Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Canadian federal election, 1867
The 1867 federal election, held on September 20th, was the first election for the new nation of Canada. The Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald won a majority of seats and votes in Ontario and Quebec. (Its candidates ran either as Conservatives or Liberal-Conseratives.) Quebec and Ontario had previously been united as The Province of Canada with Macdonald and George-Etienne Cartier's Liberal-Conservative coalition forming the government.
Officially, the Liberal Party of Canada had no leader, however while George Brown did not hold an official position in the party, he was generally considered the party's leader in the election campaign, and would have likely been Prime Minister in the unlikely event that the Liberals prevailed over Macdonald in the election. As it was, Brown ran concurrently for seats in the Ontario legislature and the Canadian House of Commons and hoped to become Premier of Ontario. However, he failed to win a seat in either body, and the Liberals remained officially leaderless until 1873.
Prior to Confederation, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick did not have formalized Liberal and Conservative parties. Political groups in those two provinces joined one of the two Province of Canada parties. Both provinces had weak Conservative parties. Opponents of the Conservatives joined the Liberal Party of Canada, which took the majority of seats and votes in both provinces. In Nova Scotia, opponents of the Conservatives (and of Confederation itself) ran as Anti-Confederates, but later sat with the Liberal Caucus.
Elections held in the previous year in the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia focussed on the issue of whether or not to form a confederation.
For a list of candidates elected in the 1867 election, and in by-elections prior to 1872, see 1st Canadian parliament.
Election results
National
| Party | Party Leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular Vote | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | Conservative | Sir John A. Macdonald | 80 | 71 | 62,992 | 23.45% | ||||||||||||||||
| Liberal-Conservative | 32 | 29 | 29,730 | 11.08% | Liberal | George Brown (unofficial) | 65 | 62 | 60,818 | 22.67% | Anti-Confederate | Joseph Howe | 20 | 18 | 21,239 | 7.92% | Independents | 1 | 0 | 1,756 | 0.65% | ||
| Liberal-Independent | 1 | 0 | 1,048 | 0.39% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | 142 | 0 | 90,804 | 33.84% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 341 | 180 | 268,317 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Source: History of Federal Ridings since 1867 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Acclamations
The following MPs were acclaimed:
- Ontario: 3 Conservative, 3 Liberal-Conservatives, 9 Liberals
- Quebec: 14 Conservatives, 5 Liberal-Conservatives, 4 Liberals
- New Brunswick: 1 Conservative, 3 Liberals
- Nova Scotia: 4 Anti-Confedrates
Results by province
| Party Name | Ont | Que | NB | NS | Canada/Total | |
| Conservative Seats | 33 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 71 | |
| Pop Vote | 26.2% | 28.5% | 13.8% | 23.2% | ||
| Liberal-Conservative Seats | 16 | 11 | 2 | 29 | ||
| Pop Vote | 12.5% | 12.3% | 11.1% | 3.5% | 11.1% | |
| Liberal Seats | 33 | 17 | 12 | 62 | ||
| Pop Vote | 23.7% | 25.2% | 49.5% | 22.7% | ||
| Anti-Confederate Seats | 18 | 18 | ||||
| Pop Vote | 58.2% | 7.9% | ||||
| Unknown Seats | ||||||
| Unknown Pop Vote | 35.6% | 34.1% | 39.3% | 24.4% | 34.0% | |
| Independent Seats | ||||||
| Independent Pop Vote | 1.3% | 0.7% | ||||
| Independent Liberal Seats | ||||||
| Independent Liberal Pop Vote | 0.7% | 0.4% | ||||
| Total Seats | 82 | 64 | 15 | 19 | 180 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party Name | Ont | Que | NB | NS | Canada/Total | |
- Liberal-Conservatives sat with the Conservative Party
- Anti-Confederates sat with the Liberal Party
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