The 1867 Canadian federal election was held from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and was the first federal election in Canada following post-Confederation. It was held to elect members representing electoral districts in the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec to the House of Commons of the 1st Canadian Parliament. The provinces of Manitoba (1870) and British Columbia (1871) were created during the term of the 1st Parliament of Canada and were not part of this election.
Sir John A. Macdonald had been sworn in as prime minister by the Governor General, Lord Monck, when the new Canadian nation was founded on 1 July 1867. As leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (known as the Liberal-Conservative Party until 1873), he led his party in this election and continued as Prime Minister of Canada when the Conservatives won a majority of the seats in the election, including majorities of the seats (and votes) in the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
The Liberal Party of Canada won the second most seats overall, including a majority of the seats (and votes) in the province of New Brunswick. The Liberals did not have a party leader in the election. George Brown, who was the leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario, was considered the "elder statesman" of the national party. Brown ran concurrently for seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the House of Commons of Canada, and might well have been Prime Minister in the unlikely event that the Liberals prevailed over the Conservatives in the national election. Brown failed to win a seat in either body, and the national Liberals remained officially leaderless until 1873.
The Anti-Confederation Party, led by Joseph Howe, won the third most seats overall, based solely on a majority of seats (and votes) in the province of Nova Scotia. Their main desire was the reversal of the decision to join Confederation, which was unpopular in that province. The goals of the Anti-Confederation Members of Parliament (MPs) were openly supported by five of the Liberal MPs of New Brunswick. The Anti-Confederation MPs sat with the Liberal caucus. The government in Britain refused to allow Nova Scotia to secede. After that, most of the Anti-Confederation MPs (11 of 18) moved to the majority Conservatives.
Election rules The first Canadian election took place without a uniform set of election laws to govern the election of members to the House of Commons, an interim measure until Parliament could pass its own election laws, which did not come until 1885. Instead, the election was contested under the rules set by each individual province prior to Confederation, and future elections were to be contested under provincial rules until a time when federal parliament set their own rules. Because of this, rules governing having the right to voting were inconsistent, as was the method of casting a ballot.
The BNA Act did stipulate that in the district of Algoma any male British subject of 21 years of age or older, "being a householder," would have the right to vote.
The election took place over a six-week period from August 7 to September 20, with electoral district polls closing at different dates throughout the period. Under the system each electoral district was required to be polled in one day, but the day did not have to be the same across all electoral districts. The exception to the extended polling period (often called "polling circuits") being Nova Scotia which abolished the practice of polling different districts on different days after excessive violence was reported in the 1843 election.
The election in Kamouraska, Quebec was delayed due to rioting.
Halifax was a two-member riding at the time of the election. The City of Saint John and the County of Saint John was represented by just one district.
Franchise The basic general requirement to vote across provinces was the requirement to be a male British subject 21 years of age or older. Voting was conducted in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia through oral vote which required an eligible elector to declare their choice. New Brunswick had adopted a form of secret ballot in 1855, where electors write the name of a candidate on a piece of paper and deposit the vote in a ballot box.
In all provinces, women and government employees including civil servants, judges, police and prosecutors were not permitted to vote. Indigenous individuals who met property criteria were excluded from voting eligibility in most provinces if they received a benefit paid by the government.
The Ontario elections laws were updated in 1866, with electors required to meet a property qualification of being an owner or tenant with a property value listed on the assessment roll of $600 in a city, $400 in a town, $300 in an incorporated village, and $100 in a township or police village. Furthermore, urban residents must prove an annual income of at least $250. An estimated 16.5 per cent of the population of Ontario was enfranchised for the 1867 election. In Quebec, the property qualification for being an owner was $300 in urban areas and $200 in rural areas, and a tenant required a rent of $30 in an urban area or $20 in a rural area. Nova Scotia's election laws were passed in 1863, and had a property qualification for owners or tenants of $150, and enfranchised persons with $300 of personal property. while New Brunswick had a property qualification for owners of $100 and an annual income of $400, but also gave the vote to anyone who owned real or personal property with a total value of $400 or more.
Electoral system, Representation by population
The number of members in each province in Confederation was set by the Constitution Act, 1867 on the principle of representation by population. The Act provided Quebec a minimum of 65 seats, and seat allotment for the remainder of the country was based by dividing the population of Quebec by 65 and then using it as a base to determine the number of seats for each of the other provinces. The Act also specified that redistribution and boundary reviews should occur after each 10 year census.BNA Act, 1867 https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/constitution/lawreg-loireg/p1t11.html
Thus there were 181 MPs in the first House of Commons – 82 from Ontario, 65 from Quebec, 19 from Nova Scotia, and 15 from New Brunswick. Each was elected in a single-member district, except there were two elected in the Halifax riding.The BNA Act https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/constitution/lawreg-loireg/p1t11.html Each voter could cast one vote as under first past the post, except Halifax voters who cast up to two votes (Plurality block voting).Parliamentary Guide 1969, p. 333-334
Results
PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesElectedPopular vote#%ConservativeSir John A. Macdonald837164,17923.92%Liberal-Conservative322929,73011.08%Liberalnone (unofficially, George Brown)666260,81822.67%Anti-ConfederationJoseph Howe201821,2397.92%Independents1-1,7560.65%Independent Liberal1-1,0480.39%Unknown140-89,54733.37% Vacant – 1–0––Total343180268,317100%Source:
Acclamations
The following MPs were acclaimed: Ontario: 3 Conservative, 3 Liberal-Conservatives, 9 Liberals Quebec: 14 Conservatives, 5 Liberal-Conservatives, 4 Liberals New Brunswick: 1 Conservative, 3 Liberals Nova Scotia: 4 Anti-Confederates
Vacancy
The election in Kamouraska, Quebec, was cancelled due to rioting at the polling places. No member was elected for the riding until a by-election in 1869.Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Kamouraska.
Results by province
Party name Ontario Quebec NB NS Total Conservative Seats33361171 Vote26.2%28.5% 13.8%23.2% Liberal-Conservative Seats16112-29 Vote12.5%12.3%11.1%3.5%11.1% Liberal Seats331712 62 Vote23.7%25.2%49.5% 22.7%Anti-ConfederationSeats 1818 Vote 58.2%7.9% Unknown Seats----- Vote35.6%34.1%39.3%23.06%34% Independent Seats- - Vote1.3% 0.7% Independent Liberal Seats- - Vote0.7% 0.4%Total seats 82 64 15 19 180
By district Nova Scotia Western Nova Scotia Electoral DistrictCandidates Incumbent Winner Runner up OtherAnnapolisWilliam Hallett Ray (A Conf) 1,171 Avard Longley (Cons.) 1,016 William Hallett Ray, Avard Longley & George WhitmanColchesterArchibald McLelan (A Conf.) 1,649Adams George Archibald (Lib.-Cons.) 1,289 Archibald McLelan, William Blackwood, Adams George Archibald & Francis R. ParkerCumberlandCharles Tupper (Cons.) 1,368William Annand (A Conf.) 1,271 Charles Tupper, Alexander Macfarlane & Robert Donkin DigbyAlfred William Savary (A Conf) 792 John Chipman Wade (Cons) 497 William Mehan 362 John Chipman Wade, Mathurin Robicheau, Colin Campbell HalifaxAlfred Gilpin Jones (A Conf) 2,381 Patrick Power (A Conf) 2,367 John Tobin 2,158 Samuel Leonard Shannon 2,154 John Tobin, Samuel Leonard Shannon, Henry Pryor, William Annand & Henry BalcomHantsJoseph Howe (A Conf) 1,530 James W. King 956 Ezra Churchill, William Dawson Lawrence, James W. King & Lewis W. Hill KingsWilliam Henry Chipman (A Conf.) 1,472J. N. Coleman 659 Charles C. Hamilton, Caleb Rand Bill, Daniel Charles Moore & Edward L. Brown LunenburgEdmund Mortimer McDonald (A Conf) 1,557 Henry Kaulback 905 Henry S. Jost, Henry Kaulback & Abraham HebbQueensJames F. Forbes (A Conf) 844 John Campbell 271 John Campbell, Andrew Cowie & Charles AllisonShelburneThomas Coffin (A Conf) Accl. Thomas Coffin, John Locke & Robert Robertson YarmouthThomas Killam (A Conf) 1,225 George Stayley Brown 666 Thomas Killam, George Stayley Brown & Isaac Hatfield
Eastern Nova Scotia Electoral DistrictCandidates Incumbent Winner Runner up OtherAntigonishHugh McDonald (A Conf) 1,238 William Alexander Henry (Cons.) 390 William Alexander Henry & John McKinnonCape BretonJames McKeagney (A Conf.) Accl. Thomas Caldwell & John George BourinotGuysboroughStewart Campbell (A Conf.) Accl. William O. Heffernan & Stewart CampbellInvernessHugh Cameron (A Conf) 1,186 Samuel McDonnell (Cons.) 601 Hiram Blanchard, Peter Smyth & Samuel McDonnellPictouJames William Carmichael (A Conf) 2,011 James McDonald (Cons.) 1,653 James Fraser, James McDonald, Donald Fraser & Alexander MacKay RichmondWilliam Joseph Croke (A Conf) 545 Donovan 279 Isaac LeVesconte & William MillerVictoriaWilliam Ross (A Conf.) Accl. William Ross & Charles James Campbell
New Brunswick Northern New Brunswick Electoral DistrictCandidates Incumbent Winner Runner up OtherGloucesterTimothy Anglin (Lib) 1,061 John Meahan 671 Robert Young & John Meahan KentAuguste Renaud (Lib) 876 Lestock P. W. DesBrisay 757Owen McInerney485Robert Barry Cutler4 William Shand Caie & Owen McInerneyNorthumberlandJohn Mercer Johnson (Lib) 1,226 Thomas F. Gillespie 757 John Mercer Johnson, Edward Williston, Richard Sutton, George KerrRestigoucheJohn McMillan (Lib) 370 John Phillips 259 John McMillan & Alexander C. DesBrisayVictoriaJohn Costigan (Lib-Cons) 778 William Blackwood Beveridge 549James Workman 16 James Tibbetts 0 Benjamin Beveridge & Vital Hébert
Southern New Brunswick