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Tom Monto

1872 Election produced Canada's first minority government - Riel was Member

Those who think minority governments are created by the multiplication of parties usually blamed on proportional representation will be surprised by the cause of Canada's first minority government.


It happened after only Canada's second federal election. And not by a third party stealing seats and denying a majority to one of two main parties.


In those days, as those with some understanding of Canadian history may know already, there were only two main parties -the Liberals and Conservatives. These parties, like the Republicans and the Democrats in the U.S. today worked so hard for every vote that they had roughly the same number of votes across the young country, at the time just made up of four eastern provinces and BC.


In 1872 the two parties each took about the same number of votes, one taking 34 and the other 39 percent. That left many votes loose, and in this election six Independents or variations thereof grabbed seats.


With the main parties being so equal, these six seats meant that neither of the main parties took a majority of the seats.


Vote-splitting can often cause unusual results in First Past The Post elections where three candidates compete for one seat.


But these six wild-card elections do not seem to be the result of that.


The two main parties had not yet established the strong grip they would later have on Canadian elections. But they would have that grip only for a few decades. By the 1920s they would lose that grip finally, with the election of farmer and labour MPs in every election.


No vote-splitting in these contests:

The Independent in New Brunswick was elected in a two-way contest

The Independent-Liberal in Ontario was elected in a two-way contest

The Independent-Liberal in New Brunswick was elected by acclamation.


Independent-Conservative Donald Smith (otherwise known as Lord Strathcona) was elected in Selkirk, Manitoba. It was a four-way race but the record shows that only two candidates received votes, Smith having the most. The weird results bear investigation but it being 150 years later...


Another Independent-Conservative, Robillard, was elected in Quebec in a three-way contest. But Robillard received the majority of the votes so again no vote splitting.


These two Independent-Conservatives supported Macdonald's Conservative party, which with their help just barely had a majority of seats in the House.


Hamilton, Ontario, at the time, was a two-member district. Block Voting used there obscures any evidence of vote-splitting.

A Conservative-Labour candidate took one of the two seats in that district. A master painter supported by the local union movement, Henry Buckingham Witton was the first working person elected to the House of Commons - and it happened as early as Canada's second election! (No doubt a farmer or two were elected in its first.)


Few know that Canada once had two-member federal ridings scattered from coast to coast. Not coast to coast to coast - no - our federal elections would not stretch to the Arctic coast until 1949.


In these districts, votes could cast as many votes as there were seats so up to two.

The largest voting block usually claims all the seats under this system. But in the early days representation was sometimes split.

Canada at various times had these two-member districts:

Ottawa 1867 to 1933

Halifax 1867 to 1966

Cape Breton, N.S. 1872-1903

Pictou, N.S. 1872-1903

St. John City and County, N.B. 1872-1896

Hamilton, Ontario 1872-1903

Victoria, BC 1871-1904

In PEI: King's County 1873-1896; Queen's County 1873-1896; Prince County 1873-1896


The reason for the creation of some of these two-member seats were to allow a Liberal voter to give one vote to a Catholic Liberal candidate and one to a Protestant Liberal candidate; Conservatives likewise. Otherwise, perhaps just to simply increase the seat count for a city without having to create two single-member districts.


The reason why the three PEI districts are on this list only starting in 1873 is that was the year PEI joined Confederation. After this addition to the Canadian family, the six seats were filled in by acclamations - there was no competition for the seats. Interestingly one district elected both a Liberal and Conservative. The province was split with one district electing two Conservative and the other electing two Liberals. So it seems the parties fought hard for the seats in the other, Prince County in the west end of the province, The parties being evenly matched, perhaps a gentleman's agreement was struck, giving one Prince County seat to a Liberal and one to a Conservative, who was the sitting premier who had brought PEI into Confederation.


Mixed representation also was the result in many of the other two-member districts as well.


in 1872,

Ottawa elected one Liberal, one Conservative

Halifax elected one Liberal, one Conservative

Pictou, N.S. elected one Liberal, one Conservative

Hamilton, Ontario elected one Liberal-Conservative, one Conservative-Labour.


But in these districts, one party took both seats, depriving the other voters of any representation at all.

Victoria, BC elected two Liberals.

St. John City and County, N.B. elected two Liberals

Cape Breton, N.S. elected two Conservatives.


in addition to the first appearance of PEI members, the parliament that was mostly elected in 1872 also was noteworthy in that it included Louis Riel.


Louis Riel was elected in Winnipeg in a 1873 by-election. Still wanted by the police for his leadership of he 1870 Red River uprising, he never was allowed to take his seat. But he was re-elected in 1874. When stricken from the rolls of the House of Commons, he ran in the ensuing by-election and won again! He never did sit in the House - despite being elected three times.


He was though pardoned on condition he go into exile for five years - this meant he had to keep a low profile. He came out in 1878 and found his people in dire straits due to the end of the buffalo hunt and the invasion of many Ontarians and other newcomers to the West. He left to Montana, then was urged back in 1884 to lead his people. He was hanged by the Canadian government the following year.


Thanks for reading.

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