The 1914 Manitoba general election was held on July 10, 1914 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.
The result was a fifth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party, led by premier Rodmond Roblin. The result, however, was much closer than in the previous general elections of 1903, 1907 and 1910.
Former Conservative leader Hugh John Macdonald believed that the party was hurt by its 1912 amendments to the Manitoba education code. Although Education Minister George R. Coldwell insisted the amendments were only meant to clarify existing provisions, many voters believed the Roblin government wanted to re-introduce funding for separate Roman Catholic schools.[1] The government was also weakened by a corruption scandal involving the construction of new legislative buildings.
The Conservatives won twenty-eight seats, against twenty for the Liberal Party under Tobias Norris. Independent candidate Fred Dixon was also elected, with support from both the Liberals and the Labour Representation Committee. This election re-established the Liberals as a credible government-in-waiting.
Early in 1915, Roblin's administration was forced to resign from office after a report commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor found his government guilty of corruption in the awarding of contracts for new legislative buildings. Norris's Liberals were called to form a new administration, although they did not hold a majority of seats in the legislature. A new election was held, which the Liberals won in a landslide.
Electoral system
editIn this election Manitoba used a mixture of multi-member districts and single-member districts. In the multi-member districts - Winnipeg North, Winnipeg South and Winnipeg Centre - each member was elected in a separate contest through First past the post.
In each single-member district the member was elected through First past the post.
Results
editParty | Party leader | # of candidates |
Seats | Popular vote | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1910 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
Conservative | Rodmond Roblin | 28 | 28 | - | 68434 | 46.9 | |||
Liberal | Tobias Norris | 13 | 20 | +53.8% | 61797 | 42.36 | |||
Independent | - | 1 | |||||||
Total | 41 | 49 | +19.5% | 145885 | 100% |
The appearance of "third party" candidates presaged later developments when farmers and workers in such bodies as Independent Labour Party, the CCF and the NDP would play larger role in elections. Note two Labour Representation League candidates, in Assiniboia and Elmwood, and candidacy of Ferley (later ILP councillor on Winnipeg city council) in Mountain,[2] as well as the successful campaign of Independent (Labour) candidate Fred Dixon, who would serve nine years as MLA.
Riding results
edit- John Williams (L) 766
- (incumbent)Amos Lyle (C) 700
- John Thomas Haig (C) 1239
- John W. Wilton (L) 965
- W.J. Bartlett (Labour Representation Committee) 501
- (incumbent)James H. Howden (C) 1102
- William R. Wood (L) 1070
- (incumbent)George J.H. Malcolm (L) 892
- W.M. Taylor (C) 583
- (incumbent)George R. Coldwell (C) 1897
- Stephen Emmett Clement (L) 1734
- Thomas B. Molloy (L) 659
- (incumbent)Albert Prefontaine (C) 652
- George R. Ray (C) accl.
- (incumbent)George Steel (C) 852
- James Christie Sr. (L) 836
- William Buchanan (C) 1026
- J. Seale (L) 710
- Robert S. Thornton (L) 1127
- (incumbent)John C. Walker Reid (C) 923
- (incumbent)Rodmond Roblin (C) 1204
- Edward August (L) 1065
- Harry Mewhirter (C) 1901
- Thomas Glendenning Hamilton (L) 1537
- R.S. Ward (Labour Representation Committee/) 508
- (incumbent)David McFadden (C) 1032
- George Walton (L) 986
- (incumbent)Sam Hughes (C) 1471
- G.D. Shortreed (L) 996
- Sveinn Thorvaldson (C) 1045
- Einar Jonasson (L) 461
- Taras Ferley (L-Ind) 264
- (incumbent)James W. Armstrong (L) 1239
- S. Singleton (C) 943
- James W. Breakey (L) 1078
- A.L. Young (C) 906
Grand Rapids (17 August):
- Hugh Armstrong (C) 271
- A. la Rose (L) 12
- John Henry McConnell (L) 1134
- (incumbent)William Ferguson (C) 736
- (incumbent)Aime Benard (C) accl.
- (incumbent)Walter Montague (C) 1087
- George Prout (L) 1086
- (incumbent)George Lawrence (C) 758
- Samuel Hayden (L) 690
- Jean-Baptiste Lauzon (C) 778
- Philippe Adjutor Talbot (L) 550
- John J. Garland (C) 838
- (incumbent)Charles D. McPherson (L) 828
- (incumbent)Tobias Norris (L) 1371
- W.J. Cundy (C) 927
- (incumbent)James Morrow (C) 1099
- I.H. Davidson (L) 1029
- George Grierson (L) 1174
- William B. Waddell (C) 965
- (incumbent)Valentine Winkler (L) 1073
- William Johnston Tupper (C) 941
- Jacques Parent (C) 920
- (incumbent)William Molloy (L) 658
- (incumbent)James Baird (L) 1200
- John T. Dale (C) 598
- A.D. Craig (Ind) 306 (His grass-roots platform, which included Direct Legislation and Proportional representation, described in Grain Growers Guide, May 4, 1914, p. 27)
- John Graham (L) 911
- (incumbent)Robert F. Lyons (C) 843
- Ewan McPherson (L) 1030
- (incumbent)Hugh Armstrong (C) 1020
- (incumbent)Frederic Newton (C) 802
- T. McLennan (L) 571
- (incumbent)Isaac Riley (C) 1103
- Arthur Lobb (L) 1044
- Donald C. McDonald (L) 892
- E. Graham (C) 862
- (incumbent)Joseph Bernier (C) 1603
- L.A. Delorme (L) 1259
- (incumbent)Donald A. Ross (L) 1025
- Thomas Hay (C) 887
- (incumbent)Edmund L. Taylor (C) 1198
- Skuli Sigfusson (L) 1097
- Joseph Hamelin (C) 596
- John A. Campbell (L) 536
- William H. Sims (L) 594
- W.J. Stewart (C) 561
The Pas (27 July):
- (incumbent)Robert Orok (C) accl.
- (incumbent)James Johnson (C) 707
- George William McDonald (L) 645
- George Clingan (L) 1135
- (incumbent)Harvey C. Simpson (C) 1050
Winnipeg Centre "A":
- (incumbent)Thomas Herman Johnson (L) 7998
- A.J. Andrews (C) 6948
- William H. Hoop (SPC) 953
Winnipeg Centre "B":
- Fred Dixon (Ind [Lib-Lab]) 8205
- F.J.G. McArthur (C) 6692
- George Armstrong (SPC) 928
Winnipeg North "A":
- Joseph P. Foley (C) 3135
- J. Willoughby (L) 2816
- Arthur Beech (SDP) 1921
Winnipeg North "B":
- Daniel McLean (C) 3268
- Robert Newton Lowery (L) 2645
- Herman Saltzman (SDP) 2068
Winnipeg South "A":
- Albert B. Hudson (L) 5861
- (incumbent)Lendrum McMeans (C) 4863
Winnipeg South "B":
- William L. Parrish (L) 5812
- Harry W. Whitlaw (C) 4902
Post-election changes
editDufferin (res. Rodmond Roblin, May 12, 1915)
Further reading
edit- Hopkins, J. Castell (1915). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1914. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.
References
edit- ^ "Manitoba Pageant: My Dear Campbell".
- ^ Grain Growers Guide, March 4, 1914