1867 Ontario general election

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The outcome of the first Ontario election tells the story of the political mastery of one John Macdonald and the expediency of another, two erstwhile rivals both from eastern Ontario though with no familial relationship. While the more radical George Brown was the most prominent Liberal (or Reformer, as those in opposition to the Tories were known then) among the fathers of confederation and the principal rival to Canada's founding prime minister John A Macdonald, it was John Sandfield Macdonald leading a Liberal ministry who replaced John A when his Tories ministry was ousted between 1862 and 1864. With the exception of a two-day ministry led by Brown, one of two Macdonalds occupied the English co-premiership in the final decade of the United Province of Canada.

The politics of that final decade was however plagued by division along not just partisan but also religious and language lines. Governments were propped up by disgruntled opposition members with transitory loyalty and therefore were routinely on the verge of collapsing. When the united province's final Liberal ministry (or Reform ministry, the two terms being used interchangeably at the time) led by John Sandfield Macdonald collapsed in May 1864, it was the fourth government to fail in six years. Coming to terms with the unviability of the politics of the United Province, John A Macdonald's Tories (along their partner Parti bleu members in French Canada) and the Clear Grits wing of the Liberals led by George Brown entered into the Great Coalition with the goal of coming up with a sustainable arrangement of confederation. To secure Brown's buy-in, John A Macdonald gave three of the five seats designated for English speakers in his cabinet to the Liberals,^[3] a concession he refused to make in 1858 to secure Sandfield Macdonald's support.^[4] In opposition were a small faction English-speaking Liberals led by the sidelined Sandfield Macdonald and the Parti rouge from French Canada, opposing not just the government but the confederation project.

Once confederation arrangement were settled, Brown exited the coalition as planned. Recognizing the Conservatives’ extremely weak position in English Canada might prove his political undoing in the new dominion, John A set out to preserve the coalition under the Liberal-Conservative banner. Despite Sandfield Macdonald's vigorous opposition to confederation during earlier negotiations (he did not attend any of the three conferences leading to confederation and thus not among the 36 Fathers of Confederation) once it became inevitable, Sandfield Macdonald avenged his alienations from his Liberal peers by taking his small band of followers into the Liberal-Conservative coalition, and was sworn in on July 15, 1867 as the provisional premier of the newly created province. In the months that followed, the two Macdonalds went "hunting in pairs" and secured electoral mandates in their respective spheres in the concurrent elections.

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As a newly created province within a newly created nation, not all rules governing the conduct of election and suffrage were clearly defined. The British North America Act 1867 (known as the Constitution Act, 1867 since the 1982 patriation of Canada's constitution) prescribes a number of ground rules relevant to the first election.^[5]

• Section 70 provides for 82 members for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, to be elected to represent the 82 electoral districts listed in the first schedule of the legislation, which were the same electoral districts used for the first election to the House of Commons of Canada that took place at the same time.
• Section 84 prescribes that the existing law of the United Province of Canada on suffrage and qualification for members to be elected would apply, but adds specifically for the electoral district of Algoma, the "new" district for the geographically vast Algoma District which was not previously represented in the final Parliament of the United Province, any male British subject of 21 years of age or older, "being a householder," would have the right to vote.
• Section 89 prescribes that the first elections for both the House of Commons and the Legislative Assembly be held at the same time and at the same place.

The elections laws of Canada West were updated in 1866, with electors required to meet a property qualification of being an owner or tenant with a property value listed on the assessment roll of $600 in a city, $400 in a town, $300 in an incorporated village, and $100 in a township or police village.^[6][7][8][a] Furthermore, urban residents must prove an annual income of at least $250.^[9] An estimated 16.5 per cent of the population of Ontario was enfranchised for the 1867 election.^[8]

The writ of election was issued on August 7, with election taking place over a number of weeks in August and September, with electoral district polls closing at different dates throughout the period. Under the system each electoral district was required to be polled in one day, but the day did not have to be the same across all electoral districts. Votes were recorded orally. The returned writs were dated (usually a few days after the actual election) as early as August 21 (in Lincoln and Grey North) to as late as September 26 (Middlesex North).^[10]

Members were elected through first past the post voting, each in a separate single-member district. This system would be in use across Ontario until 1886. Electoral district boundaries largely aligned with boundary of existing administrative divisions (counties and cities, with more populous counties further divided into multiple seats. The newly created province's inherited the boundary of Upper Canada which ceased to exist 27 year earlier. Its northern boundary was undefined, but there were few inhabitant north of Sudbury. The newly created electoral district of Algoma had the smallest electoral roll in the province. The distribution of seats are as follow:

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To properly interpret and understand the election results form 1867, one should be mindful of factors that would seem peculiar in 21st century.

• Dual mandate - It was possible for a candidate to stand and be elected in more than one electoral district. It was also possible for a candidate to simultaneously hold a seat in the House of Commons and a seat in a provincial legislature. The following men were elected to both the House of Commons and the Ontario legislature that years:
  • Edward Blake, elected MP for Durham West and MLA for Bruce South, later Premier of Ontario and federal Liberal leader
  • John Carling, elected MP and MLA for London, a key lieutenant of Sir John A Macdonald and later a member of his federal cabinet
  • Thomas Roberts Ferguson, elected MP for Cardwell and MLA for Simcoe South
  • John Sandfield MacDonald, elected MP and MLA for Cornwall, Ontario's first Premier
  • Edmund Burke Wood, elected MP and MLA for Brant South, Ontario's first Treasurer in the Macdonald ministry
• Demographic - Ontario, like Canada, was overwhelmingly an agrarian, rural society in the nineteenth century. Only nine of the 82 seats were allocated to "towns". Other than the two seats for Toronto and the seat for Hamilton, the other 6 urban seats all have relatively small population. The combined population of the eight towns accounted for less than 10% of the province's population. Furthermore, with electoral boundary largely conforming with boundaries of administrative district, the population of electoral districts varied greatly, ranging from as many as 39,000 in Huron North to less than 4,000 in Niagara (according to figures from the first census of 1871, which reported Ontario population at 1,620,851)^[11]
• Loose partisanship - Partisanship in the early days of confederation was characterized by "loose coalitions" rather than formal, cohesive parties.^[2] Contemporaneous election returns did not record candidates' party affiliations.^[10] The party labels on official record for those early elections were retroactively applied after partisan political system was more formalized, and thus were not all accurate. For example, Edmund Burke Wood, one of the four dual-mandate holders and Ontario's inaugural Treasurer, was recorded as elected to the Ontario legislature as a conservative (likely because he served in the Sandfield Macdonald ministry) and to the House of Commons as a Liberal (likely because he returned to the Liberal fold in 1873 and was later appointed by Liberal prime minister Alexander McKenzie to be chief justice of Manitoba). In 1867 however, he was explicitly repudiated by the South Brant Liberal association, was elected to both seat as a coalitionist,^[12] and his opponent for the federal seat, Henry Blakey Leeming was none other than the local Liberal association president.^[13]

These are some of the factors that led to Ontario's first ministry being formed in manner that would be unfathomable in modern days. John Sandfield Macdonald, the leader of the last Liberal ministry of the United Province of Canada who ousted Conservative John A Macdonald in 1862 only to be ousted by him two years later, the vocal opponent of confederation sidelined by his Liberals peers, upon confederation transformed himself into a key ally and potent weapon of the new Prime Minister in keeping the Liberals from power. He was maneuvered into the premier's chair by John A Macdonald and led a Liberal-Conservative Patent Combination ministry during the province's first five years. While premier leading what was effectively a conservative government in Toronto, he was also recorded as a Liberal MP in Ottawa, which if true would put him in opposition to his political benefactor the prime minister. Reporting of the proceedings in Ottawa however show Sandfield Macdonald along with former Liberals who joined the federal cabinet were routinely subjects of derision by the Liberal opposition.^[14][1]

Synopsis of results

More information Riding, Winning party ...

Results by riding - 1867 Ontario general election^[1]

Riding	Winning party						Turnout	Votes
Name[a 1]	Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		Con	Lib	Ind	Total
Addington		Con	1,554	73.72%	1,003	47.58%	75.94%	1,554	551	3	2,108
Algoma		Con	351	67.89%	224	43.33%	60.19%	351	127	39	517
Bothwell		Lib	1,242	51.45%	70	2.90%	83.16%	1,172	1,242	–	2,414
Brant North		Lib	706	53.16%	84	6.33%	72.69%	622	706	–	1,328
Brant South		Con	1,268	54.37%	204	8.75%	71.45%	1,268	1,064	–	2,332
Brockville and Elizabethtown		Con	630	51.05%	26	2.11%	75.38%	630	604	–	1,234
Bruce North		Lib	acclaimed
Bruce South		Lib	1,726	50.10%	7	0.20%	84.83%	1,719	1,726	–	3,445
Cardwell		Con	1,151	52.37%	104	4.73%	84.96%	1,151	1,047	–	2,198
Carleton		Lib	987	47.29%	48	2.30%	88.13%	939	987	161	2,087
Cornwall		Con	479	64.73%	218	29.46%	72.27%	479	261	–	740
Dundas		Lib	1,162	53.57%	155	7.15%	79.42%	1,007	1,162	–	2,169
Durham East		Con	1,208	95.19%	1,147	90.39%	43.88%	1,208	61	–	1,269
Durham West		Lib	1,473	68.80%	805	37.60%	77.43%	668	1,473	–	2,141
Elgin East		Con	1,431	50.44%	25	0.88%	75.47%	1,431	1,406	–	2,837
Elgin West		Con	909	52.27%	79	4.54%	85.16%	909	830	–	1,739
Essex		Con	1,566	53.69%	215	7.37%	75.41%	1,566	1,351	–	2,917
Frontenac		Con	1,186	62.49%	476	25.08%	73.91%	1,186	710	2	1,898
Glengarry		Con	1,149	56.71%	272	13.43%	82.59%	1,149	877	–	2,026
Grenville South		Con	849	53.46%	110	6.93%	80.90%	849	739	–	1,588
Grey North		Con	1,430	55.17%	268	10.34%	74.63%	1,430	1,162	–	2,592
Grey South		Con	1,675	53.23%	203	6.45%	80.86%	1,675	1,472	–	3,147
Haldimand		Lib	1,377	56.43%	314	12.87%	78.36%	1,063	1,377	–	2,440
Halton		Lib	1,556	56.62%	364	13.25%	76.70%	1,192	1,556	–	2,748
Hamilton		Lib	1,193	53.88%	172	7.77%	58.23%	1,021	1,193	–	2,214
Hastings East		Con	908	57.65%	241	15.30%	75.21%	908	667	–	1,575
Hastings North		Con	970	63.73%	418	27.46%	69.31%	970	552	–	1,522
Hastings West		Con	940	72.92%	591	45.85%	54.50%	940	349	–	1,289
Huron North		Con	2,030	50.80%	64	1.60%	72.48%	2,030	1,966	–	3,996
Huron South		Lib	1,558	50.16%	10	0.32%	82.00%	1,548	1,558	–	3,106
Kent		Lib	1,486	51.14%	66	2.27%	77.99%	1,420	1,486	–	2,906
Kingston		Con	705	84.63%	577	69.27%	37.14%	705	128	–	833
Lambton		Lib	2,107	65.80%	1,012	31.61%	75.41%	1,095	2,107	–	3,202
Lanark North		Lib	acclaimed
Lanark South		Con	1,294	62.00%	503	24.10%	70.53%	1,294	791	2	2,087
Leeds North and Grenville North		Lib	962	56.19%	212	12.38%	78.28%	750	962	–	1,712
Leeds South		Con	1,380	50.13%	7	0.25%	83.96%	1,380	1,373	–	2,753
Lennox		Con	1,222	53.29%	396	17.27%	66.35%	1,222	826	245	2,293
Lincoln		Con	acclaimed
London		Con	948	61.00%	342	22.01%	56.00%	948	606	–	1,554
Middlesex East		Lib	1,821	50.42%	30	0.83%	86.62%	1,791	1,821	–	3,612
Middlesex North		Lib	1,084	43.69%	38	1.53%	84.79%	1,046	1,084	351	2,481
Middlesex West		Con	1,100	52.08%	88	4.17%	87.45%	1,100	1,012	–	2,112
Monck		Con	1,118	56.10%	243	12.19%	78.59%	1,118	875	–	1,993
Niagara		Con	302	54.32%	48	8.63%	76.48%	302	254	–	556
Norfolk North		Con	987	50.05%	2	0.10%	83.84%	987	985	–	1,972
Norfolk South		Lib	975	50.47%	18	0.93%	78.06%	957	975	–	1,932
Northumberland East		Lib	1,492	64.56%	675	29.21%	66.97%	817	1,492	2	2,311
Northumberland West		Lib	acclaimed
Ontario North		Lib	1,694	58.70%	502	17.39%	79.26%	1,192	1,694	–	2,886
Ontario South		Lib	1,367	56.35%	308	12.70%	83.60%	1,059	1,367	–	2,426
Ottawa		Lib	810	68.76%	442	37.52%	41.49%	368	810	–	1,178
Oxford North		Lib	1,187	55.36%	230	10.73%	58.34%	957	1,187	–	2,144
Oxford South		Lib	1,399	54.52%	232	9.04%	74.64%	1,167	1,399	–	2,566
Peel		Con	1,118	51.05%	46	2.10%	82.11%	1,118	1,072	–	2,190
Perth North		Con	1,568	57.58%	413	15.17%	72.81%	1,568	1,155	–	2,723
Perth South		Lib	1,552	56.56%	360	13.12%	80.16%	1,192	1,552	–	2,744
Peterborough East		Con	996	62.52%	399	25.05%	80.82%	996	597	–	1,593
Peterborough West		Con	670	50.68%	18	1.36%	78.50%	670	652	–	1,322
Prescott		Lib	838	50.67%	22	1.33%	82.78%	816	838	–	1,654
Prince Edward		Lib	1,605	58.66%	474	17.32%	76.53%	1,131	1,605	–	2,736
Renfrew North		Con	802	71.74%	487	43.56%	80.26%	802	315	1	1,118
Renfrew South		Lib	543	63.96%	237	27.92%	71.17%	306	543	–	849
Russell		Con	1,287	65.33%	818	41.52%	68.95%	1,287	469	214	1,970
Simcoe North		Lib	1,431	52.40%	131	4.80%	81.91%	1,300	1,431	–	2,731
Simcoe South		Con	acclaimed
Stormont		Con	793	55.65%	161	11.30%	81.15%	793	632	–	1,425
Toronto East		Con	1,178	56.28%	264	12.61%	49.80%	1,178	914	1	2,093
Toronto West		Con	1,439	57.26%	365	14.52%	52.94%	1,439	1,074	–	2,513
Victoria North		Lib	676	62.42%	269	24.84%	79.87%	407	676	–	1,083
Victoria South		Lib	acclaimed
Waterloo North		Lib	908	50.67%	24	1.34%	71.68%	884	908	–	1,792
Waterloo South		Lib	1,309	57.59%	345	15.18%	81.59%	964	1,309	–	2,273
Welland		Lib	1,298	54.22%	202	8.44%	68.52%	1,096	1,298	–	2,394
Wellington Centre		Con	1,106	44.36%	58	2.33%	79.24%	1,106	1,048	339	2,493
Wellington North		Lib	1,434	51.29%	72	2.58%	81.04%	1,362	1,434	–	2,796
Wellington South		Lib	940	58.42%	271	16.84%	74.56%	669	940	–	1,609
Wentworth North		Lib	1,139	50.44%	20	0.89%	79.93%	1,119	1,139	–	2,258
Wentworth South		Lib	1,002	50.07%	3	0.15%	83.24%	999	1,002	–	2,001
York East		Lib	1,193	58.25%	338	16.50%	72.37%	855	1,193	–	2,048
York North		Lib	1,369	54.20%	212	8.39%	73.90%	1,157	1,369	–	2,526
York West		Con	587	46.44%	73	5.78%	56.71%	587	514	163	1,264

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1. [1]

   order is as given in EO reports

  = elected by acclamation

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = was a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

  = was a member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada

  = multiple candidates

MLAs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

  Liberal

  Conservative

Midwestern Ontario   Brant North: Hugh Finlayson   Brant South: Edmund Burke Wood[a 1]   Bruce North: Donald Sinclair   Bruce South: Edward Blake[a 1]   Grey North: Thomas Scott   Grey South: Abram William Lauder   Haldimand: Jacob Baxter   Huron North: William Torrance Hays   Huron South: Robert Gibbons   Norfolk North: James Wilson   Norfolk South: Simpson McCall   Oxford North: George Perry   Oxford South: Adam Oliver   Perth North: Andrew Monteith   Perth South: James Trow   Waterloo North: Moses Springer   Waterloo South: Isaac Clemens   Wellington Centre: Alexander David Ferrier   Wellington North: Robert McKim   Wellington South: Peter Gow Southwestern Ontario   Bothwell: Archibald McKellar   Elgin East: Daniel Luton   Elgin West: Nicol McColl   Essex: Solomon Wigle   Kent: John Smith   Lambton: Timothy Blair Pardee   London: John Carling[a 1]   Middlesex East: James Evans   Middlesex North: James Sinclair Smith   Middlesex West: Nathaniel Currie

Northern Ontario   Algoma: Frederick William Cumberland Peel/Simcoe/Durham/Ontario   Cardwell: Thomas Swinarton   Durham East: Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams   Durham West: John McLeod   Ontario North: Thomas Paxton   Ontario South: William McGill   Peel: John Coyne   Simcoe North: William Lount   Simcoe South: Thomas Roberts Ferguson York   Toronto East: Matthew Crooks Cameron   Toronto West: John Wallis   York East: Hugh Powell Crosby   York North: John McMurrich   York West: Thomas Grahame Wentworth/Halton/Niagara   Halton: William Barber   Hamilton: James Miller Williams   Lincoln: John Charles Rykert   Monck: George Secord   Niagara: Donald Robertson   Welland: William Beatty   Wentworth North: Robert Christie   Wentworth South: William Sexton

Ottawa Valley   Carleton: Robert Lyon   Lanark North: Daniel Galbraith   Lanark South: William McNairn Shaw   Ottawa: Richard William Scott   Prescott: James P. Boyd   Renfrew North: John Supple   Renfrew South: John Lorn McDougall   Russell: William Craig Saint Lawrence Valley   Brockville and Elizabethtown: William Fitzsimmons   Cornwall: John Sandfield MacDonald[a 1]   Dundas: Simon S. Cook   Glengarry: James Craig   Grenville South: Mcneil Clarke   Kingston: Maxwell W. Strange   Leeds North and Grenville North: Henry Dolphus Smith   Leeds South: Benjamin Tett   Stormont: William Colquhoun Central Ontario   Addington: Edmund John Glyn Hooper   Frontenac: Henry Smith   Hastings East: Henry Corby   Hastings North: George Henry Boulter   Hastings West: Ketchum Graham   Lennox: John Stevenson   Northumberland East: John Eyre   Northumberland West: Alexander Fraser   Peterborough East: George Read   Peterborough West: John Carnegie   Prince Edward: Absalom Greeley   Victoria North: Alexander Peter Cockburn   Victoria South: Thomas Matchett

1. [1]

   also an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

• List of Ontario political parties
• Politics of Ontario
• List of elections in the Province of Canada