Canadian federal election, 1993

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The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25, 1993. The election saw fourteen parties compete for the 295 seats in the Canadian House of Commons at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canadian history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election.

The election was called by new Progressive Conservative Party leader Kim Campbell, near the end of her party's five year mandate. Despite an unpopular legacy from the Brian Mulroney years, Conservative support had recovered in the lead up to the election and was near the rival Liberals when the writ was dropped. However, a troubled Conservative campaign saw their support fall and they suffered the worst defeat in Canadian history as the party lost more than half its vote and was reduced to only two seats.

The Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada. The traditional third party, the New Democrats, also fared badly, winning only nine seats. Two new parties emerged in this election. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois won almost half the votes in Quebec, and became the Official Opposition, while the Western-based Reform Party won nearly as many seats. The performance of the Bloc Québécois is in itself impressive, considering the party had been founded only two years before and this was their first election.

Contents 1 Background 2 Campaign 3 Issues 4 Finances 5 Minor parties 6 Results 7 Legacy 8 National results 9 Results by province 10 Notes 11 References

Background

Throughout the 20th century, the Liberal Party had dominated Canadian politics, holding office for all but 22 of the years between 1896 and 1984. In the 1984 election, however, Brian Mulroney led the Progressive Conservatives to the largest electoral landslide in Canadian history, winning a majority of the seats in every province. Especially important was the Conservative breakthrough in Quebec, traditionally a bastion of Liberal support.

Mulroney was re-elected in 1988, with a considerably smaller mandate. That election was almost wholly focused on the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Over the next five years the popularity of Mulroney and his party collapsed. The late 1980s recession badly harmed the Canadian economy, as unemployment increased dramatically and the federal deficit ballooned. When the Conservatives had come to office in 1984 the federal deficit was at an unprecedented $34.5 billion. Despite pledges to reduce it, the deficit had actually grown to well over $40 billion by 1993. The federal debt had also grown to the unprecedented level of $500 billion.^[1] In an attempt to restore the fiscal balance Mulroney had brought in the highly unpopular Goods and Services Tax^[2]. Mulroney had also promised to change the constitutional status quo in favour of increasing provincial independence, and this was one of the most important reasons for his party's support in Quebec. He attempted to amend the constitution twice, but both reform proposals failed. The Meech Lake Accord was rejected by the provincial legislatures of Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba, and the Charlottetown Accord was turned down by the Canadian people in a 1992 referendum. Moreover, the Mulroney government continued to be dogged by a series of major and minor scandals.

These factors combined to make Mulroney the least popular leader since opinion polling began in the 1940s.^[3] The Progressive Conservative Party's popularity reached a low of just over 15% in 1991.^[4] In February 1993, Mulroney announced his resignation. Minister of Justice Kim Campbell quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Mulroney as party leader and Prime Minister. Despite a vigorous challenge from Environment Minister Jean Charest, Campbell emerged victorious from the June convention and was sworn in as party leader and Canada's first female prime minister.

The other traditional parties were also not faring well. The Liberals had selected veteran politician Jean Chrétien as their leader in 1990, but he proved to be quite unpopular, especially in his native Quebec. The NDP had received an historic level of support in the 1988 election and in the years after their support continued to grow. This helped the NDP win a series of victories at the provincial level. Under Mike Harcourt, the New Democrats were elected in British Columbia and in a surprise victory Bob Rae led the party to office in Ontario. Within a few years, however, both these provincial governments became deeply unpopular and support for the federal party also began to fall. In a deviation from their traditional position as staunch federalists, the NDP chose to align itself with the Liberals and Conservatives on the "yes" side of the 1992 referendum.

The greatest difference from 1988 was the rise of two new parties. After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, Lucien Bouchard led a group of Conservative and Liberal MPs to form the separatist Bloc Québécois. This party quickly gained the support of Quebec sovereigntists, and access to the networks of the provincial Parti Québécois. Gilles Duceppe won a 1990 by-election, and throughout the period leading up to the election the Bloc polled as the most popular party in Quebec. The Reform Party of Canada was a Western-based populist party, which originally campaigned under the slogan "the West wants in". Reform had run in the 1988 election, but had failed to win any seats, and had had only a limited impact. Many in the West had been angered by Mulroney's focus on Quebec, and were still antipathetic to the Liberals. Reform also drew support from former supporters of the NDP, the traditional voice of Western protest. In 1989, Deborah Grey won a by-election to become the first Reform MP in parliament. As Conservative support collapsed in 1990 and 1991 Reform support increased, and almost surpassed them.

Campaign

Polls During the Campaign
Polling firm	Date	PC	Lib	NDP	BQ	Ref
Angus Reid	September 11	35	37	8	8	10
Comquest Research	September 14	36	33	8	10	11
Angus Reid	September 20	35	35	6	11	11
Gallup	September 25	30	37	8	10	13
Environics	September 26	31	36	7	11	13
Leger & Leger	September 26	28	34	7	12	15
Ekos	September 30	25	39	6	12	17
Compass Research	October 2	26	38	8	12	14
Angus Reid	October 8	22	37	8	12	18
Comquest Research	October 16	22	40	7	13	16
Leger & Leger	October 19	21	39	6	14	17
Angus Reid	October 22	17	43	7	14	17
Gallup	October 22	16	44	7	12	19
Results	October 25	16	41	7	14	19

All the parties were aware that there would be an election in the fall of 1993. Campbell did extensive campaigning during the summer, touring the nation and attending barbecues and other events. By the end of the summer her personal popularity had increased greatly, far surpassing that of Chrétien.^[5] Support for the Progressive Conservative Party had also increased, and they were only a few points behind the Liberals, while Reform had been reduced to single digits.

Campbell dissolved parliament on September 8, beginning the seven week election campaign. At the ceremony at Rideau Hall Campbell made the first of a series of remarks that would dog the Conservative campaign. When she was running for the party leadership Campbell's frank honesty was seen as an important asset, and sharp contrast from Mulroney's highly polished style. However, during the campaign Campbell repeatedly made statements that would cause problems for the party. At the Rideau Hall event she told reporters that it was unlikely that the deficit or unemployment would be much reduced before the "end of the century". Later in the campaign she would famously state that an election "is no time to discuss social issues".

The Conservative campaign was headed by chair John Tory and chief strategist Allan Gregg, both experienced Mulroney loyalists. The Conservative campaign was by far the best funded, but quickly ran into organizational problems. They failed to get literature distributed to the local campaigns, forcing each candidate to print their own and preventing any unified message.^[6] The Conservative campaign had been focused on three issues, job creation, deficit reduction, and improving quality of life. However, the party had little credibility on the first two, as over their time in office both unemployment and the deficit had increased dramatically. The party was also reluctant to propose new social programs as in Quebec they had to appeal to nationalists who opposed federal government intervention, and in the West had to appeal to Reform supporters who opposed government intervention in general.

The Liberals, by contrast, had been long prepared for the campaign. On September 19 the Liberals made an unprecedented move by releasing their entire platform, quickly named the Red Book. This document gave a detailed account of exactly what the Liberals would do if they were in office. Several years of effort had gone into the creation of the document, and the Conservatives had nothing comparable.^[7] Several days later the Conservatives released the hastily assembled A Taxpayer's Agenda, but the Liberals had captured the reputation of being the party with ideas. The Liberals were also consistently well organized and on message, in contrast to the Conservative campaign, which the Globe and Mail on September 25 stated was "shaping up to be the most incompetent campaign in modern political history".^[8]

The Reform Party had little money and few resources, but had developed an extensive grassroots network in much of the West and Ontario. Reform's lack of funds led them to fly economy class, stay in cheap hotels, and rely on pre-packaged lunches, but this helped endear them to money conscious fiscal conservatives.^[9] The campaign was managed by seasoned professional Rick Anderson. Some Reformers had been annoyed that the moderate former Liberal and Ottawa insider had been made campaign manager, but he quickly proved highly able.^[10]

Over the course of the campaign Conservative support steadily fell, lost to the Liberals, Reform, and the Bloc. The leaders debates were held October 3rd and 4th, and were generally regarded as inconclusive, with no party gaining a boost from them. The French debates were held on the first night. Unilingual anglophone Preston Manning read prepared opening and closing remarks, but did not participate in the debate itself.

By the last week of the campaign the Conservatives were considerably behind in the polls, and it looked as though the Liberals were headed towards a majority government. The main asset of the Conservatives was the much higher popularity of Kim Campbell over Jean Chrétien. Polling found that a considerable number of potential Liberal voters held negative opinions about Chrétien. Late in the 1988 campaign a series of attack ads had helped the Conservatives greatly, and Gregg and Tory decided to launch a series of commercials attacking Chrétien. The advertisements showed unflattering close ups of Jean Chrétien with lines like "I'd be embarrassed if he were Prime Minister". Many felt that the commercials were targeting Chrétien's facial paralysis, and they generated an immediate and severe backlash. Campbell overruled her campaign managers and orders the ads pulled, and Conservative support fell sharply. Reform also found itself embroiled in controversy, when Toronto-area candidate John Beck made a series of anti-immigrant remarks and was accused of having links to Neo Nazi groups. Beck was forced to withdraw his candidacy.^[11]

Issues

The most important issue of the 1993 election was the economy.^[12] The nation was mired in the late 1980s recession, and unemployment was especially high. The federal deficit was also extremely high, and both the Reform and Progressive Conservatives focused on cutting it as the path to economic health. Reform proposed deep cuts to federal programs in order to do this, while the Progressive Conservatives were less specific. The Liberals also promised cuts, focusing on the unpopular and expensive plan to buy new military helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings. They also promised new programs such as a limited public works programme and a national child care program. The Reform Party called for a "Zero in Three" plan that would reduce the deficit to zero in three years. The Liberals had a far more modest plan to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP by the end of their first term. All opposition parties pledged to repeal the GST. Once elected, however, the Liberals reneged on this pledge to much outcry, but they stated that the tax needed to remain as the deficit was much higher than the Conservatives had stated. Instead it was replaced with the Harmonized Sales Tax in some provinces.

The 1988 election had been almost wholly focused on the issue of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and similarly the 1993 election was preceded by the agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Liberals opposed NAFTA, and promised to try and renegotiate the FTA, but this was not a central campaign theme. The NDP did focus on opposition to NAFTA, but the Canadian people mostly felt that the free trade debate was over. When in office the Liberals signed on to NAFTA with little opposition. Similarly, while constitutional issues had dominated the national debate for several years, two failed reform proposals led most to support giving the issue a rest. Chrétien promised not to reopen the constitution, and that under the Liberals any change would be incremental in nature. In Quebec the election was seen as a prelude to the next Quebec election, and the referendum on secession that was sure to follow.

The Reform Party advanced proposals in a number of areas that challenged the status quo. It proposed extensive reform to Canada's parliamentary system, including more free votes, recall elections, and change to the Senate. The party also advocated a reduction in immigration levels and a retreat from official bilingualism.^[13]

Finances

The election was held under the Election Expenses Act of 1974. This forced parties to disclose most donations, but put few limits on who could donate and how much could be given. Individual donations up to $1,150 were given a tax credit, encouraging such pledges. The Conservatives had the largest budget, spending $10.4 million on their national campaign; the Liberals spent $9.9 million, while the NDP spent $7.4 million. The Bloc and Reform spent far less, both spending less than $2 million on their national campaigns.^[14] Actual election spending is far larger than these numbers indicate: each candidate raised substantial amounts of money independently of the national campaign. In this era there were also large expenses, such as polling and fundraising costs, that did not need to be disclosed.

The different parties drew their funding from different sources. In the year of the election two traditional parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, each received about 60% of their funding from corporations and the rest from individuals. For the NDP half of the funding came from individuals, and a third came from trade unions. The Reform Party relied almost wholly on individual donations, with only some 12% coming from corporations. The Bloc relied almost solely on individual donations, as its party charter barred donations from corporations. The NDP had by far the most donors, with over 65,000, but the average donation was only $80. By contrast the 45,000 Conservative donors gave more than $200 on average.^[15]

The Liberals quickly recouped their election expenses once they were in government. The Bloc and Reform had spent little during the campaign, and also received more support once their prominent position in parliament was made clear. The NDP and Conservatives had more problems after the vote. The NDP found itself deeply in debt, but recouped some of it by selling their Ottawa headquarters to the Ukrainian Embassy. The Conservatives, despite cutting back on spending late in the campaign, were some $7.5 million in debt by the end of the election, and it took years to clear this burden. The heavy debt load would hamper the party's ability to campaign in subsequent elections.

Minor parties

Fourteen registered political parties contested the election, a Canadian record. Jackson and Jackson argue that the proliferation of minor parties was an outgrowth of the single issue political movements that had come to prominence in Canada in the 1980s.^[16] For instance, the environmentalist, anti-abortion, and anti-free trade movements all had closely associated parties. Each candidate required a $1000 deposit, an increase from $200 in the last election. If the candidate did not win 15% of the vote, which none of the minor parties did, these deposits would be forfeit. Parties that nominated 50 candidates qualified as official parties, and most importantly received government subsidized advertising.^[17] The smaller parties were not invited to the main leaders debate, something Hurtig of the National Party complained vehemently about. There was a debate between the leaders of seven of the minor parties on October 5, which was broadcast on CBC Newsworld. The National Party and the Natural Law Party did not attend.

Few of these parties had any hope of winning a seat. One exception was the National Party. Founded by prominent patriot Mel Hurtig, it campaigned on a strongly nationalist platform focusing on opposition to NAFTA. The party ran 171 candidates, and for a time polling indicated it could potentially have an impact, but the party failed to make a significant impression and disbanded after the election. Another prominent minor party was the Natural Law Party. Linked to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, it advocated yogic flying as the solution to most of Canada's ills. It ran 231 candidates, more than some of the major parties. Its campaign was also accompanied by several million dollars of advertising, and it was successful in attracting media attention. Some accused its efforts of actually being government subsidized marketing for yogic flying centres.^[18] Other minor parties included the Libertarian Party of Canada, the return of the ideological Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada, and the Christian Heritage Party, which was mainly dedicated to opposing abortion. The election saw three minor parties focused on radical reform to the monetary system: The Canada Party, the Abolitionist Party, and the Party for the Commonwealth of Canada, which was also strongly republican.^[19]

Results

Image:Elec1993.PNG The 1993 election was the greatest defeat for a major party in Canadian history.^[20] The popular vote for the Progressive Conservatives fell from 43% to 16% while their seat count fell from 169 to 2. The Conservatives did receive over two million votes, almost as many as Reform and considerably more than the Bloc or NDP, however this support was evenly spread across the country and virtually nowhere was it concentrated enough to win seats. The two seats the Conservatives won were in St. John, New Brunswick, where popular mayor Elsie Wayne was elected, and in Sherbrooke, Quebec where the young and charismatic Jean Charest was reelected. Former Progressive Conservative MP Gilles Bernier was also re-elected as an independent candidate in the Beauce riding in Quebec. Kim Campbell lost her own seat in Vancouver. 147 PC candidates failed to win the 15% of the vote that qualified them for funding from Elections Canada, and the party as a whole was left deeply in debt. With only two seats the party also failed to get official party status, which prevented them from receiving funding, and restricted their role in the House of Commons.

The Liberals swept the Maritimes and Ontario, losing only a single seat in each region. They also won some seats in Quebec, though the Bloc captured some of the traditional Liberal areas in that province. The party also won several seats in the West, including the first Liberal seats in Alberta since 1968. These wins led them to a strong majority of the seats in the House of Commons. The Bloc formed the Official Opposition, winning almost all the seats in francophone Quebec and almost half the votes in that province. Reform finished only two seats behind them, dominating Alberta and British Columbia and also winning four seats in Saskatchewan, and one each in Manitoba and Ontario.

The NDP won the fewest votes of any major party, and won only nine seats, mainly in their Western heartland. This was not enough for official party status. Those members who were elected were in heavily divided ridings; on average, winning NDP MPs only got 35.1% of the vote.^[21] The NDP had lost support in several directions. The strong antipathy towards the Progressive Conservatives, combined with the memory of the effect of vote splitting in 1988, led many NDP supporters to vote Liberal to ensure the Conservatives were defeated. Of those who voted NDP in 1988, 27% switched to the Liberals. Almost as many switched to Reform. Despite the differences in ideology, Reform largely supplanted the NDP as the voice of Western discontent. 24% of those who voted NDP in 1988 switched to Reform. The NDP had never been a force in Quebec, but they had been supported by those who would not vote for either of the two major parties. These voters largely moved to the Bloc with 14% of NDP voters supporting the Bloc in 1993. The NDP thus lost their only seat in the province.^[22]

Legacy

The 1993 election led to a major upheaval in Canadian politics. Since Confederation in 1867, Canada had been a two-party system, with the Liberals and Conservatives alternating as the government. Since the 1920s there had generally also been one or more third parties in the House of Commons, but never large enough to win government, leading to what is sometimes called a two and a half party system. The 1993 election fundamentally changed this arrangement. The Progressive Conservatives all but disappeared, leaving the Liberals as the only party likely to form government. The opposition was divided between four parties, and for the first time ever the party that was the Official Opposition did not have a majority of the opposition seats. Some political scientists felt that the new five party parliament was an example of a multi-party system. Others, noting that no party other than the Liberals had a realistic chance of forming government felt that Canada had moved to a dominant-party system.

In December 1993, Kim Campbell resigned as Conservative leader, and was replaced by Jean Charest. Over the next elections the Progressive Conservatives under Jean Charest and then Joe Clark recovered somewhat, but never regained their former status. The Reform Party gained seats, and the role of Official Opposition in the 1997 election, but could not win seats east of Manitoba, and thus had little hope of governing. In 2000 the party rebranded itself the Canadian Alliance, but made only limited gains. In 2003 the Canadian Alliance under Stephen Harper and the Progressive Conservatives under Peter MacKay agreed to merge, creating the Conservative Party of Canada.

The NDP also recovered somewhat, regaining official party status in 1997. They have yet to reach the same level of success as was obtained in the 1980s. The Bloc Quebecois failed to propel the sovereigntist side to victory in the 1995 Quebec referendum, and also lost Official Opposition status in the 1997 election. They remain a significant presence in the House of Commons, bolstered in recent years by the sponsorship scandal.

National results

For a complete list of MPs elected in the 1993 election, see 35th Canadian parliament.

Results by province

Notes

References

• The Canadian General Election of 1993. ed. Alan Frizzell, Jon H. Pammett, and Anthony Westell. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1994.
  • Clarkson, Stephen "Yesterday's Man and His Blue Grists: Backward into the Future."
  • Ellis, Faron and Keith Archer. "Reform: Electoral Breakthrough."
  • Pammett, Jon H. "Tracking the Votes."
  • Whitehorn, Alan. "The NDP's Quest for Survival."
  • Woolstencroft, Peter. "'Doing Politics Differently': The Conservative Party and the Campaign of 1993."

Preceded by: 1988 federal election

Canadian federal elections

Followed by: 1997 federal election