Canadian federal election of 1917

The Canadian federal election of 1917 is held the December 17th 1917 with an aim of electing the Député S of the 13th legislature with the House of Commons of Canada. It is about the 13th general election since the Canadian Confédération of 1867. Qualified “ the bitterest election of the history of Canada ” by the historian Michael Bliss, it is primarily about a confrontation on the question of the Conscription. The unionistic Left the Prime Minister to sir Robert Borden is elected with strong a majority, as well as the greatest percentage of the popular vote for a sole party in the history of Canada.

Context

The preceding election had taken place in 1911 and had been gained by the preserving of Borden. Under the Canadian electoral law, Canada would have to have an election in 1916. However, quoting the urgency of the First World War, the government delays the election in the hope to form a Coalition government, as it is the case with the the United Kingdom.

Sir Wilfrid Bay-tree, chief of the Liberal party of Canada, refuses to join the coalition because of the conscription. The conscription is strongly opposed to the Quebec, bastion of the Liberal party. Bay-tree was anxious that the province would give up the liberals, and perhaps country also, if it agreed to join the coalition of Borden. This last goes from before and forms its government “ unioniste ”, and the Liberal party tears on the question. Several liberal deputies Canadian-English, as well as the liberal parties of the anglophone provinces, support the unionistic government.

In order to ensure the victory of the conscription, Borden adopts two laws to influence the vote in favor of the government. The first, the Law of the elections in time of war , removes the right to vote with the conscientious objectors and the Canadian citizens born in countries enemy and naturalized after 1902. The law also grants the right to vote with the wives of the soldiers. Thus, the election of 1917 is the first federal election where certain women have the right to vote. The second new law is the Loi of the military voters which allows the soldiers on mission to choose the district abroad in which them vote would be entered. This makes it possible the government to direct the soldiers, strongly in favor of the conscription, to vote in the districts where they would be most useful.

Shortly after the adoption of these measurements, Borden convinces a faction of liberals (using the name liberal-unionistic) like Gideon Decker Robertson, described like a senator “ travailliste ” (although not-associate with any workers party) to join its Conservative party, forming the unionistic government in October 1917. It dissolves follows legislature in order to aspire to mandate in election which opposes the candidates of the government, who present under the banner of the unionistic Parti, against the faction anti-conscription of the Liberal party which arises under the name of “ Bay-tree libéral ”.

This divisif debate tears the country on the linguistic lines. The liberals gain 82 seats, including 62 in Quebec. The unionistic ones gain 153 seats; the three unionistic seats in Quebec are all in districts mainly anglophone.

Results

Country

Notes:

* did not present of candidate at the time of the preceding election.

¹ % diff. for Government compared with the Party type-setter in the election of 1911, and for Opposition compared with the Liberal party.

By province

See too

Crisis of the conscription (1917)

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