 Map of the Popular Vote with bar graphs showing seat totals in the provinces and territories  The Canadian Parliament after the 1988 election The 1988 Canadian federal election was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
Incumbent Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, had signed the agreement. The Liberals under John Napier Turner were opposed to the agreement, as were the New Democrats under Ed Broadbent.
The Conservatives went into the election suffering from a number of scandals. Despite winning a large majority only four years before, they looked vulnerable at the outset. Infighting among the Liberals and vote splitting between the NDP and Liberals led to a second Conservative majority government, however.
The Liberals returned as the official opposition, but the lackluster campaign cost Turner his job as Liberal leader. He was replaced by Jean Chrétien in 1990.
The 1988 election was the most successful for the New Democratic Party. The party dominated in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and also won significant support in Ontario.
The election was the last for Canada's Social Credit movement: the party won no seats, and insignificant portion of the popular vote.
The newly founded Reform Party also contested the election, but was considered little more than a fringe group, and did not win any seats.
The election was held November 21, 1988, and 76% of eligible voters cast a ballot.
National results
For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1988 election see 34th Canadian parliament.
| Party
| Party Leader
| # of candidates
| Seats
| Popular Vote
|
| Before
| After
| % Change
| #
| %
| Change
|
| Progressive Conservative
| Brian Mulroney
| 295
| 203
| 169
| -16.7%
| 5,667,543
| 43.02%
| -7.02%
|
| Liberal
| John Turner
| 294
| 38
| 83
| +118%
| 4,205,072
| 31.92%
| +3.89%
|
| New Democratic
| Ed Broadbent
| 295
| 32
| 43
| +34.4%
| 2,685,263
| 20.38%
| +1.57%
|
| Reform
| Preston Manning
| 72
| 0
| 0
|
| 275,767
| 2.09%
| n.a.
|
| Christian Heritage
| Ed Vanwoudenberg
| 63
| 0
| 0
|
| 102,533
| 0.78%
| n.a.
|
| Rhinoceros
| Cornelius the First
| 74
| 0
| 0
|
| 52,173
| 0.40%
| -0.39%
|
| Green
|
| 68
| 0
| 0
|
| 47,228
| 0.36%
| +0.14%
|
| Confederation of Regions
|
| 51
| 0
| 0
|
| 41,342
| 0.31%
| -0.68%
|
| Libertarian
|
| 88
| 0
| 0
|
| 33,135
| 0.25%
| +0.06%
|
| Commonwealth
| Gilles Gervais
| 58
| 0
| 0
|
| 7,467
| 0.06%
| -0.21%
|
| Communist
| George Hewison
| 51
| 0
| 0
|
| 7,066
| 0.05%
| -0.01%
|
| Social Credit
| Ken Sweigard
| 9
| 0
| 0
|
| 3,407
| 0.03%
| -0.11%
|
| Independent
| 55
| 4
| 0
|
| 22,982
| 0.17%
|
|
| No Affiliation
| 100
| 0
| 0
|
| 24,516
| 0.19%
|
|
| Vacant
|
| 5
| 295
|
|
|
|
|
| 1,573
| 282
|
| 13,175,494
| 100.0
|
|
Notes:
"Before" refers to standings in the House of Commons at dissolution, and not to standings at previous election.
n.a.= not applicable - party was not recognized in the previous election.
Results by province
xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote
Note: Parties that captured less than 1 percent of the vote in a province are not recorded.
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Notes
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