Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25th, 1993. In this election 295 seats in the Canadian House of Commons were competed for. One of the most eventful elections in Canadian history, more than half of the electorate switched parties from the 1988 election, and led to major change in the nation's politics.

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 Tory breakthrough in Quebec, traditionally a bastion of Liberal support, where Mulroney had convinced moderate Quebec nationalists to vote Conservative.

Related Topics:
1984 election - Brian Mulroney

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Mulroney was re-elected in 1988, with a considerably smaller mandate, in an election almost wholly focused on the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Over the next five years, however, the popularity of Mulroney and his party would collapse. The late 1980s recession badly harmed the Canadian economy, as unemployment increased dramatically and the federal deficit ballooned. In an attempt to restore the fiscal balance Mulroney brought in the highly unpopular Goods and Services Tax{{ref|GST}}. While Mulroney had promised to change the constitutional status quo, two proposals failed. The Meech Lake Accord was rejected by the provinces 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.

Related Topics:
1988 - Free Trade Agreement - Late 1980s recession - Unemployment - Deficit - Goods and Services Tax - Meech Lake Accord - Newfoundland and Labrador - Manitoba - Charlottetown Accord - Scandals

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These factors combined to make Mulroney one of the least popular leaders in Canadian history, and also deeply affected his party. In February 1993, Mulroney announced his resignation. Minister of Justice Kim Campbell quickly emerged as the leading candidate to replace Mulroney as Tory 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 Tory leader and Canada's first female prime minister.

Related Topics:
Minister of Justice - Kim Campbell - Environment Minister - Jean Charest

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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. The NDP chose to align itself with the Liberals and Conservatives on the yes side of the 1992 referendum, abandoning their traditional role as a protest party.

Related Topics:
Mike Harcourt - British Columbia - Bob Rae

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The greatest difference from 1988 was the rise of two new parties. Lucien Bouchard led a group of Tory and Liberal MPs to form the separatist Bloc Québécois after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. 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 had run in the 1988 election, but had failed to win any seats, and had had a limited impact. Reform was a Western-based populist party, which originally campaigned under the slogan "the West wants in". 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 the NDP, the traditional voice of Western protest. In 1989, Deborah Grey won a by-election to become the first Reform MP in parliament.

Related Topics:
Lucien Bouchard - Bloc Québécois - Parti Québécois - Gilles Duceppe - Reform Party of Canada - Western - 1989 - Deborah Grey

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