The 1878 Canadian federal election was held on September 17, 1878, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression during Mackenzie's term, and his party was punished by voters for it. The Liberals' policy of free trade also hurt their support with the business establishment in Toronto and Montreal.
Sir John A. Macdonald and his Conservative Party were returned to power after having been defeated four years before amidst scandals over the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Electoral System First past the post was used to elect in single-member ridings. The Halifax riding elected two MPs, using plurality block voting.
Secret voting, with the paper "Australian ballot", was used in this election for the first time.A History of the Vote in Canada, p. 42-3
National results
PartyParty leader# of candidatesSeatsPopular vote1874ElectedChange#%Change Conservative John A. Macdonald 101 38 85 +118.4% 143,192 26.28% +7.80pp Liberal-Conservative 60 26 49 +76.9% 85,999 15.78% +3.50pp Liberal Alexander Mackenzie 121 126 63 -54.8% 180,074 33.05% -7.74pp Independent 11 4 5 +25% 14,783 2.71% -0.48pp Independent Conservative 2 2 2 - 1,001 0.18% -0.76pp Unknown 117 - 114,043 20.93% -1.93pp Independent Liberal 4 1 1 +100% 5,388 0.99% - Nationalist Conservative 1 * 1 * 401 0.07% *Total 417 197 206 +3.6% 544,881 100.0% -Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Acclamations
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation; British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative Manitoba: 2 Conservatives, 1 Liberal-Conservative Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal-Conservatives, 1 Liberal New Brunswick: 1 Liberal, 1 Independent
Results by province
Party nameBCMBONQCNBNSPETotalConservative Seats: 1 2 37 33 1 8 3 85 Popular vote (%): - 49.6 25.5 35.0 5.9 21.7 31.6 26.3 Liberal-Conservative Seats: 2 1 23 12 3 6 2 49 Vote (%): 39.6 - 15.8 13.2 14.3 22.7 12.0 15.8 Liberal Seats: 2 27 17 9 7 1 63 Vote (%): - 36.3 21.7 48.2 34.9 37.2 33.1 Independent Seats: 1 1 1 2 - 5 Vote (%): 12.2 1.5 1.6 13.1 4.3 2.7 Independent Conservative Seats: 1 1 2 Vote (%): 50.4 0.7 0.2 Unknown Seats: Vote (%): 48.2 19.9 27.4 14.8 14.7 19.3 20.9 Independent Liberal Seats: 1 - 1 Vote (%): 1.0 3.7 1.7 1.0 Nationalist Conservative Seats: 1 - 1 Vote (%): 0.3 0.1 Total seats 6 4 88 65 16 21 6 206
See also List of Canadian federal general elections 4th Canadian Parliament
References
Notes
Further reading pp. 69-90.