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1915 Manitoba general election

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The 1915 Manitoba general election was held August 6, 1915 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. The Liberals under Norris won a landslide majority with 40 seats, replacing the Conservative government that had ruled the province since 1899.

1915 Manitoba general election
← 1914 August 6, 1915 1920 →
47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
24 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Tobias Norris James Albert Manning Aikins
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1910 1915
Leader's seat Lansdowne Brandon City (lost re-election)
Last election 20 28
Seats won 40 5
Seat change Increase20 Decrease23
Percentage 55.1% 33.0%
Swing Increase12.5pp Decrease13.9pp
Premier before election

Rodmond Roblin
Conservative

Premier after election

Tobias Norris
Liberal

This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond Roblin were confirmed in office with 28 seats out of 49. In early 1915, however, the Roblin administration was forced to resign from office after a commission appointed by the Lieutenant Governor found the government guilty of corruption in the tending of contracts for new legislative buildings.[1]

Roblin denied the charges, but resigned as premier on May 12. Three days later, opposition Liberal leader Tobias Norris was called upon to form a new administration. The house was quickly adjourned, and new elections were scheduled for August.[1]

The primary issue of the campaign was corruption. The pro-Liberal Manitoba Free Press ran numerous articles criticizing the practices of the Roblin government, and alleging that the "Roblin machine" still controlled the Conservative Party. The Liberals claimed they would manage the province's affairs in a businesslike rather than a partisan manner, an approach typified by Provincial Treasurer Edward Brown call for the province to "forget party for five years and get down to business".

Women's suffrage and temperance were also important issues. The Liberal Party promised to introduce voting rights for women, and to hold a provincial referendum on temperance. The party's platform also promised direct legislation and plebiscites on other issues.

Facing unpopularity due to the corruption scandal, the Manitoba Conservatives chose federal Member of Parliament (MP) James Albert Manning Aikins as their new leader on July 15. Aikins had never served in the Roblin government and was regarded by many as free from the controversy that had forced the Conservatives to resign. In a further effort to separate themselves from the Roblin government, the Conservative party tried to change its name, referring to itself as the "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" party for this election. Liberals ridiculed this name change and sarcastically described the "new" Conservatives as the "Purity Party".

The election results were a disaster for Conservatives. They won only five seats out of 47, and Aikins lost by a considerable margin in Brandon City. The Liberals under Norris won a landslide majority with 40 seats, the largest victory in Manitoba history, although with barely more than half the vote.

In the Winnipeg Centre district, Fred Dixon was re-elected as an independent candidate with support from both Liberals and the Labour Representation Committee.

The Social Democratic Party also won its first ever seat in the province, taking one of the two seats in north-end Winnipeg.

This election (like the previous one in 1914) used two-member districts in Winnipeg, with each seat being filled in separate contests.

Manitoba's francophone constituencies rejected the provincial trend, and continued to support candidates of the Conservative party (four of the five Conservative MLAs were from francophone areas). Many francophone voters opposed Norris's plans to end provincial funding for denominational Catholic schools.

The "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" name seems to have been dropped shortly after the election.

This was the last election before Winnipeg was made into a single ten-seat district, and Single transferable voting was brought into use.[2]

Electoral system

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In 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

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[3]

Party Party leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular vote
1914 Elected % Change # % % Change
  Liberal Tobias Norris   20 40 +100%   55.1%  
  Conservative James Albert Manning Aikins   28 5 -82.1%   33.0%  
  Social Democratic       1     11.9%  
  Independent/others   1 1 -    
Total   49 47 -4.1%   100%  
Popular vote
Liberal
 
 55.10%
Conservative
 
 33.00%
Others
 
 11.90%
Seats summary
Liberal
 
 85.11%
Conservative
 
 10.64%
Others
 
 4.25%

Riding results

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Arthur:

Assiniboia:

Beautiful Plains:

Birtle:

Brandon City:

Carillon:

Cypress:

Dauphin:

Deloraine:

Dufferin:

Elmwood:

Emerson:

Gilbert Plains:

Gimli:

(Einar Jonasson had been nominated as the official Liberal candidate, but withdrew.)[4]

Gladstone:

Glenwood:

Hamiota:

Iberville:

Kildonan and St. Andrews:

Killarney:

Lakeside:

Lansdowne:

La Verendrye:

Manitou:

Minnedosa:

Morden and Rhineland:

Morris:

Mountain:

Norfolk:

Portage la Prairie:

Roblin:

Rockwood:

Russell:

St. Boniface:

  • Joseph Dumas (L) 921
  • J.A. Beaupre (C) 790
  • J.P. Howden (Ind L) 640

St. Clements:

St. George:

Ste. Rose:

  • (incumbent)Joseph Hamelin (C) 443
  • Z.H. Rheaume (L) 414
  • A. McLeod (Ind) 266

Swan River:

Turtle Mountain:

Virden:

Winnipeg

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Winnipeg North "A":

Winnipeg North "B":

Winnipeg Centre "A":

Winnipeg Centre "B":

Winnipeg South "A":

Winnipeg South "B":

[3][5]

Deferred elections

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The Pas, August 25, 1915:

Horace Halcrow had been nominated by the Conservatives to contest this riding, but withdrew before the election. Halcrow had been Manitoba's chief game warden under the Roblin government.

Post-election changes

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Rupertsland (new constituency), September 16, 1916:

Iberville (res. Aime Benard, 1917), November 1, 1917:

Roblin (res. Frederic Newton, 1917), November 19, 1917:

(A Winnipeg Free Press report from November 20, 1917 shows Westwood winning by 186 votes, with one poll yet to declare. This was likely the first provincial election where Manitoba women cast votes.)

Morris (dep. Jacques Parent, 1917; no by-election)

Minnedosa (George Grierson to cabinet, November 10, 1917), November 30, 1917:

Winnipeg North "B" (res. Richard Rigg, 1917), January 15, 1918:

(Numbers taken from the Winnipeg Free Press.)

Rhineland (dec. Valentine Winkler, June 7, 1920; no by-election)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Legislature Scandal". TimeLinks. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  2. ^ Parliamentary Guide
  3. ^ a b "Historical Summaries" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  4. ^ "Manitoba Historical Society". The Voice. August 13, 1915. p. 4. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "Constituencies and Candidates". Brandon Daily Sun. July 28, 1915. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
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