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.James W. Daschuk, Fear and Loathing at the Geologic Survey (1991 M.A. thesis), p. 54. accessed online Jan. 3, 2025
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
3rd ParliamentPartyParty leader# of candidatesSeatsPopular vote1872ElectedChange#%Change Liberal Alexander Mackenzie14095129+35.8%128,45539.49%+4.77pp ConservativeJohn A. Macdonald656339-38.1%57,69117.74%-8.02pp Liberal-Conservative1383626-27.8%40,23412.37%-0.53pp Conservative Labour 11--100%1,5150.47%+0.02ppIndependents714+300%10,4533.21%+1.58ppIndependent Liberal525+300%6,5412.01%+0.37ppIndependent Conservative323+50%2,3600.73%+0.03pp Unknown104- --78,00823.98%+1.78ppTotal355200206+3.0%325,247100% Source: Parliamentary website , Detailed riding 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
Party name BC MB ON QC NB NS PEI Total Liberal Seats31613410155129 Popular vote34.147.039.634.847.138.156.839.5 Conservative Seats11151722139 Vote4.513.819.517.66.817.817.517.7 Liberal-Conservative Seats1 101212-26 Vote16.9 10.414.98.619.215.412.4 Conservative LabourSeats - - Vote 0.9 0.5 Unknown Seats Vote29.213.827.227.519.99.010.324.0 Independent Seats 1--21 4 Vote 9.50.82.317.67.7 3.2 Independent Liberal Seats1 2 11 5 Vote15.4 1.7 8.2 2.0 Independent Conservative Seats 1 2 3 Vote 15.9 2.9 0.7Total seats 64 88 65 16 21 6 206
See also
List of Canadian federal general elections
References
Further reading