1915 Manitoba general election




Manitoba's general election of August 6, 1915 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.


This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond Roblin were confirmed in office with 28 seats out of 49. In early 1915, however, the Roblin administration was forced to resign from office after a commission appointed by the Lieutenant Governor found the government guilty of corruption in the tending of contracts for new legislative buildings.[1]


Roblin denied the charges, but resigned as premier on May 12. Three days later, opposition Liberal leader Tobias Norris was called upon to form a new administration. The house was quickly adjourned, and new elections were scheduled for August.[1]


The primary issue of the campaign was corruption. The pro-Liberal Manitoba Free Press ran numerous articles criticizing the practices of the Roblin government, and alleging that the "Roblin machine" still controlled the Conservative Party. The Liberals claimed they would manage the province's affairs in a businesslike rather than a partisan manner, an approach typified by Provincial Treasurer Edward Brown call for the province to "forget party for five years and get down to business".


Women's suffrage and temperance were also important issues. The Liberal Party promised to introduce voting rights for women, and to hold a provincial referendum on temperance. The party's platform also promised direct legislation and plebiscites on other issues.


Faced with mounting unpopularity in the wake of the corruption scandal, the Conservatives chose federal Member of Parliament (MP) James Albert Manning Aikins as their new leader on July 15. Aikins had never served in the Roblin government, and was regarded by many as free from the controversy which took the Conservatives from office. In a further effort to separate themselves from the Roblin government, the Conservatives referred to themselves as the "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" party for this election. The Liberals ridiculed this name change, and sarcastically described the "new" Conservatives as the "Purity Party".


The election results were a disaster for the Conservatives. The party won only five seats out of 47, and Aikins lost by a considerable margin in Brandon City. The Liberals under Norris won a landslide majority with 40 seats, the largest victory in Manitoba history. In the city of Winnipeg, Fred Dixon was re-elected as an independent candidate with support from both the Liberals and the Labour Representation Committee. The Social Democratic Party also won its first ever seat in the province, taking one of two constituencies in north-end Winnipeg.


Manitoba's francophone constituencies rejected the provincial trend, and continued to support candidates of the Conservative party (four of the five Conservative MLAs were from francophone areas). Many francophone voters opposed Norris's plans to end provincial funding for denominational Catholic schools.


The "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" name seems to have been dropped shortly after the election.




Contents






  • 1 Results[2]


  • 2 Riding results[2][3]


  • 3 Deferred elections


  • 4 Post-election changes


  • 5 References





Results[2]










































































Party
Party leader
# of
candidates
Seats
Popular vote

1914

Elected
% Change
#
%
% Change
 

Liberal

Tobias Norris
 
20

40
+100%
 
55.1%
 
    

Conservative

James Albert Manning Aikins
 
28

5
-82.1%
 
33.0%
 
 

Social Democratic
 
 
 

1
 
 
11.9%
 
 
Independent/others
 
1

1
-
 
 

Total
 
49

47
-4.1%
 

100%
 


Riding results[2][3]


Arthur:



  • (x)John Williams (L) 815

  • W.S. Kenner (C) 632


Assiniboia:




  • John Wilton (L) 828


  • William Bayley (Labour Representation Committee) 773

  • (x)John Thomas Haig (C) 590


Beautiful Plains:




  • William Wood (L) 1115

  • J. Harry Irwin (C) 918


Birtle:



  • (x)George Malcolm (L) 873

  • S. Arnold (C) 422


Brandon City:




  • Stephen Clement (L) 1914


  • James Albert Manning Aikins (C) 1213


Carillon:




  • Albert Prefontaine (C) 629

  • (x)Thomas B. Molloy (L) 605


Cypress:




  • Andrew Myles (L) 851

  • (x)George Steel (C) 789


Dauphin:




  • William Harrington (L) 739

  • (x)William Buchanan (C) 637

  • J.M. McQuay (Ind) 233


Deloraine:



  • (x)Robert Thornton (L) 1146


  • John C. Walker Reid (C) 851


Dufferin:




  • Edward August (L) 1134

  • Andrew S. Argue (C) 848


Elmwood:




  • Thomas Glendenning Hamilton (L) 2319

  • Donald Munro (C) 866


Emerson:




  • John David Baskerville (L) 1181

  • G. Coulter (C) 460


Gilbert Plains:




  • William Findlater (L) 1383

  • (x)Sam Hughes (C) 792


Gimli:




  • Taras Ferley (L-Ind) 1172

  • (x)Sveinn Thorvaldson (C) 562


(Einar Jonasson had been nominated as the official Liberal candidate, but withdrew.)[4]


Gladstone:



  • (x)James Armstrong (L) 1154

  • A. Singleton (C) 484


Glenwood:



  • (x)James Breakey (L) 1091


  • John Perdue (C) 636


Hamiota:



  • (x)John Henry McConnell (L) 1063

  • J. Moss Fraser (C) 596


Iberville:



  • (x)Aime Benard (C) 527

  • James H. Black (L) 400


Kildonan and St. Andrews:




  • George Prout (L) 1295

  • R. Sanders (C) 754


Killarney:




  • Samuel Hayden (L) 779

  • (x)George Lawrence (C) 656


Lakeside:




  • Charles Duncan McPherson (L) 863

  • (x)John J. Garland (C) 700


Lansdowne:



  • (x)Tobias Norris (L) 1334

  • W.J. Cundy (C) 592


La Verendrye:




  • Philippe Talbot (L) 713

  • (x)Jean-Baptiste Lauzon (C) 558


Manitou:




  • George Thomas Armstrong (L) 1090

  • W.H. Sharpe (C) 1006


Minnedosa:



  • (x)George Grierson (L) 1173

  • James Muir (C) 654


Morden and Rhineland:



  • (x)Valentine Winkler (L) 1180


  • William Johnston Tupper (C) 712


Morris:



  • (x)Jacques Parent (C) 740


  • William Molloy (L) 683


Mountain:



  • (x)James Baird (L) 1331

  • John T. Dale (C) 419


Norfolk:



  • (x)John Graham (L) 933


  • Robert F. Lyons (C) 770


Portage la Prairie:



  • (x)Ewan McPherson (L) 1065


  • Fawcett Taylor (C) 807


Roblin:



  • (x)Frederic Newton (C) 714

  • William Angus (L) 609


Rockwood:




  • Arthur Lobb (L) 1275

  • Thomas Scott (C) 639


Russell:




  • William Wilber Wilfred Wilson (L) 1033

  • J.P. Laycock (C) 614


St. Boniface:




  • Joseph Dumas (L) 921

  • J.A. Beaupre (C) 790

  • J.P. Howden (Ind L) 640


St. Clements:



  • (x)Donald Ross (L/Ind) 1014

  • Thomas Hay (C) 489


St. George:




  • Skuli Sigfusson (L) 1291

  • Paul Reykdal (C) 831


Ste. Rose:



  • (x)Joseph Hamelin (C) 443

  • Z.H. Rheaume (L) 414

  • A. McLeod (Ind) 266


Swan River:



  • (x)William Sims (L) 626


  • Daniel D. McDonald (C) 414


Turtle Mountain:




  • George William McDonald (L) 687

  • (x)James Johnson (C) 651


Virden:



  • (x)George Clingan (L) 1181

  • R.A. Knight (C) 772


Winnipeg North "A":




  • Robert Newton Lowery (L) 2443

  • Arthur Beech (SDP) 2248

  • (x)Joseph P. Foley (C) 1490


Winnipeg North "B":




  • Richard Rigg (SDP) 2494


  • Solomon Hart Green (L) 2263

  • E.R. Levinson (C) 1248


Winnipeg Centre "A":



  • (x)Thomas Herman Johnson (L) 6763

  • A.J. Norquay (C) 2346


Winnipeg Centre "B":



  • (x)Fred Dixon (Ind) 6443

  • H.M. Hanneson (C) 2048


  • George Armstrong (SPC) 804


Winnipeg South "A":



  • (x)Albert Hudson (L) 5986

  • W.J. Boyd (C) 2011


Winnipeg South "B":



  • (x)William Parrish (L) 5635


  • Lendrum McMeans (C) 2303



Deferred elections


The Pas, August 25, 1915:



  • Edward Brown (L) accl.

Horace Halcrow had been nominated by the Conservatives to contest this riding, but withdrew before the election. Halcrow had been Manitoba's chief game warden under the Roblin government.



Post-election changes


Rupertsland (new constituency), September 16, 1916:



  • John Morrison (Ind-L) accl.

Iberville (res. Aime Benard, 1917), November 1, 1917:



  • Arthur Boivin (C) elected

Roblin (res. Frederic Newton, 1917), November 19, 1917:




  • William Westwood (Ind-L) elected

  • Irwin L. Mitchell (L)


(A Winnipeg Free Press report from November 20, 1917 shows Westwood winning by 186 votes, with one poll yet to declare.)


Morris (dep. Jacques Parent, 1917; no by-election)


Minnedosa (George Grierson to cabinet, November 10, 1917), November 30, 1917:



  • George Grierson (L) elected

Winnipeg North "B" (res. Richard Rigg, 1917), January 15, 1918:




  • Robert Jacob (Union-L) 2923

  • E.R. Levinson (Ind) 2251


(Numbers taken from the Winnipeg Free Press.)


Rhineland (dec. Valentine Winkler, June 7, 1920; no by-election)



References





  1. ^ ab "Legislature Scandal". TimeLinks. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-11-29..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ ab "Historical Summaries" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2012-09-23.


  3. ^ "Constituencies and Candidates". Brandon Daily Sun. July 28, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 2012-12-19.


  4. ^ The Voice. August 13, 1915. p. 4 http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/TVC/1915/08/13/4/Ar00404.xml/Olive. Retrieved 2012-09-23. Missing or empty |title= (help)










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