1878 Canadian federal election

The 1878 Canadian federal election was held on September 17 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada 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 the voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto and Montreal.

1878 Canadian federal election

September 17, 1878
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[2] Lambton Last election 65 seats, 30.1% 129 seats, 39.5% Seats won 134 63 Seat change 69 66 Popular vote 229,151 180,074 Percentage 42.1% 33.1% Swing 12.0% 6.4%
Prime Minister before election Alexander Mackenzie Liberal Prime Minister after election John A. Macdonald Conservative

Sir John A. Macdonald and his Conservative/Liberal-Conservative party was returned to office after having been defeated four years before amidst scandals over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

National results

The Canadian parliament after the 1878 election

1878 Canadian ele ctoral map

↓
134	63	9
Conservative	Liberal	O

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

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

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote Conservative   42.06% Liberal   33.05% Others   24.89%

Seat totals Conservative   65.05% Liberal   30.58% Others   4.37%

Further reading

• Argyle, Ray. Turning Points: The Campaigns That Changed Canada - 2011 and Before (2011) excerpt and text search ch 3

References

1. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
2. Macdonald initially ran in Kingston, where he was defeated. He then ran unopposed in Marquette, and following his appointment as Prime Minister was required by the convention at the time to vacate his seat and run again. On doing so, he chose to stand in Victoria rather than Marquette.

See also

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