Canadian federal election, 1988
Elections and parties in
Canada
|
|
The 1988 Canadian federal election was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-United States 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 of Canada 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.
Results
For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1988 election see 34th Canadian parliament.
National
| Party
| Party Leader
| # of candidates
| Seats
| Popular Vote
|
| Before
| After
| % Change
| #
| %
| Change
|
| Progressive Conservative
| Brian Mulroney
| 295
| 211
| 169
|
| 5,667,543
| 43.02%
| -7.02%
|
| Liberal
| John Turner
| 294
| 40
| 83
|
| 4,205,072
| 31.92%
| +3.89%
|
| New Democratic
| Ed Broadbent
| 295
| 30
| 43
|
| 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.
|
| Communist
| George Hewison
| 51
| 0
| 0
|
| 7,066
| 0.05%
| -0.01%
|
| Confederation of Regions
|
| 51
| 0
| 0
|
| 41,342
| 0.31%
| -0.68%
|
| Green
|
| 68
| 0
| 0
|
| 47,228
| 0.36%
| +0.14%
|
| Libertarian
|
| 88
| 0
| 0
|
| 33,135
| 0.25%
| +0.06%
|
| Commonwealth
| Gilles Gervais
| 58
| 0
| 0
|
| 7,467
| 0.06%
| -0.21%
|
| Rhinoceros
| Cornelius the First
| 74
| 0
| 0
|
| 52,173
| 0.40%
| -0.39%
|
| Social Credit
| Ken Sweigard
| 9
| 0
| 0
|
| 3,407
| 0.03%
| -0.11%
|
| Independent
| 55
| 1
| 0
|
| 22,982
| 0.17%
|
|
| No Affiliation
| 100
| 0
| 0
|
| 24,516
| 0.19%
|
|
| Vacant
|
|
| 295
|
|
|
|
|
| 1,573
| 282
|
| 13,175,494
| 100.0
|
|
| Other elections: 1979, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2000
|
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca
|
n.a.= not applicable - party was not recognized in the previous election.
Province by Province breakdown
Note. Parties that capture less than 1% of the vote in a province are not recorded. Parties that capture more than 1% in a province, but less than 1% nationally, do not have national numbers.
Notes
