1874 Canadian federal election

The 1874 Canadian federal election was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald, who had recently been forced out of office as prime minister, and his Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party under their new leader Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. Macdonald's government had been forced to resign on November 5, 1873, because of allegations of corruption relating to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (see the Pacific Scandal). The Tories were unable to recover from the scandal and lost the next election.

The Liberals under Mackenzie had formed a government on November 7 and then called an election for January.

The election was the first general election after Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation.

Mackenzie was a reformer, and the 1874 election was the first Canadian election to use secret ballots. He promised to reform election laws in other ways too, including the introduction of simultaneous voting (all seats filled at once instead of successively in a long-drawn-out election period), judicial consideration of contested elections, and extension of the franchise. He also made most important pledges concerning railway projects.^[2]

Louis Riel, former leader of the Red River rebellion, was elected as an Independent in Manitoba in 1874 but never took his seat.

National results

Notes:

¹ Liberal-Conservatives sat with the Conservative caucus in the House of Commons.

Acclamations

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

• Ontario: 1 Liberal-Conservative, 13 Liberals
• Quebec: 10 Conservatives, 4 Liberal-Conservatives, 15 Liberals
• New Brunswick: 1 Conservative, 3 Liberals, 1 Independent Liberal
• Nova Scotia: 5 Liberals
• Prince Edward Island: 2 Liberals

Results by province

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections

References

1. ^ "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
2. ^ James W. Daschuk, Fear and Loathing at the Geologic Survey (1991 M.A. thesis), p. 54. accessed online Jan. 3, 2025

Further reading

• Pope, Richard (1874). Return on the Third General Election for the House of Commons of Canada. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.