1891 Canadian federal election Turnout 64.4%[ 1] pp )
1891 Canadian electoral map
The Canadian parliament after the 1891 election
The 1891 Canadian federal election was held on March 5, 1891, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 7th Parliament of Canada . It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald .
A Conservative election poster from 1891. The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy , a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity (free trade) with the United States .
Macdonald led a Conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons . It was a close election and he campaigned hard. Macdonald died a few months after the election, which led to his succession by four different Conservative Prime Ministers until the 1896 election .
It was Wilfrid Laurier 's first election as leader of the Liberals . Although he lost the election, he increased the Liberals' support. He returned in 1896 to win a solid majority, despite losing the popular vote.
Canadian voters would return to the issue of free trade 20 years later in the 1911 federal election .
National results
Party
Party leader
# of
Seats
Popular vote
1887
Elected
Change
#
%
Change
Conservative
John A. Macdonald
187
87
97
+11.5%
332,961
42.96%
+2.80pp
Liberal-Conservative
25
24
20
-16.7%
43,557
5.62%
-1.64pp
Liberal
Wilfrid Laurier
194
79
90
+13.9%
350,512
45.22%
+2.09pp
Independent Conservative
4
3
3
-
15,045
1.94%
+0.38pp
Independent
4
3
2
-66.7%
6,357
0.82%
-0.42pp
Nationalist
1
1
1
-
-1
0.00%
-0.66pp
Independent Liberal
2
5
1
-80%
5,573
0.72%
-1.45pp
Nationalist Conservative
1
2
1
-50%
1,271
0.16%
-0.32pp
Unknown
14
1
-
-100%
16,890
2.18%
-1.15pp
Equal Rights
2
*
-
*
2,455
0.32%
*
Progressive2
2
*
-
*
468
0.06%
*
Total
436
205
215
+4.9%
775,089
100%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Notes:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
1 One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.
2 The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being "Progressives". This may be an error.
Acclamations:
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
Manitoba: 1 Conservative
Ontario: 1 Conservative
Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist
Results by province
Party name
BC
NWT
MB
ON
QC
NB
NS
PE
Total
Conservative
Seats:
5
4
1
39
24
10
12
2
97
Popular vote (%):
71.6
81.0
12.6
42.2
45.4
48.9
41.9
48.5
43.0
Liberal-Conservative
Seats:
1
3
7
3
2
4
20
Vote (%):
40.5
5.3
3.0
3.7
10.8
5.6
Liberal
Seats:
-
-
1
44
33
4
5
3
90
Vote (%):
28.4
19.0
46.9
49.1
45.9
41.3
43.6
41.0
45.2
Independent Conservative
Seats:
1
2
3
Vote (%):
1.3
5.9
1.9
Independent
Seats:
1
1
-
2
Vote (%):
0.7
1.2
3.2
0.8
Nationalist
Seats:
1
1
Vote (%):
-
-
Independent Liberal
Seats:
-
1
1
Vote (%):
2.9
10.5
0.7
Nationalist Conservative
Seats:
1
1
Vote (%):
0.7
0.2
Total seats
6
4
5
92
65
16
21
6
215
Parties that won no seats:
Unknown
Vote (%):
2.0
3.8
3.1
2.2
Equal Rights
Vote (%):
0.7
0.3
Progressive
Vote (%):
0.5
0.1
See also
Notes
^ Popular vote is combination of Conservative and Liberal-Conservative tallies.
^ Laurier also ran in Richmond—Wolfe , where he was defeated.
References
Further reading
External links
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