By-elections to the 4th Canadian Parliament

By-elections to the 4th Canadian Parliament were held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons between the 1878 federal election and the 1882 federal election. The Conservative Party of Canada led a majority government for the 4th Canadian Parliament.

The list includes Ministerial by-elections which occurred due to the requirement that Members of Parliament recontest their seats upon being appointed to Cabinet. These by-elections were almost always uncontested. This requirement was abolished in 1931.

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause	Retained
New Westminster	March 9, 1882	Thomas Robert McInnes	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independent|	Independent	Joshua Homer	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Simcoe South	February 16, 1882	William Carruthers Little	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Angus McIsaac	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Death	Yes
Northumberland West	December 19, 1881	James Cockburn	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	George Guillet	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed Chairman of the Commission to collect, examine and classify the Statutes passed by the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, since Confederation	Yes
Argenteuil	August 17, 1881	John Joseph Caldwell Abbott	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	John Joseph Caldwell Abbott	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Pictor	June 18, 1881	James McDonald	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	John McDougald	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.	Yes
Colchester	June 18, 1881	Thomas McKay	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Archibald McLelan	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Called to the Senate.	Yes
Colchester	March 31, 1881	Joshua Spencer Thompson	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	James Reid	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Death	Yes
Northumberland East	March 25, 1881	Joseph Keeler	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Darius Crouter		Independent Liberal	Death	No
Bellechasse	March 19, 1881	Achille Larue		Liberal	Guillaume Amyot	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Charlevoix	March 19, 1881	Joseph-Stanislas Perrault	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Simon-Xavier Cimon	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Carleton	February 16, 1881	George H. Connell	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independent|	Independent	David Irvine		Liberal	Death	No
Joliette	December 9, 1880	Louis François Georges Baby	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Lewis Arthur McConville	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec	Yes
Oxford North	December 9, 1880	Thomas Oliver		Liberal	James Sutherland		Liberal	Death	Yes
Montmorency	December 9, 1880	Auguste-Réal Angers	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Pierre-Vincent Valin	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec.	Yes
Quebec County	November 20, 1880	Adolphe-Philippe Caron	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Adolphe-Philippe Caron	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Militia and Defence.	Yes
Bagot	November 20, 1880	Joseph-Alfred Mousseau	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Joseph-Alfred Mousseau	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as President of the Privy Council.	Yes
Brome	October 18, 1880	Edmund Leavens Chandler		Liberal	David Ames Manson	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Death	No
Selkirk	September 10, 1880	Donald Smith		Independent Conservative	Thomas Scott	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Ontario North	August 28, 1880	George Wheler		Liberal	George Wheler		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
West Toronto	August 28, 1880	John Beverly Robinson	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	James Beaty, Jr.	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.	Yes
Châteauguay	April 17, 1880	Luther Hamilton Holton		Liberal	Edward Holton		Liberal	Death	Yes
Montmorency	February 14, 1880	Pierre-Vincent Valin	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Auguste-Réal Angers	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Argenteuil	February 12, 1880	Thomas Christie		Liberal	John Joseph Caldwell Abbott	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Cornwall	January 27, 1880	Darby Bergin	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Darby Bergin	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Lanark North	January 22, 1880	Daniel Galbraith		Liberal	Donald Greenfield MacDonell		Liberal	Death	Yes
Provencher	December 30, 1879	Joseph Dubuc	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Joseph Royal	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed a Judge of the Court of Queen's Bench for Manitoba.	Yes
Durham West	November 17, 1879	Harvey William Burk		Liberal	Edward Blake		Liberal	Resignation to provide a seat for Blake.	Yes
Cape Breton	October 23, 1879	Hugh McLeod	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	William McKenzie McLeod	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Death	Yes
Yale	September 29, 1879	Edgar Dewdney	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Francis Jones Barnard	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed Indian Commissioner of Manitoba and the North West Territories.	Yes
Bonaventure	August 26, 1879	Théodore Robitaille	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Pierre-Clovis Beauchesne	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.	Yes
Yamaska	July 7, 1879	Charles-Ignace Gill	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Fabien Vanasse dit Vertefeuille	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Appointed a judge to the Quebec Superior Court.	Yes
Niagara	March 20, 1879	Patrick Hughes		Liberal	Josiah Burr Plumb	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Hastings East	February 25, 1879	John White	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	John White	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Charlevoix	February 13, 1879	Pierre-Alexis Tremblay		Liberal	Joseph-Stanislas Perrault	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Death	No
Beauharnois	January 9, 1879	Michael Cayley	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Joseph Gédéon H. Bergeron	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Death	Yes
Marquette	November 30, 1878	John A. Macdonald	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Joseph O'Connell Ryan		Liberal	MacDonald was elected in several seats simultaneously, resigned to run in Ministerial by-election in Victoria.	No
Three Rivers	November 21, 1878	William McDougall	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Hector-Louis Langevin	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Resignation to provide a seat for Langevin.	Yes
Joliette	November 14, 1878	Louis François Georges Baby	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Louis François Georges Baby	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	Yes
Queens County	November 9, 1878	James Colledge Pope	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	James Colledge Pope	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Marine and Fisheries.	Yes
Hastings North	November 6, 1878	Mackenzie Bowell	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Mackenzie Bowell	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Customs.	Yes
Terrebonne	November 6, 1878	Louis-Rodrigue Masson	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Louis-Rodrigue Masson	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Militia and Defence.	Yes
City of St. John	November 4, 1878	Samuel Leonard Tilley	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Samuel Leonard Tilley	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Finance.	Yes
Pictou	November 4, 1878	James McDonald	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	James McDonald	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.	Yes
Russell	November 4, 1878	John O'Connor	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	John O'Connor	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as President of the Privy Council.	Yes
Compton	November 4, 1878	John Henry Pope	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	John Henry Pope	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Liberal-Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Agriculture.	Yes
Cumberland	November 4, 1878	Charles Tupper	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Charles Tupper	Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative (historical)|	Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Public Works.	Yes
Huron Centre	November 2, 1878	Horace Horton		Liberal	Richard John Cartwright		Liberal	Appointment in the office of the Auditor-General of Canada.	Yes

See also

• List of federal by-elections in Canada

Sources

• Parliament of Canada–Elected in By-Elections