Canadian federal election, 1896
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The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on July 11, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons. As a result of the election, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, formed a majority government.
The election saw a great change in the Liberal Party. While the Liberals had traditionally been the party for radical change and free trade, in the 1896 election, they embraced a much more conservative platform. Because of this, many of the traditional supporters of the Conservative Party moved to the Liberals. The most important change was Laurier's support of the National Policy, an important cause to the powerful business interests of Montreal and Toronto. The Liberal campaign was directed by an ex-Tory, J. Israel Tarte. Laurier was also a strong supporter of provincial rights, and a number of powerful Liberal premiers supported the campaign such as Oliver Mowat (of Ontario) and W.S. Fielding.
The Tories, since the death of John A. Macdonald in 1891, had been disorganized, going through four leaders in five years. The party was also viewed as corrupt and wasteful of public funds. Issues like the Manitoba Schools Question had cost the party support in both French and English Canada. In the 1896 election, the Conservative Party was led by Sir Charles Tupper, a Father of Confederation and former Premier of Nova Scotia.
National results
| Party | Party Leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular Vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891 | Elected | Change | # | % | Change | Liberal | Wilfrid Laurier | 190 | 90 | 117 | +30.0% | 401,425 | 41.37% | -3.85%
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Conservative | Charles Tupper | 190 | 97 | 83 | -16.9% | 430,874 | 44.40% | +1.44%
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Liberal-Conservative | 17 | 20 | 15 | -25% | 36,541 | 3.77% | -1.85% | Nationalist | 5 | 1 | 4 | +300% | 14,121 | 1.46% | +1.46% | Independent Conservative | 4 | 3 | 4 | +33.3% | 12,209 | 1.26% | -0.68% | Patrons of Industry | 31 | * | 2 | * | 38,275 | 3.94% | * | McCarthyite | Dalton McCarthy | 11 | * | 2 | * | 12,861 | 1.33% | * | Independent | 18 | 2 | 1 | -50% | 13,870 | 1.43% | +0.61% | Independent Liberal | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 2,353 | 0.24% | -0.48% | Protestant Protective | 5 | * | - | * | 6,233 | 0.64% | * | Unknown | 1 | - | - | - | 1,622 | 0.17% | -2.01% | |||||||
| Total | 473 | 214 | 229 | +7.0% | 970,384 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Acclamations:
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
- Ontario: 1 Patron of Industry
- Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberals
Results by province
| Party Name | BC | NW | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | Total | Liberal | Seats: | 4 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 49 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 117 | Popular Vote (%): | 51.2 | 46.0 | 31.0 | 40.5 | 53.8 | 42.5 | 31.9 | 51.0 | 41.4
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Conservative | Seats: | 2 | 1 | 4 | 34 | 16 | 4 | 20 | 2 | 83
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Vote (%): | 48.8 | 43.9 | 45.1 | 40.9 | 45.2 | 31.5 | 65.4 | 40.5 | 44.4
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Liberal-Conservative | Seats: | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 15
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Vote (%): | 8.0 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 17.5 | 2.2 | 8.5 | 2.2 | Nationalist | Seats: | 4 | - | 4 | Vote (%): | 3.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | Independent Conservative | Seats: | 4 | 4 | Vote (%): | 3.0 | 1.3 | Patrons of Industry | Seats: | 2 | 2 | Vote (%): | 7.6 | 8.3 | 0.7 | 3.9 | McCarthyite | Seats: | 1 | 1 | 2 | Vote (%): | 8.3 | 2.4 | 1.3 | Independent | Seats: | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | Vote (%): | 10.0 | 1.4 | 8.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | Independent Liberal | Seats: | 1 | 1 | Vote (%): | 0.6 | 0.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Total Seats | 6 | 4 | 8 | 88 | 65 | 14 | 31 | 5 | 229 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parties that won no seats: | Protestant Protective | Vote (%): | 1.5 | 0.6 | Unknown | Vote (%): | 0.4 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||