Canadian federal election, 1988 Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The 1988 Canadian federal election was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. 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 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 | 203 | 169 | . | 5,667,543 | 43.02% | align="right" |
| Liberal | John Turner | 294 | 38 | 83 | . | 4,205,072 | 31.92% | align="right"
|
| New Democratic | Ed Broadbent | 295 | 32 | 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% | align="right" | |
| Confederation of Regions | 51 | 0 | 0 | 41,342 | 0.31% | align="right" | ||
| 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% | align="right" | |
| Rhinoceros | Cornelius the First | 74 | 0 | 0 | 52,173 | 0.40% | align="right" | |
| Social Credit | Ken Sweigard | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3,407 | 0.03% | align="right" | |
| Independent | 55 | 4 | 0 | 22,982 | 0.17% |
| ||
| No Affiliation | 100 | 0 | 0 | 24,516 | 0.19% | |||
| Vacant | 5 | 295 | ||||||
| 1,573 | 282 | 13,175,494 | 100.0 | |||||
| Other elections: 1979, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2000 | ||||||||
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 | ||||||||
n.a.= not applicable - party was not recognized in the previous election.
Province by Province breakdown
Note. Parties that capture less than 1 percent of the vote in a province are not recorded. Parties that capture more than 1 percent in a province but less than 1 percent nationally do not have national numbers.
Party Name
North
B.C
Alb
Sask
Man
Ont
Que
NB
NS
PEI
NL
Canada/Total
Progressive Conservative Seats
12
25
4
7
46
63
5
5
2
169
Pop Vote
29.7%
35.3%
51.8%
36.4%
36.9%
38.2%
52.7%
40.4%
40.9%
41.5%
42.2%
43.0%
Liberal Seats
2
1
5
43
12
5
6
4
5
83
Pop Vote
30.1%
20.4%
13.7%
18.2%
36.5%
38.9%
30.3%
45.4%
46.5%
49.9%
45.0%
31.9%
New Democratic Seats
1
19
1
10
2
10
43
Pop vote
37.0%
37.0%
17.4%
44.2%
21.3%
20.1%
14.4%
9.3%
11.4%
7.5%
12.4%
20.4%
Reform Seats
Pop Vote
4.8%
15.4%
3.3%
2.1%
Christian Heritage Seats
Pop Vote
1.1%
1.4%
Confederation of Regions Seats
Pop Vote
4.3%
Rhinoceros Seats
Pop Vote
1.2%
Others Seats
Others Pop Vote
3.2%
2.5%
0.6%
1.2%
2.0%
1.4%
1.4%
0.6%
1.2%
1.1%
0.4%
2.6%
Party Name
North
B.C
Alb
Sask
Man
Ont
Que
NB
NS
PEI
NL
Canada/Total
Notes
|
Preceded by: 1984 Canadian election | Canadian federal elections |
Followed by: 1993 Canadian election |
This is an Article on Canadian federal election, 1988. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Canadian federal election, 1988