1867 Canadian federal election

1867 Canadian federal election

August 7 – September 20, 1867 (1867-08-07 – 1867-09-20)
181 seats in the House of Commons 91 seats needed for a majority
Registered	361,028
Turnout	74.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sir John A. Macdonald George Brown (unofficial) Joseph Howe Party Conservative Liberal Anti-Confederation Leader's seat Kingston Ran in Ontario South (lost) Hants Seats won 100 62 18 Popular vote 93,412 60,818 21,239 Percentage 34.8% 22.7% 7.9%
Popular vote by electoral riding. (Because seats are awarded by the popular vote in each riding, the provincial popular vote does not necessarily translate to more seats.)
Prime Minister before election John A. Macdonald Conservative Prime Minister after election John A. Macdonald Conservative

The 1867 Canadian federal election was held from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and was the first election for the new nation of Canada. It was held to elect members representing electoral districts in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec to the House of Commons of the 1st Canadian Parliament. The provinces of Manitoba (1870) and British Columbia (1871) were created during the term of the 1st Parliament of Canada and were not part of this election.

Sir John A. Macdonald had been sworn in as prime minister by the Governor General, Lord Monck, when the new Canadian nation was founded on 1 July 1867. As leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (concurrently known as the Liberal-Conservative Party until 1873), he led his party in this election and continued as Prime Minister of Canada when the Conservatives won a majority of the seats in the election, including majorities of the seats (and votes) in the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The Liberal Party of Canada won the second largest number of seats overall, including a majority of the seats (and votes) in the province of New Brunswick. The Liberals did not have a party leader in the election. George Brown, who was the leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario, was considered the "elder statesman" of the national party. Brown ran concurrently for seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the House of Commons of Canada, and might well have been Prime Minister in the unlikely event that the Liberals prevailed over the Conservatives in the national election. Brown failed to win a seat in either body, and the national Liberals remained officially leaderless until 1873.

The Anti-Confederation Party, led by Joseph Howe, won the third largest number of seats overall, based solely on a majority of seats (and votes) in the province of Nova Scotia. Their main desire was the reversal of the decision to join Confederation, which had become highly unpopular in that province. The goals of the Anti-Confederation Members of Parliament (MPs) were openly supported by five of the Liberal MPs of New Brunswick. The Anti-Confederation MPs sat with the Liberal caucus. When the government in Britain refused to allow Nova Scotia to secede, a majority of the Anti-Confederation MPs (11 of 18) moved to the Conservatives.

Halifax was a two-member riding at the time of the election, while the City of Saint John was represented by its own district and the County of Saint John. The election in Kamouraska, Quebec was delayed due to rioting.

Results

Summary of results

↓
100	62	18
Conservative	Liberal	Anti-Confederation

Party		Votes		Seats
	Conservative	93,412	34.53%	100 / 181 (55%)
	Liberal	60,818	22.67%	62 / 181 (34%)
	Anti-Confederation	21,239	7.92%	18 / 181 (10%)

Detailed analysis

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Elected	Popular vote
					#	%
	Conservative	Sir John A. Macdonald	82	71	63,682	23.73%
	Liberal-Conservative		32	29	29,730	11.08%
	Liberal	none (unofficially, George Brown)	66	62	60,818	22.67%
	Anti-Confederation	Joseph Howe	20	18	21,239	7.92%
	Independents		1	-	1,756	0.65%
	Independent Liberal		1	-	1,048	0.39%
	Unknown		141	-	90,044	33.56%
	Vacant - 1		–	0	–	–
Total			343	180	268,317	100%
Source:

Acclamations

The following MPs were acclaimed:

• Ontario: 3 Conservative, 3 Liberal-Conservatives, 9 Liberals
• Quebec: 14 Conservatives, 5 Liberal-Conservatives, 4 Liberals
• New Brunswick: 1 Conservative, 3 Liberals
• Nova Scotia: 4 Anti-Confederates

Vacancy

The election in Kamouraska, Quebec, was cancelled due to rioting at the polling places. No member was elected for the riding until a by-election in 1869.

Results by province

Party name			Ontario	Quebec	NB	NS	Total
	Conservative	Seats	33	36	1	1	71
		Popular vote	26.2%	28.5%		13.8%	23.2%
	Liberal-Conservative	Seats	16	11	2	-	29
		Vote	12.5%	12.3%	11.1%	3.5%	11.1%
	Liberal	Seats	33	17	12		62
		Vote	23.7%	25.2%	49.5%		22.7%
	Anti-Confederation	Seats				18	18
		Vote				58.2%	7.9%
	Unknown	Seats	-	-	-	-	-
		Vote	35.6%	34.1%	39.3%	24.4%	34.0%
	Independent	Seats	-				-
		Vote	1.3%				0.7%
	Independent Liberal	Seats	-				-
		Vote	0.7%				0.4%
Total seats			82	64	15	19	180

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote Conservative   34.53% Liberal   22.67% Anti-Confederation   7.92% Others   34.88%

Seat totals Conservative   55.56% Liberal   34.44% Anti-Confederation   10.00%

See also

For a list of the MPs elected in the 1867 election, and in by-elections prior to 1872, see 1st Canadian Parliament.

• List of elections in the Province of Canada
• 1st Canadian Parliament

External links

• Map of electoral districts coloured for each party
• Ridings and candidates