates in Quebec. It is not likely they would have won any seats in Quebec in any case due to Manning's inability to speak fluent French, its uncompromising federalism and opposition to official bilingualism. Nonetheless, the election was a tremendous success for a party that only won 2.1 percent of the national vote in the previous election.
Reform's heavy concentration of Western support netted it 52 seats. However, the Bloc's concentration of support in Quebec was slightly larger, leaving Reform three seats short of making Manning Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Canada)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...
. Though the Bloc was the Official Opposition, Reform was considered to be the main opposition to the Liberals on all other issues that were not specific to Quebec. Also notable was in 1995 when Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
's position as Opposition Leader granted him a meeting with visiting US President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Manning was also given a meeting with Clinton in order to diffuse Bouchard's separatist leverage.
New Democrats
The NDP won the fewest votes of any major party, and only nine seats — three short of the requirement for official party status. This was a substantial drop from its record performance in 1988. Those members who were elected were in heavily divided ridings mostly in the party's traditional Western heartland. On average, winning NDP MPs only got 35.1% of the vote. Ultimately, the NDP only retained 34.99% of the votes it received in the 1988 election, even less than the 38.58% of the vote that the Progressive Conservatives retained.The NDP lost support in several directions. One was because of unpopular NDP provincial governments led 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....
in Ontario and Mike Harcourt
Mike Harcourt
Michael Franklin Harcourt served as the 30th Premier of the province of British Columbia in Canada from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of BC's major city, Vancouver from 1980 to 1986....
in British Columbia, which reflected badly on their federal counterpart. In 1988, the peak of federal NDP support was a major asset to the success of their provincial affiliates; however they ended up becoming a huge liability because of recessions, social policies, and scandals. Not coincidentally, the federal NDP was routed in both these provinces; they lost all 10 of their Ontario MPs and all but two of their British Columbia MPs—more than half of the party's caucus in the Commons. Defeated Ontario MP Steven Langdon
Steven Langdon
Steven W. Langdon is a Canadian academic, politician, economist, and former parliamentarian.Born in Stratford, Ontario, Langdon graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1969...
had called upon Rae to resign, having spent the 1993 election campaign disassociating himself from the provincial NDP's measures. The Ontario NDP would be reduced to third place in 1995, while the British Columbia NDP rebounded long enough to survive until it was almost wiped out in 2001.
The NDP was also indirectly hampered by the nationwide collapse of the Conservative vote. Even though it was obvious by October that Chrétien would be the next prime minister, the memory of vote splitting in 1988 (a major factor in the Conservative win that year) still resonated with many NDP supporters. This, along with the widespread antipathy toward Mulroney caused many NDP supporters to vote Liberal to ensure the Conservatives would be defeated. Of those who voted NDP in 1988, 27% switched to the Liberals.
Almost as many NDP voters switched to Reform. Despite sharp differences in ideology, Reform's populism struck a chord with many NDP voters. Twenty-four percent of those who voted NDP in 1988 switched to Reform. While Dave Barrett
Dave Barrett
David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...
argued that the party should be concerned with Western alienation
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
rather than focusing its attention on Quebec, he was not elected leader at the 1989 convention and his platform was not adopted by the party. The NDP also supported the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
, which Barrett referred to as a mistake since it was unpopular in Western Canada. Many NDP supporters went over to Reform, which raised the issue of Western alienation and was strongly opposed the Accord.
The NDP had never been a force in Quebec, but they had been supported by those who would not vote for either the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives. Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian...
, who defeated Barrett for the leadership, made efforts to make inroads in Quebec but this proved fruitless and likely contributed to Western discontent. These voters largely moved to the Bloc, with 14% of NDP voters supporting the Bloc in 1993. The NDP lost their only seat in the province, which it had gained in a 1990 by-election, as Phil Edmonston
Phil Edmonston
Louis-Phillip Edmonston is a Canadian consumer advocate, writer and former politician. He is one of the few politicians with dual American/Canadian citizenship to be elected to Canadian Parliament....
opted not to see re-election because he disagreed with the party's support for the Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
.
Legacy
The 1993 election led to a major upheaval in Canadian politics. Since ConfederationCanadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
in 1867, Canada had a two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
with the Liberals and Conservatives alternating in government. Since the 1920s there had generally been one or more third parties
Third party (Canada)
In Canada, a third party usually refers to a relatively small federal or provincial political party that is not usually considered to have a realistic chance of forming a government, but has representation in the federal House of Commons or the provincial legislature...
in the House of Commons. None of these parties came close to winning power and of those parties, the CCF, was the only one that achieved long-term success. The CCF became the NDP in 1961 by which time it had clearly established itself as the nation's third major party. It eventually gained enough strength to wield the balance of power in the Liberal minority governments of the 1960s and 1970s. After the 1984 election the NDP had ten less seats than the Liberals, there was considerable talk that the Liberals would follow their UK counterparts
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
into continuous minor party status but, by 1988 they reestablished themselves as the main opposition party.
The 1993 election fundamentally changed the balance of power among the parties. Together Ontario and Quebec are guaranteed a majority of seats in the Commons under both Constitution Acts. Both provinces constitute nearly two-thirds of the Canadian population, it is nearly impossible to form a government without considerable support in one or both provinces. The Liberals were the only party with a strong base in both provinces making them the only party with a realistic chance to form government. The Liberals dominated Canadian politics for the next decade retaining almost all of its Ontario ridings while making steady gains in Quebec. They would not be seriously challenged until 2004
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, with the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
and party infighting
2004 Liberal Party of Canada infighting
The period between Paul Martin's assumption of the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada on November 14, 2003, and the 2004 federal election being called on May 23, 2004, saw a considerable amount of infighting within the party...
reduced them to a minority government with continued strong support from Ontario. The Liberals retained the majority of the province's ridings, despite being defeated in 2006
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, finally relinquishing their lead in 2008
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
.
As no party other than the Liberals had a realistic chance of forming government after 1993, some commentators felt that Canada had moved to a dominant-party system
Dominant-party system
A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a system where there is "a category of parties/political organizations that have successively won election victories and whose future defeat cannot be envisaged or is unlikely for the foreseeable future." A wide range of parties have been...
. The opposition was divided between four parties. Many commentators thought it ironic that Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
consisted of a separatist party. Many considered the Reform Party the de facto opposition on issues that did not pertain to Quebec and national unity. Some political scientists felt that the new five-party parliament was an example of a multi-party system
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
. The five parties were reduced to four when the PC Party and Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
(successor to the Reform Party) merged in 2003. From 2004-2006, a Liberal minority government faced three opposition parties, the new Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc. In 2006, the Conservatives became the Government, the Liberals relegated to official opposition, while the NDP and Bloc retained a significant opposition presence.
The Progressive Conservatives never regained their former standing in Canadian politics. In December 1993, Kim Campbell resigned as Conservative leader and was replaced by Charest, the only surviving member of the previous Cabinet. Under Charest, they rebounded to 20 seats in 1997
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
. Despite the brief comeback of Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
as leader in 1998, they were reduced to 12 seats mostly in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, winning only two seats outside this region in the next two elections.
The Reform Party became the Official Opposition in the 1997 election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
. Although Reform was now the major voice of the right in Canada, it was seen as too extreme by most Ontarians and thus had little chance of dislodging the Liberals. It was also hampered in Quebec because Manning could not speak French. In 2000, the party evolved into the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
, but even then won only two seats outside its Western Canadian base (both in Ontario).
In 2003, the Canadian Alliance under Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
and the Progressive Conservatives under Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
merged, creating the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. The new party, led by Harper, was able to reduce the Liberals to a minority government in 2004 by capitalizing on the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
, though it was not able to reach the combined totals of the Tories and Alliance in 2000. However, it formed its first government, a minority, in early 2006
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
with Harper as prime minister, just over two years after the merger. Key to its victory was being able to make inroads into the eastern part of Canada as well as distancing itself from its Reform legacy with a more moderate agenda, winning a significant number of seats in Ontario and making a breakthrough in Quebec. In the 2008 election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, the Conservatives won the majority of seats in Ontario for the first time since 1988.
The NDP recovered somewhat, regaining official party status in 1997. However, it would take another decade for the party to reach the same level of support it enjoyed in the 1980s. The NDP supported the Liberal minority government after the 2004 election but moved towards differentiating itself from the Liberals, including uniting with the other opposition parties to bring down the Liberals and force the 2006 election in which the NDP made substantial gains in the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois failed to propel the sovereigntist side to victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
and lost Official Opposition status in the 1997 election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
. It continued to lose seats 2000
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
,however, it remained a significant presence in the House of Commons bolstered in recent years by the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
. The party nearly tied its 1993 vote total in 2004, but lost support to a resurgent Conservative Party in 2006. The Bloc's position continued to erode in 2008. The BQ won with 47 of Quebec's 75 seats but, saw its popular vote decline, although it remained an important force in federal politics for Quebec.
2011 saw massive change in the province, their popular vote fell to 25% and just 4 seats in the Commons, losing official party status and being treated as independents. Polls between elections showed their support was steady at 9% but, fell dramatically during the campaign to an exploding NDP. Gilles Duceppe lost his own riding of Laurier-Sainte Marie to the NDP candidate, and subsequently retired from federal politics.
National results
This election, like all previous Canadian elections, was conducted under a single-member pluralityPlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
(or first past the post) system in which the country was carved into 295 electoral districts, or ridings, with each one electing one representative to the House of Commons. Those eligible to vote cast their ballot for a candidate in their electoral district and the candidate with the most votes in that district became that riding's Member of Parliament. The party that elects the most candidates forms the government
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
by appointing its party leader as 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...
and its Members of Parliament to the Cabinet of Canada
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...
.
For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1993 election, see 35th Canadian parliament
35th Canadian Parliament
The 35th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 17, 1994 until April 27, 1997. The membership was set by the 1993 federal election on October 25, 1993, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1997 election.It was controlled by...
.
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candidates
!colspan="4"|Seats
!colspan="3"|Popular vote
|- style="background:#e9e9e9;"
|align=center|1988
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
|align=center|Dissol.
35th Canadian Parliament
The 35th Canadian Parliament was in session from January 17, 1994 until April 27, 1997. The membership was set by the 1993 federal election on October 25, 1993, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1997 election.It was controlled by...
|align=center|Elected
|align=center|% Change
|align=center|#
|align=center|%
|align=center|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...
| Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
|align=right|295
|align=right|83
|align=right|79
|align=right|177
|align=right|+113.3%
|align=right|5,647,952
|align=right|41.24%
|align=right|+9.32%
| Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
| Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
|align=right|75
|align=right|*
|align=right|8
|align=right|54
|align=right|*
|align=right|1,846,024
|align=right|13.52%
|align=right|*
| Reform
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
| Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
|align=right|207
|align=right|-
|align=right|1
|align=right|52
|align=right|
|align=right|2,559,245
|align=right|18.69%
|align=right|+16.59%
| 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...
| Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian...
|align=right|294
|align=right|43
|align=right|43
|align=right|9
|align=right|-79.1%
|align=right|939,575
|align=right|6.88%
|align=right|-13.50%
| 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....
| Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
|align=right|295
|align=right|169
|align=right|151
|align=right|2
|align=right|-98.8%
|align=right|2,186,422
|align=right|16.04%
|align=right|-26.97%
| colspan="2"|Independent
|align=right|129
|align=right|-
|align=right|3
|align=right|1
|align=right|
|align=right|60,434
|align=right|0.73%
|align=right| +0.56%
| National
National Party of Canada
The National Party of Canada was a short-lived Canadian political party that contested the 1993 federal election. The party should not be confused by an earlier and unrelated National Party that was founded in 1979.-Formation:...
| Mel Hurtig
Mel Hurtig
Mel Hurtig, is a Canadian publisher, author, political activist and former political candidate.He was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the former president of the Edmonton Art Gallery.-Businessman and Publisher:...
|align=right|170
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|187,251
|align=right|1.38%
|align=right|*
| Natural Law
Natural Law Party of Canada
The Natural Law Party of Canada was the Canadian branch of the international Natural Law Party founded in 1992 by a group of educators, business leaders, and lawyers who practiced Transcendental Meditation....
| Neil Paterson
Neil Paterson (politician)
Neil Paterson is a politician, former leader of the Natural Law Party of Canada, a senior official of the Transcendental Meditation movement, and majority owner of Global Gold Corporation.-Personal life:...
|align=right|231
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|84,743
|align=right|0.63%
|align=right|*
|colspan="2"|No affiliation
|align=right|23
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|48,959
|align=right|0.09%
|align=right| −0.10%
| Green
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
| Chris Lea
Chris Lea
Chris Lea is a designer, politician and political activist in Canada. He was the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1990 to 1996. He is, to date, the party's longest-serving leader. Lea is notable for being the first openly gay political party leader in Canadian history.Lea lives in Toronto...
|align=right|79
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|32,979
|align=right|0.24%
|align=right|-0.12%
| Christian Heritage
Christian Heritage Party of Canada
The Christian Heritage Party of Canada, also referred to as CHP Canada, is a federal political party that advocates that Canada be governed according to Biblical principles...
| Heather Stilwell
Heather Stilwell
Heather Stilwell was a political activist and former school trustee in Surrey, British Columbia. A staunch Roman Catholic, she was well-known for her opinions opposing homosexuality, abortion, and sex education....
|align=right|59
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right| 30,358
|align=right|0.22%
|align=right|-0.55%
| 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:...
| Hilliard Cox
|align=right|52
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|14,630
|align=right|0.11%
|align=right|-0.14%
| Abolitionist
Abolitionist Party of Canada
The Abolitionist Party of Canada was a Canadian political party founded by perennial candidate John C. Turmel. The party ran on a platform of: monetary reform, including the abolition of interest rates and the income tax, the use of the local employment trading system of banking, and introducing a...
| John C. Turmel
John C. Turmel
John C. Turmel is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness Book of Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost having contested 75 elections and lost 74...
|align=right|80
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|9,141
|align=right|0.07%
|align=right|*
| Canada Party
Canada Party
The Canada Party was a short-lived political party in Canada that nominated 56 candidates in the 1993 federal election and one candidate in a 1996 by-election. It was unable to win any seats. The party was populist and ran on a platform of banking and monetary reform...
| Joseph Thauberger
Joseph Thauberger
Joseph Thauberger was a Canadian farmer and politician. Born in Bessarabia, he emigrated to Canada from Russia with his parents, Andreas Thauberger and Maria Eva née Bähr, in 1911....
|align=right|56
|align=right|*
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| *
|align=right|7,506
|align=right|0.06%
|align=right|*
| Commonwealth
Party for the Commonwealth of Canada
The Party for the Commonwealth of Canada was a Canadian political party formed by Canadians who supported the ideology of U.S. politician Lyndon LaRouche in the 1984, 1988 and 1993 elections....
| Gilles Gervais
|align=right|59
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|7,316
|align=right|0.06%
|align=right|-
| 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...
|align=right|51
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right|-
|align=right| -
|align=right|5,136
|align=right|0.04%
|align=right|+0.04%
|-
|rowspan="2"|
|colspan="4"|Vacant
|align="right"|4
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="5"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Total
|align=right|2,155
|align=right|295
|align=right|295
|align=right|295
|align=right|±0.0%
|align=right|13,667,671
|align=right|100%
|align=right|
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"|Notes: *Party did not nominate candidates in the previous; "% change" refers to change from previous election.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="11"|Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867
|}
Ten closest ridings
1. Edmonton NorthwestEdmonton Northwest
Edmonton Northwest was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997.It was created in 1987 from parts of Edmonton East, Edmonton North, Edmonton West and Pembina ridings...
, AB: Anne McLellan
Anne McLellan
|-...
(LIB) def Richard Kayler (REF) by 12 votes
2. Bourassa
Bourassa (electoral district)
Bourassa is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968...
, QC: Osvaldo Nunez
Osvaldo Nunez
Osvaldo Nunez was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1997. His career has been in law, arbitration and labour....
(BQ) def Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre
Denis Coderre, PC, MP is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada. Coderre is the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Montreal riding of Bourassa.-Background:...
(LIB) by 67 votes
3. Edmonton North
Edmonton North
Edmonton North was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004.-Demographics:-Geography:The riding consisted of the northern part of the city of Edmonton, Alberta.-History:...
, AB: John Loney
John Loney
Edison John Clayton Loney was a member of the Canadian House of Commons in the 1960s and again in the 1990s. His career has been in agriculture and business....
(LIB) def Ron Mix (REF) by 83 votes
4. Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre
Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe South and Wellington—Dufferin—Simcoe ridings....
, ON: Ed Harper
Ed Harper
Ed Harper is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Simcoe Centre in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 until 1997...
(REF) def Janice Laking
Janice Laking
Janice Laking, née McCuaig, is a retired Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Barrie, Ontario from 1988 to 2000.The daughter of former Simcoe North federal Member of Parliament Duncan Fletcher McCuaig, Laking was first elected to Barrie City Council in 1972...
(LIB) by 123 votes
5. Edmonton East
Edmonton East
Edmonton East is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.The district includes a portion of the city of Edmonton.-Geography:...
, AB: Judy Bethel
Judy Bethel
Judith Claire Bethel was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Edmonton East electoral district from 1993 to 1997. Her career was in education and finance....
(LIB) def Linda Robertson (REF) by 203 votes
6. Winnipeg Transcona, MB: Bill Blaikie
Bill Blaikie
William Alexander "Bill" Blaikie, PC is a Canadian politician. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba since April 2009, representing the Winnipeg division of Elmwood as a member of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, and Minister of Conservation and Government House Leader...
(NDP) def Art Miki
Art Miki
Arthur Kazumi Miki, CM is an activist and politician in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians from 1984 to 1992, and is best known for his work in seeking compensation for Japanese-Canadians who were interned by the Government of Canada...
(LIB) by 219 votes
7. Moose Jaw—Lake Centre
Moose Jaw—Lake Centre
Moose Jaw—Lake Centre was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1953 to 1968 and from 1988 to 1997....
, SK: Allan Kerpan
Allan Kerpan
Allan Edward Joseph Kerpan is a Canadian politician.Kerpan attended public school in Kenaston from 1960 to 1972, but attended St Peter's College, Muenster during 1969-70....
(REF) def Rod Laporte
Rod Laporte
Rodney Edward Laporte is a Saskatchewan lawyer and a former Canadian Member of Parliament...
(NDP) by 310 votes
8. Edmonton—Strathcona
Edmonton—Strathcona
Edmonton—Strathcona is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953. It spans the south central part of the city of Edmonton.-Geography:...
, AB: Hugh Hanrahan
Hugh Hanrahan
Hugh F. Hanrahan was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Edmonton—Strathcona electoral district from 1993 to 1997. His career has been in education and writing....
(REF) def Chris Peirce (LIB) by 418 votes
9. La Prairie
La Prairie (electoral district)
La Prairie was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1896 and from 1968 to 1997....
, QC: Richard Bélisle
Richard Bélisle
Richard Bélisle was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1997. His career has been in health and safety fields....
(BQ) def Jacques Saada
Jacques Saada
Jacques Saada, PC is a Canadian politician and former cabinet minister.Saada is a teacher and linguist by profession and was Chief Executive Officer of a translation firm, a consultant and a lecturer in translation prior to entering politics.He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons...
(LIB) by 476 votes
10. Souris—Moose Mountain
Souris—Moose Mountain
Souris—Moose Mountain is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988.-Geography:...
, SK: Bernie Collins
Bernie Collins
Alphonsus Bernard "Bernie" Collins A.K.A. Pops was a member of the Canadian House of Commons at the Souris—Moose Mountain electoral district from 1993 to 1997. His career has been in education and administration....
(LIB) def Doug Heimlick (REF) by 499 votes
10. Verdun—Saint-Paul, QC: Raymond Lavigne
Raymond Lavigne
Raymond Lavigne was a Canadian senator and businessman, and a former Member of Parliament .Lavigne first ran as a Liberal candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the Quebec riding of Verdun—Saint-Paul at the 1988 election but was unsuccessful. He successfully contested the riding in the...
(LIB) def Kim Beaudoin (BQ) by 499 votes
See also
- List of Canadian federal general elections
- List of political parties in Canada
Articles on parties' candidates in this election:
- IndependentsIndependent candidates, 1993 Canadian federal electionThere were several independent candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election, some of whom were associated with unregistered parties. One independent candidate, Gilles Bernier of Beauce, was elected. Information about other such candidates may be found here.-Nickel Belt: Ernie Ashick:Ernie...
- AbolitionistsAbolitionist Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal electionThe Abolitionist Party of Canada ran 80 candidates, one more than the Greens, in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information on these candidates may be found here....
- Canada PartyCanada Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal electionThe short-lived Canada Party fielded a number of candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.-Brandon—Souris: George H...
- CommonwealthCommonwealth Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal electionThe Party for the Commonwealth of Canada fielded several candidates in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here. The PCC was the political wing of Lyndon Larouche's movement in Canada....
Green Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The Green Party of Canada ran seventy-one candidates in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here....
Libertarian Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The Libertarian Party of Canada ran a number of candidates in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.-Brant: Helmut Kurmis:...
National Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The National Party of Canada ran a number of candidates in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found here.-Kingston and the Islands: Chris Papadopoulos:...
Natural Law Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The Natural Law Party of Canada fielded several candidates in the 1993 federal election, none of whom were elected. Information about these candidates may be found on this page.-Matapédia—Matane: Pierre Gauthier:...
New Democratic Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The New Democratic Party of Canada ran a full slate of candidates in the 1993 federal election, and won 9 seats out of 295. This brought the NDP below official party status in the Canadian House of Commons for the first, and to date only time in its history.Many of the party's candidates have...
Progressive Conservative Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The governing Progressive Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of 298 candidates in the 1993 federal election, and lost official party status in the Canadian House of Commons by winning only two seats...
Reform Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
The Reform Party of Canada fielded candidates in every Canadian province except Quebec in the 1993 federal election. Fifty-two candidates were elected. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.-Lincoln: Andy Sweck:Andy Sweck was...