1993 Canadian election - Definition and Overview

The 1993 Canadian federal election, which took place on October 25th, 1993, was one of the most eventful in Canadian history. While Canada's traditional ruling party, the Liberals, was returned to power, the equally old Progressive Conservative Party was all but annihilated. The election also saw the rise of two new parties: the Bloc Québécois, which became the Official Opposition, and the Reform Party, which also won many seats.

The election was called by Progressive Conservative leader Kim Campbell, who had been Prime Minister for only a few months. She had replaced Brian Mulroney, who was considered one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers in Canadian history because of his failed constitutional reforms and the poor state of the Canadian economy. While she was expected to lose the election, she was forced to call one as the Tories' five-year mandate had almost expired.

Popular vote map with bar graphs showing seat totals in the provinces and territories

From the start of the campaign, it seemed that Jean Chrétien's Liberals would likely form the next government. The Liberals ran a successful campaign, based around the Red Book platform.

More uncertain was how the opposition parties would be divided. Two new parties were fighting in this election. The West produced the Reform Party, a right-wing populist party led by Preston Manning. In Quebec, the Bloc Québécois, a separatist party, rose to the fore under the leadership of ex-Tory cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard. Both parties did very well in the election. Reform swept Alberta, won much of British Columbia, and many seats in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bloc dominated Quebec, winning enough seats to form the Official Opposition as the second-largest party in Parliament.

Two older parties did not fare so well. The governing Tories were devastated. A poorly-run campaign only exacerbated their problems. Most memorable was an advertisement that attacked Chrétien's paralysed face, which offended many Canadians as a perceived cheap shot against a person's physical disability. The Tories were reduced to two seats, their worst showing ever. Kim Campbell, who lost her own Vancouver riding, resigned as leader of the party after the fiasco. Although the party won the third largest number of votes, only barely behind the Reform Party and far higher than the Bloc Quebecois their vote was spread out over a wide area, resulting in victories in only two ridings, electing New Brunswick's Elsie Wayne and Quebec's Jean Charest as their only Members of Parliament.

The other national party, the New Democratic Party, also did poorly, falling to nine seats, losing ground in the West to Reform and in Ontario to the Liberals.

Another new party, the National Party, founded by Mel Hurtig, failed to make a significant impression and disbanded after the election.

The shape of the House of Commons after the 1993 election

Fourteen registered political parties contested the election, a Canadian record.

The Liberals won all but one riding in Ontario, and significant support in the Maritimes and on the Prairies. They also won a fair number of seats in Quebec and British Columbia. This gave them a substantial majority in parliament.

National results

For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1993 election see 35th Canadian parliament.

Notes:

"Before" refers to standings in the House of Commons at dissolution, and not to standings at previous election.

n.a. = not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election.

Source: http://www.elections.ca

Results by province

Source: Elections Canada (http://www.elections.ca/)

Notes

• Number of Parties: 14
  • First appearance: Bloc Québécois, Natural Law Party of Canada
  • Reappearance after hiatus: Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada
  • Final appearance: Party for the Commonwealth of Canada
  • Final appearance before hiatus: Libertarian Party of Canada (returned in 2004)
  • First-and-only appearance: Abolitionist Party of Canada, National Party of Canada, Canada Party

• 1993 was one of only two elections in Canadian history (the other was 1997) where the official Opposition did not have the majority of the opposition's seats. 54 seats for the Bloc Quebecois, compared to 64 seats for the other opposition parties and indepedents combined.