1878 Canadian federal election (original) (raw)
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1878 Canadian federal election
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|---|---|
| ← 1874 September 17, 1878 1882 → | |
| ← outgoing memberselected members → | |
| 206 seats in the House of Commons104 seats needed for a majority | |
| Turnout | 69.1%[1] ( 0.5pp) |
First party Second party   Leader John A. Macdonald Alexander Mackenzie Party Conservative Liberal Leader since 1867 1873 Leader's seat Victoria[a] Lambton Last election 65 seats, 30.1% 129 seats, 39.5% Seats won 134 63 Seat change  69 66 Popular vote 229,191 180,074 Percentage 42.06% 33.05% Swing 11.96pp 6.45pp |
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 1878 Canadian electoral map |
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 The Canadian Parliament after the 1878 election |
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| Prime Minister before election Alexander Mackenzie Liberal Prime Minister after election John A. Macdonald Conservative |
The 1878 Canadian federal election was held on September 17, 1878, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression during Mackenzie's term, and his party was punished by voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto and Montreal.
Sir John A. Macdonald and his Conservative Party were returned to power after having been defeated four years before amidst scandals over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular vote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1874 | Elected | Change | # | % | Change | |||
| Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 101 | 38 | 85 | +118.4% | 143,192 | 26.28% | |
| Liberal-Conservative | 60 | 26 | 49 | +76.9% | 85,999 | 15.78% | +3.50pp | |
| Liberal | Alexander Mackenzie | 121 | 126 | 63 | -54.8% | 180,074 | 33.05% | |
| Independent | 11 | 4 | 5 | +25% | 14,783 | 2.71% | ||
| Independent Conservative | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 1,001 | 0.18% | ||
| Unknown | 117 | - | 114,043 | 20.93% | ||||
| Independent Liberal | 4 | 1 | 1 | +100% | 5,388 | 0.99% | ||
| Nationalist Conservative | 1 | * | 1 | * | 401 | 0.07% | ||
| Total | 417 | 197 | 206 | +3.6% | 544,881 | 100.0% | - | |
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 |
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Acclamations
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
- British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
- Manitoba: 2 Conservatives, 1 Liberal-Conservative
- Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal-Conservatives, 1 Liberal
- New Brunswick: 1 Liberal, 1 Independent
Results by province
[edit]
| Party name | BC | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Seats: | 1 | 2 | 37 | 33 | 1 | 8 | 3 | |
| Popular vote (%): | - | 49.6 | 25.5 | 35.0 | 5.9 | 21.7 | 31.6 | 26.3 | |
| Liberal-Conservative | Seats: | 2 | 1 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 2 | |
| Vote (%): | 39.6 | - | 15.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 22.7 | 12.0 | 15.8 | |
| Liberal | Seats: | 2 | 27 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Vote (%): | - | 36.3 | 21.7 | 48.2 | 34.9 | 37.2 | 33.1 | ||
| Independent | Seats: | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | |||
| Vote (%): | 12.2 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 13.1 | 4.3 | 2.7 | |||
| Independent Conservative | Seats: | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Vote (%): | 50.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | ||||||
| Unknown | Seats: | ||||||||
| Vote (%): | 48.2 | 19.9 | 27.4 | 14.8 | 14.7 | 19.3 | 20.9 | ||
| Independent Liberal | Seats: | 1 | - | ||||||
| Vote (%): | 1.0 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | |||||
| Nationalist Conservative | Seats: | 1 | - | ||||||
| Vote (%): | 0.3 | 0.1 | |||||||
| Total seats | 6 | 4 | 88 | 65 | 16 | 21 | 6 | 206 |
- Argyle, Ray (2004). Turning Points: The Campaigns that Changed Canada 2004 and Before. Toronto: White Knight Publications. ISBN 978-0-9734186-6-8.
^ Macdonald also ran in Kingston (where he was defeated) and Marquette (where he was elected); as his appointment as Prime Minister meant he was required by convention at the time to vacate his seat and run again, he chose to stand again in Victoria rather than Marquette.
^ "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2019.