1878 Canadian federal election

* * *

| <- 1874 | September 17, 1878 | 1882 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

* * *

206 seats in the House of Commons
104 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 69.1%[1] (0.5pp)
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | John A. Macdonald | Alexander Mackenzie
Party  | Conservative | Liberal
Leader since  | 1867  | 1873
Leader's seat  | Victoria[a] | Lambton
Last election  | 65 seats, 30.1%  | 129 seats, 39.5%
Seats won  | 134 | 63
Seat change  | 69  | 66
Popular vote  | 229,191 | 180,074
Percentage  | 42.06% | 33.05%
Swing  | 11.96pp  | 6.45pp

* * *

1878 Canadian electoral map

* * *

The Canadian Parliament after the 1878 election

* * *

| Prime Minister before election

Alexander Mackenzie
Liberal

| Prime Minister after election

John A. Macdonald
Conservative

|

The 1878 Canadian federal election was held on September 17, 1878, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression during Mackenzie's term, and his party was punished by voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto and Montreal.

Sir John A. Macdonald and his Conservative Party were returned to power after having been defeated four years before amidst scandals over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

## National results

[edit]

Party  | Party leader  | # of candidates  | Seats  | Popular vote

|
|
|
|

1874 | Elected | Change  | #  | %  | Change
| Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 101  | 38  |  85 | +118.4%  | 143,192  | 26.28%  | +7.80pp
| Liberal-Conservative | 60  | 26  | 49 | +76.9%  | 85,999  | 15.78%  | +3.50pp
| Liberal | Alexander Mackenzie | 121  | 126  | 63 | -54.8%  | 180,074  | 33.05%  | -7.74pp
| Independent  |  | 11  | 4  | 5 | +25%  | 14,783  | 2.71%  | -0.48pp
| Independent Conservative  |  | 2  | 2  | 2 | \-  | 1,001  | 0.18%  | -0.76pp
| Unknown  |  | 117  | \-  |  |  | 114,043  | 20.93%  | -1.93pp
| Independent Liberal  |  | 4  | 1  | 1 | +100%  | 5,388  | 0.99%  | \-
| Nationalist Conservative |  | 1  | *  | 1 | *  | 401  | 0.07%  | *
Total  | 417  | 197  | 206  | +3.6%  | 544,881  | 100.0%  | \-
Sources: http://www.elections.ca \-- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Acclamations

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

* British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
* Manitoba: 2 Conservatives, 1 Liberal-Conservative
* Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal-Conservatives, 1 Liberal
* New Brunswick: 1 Liberal, 1 Independent

## Results by province

[edit]

Party name  | BC | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | Total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

| Conservative | Seats:  | 1  | 2  | 37  | 33  | 1  | 8  | 3  | 85
| Popular vote (%):  | \-  | 49.6  | 25.5  | 35.0  | 5.9  | 21.7  | 31.6  | 26.3
| Liberal-Conservative | Seats:  | 2  | 1  | 23  | 12  | 3  | 6  | 2  | 49
| Vote (%):  | 39.6  | \-  | 15.8  | 13.2  | 14.3  | 22.7  | 12.0  | 15.8
| Liberal | Seats:  | 2  |  | 27  | 17  | 9  | 7  | 1  | 63
| Vote (%):  | \-  |  | 36.3  | 21.7  | 48.2  | 34.9  | 37.2  | 33.1
| Independent  | Seats:  | 1  |  | 1  | 1  | 2  | \-  |  | 5
| Vote (%):  | 12.2  |  | 1.5  | 1.6  | 13.1  | 4.3  |  | 2.7
| Independent Conservative  | Seats:  |  | 1  |  | 1  |  |  |  | 2
| Vote (%):  |  | 50.4  |  | 0.7  |  |  |  | 0.2
| Unknown  | Seats:  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Vote (%):  | 48.2  |  | 19.9  | 27.4  | 14.8  | 14.7  | 19.3  | 20.9
| Independent Liberal  | Seats:  |  |  |  |  | 1  | \-  |  | 1
| Vote (%):  |  |  | 1.0  |  | 3.7  | 1.7  |  | 1.0
| Nationalist Conservative  | Seats:  |  |  |  | 1  |  | \-  |  | 1
| Vote (%):  |  |  |  | 0.3  |  |  |  | 0.1
Total seats |  6  |  4  |  88  |  65  |  16 |  21 |  6  |  206

## Further reading

[edit]

* Argyle, Ray (2004). Turning Points: The Campaigns that Changed Canada 2004 and Before. Toronto: White Knight Publications. ISBN 978-0-9734186-6-8.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Macdonald also ran in Kingston (where he was defeated) and Marquette (where he was elected); as his appointment as Prime Minister meant he was required by convention at the time to vacate his seat and run again, he chose to stand again in Victoria rather than Marquette.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

## See also

[edit]

* Canada portal
* Politics portal

* List of Canadian federal general elections
* 4th Canadian Parliament

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