Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2 , 1997 , to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons . Jean Chrétien 's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government. The Reform Party of Canada replaced the Bloc Québécois as the Official Opposition .
The election closely reflected the pattern that had been set out in the 1993 election . The Liberals swept Ontario , the Bloc took much of Quebec , and much of the west was won by Reform, particularly its Alberta base. The major change was that the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada all but wiped out the Liberals in the Maritimes . Maritime voters, upset over cuts to employment insurance and other programs, defeated two cabinet ministers. David Dingwall , Minister of Public Works from Nova Scotia , and Doug Young , Minister of National Defence from New Brunswick , both lost to NDP candidates in a major blow to the Liberals.
Because of losses in the Maritimes, the Liberal majority was reduced considerably from the 1993 total. Mostly because of these wins in the Maritimes, Jean Charest 's Tories and Alexa McDonough 's NDP both regained official party status in the House of Commons. Independent member John Nunziata , who had been expelled from the Liberal Party for opposing the GST , was re-elected in his riding in Toronto .
National results
Voter turnout was 67.0%, one of the lowest ever federal election turnouts.
Party
Party Leader
# of Seats
Popular Vote
Before1
After
% Change
#
%
% Change
Liberal
Jean Chrétien
301
174
155
-10.9%
4,994,277
38.46%
-2.78%
Reform
Preston Manning
227
50
60
+20.0%
2,513,080
19.35%
+0.66%
Bloc Québécois
Gilles Duceppe
75
50
44
-12.0%
1,385,821
10.67%
-2.85%
New Democratic
Alexa McDonough
301
9
21
+133.3%
1,434,509
11.05%
+4.17%
Progressive Conservative
Jean Charest
301
2
20
+900%
2,446,705
18.84%
+2.80%
Green
Joan Russow
79
-
-
55,583
0.43%
+0.18%
Natural Law
Neil Paterson
136
-
-
37,085
0.29%
+0.00%
Christian Heritage
Ron Gray
53
-
-
29,085
0.22%
+0.00%
Canadian Action
Paul T. Hellyer
58
-
-
17,502
0.13%
n.a.
Marxist-Leninist
Hardial Bains
65
-
-
11,468
0.09%
+0.05%
Independent
71
6
1
34,507
0.46%
No Affiliation
5
-
-
26,252
0.01%
Vacant
4
N/A
Total
1,672
295
301
+2.03%
12,985,974
100.0
Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Notes:
1 "Before" refers to standings in the House of Commons at dissolution, and not to standings at the previous election.
n.a. = not applicable - party was not recognized in previous election
Results by province
Party Name
BC
AB
SK
MB
ON
QC
NB
NS
PE
NL
NT
YK
Total
Liberal
Seats:
6
2
1
6
101
26
3
4
4
2
155
Popular Vote:
28.8
24.0
24.7
34.3
49.5
36.7
32.9
28.4
44.8
37.9
43.1
22.0
38.5
Reform
Seats:
25
24
8
3
60
Vote:
43.1
54.6
36.0
23.7
19.1
0.3
13.1
9.7
1.5
2.5
11.7
25.3
19.4
Bloc Québécois
Seats:
44
44
Vote:
37.9
10.7
New Democratic
Seats:
3
5
4
2
6
1
21
Vote:
18.2
5.7
30.9
23.2
10.7
2.0
18.4
30.4
15.1
22.0
20.9
28.9
8.5
Progressive Conservative
Seats:
1
1
5
5
5
3
20
Vote:
6.2
14.4
7.8
17.8
18.8
22.2
35.0
30.8
38.3
36.8
16.7
13.9
18.8
Other
Seats:
1
1
Vote:
0.6
0.2
0.1
0.3
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.5
7.6
8.9
0.5
Total seats:
34
26
14
14
101
75
10
11
4
7
2
1
301
Parties that won no seats:
Green
Vote:
2.0
0.4
0.4
0.1
0.2
0.4
Natural Law
Vote:
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.6
0.4
0.1
0.2
0.3
Christian Heritage
Vote:
0.4
0.1
0.4
0.4
0.2
1.0
0.2
Canadian Action
Vote:
0.3
0.2
0.1
Marxist-Leninist
Vote:
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
Source: Elections Canada
Notes
1997 was one of only two elections in Canadian history (the other was 1993) where the official Opposition did not have the majority of the opposition's seats. 60 seats for the Reform Party, yet 86 seats for the other opposition parties and independents combined.
10 closest ridings
Sackville—Eastern Shore , NSPeter Stoffer , NDP def. Ken Streatch, PC by 41 votes
Bellechasse—Etchemins—Montmagny—L'Islet , QCGilbert Normand , Lib def. François Langlois, BQ by 47 votes
Selkirk—Interlake , MBJon Gerrard , Lib by 66 votes
Cardigan , PELawrence MacAulay , Lib def. Dan Hughes, PC by 99 votes
Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Pabok , QC:Saskatoon—Humboldt , SKJim Pankiw , Ref def. Dennis Gruending , NDP by 220 votes
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte , NFGerry Byrne , Lib def. Art Bull, PC by 232 votes
Chicoutimi , QCAndré Harvey , PC def. Gilbert Fillion, BQ by 317 votes
Frontenac—Mégantic , QCSimcoe—Grey , ONPaul Bonwick , Lib def. Paul Shaw, Ref by 481 votes
External links
