1871 Ontario general election

Canadian provincial election From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1871 Ontario general election was the second general election held in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on March 21, 1871, to elect the 82 Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ontario ("MPPs").[1]

Quick facts 82 seats in the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario 42 seats were needed for a majority, First party ...
1871 Ontario general election
← 1867
March 21, 1871
1875 â†’
82 seats in the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario
42 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Edward Blake John Sandfield Macdonald
Party Liberal Liberal–Conservative
Leader's seat Bruce South Cornwall
Last election 41 41
Seats won 43 38
Seat change Increase2 Decrease3
Premier before election

John Sandfield Macdonald
Conservative

 Premier after election

Edward Blake
Liberal

Close

While it is generally accepted that that the Ontario Liberals led by Edward Blake secured a slim edge over the incumbent Conservatives led by Premier John Sandfield Macdonald, such an understanding was partially developed with the benefit of hindsight on a period during which the Liberals' ousted the Sandfield Macdonald ministry, commenced the building of a far more expansive administration, and within a year carried out an orderly transition of its party and the government leadership while largely remained stable and united. In the months following the election however, the incumbent government did not concede it has lost control of the legislature and continued to govern without convening the new parliament. Challenges to the election of a dozen members further muddied the situation and provided additional fodder for Sandfield Macdonald to resist convening the new parliament for eight months and to disregard multiple votes of no confidence.[2] The impasse was resolved on December 19 that year after his Treasurer resigned from cabinet and voted with the opposition.[3]

Neither the outgoing nor the incoming premier remained on the scene for long. The rapid decline of Premier Sandfield Macdonald's health was evident throughout that year. His ministry's demise at the year's end foretold his own in just five months. Matthew Crooks Cameron, his principal lieutenant in government and his most ardent defender in the legislature, assumed leadership of the Conservative Party and of the opposition. Premier Blake served only ten months, resigning in October 1972 to devote his attention to leading the national Liberal Party. He and George Brown convinced their former reform colleague Oliver Mowat to return to politics to succeed him, a move that secured his own legacy as founding head of a 34-year continuous Liberal rule.

The partisan makeup of the new parliament was not remotely as straight forward as the numbers suggest, as candidates' partisan affiliations were not formally registered as they are in modern days. While partisan affiliations were generally more clearly defined than during the 1867 election, there remained candidates who made use of party labels of past affiliations that did not reflect their political allegiance in practice, or were elected without having declared their allegiance.

Significant changes to the rules of engagement

As attorney general Sandfield Macdonald delivered in 1868 An Act respecting Elections of Members of the Legislative Assembly[4], the province's first statute that comprehensively consolidated and codified elections law. The statute instituted the key requirement to hold balloting for general elections on the same day throughout the province. It also considerably broadened the franchise.

He also delivered, at the eve the election call, the Controverted Elections Act of 1871,[5] which consolidated an array of challenges to election conducts under corrupt practices, and depoliticised the adjudication process by transferring the power to adjudicate such challenges from parliamentary committees to the Court of Queen's Bench (predecessor of Ontario's superior court). This new regime end up playing a big role in ending his government.

While not a formal change to any legislation, both majors party held candidate nomination conventions with increased formality and managed the process with much firmer hands. The result of local nomination conventions of both parties received greater formal coverage in the press. Accordingly, while there remained no formal requirements for formal registration or declaration of candidates' partisan affiliations and no restrictions on usage, the identity of the two main parties' candidate were easier to discern than in the 1867 election. However, they also provided informal support to selected candidates not endorsed by them for various strategic reasons. Furthermore, certain candidates campaigned with labels of past affiliations but were not aligned with the party while other candidates downplay the party they are affiliated with.

This was the last election where sitting members of the federal parliament were not prevented from nomination or election. Before the federal election in the following year however, the Parliament of Canada would legislate the elimination of dual mandates by disallowing nominations of sitting provincial legislators in federal election contests.[6] This pending would impact both parties by removing six members elected in this election from the legislature, including the incumbent Liberal Premier and Treasurer, and two Conservative former cabinet members.

Results in summary

The results, as reported in formal records compiled in years by the Legislative Assembly and made available to the public (and in more recent years also reproduced by Elections Ontario) were as follows.

             
   
   
                                
                             
 
                       
                       
                                
2nd Parliament of Ontario
  Liberal: 43     Conservative: 38  
   
   
Conservative-Liberal: 1
     seats vacated pending byelection when parliament first met in December 1871

[7]

More information Partisan Affiliation, Party leader ...
Elections to the 2nd Parliament of Ontario (1871)
Partisan Affiliation Party leader Seats Votes [a]
Candi-
dates		18671871± Votes±%± (%)
Liberal Edward Blake 7641432Increase 68,3669,323Decrease52.30%3.54Increase
Liberal–Conservative John Sandfield Macdonald 7341383Decrease59,92620,185Decrease45.85%4.44Decrease
Conservative-Liberal (label only)1–1n/a1,116n/a0.85%n/a
Others 9–––1,303n/a1.00%n/a
Total 15982 82 130,711 100.00%
Voter turnout 130,711 28,612Decrease 62.93 10.93Decrease
Registered electors 207,717 8,005Decrease
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Partisan affiliations were not recorded in contemporaneous formal elections record. Affiliations presented are the party affiliations as recorded in various resources maintained by the Legislative Assembly, which were not all compiled contemporaneously. Even contemporaneous affiliations data were a mixture of both formal undisputed declaration (made by the candidates or the parties), assessments by third parties such as the press, and presumptions from other events such as acceptance of specific offices. Such data inevitably contains some uncertainties, time lags, or inaccuracies, reflecting the lesser formality and permeance in partisan affiliation in that era.

Delayed of transition of power

Main articles: 2nd Parliament of Ontario, John Sandfield Macdonald ministry § Defeat, and Blake ministry § Formation

Following the election, the incumbent Conservatives refused to concede and clung on to power for nine months until December 19, 1871. It claimed to commend the confidence of new parliament, but avoided testing that confidence by delaying the convocation of the new parliament seven times.[8] While its reasoning were less than credible, the government was able to resisted calls for its resignation by leaning on uncertainties provided through a combination of factors.

Partisan allegiance not all certain

The room to dispute the overall election outcome stemmed from the uncertainty of political affiliation for the some of the elected members, and from the fact that elected members' claimed political party affiliations were not the exclusive determining factor, and in some cases not even the main determining factor for their partisan allegiance. After all, the incumbent Conservative government was led by a former Liberal chosen by the national party leader in part to help legitimize the party's claim as a coalition.

In the months following the election, the press focused their analysis not on the elected members' professed partisan affiliations, but classified members as "ministerialists" committed to sustain the incumbent ministry versus those opposing the government. Known partisan affiliation were considered along with other factors such as family ties and previous behaviour, with the allegiances of certain members subject to extensive commentary and speculation. Unlike modern day election coverage, only a small number of outlets provided their summary tally of the likely strength of the two sides. The following are a few samples of reported tally. The early tallies reported 81 seats as the election for Algoma was held later on in May that year. The last tally reported in December that year took into account of seven vacancies caused by resignations and invalidations.

More information Ministerialists, Opposition ...
MinisterialistsOppositionIndependent
(or unknown)		Election
undetermined		 Total
Toronto Leader, 22 March 1871, p. 143349181
The Globe (Toronto), 23 March 1871, p. 232417181
Ottawa Free Press, 23 March 1871, p. 232417181
Sarnia Observer, 24 March 1871, p. 13343581
The Globe (Toronto), 6 December 1871, p. 229406782
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Elections challenged and invalided

The election of elevens members were challenged under the newly adopted Controverted Elections Act of 1871. This prompted the incumbent ministry to delay the convening of parliament repeatedly over right months in the hopes that such challenges would results in its improved standing in the new parliament. Its standing was weakened rather than improved by the process however. While the election of members on both side of the aisle were challenged, the elections of five Conservatives but only one Liberal were invalidated. All six unseated members stood in the subsequent byelections and all but one were returned in the resulting byelections. However, since writs for byelection could only be moved while the legislature was in session, these six seats were vacant when parliament finally met for a number of weeks.

Double return

Liberal leader Edward Blake was re-elected in Bruce South and also in Durham West (where he was the MP), but would only be able to cast one vote in each division (vote) to take place in parliament. This effectively reduced the opposition Liberal rank by one until a replacement could be elected through a byelection. At that time, resignations could only take effect when the parliament was in session.

Government defeat

Parliament was called into session on Friday December 7th, 1871. An additional Liberal member resigned on the fourth sitting day. By the time substantive debate regarding non-confidence on the government took place, eight seats were vacant, reducing the rank of the Conservatives by five and Liberals by three.

During the debate on the speech from the throne, the Sandfield Macdonald ministry suffered defeats in three recorded divisions on three consecutive days, respectively on December 13th, 14th, and 15th and each unmistakably expressed parliament's non-confidence on the ministry. The incumbent Conservative ministry initially refused to accept the recorded divisions as binding expression of non-confidence on the grounds that a tenth of the seats were vacant, but the government's position became untenable following the resignation of Provincial Treasurer Edmund Burke Wood on December 15[9] and defeats in two further recorded divisions on December 18, each by margin of close to 20 votes. Premier Macdonald announced the resignation of the ministry on December 19.

The transition of power mandated by this election was effected nine months after on December 20, 1971, with the formation of the province's first Liberal ministry led by Premier Edward Blake and featuring future Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie as Treasurer. While Blake and Mackenzie remained in their provincial offices for only a year, the Liberal Party led the Ontario government for 33 more years after their departures.

Byelections for the eight vacancies noted, along with four ministerial byelections necessitated by the formation of the Blake ministry, were held in the following January. The two parties each gain a seat against the other, result in no change to their respective standings in parliament.

Synopsis of results

More information Riding, Winning party ...
Results by riding - 1871 Ontario general election[7]
Riding Winning party Turnout Votes
Name[a 1] 1867 Party Votes Share Margin
#		 Margin
%		 Lib Con CL Ind Total
 
Addington Con Lib 80950.82%261.63%59.31%809783––1,592
Algoma Con Con acclaimed
Bothwell Lib Lib 1,30455.02%23810.04%72.17%1,3041,066––2,370
Brant North Lib Lib 74060.26%25220.52%60.73%740488––1,228
Brant South Con Con 1,17252.70%1205.40%66.55%1,0521,172––2,224
Brockville and Elizabethtown Con Con 62050.28%70.57%66.33%613620––1,233
Bruce North Lib Lib acclaimed
Bruce South Lib Lib 2,08255.21%39310.42%79.79%2,082[a 2]1,689––3,771
Cardwell Con CL 1,11663.16%46526.32%67.14%651–1,116–1,767
Carleton Lib Con 82250.31%100.61%63.46%812822––1,634
Cornwall Con Con acclaimed
Dundas Lib Lib 1,21656.09%26412.18%76.28%1,216952––2,168
Durham East Con Con acclaimed
Durham West Lib Lib acclaimed[a 2]
Elgin East Con Lib 1,44253.11%1696.22%63.82%1,4421,273––2,715
Elgin West Con Lib 96955.69%19811.38%76.55%969771––1,740
Essex Con Lib 1,20451.23%41817.79%50.95%1,204786–3602,350
Frontenac Con Con acclaimed
Glengarry Con Con 96252.89%1055.77%72.30%857962––1,819
Grenville South Con Con 79751.22%382.44%76.42%759797––1,556
Grey North Con Con 1,33958.42%38616.84%50.22%9531,339––2,292
Grey South Con Con 1,62559.92%53819.84%61.83%1,0871,625––2,712
Haldimand Lib Lib 1,21260.78%43021.56%59.90%1,212782––1,994
Halton Lib Lib 1,19455.98%25511.95%57.51%1,194939––2,133
Hamilton Lib Lib 1,29454.23%2028.47%60.54%1,2941,092––2,386
Hastings East Con Con 18688.57%16277.14%10.10%24186––210
Hastings North Con Con 60486.04%50672.08%41.29%98604––702
Hastings West Con Con acclaimed
Huron North Con Lib 2,25955.86%47411.72%68.67%2,2591,785––4,044
Huron South Lib Lib 1,56153.55%2077.10%71.64%1,5611,354––2,915
Kent Lib Lib 1,38253.55%1837.09%61.15%1,3821,199––2,581
Kingston Con Con 60750.04%211.73%58.21%586607–201,213
Lambton Lib Lib acclaimed
Lanark North Lib Lib acclaimed
Lanark South Con Con 81642.88%1507.88%66.10%666816–4211,903
Leeds North and Grenville North Lib Con 72361.01%26122.03%52.71%462723––1,185
Leeds South Con Con acclaimed
Lennox Con Con 1,18356.41%26912.83%62.95%–2,097[a 3]––2,097
Lincoln Con Con acclaimed
London Con Con 98563.84%42727.67%57.06%558985––1,543
Middlesex East Lib Con 1,62251.41%892.82%74.92%1,5331,622––3,155
Middlesex North Lib Lib 1,28656.58%29913.15%69.34%1,286987––2,273
Middlesex West Con Lib 1,36258.81%40817.62%77.17%1,362954––2,316
Monck Con Con 93150.13%50.27%66.35%926931––1,857
Niagara Con Con 27762.25%10924.49%56.98%168277––445
Norfolk North Con Lib 1,12256.78%26813.56%74.43%1,122854[a 4]––1,976
Norfolk South Lib Lib 1,00953.30%1256.60%71.73%1,009884[a 4]––1,893
Northumberland East Lib Lib 69437.70%301.63%53.22%694664–4831,841
Northumberland West Lib Lib 1,01350.90%361.81%67.48%1,013977––1,990
Ontario North Lib Lib 1,27973.80%83348.07%44.11%1,279446––1,733
Ontario South Lib Lib 1,18052.17%984.33%65.81%1,1801,082––2,262
Ottawa Lib Lib 57476.33%39652.66%27.68%574178––752
Oxford North Lib Lib acclaimed
Oxford South Lib Lib 1,43057.78%38515.56%65.86%1,4301,045––2,475
Peel Con Con 1,11851.36%592.71%75.91%1,0591,118––2,177
Perth North Con Con 1,63057.88%44415.77%68.20%1,1861,630––2,816
Perth South Lib Con 1,30250.60%311.20%71.99%1,2711,302––2,573
Peterborough East Con Con 77961.68%29923.67%60.55%480779–41,263
Peterborough West Con Lib 64852.13%534.26%69.91%648595––1,243
Prescott Lib Con 85354.26%1348.52%75.61%719853––1,572
Prince Edward Lib Lib 1,52252.23%1304.46%78.19%1,5221,392[a 5]––2,914
Renfrew North Con Con 64056.74%15213.48%74.31%488640––1,128
Renfrew South Lib Con 44863.46%19026.91%59.88%258448––706
Russell Con Con 77351.29%463.05%56.15%727773–71,507
Simcoe North Lib Con 1,35444.39%31310.26%69.41%1,696[a 6]1,354––3,050
Simcoe South Con Con acclaimed
Stormont Con Con 70550.18%50.36%74.34%700705––1,405
Toronto East Con Con 1,23252.56%1205.12%52.26%1,1121,232––2,344
Toronto West Con Lib 1,48753.05%1716.10%51.84%1,4871,316––2,803
Victoria North Lib Con 51854.76%909.51%61.55%428518––946
Victoria South Lib Lib 1,04660.05%35020.09%59.97%1,742[a 7]–––1,742
Waterloo North Lib Lib acclaimed
Waterloo South Lib Lib 1,21560.27%41420.54%69.42%1,215801––2,016
Welland Lib Lib 1,18253.12%1396.25%61.08%2,225[a 8]–––2,225
Wellington Centre Con Lib 1,46564.94%67429.88%58.89%1,465791––2,256
Wellington North Lib Lib 1,53163.53%65227.05%59.40%1,531879––2,410
Wellington South Lib Lib acclaimed
Wentworth North Lib Lib 1,07157.24%27114.48%70.95%1,071800––1,871
Wentworth South Lib Lib 95766.97%48533.94%56.08%957472––1,429
York East Lib Lib 79170.19%45540.37%36.52%791336––1,127
York North Lib Con 1,30650.10%50.19%66.64%1,3011,306––2,607
York West Con Lib 86556.32%19412.63%62.54%865671––1,536
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  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates

Analysis

More information Party in 1st place, Party in 2nd place ...
Party candidates in 2nd place[7]
Party in 1st placeParty in 2nd placeTotal
AcclLibCon
Liberal 723443
Conservative 829138
Conservative-Liberal 11
Total 15323582
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More information Parties, Accl ...
Candidates ranked 1st to 3rd place, by party[7]
PartiesAccl1st2nd3rd
█ Liberal 736321
█ Conservative 83035
█ Conservative-Liberal 1
█ Independent 7
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More information Source, Party ...
Resulting composition of the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario[7]
SourceParty
Lib Con CL Total
Seats retainedIncumbents returned 191635
Returned by acclamation 7815
Open seats held 33
Ouster of incumbents changing allegiance 44
Defeat of incumbent by same-party candidate 213
Byelection loss reversed 11
Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated 8715
Open seats gained 3216
Total 4338182
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Members elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

  Liberal
  Conservative
  Conservative-Liberal
  1. [1]
    order is as given in EO reports
  2. [2]
    Edward Blake was elected in two ridings.
  3. [3]
    the incumbent John Stevenson received 914 votes
  4. [4]
    James Wilson (incumbent in Norfolk North) campaigned and lost in two ridings
  5. [5]
    William Anderson had been elected as a Liberal in an 1870 byelection
  6. [6]
    the incumbent William Lount received 655 votes
  7. [7]
    the incumbent Thomas Matchett received 696 votes
  8. [8]
    the incumbent William Beatty received 1,043 votes

Byelections

More information Electoral District, Member initially elected/ outgoing member ...
Electoral DistrictMember initially elected/

outgoing member

 Reason for vacancy

(subsequent election)

 Byelection held Member elected in byelection
Changed party; Acclaimed
Carleton George William Monk Election voided by court Green tickYJanuary 1872 George William Monk
Grey South Abram William Lauder Green tickY Abram William Lauder
Prescott George Wellesley Hamilton Green tickY George Wellesley Hamilton
Prince Edward| Gideon Striker Green tickY Gideon Striker
Simcoe North William Davis Ardagh Green tickY William Davis Ardagh
Stormont William Colquhoun Red XN James Bethune
Durham West Edward Blake Elected in two electoral districts n/a John McLeod
Bothwell Archibald McKellar Ministerial by-election (Blake ministry) Green tickY Archibald McKellar
Ottawa Richard William Scott Green tickY Richard William Scott
Toronto West Adam Crooks Green tickY Adam Crooks
Wellington South Peter Gow Green tickY Peter Gow
Northumberland West Alexander Fraser Resignation (December 12, 1971) n/a Charles Gifford
Grenville South Mcneil Clarke Died in office (February 29, 1872)n/aMarch 30, 1872 Christopher Finlay Fraser
Cornwall John Sandfield MacDonald Died in office (June 1, 1872)n/aJuly 16, 1872 John Goodall Snetsinger
Bruce South Edward Blake Sought re-election as MP

(in 1872 federal election)

 Green tickYSeptember 1872 Rupert Mearse Wells
London John Carling Green tickY William Ralph Meredith
Middlesex West Alexander Mackenzie[i] Green tickY John Watterworth
Monck Lachlin McCallum Red XN Henry Ryan Haney
Grenville South Christopher Finlay Fraser Election voided by courtGreen tickYOctober 16, 1872 Christopher Finlay Fraser
Lambton Timothy Blair Pardee Ministerial by-election (Mowat ministry)Green tickY November 1872 Timothy Blair Pardee
Oxford North George Perry Resignation (for seatless party leader) Oliver Mowat
Brant South Edmund Burke Wood Sought election as MP [j]Green tickYMay 2, 1873 Arthur Sturgis Hardy
Grenville South Christopher Finlay Fraser Ministerial by-election (Mowat ministry)Green tickYDecember 1873 Christopher Finlay Fraser
Wellington North Robert McKim Sought election as MP [k]Red XNFebruary 1874 George Turner Orton
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See also

Notes and references

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