1915 Manitoba general election

none September 2023 1915 Manitoba general election Manitoba 1870 parliamentary 1914 Manitoba general election 1914 elected members 1920 Manitoba general election 15th Manitoba Legislature 1920 August 6, 1915 47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 24 Tobias Crawford Norris.jpg x150px MB Liberal nohash Tobias Norris 1910 MB Liberal name Lansdowne 20 40 20 55.1% 12.5pp JamesAlbertManningAikins.png MB PC nohash James Albert Manning Aikins 1915 Conservative Brandon City (lost re-election) 28 5 23 33.0% 13.9pp Premier Premier after election Rodmond Roblin MB Conservative name Tobias Norris MB Liberal name The 1915 Manitoba general election was held August 6, 1915 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. Liberals under Norris took a slight majority of votes and won a landslide majority in the Legislature. They replaced the Conservative government that had ruled the province since 1899 but had lost power after investigation for corruption. This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond Roblin were confirmed in office with 28 seats out of 49. In early 1915, a commission appointed by the Lieutenant Governor found the government guilty of corruption in the tending of contracts for new legislative buildings.http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/features/timelinks/reference/db0011.shtml Legislature Scandal TimeLinks Manitoba Historical Society 2012-11-29 Roblin denied the charges, but resigned as premier on May 12. Three days later, the lieutenant-governor called upon Tobias Norris, leader of the official opposition Liberals, to form a new administration. The house was quickly adjourned, and new elections were scheduled for August. The primary issue of the campaign was corruption of the Roblin government. The pro-Liberal Manitoba Free Press ran numerous articles criticizing the practices of the Roblin government, and alleging that the "Roblin machine" still controlled the Conservative Party. Liberals claimed they would manage the province's affairs in a businesslike rather than a partisan manner, an approach typified by Provincial Treasurer Edward Brown call for the province to "forget party for five years and get down to business". Female suffrage was an issue in the campaign. Norris's Liberals promised they would enact female adult suffrage if elected to office. Due to this, Nellie McClung, who had returned to Manitoba from her home in Alberta, campaigned on behalf of Liberal candidates. The government gave votes to women in 1916, becoming the first province in Canada where women could vote. (Treaty Indians were still barred from voting until 1952.)"Voting Rights - Indigenous suffrage in Manitoba" https://canadianwomen.org/blog/indigenous-voting-rights/ The Liberal party's platform also promised direct legislation and plebiscites on public issues. The question of prohibition was an issue at the time. The Liberal Party promised to hold a provincial referendum on the question. A referendum was held on March 3, 1916, and a majority voted in favour."Manitoba Prohibition Referendum (1916)" http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/prohibition1916.shtml Facing unpopularity due to the corruption scandal, the Manitoba Conservatives chose federal Member of Parliament (MP) James Albert Manning Aikins as their new leader on July 15. Aikins had never served in the Roblin government and was regarded by many as free from the controversy that had forced the Conservatives to resign. In a further effort to separate themselves from the Roblin government, the Conservative party tried to change its name, referring to itself as the "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" party for this election. Liberals ridiculed this name change and sarcastically described the "new" Conservatives as the "Purity Party". The "Independent-Liberal-Conservative" name seems to have been dropped shortly after the election. The election results were a disaster for Conservatives. They won only five seats out of 47, and Aikins lost by a considerable margin in Brandon City. The Liberals under Norris won a landslide majority with 40 seats, the largest victory in Manitoba history, although with barely more than half the vote. Labourites made advances in the legislature. In the Winnipeg Centre district, Fred Dixon was re-elected, this time as an independent candidate with support from both Liberals and the Labour Representation Committee. The Social Democratic Party also won its first seat in the province, electing Richard Rigg to one of the two seats in north-end Winnipeg. The other seat was taken by Solomon Hart Green, the first Jew to serve in the Manitoba Legislature. For this election (like the previous one in 1914) Winnipeg was divided into three districts, each having used two members, with each seat being filled in separate contests. The Manitoba francophone-dominated constituencies continued to support candidates of the Conservative party. Four of the five Conservative MLAs were from francophone areas. Many francophone voters opposed Norris's plans to end provincial funding for denominational Catholic schools. Many also opposed Norris's plans for Prohibition and equal suffrage. This was the last election before Winnipeg was made into a single ten-seat district, and Single transferable voting was brought into use.Parliamentary Guide Electoral system In this election Manitoba used a mixture of multi-member districts and single-member districts. In the multi-member districts - Winnipeg North, Winnipeg South and Winnipeg Centre - each member was elected in a separate contest through First past the post. There is little variance in the parties' vote tallies between the twin contests in each district. In each single-member district the member was elected through First past the post. Results PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesMembers electedPopular vote19141915% Change#%% Change MB Liberal row Liberal Tobias Norris  20 40+100% 55.1%  MB Conservative (historical) row Conservative James Albert Manning Aikins  28 5 -82.1% 33.0%  MB CCF row Social Democratic     1  11.9%  MB Independent rowIndependent/others  1 1-    Total  49 47-4.1% 100%  Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Liberal MB Liberal 55.10 Conservative MB PC 33.00 Others MB Independent 11.90Seats summary #ddd 600px 410px Liberal MB Liberal 85.11 Conservative MB PC 10.64 Others MB Independent 4.25 Riding results Arthur: (incumbent)John Williams (L) 815 W.S. Kenner (C) 632 Assiniboia: John Wilton (L) 828 William Bayley (Labour Representation Committee) 773 (incumbent)John Thomas Haig (C) 590 Beautiful Plains: William Wood (L) 1115 J. Harry Irwin (C) 918 Birtle: (incumbent)George Malcolm (L) 873 S. Arnold (C) 422 Brandon City: Stephen Clement (L) 1914 James Albert Manning Aikins (C) 1213 Carillon: Albert Prefontaine (C) 629 (incumbent)Thomas B. Molloy (L) 605 Cypress: Andrew Myles (L) 851 (incumbent)George Steel (C) 789 Dauphin: William Harrington (L) 739 (incumbent)William Buchanan (C) 637 J.M. McQuay (Ind) 233 Deloraine: (incumbent)Robert Thornton (L) 1146 John C. Walker Reid (C) 851 Dufferin: Edward August (L) 1134 Andrew S. Argue (C) 848 Elmwood: Thomas Glendenning Hamilton (L) 2319 Donald Munro (C) 866 Emerson: John David Baskerville (L) 1181 G. Coulter (C) 460 Gilbert Plains: William Findlater (L) 1383 (incumbent)Sam Hughes (C) 792 Gimli: Taras Ferley (L-Ind) 1172 (incumbent)Sveinn Thorvaldson (C) 562 (Einar Jonasson had been nominated as the official Liberal candidate, but withdrew.)http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/TVC/1915/08/13/4/Ar00404.xml/Olive https://archive.today/20130115145914/http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/TVC/1915/08/13/4/Ar00404.xml/Olive usurped January 15, 2013 Manitoba Historical Society August 13, 1915 The Voice 2012-09-23 4 Gladstone: (incumbent)James Armstrong (L) 1154 A. Singleton (C) 484 Glenwood: (incumbent)James Breakey (L) 1091 John Perdue (C) 636 Hamiota: (incumbent)John Henry McConnell (L) 1063 J. Moss Fraser (C) 596 Iberville: (incumbent)Aime Benard (C) 527 James H. Black (L) 400 Kildonan and St. Andrews: George Prout (L) 1295 R. Sanders (C) 754 Killarney: Samuel Hayden (L) 779 (incumbent)George Lawrence (C) 656 Lakeside: Charles Duncan McPherson (L) 863 (incumbent)John J. Garland (C) 700 Lansdowne: (incumbent)Tobias Norris (L) 1334 W.J. Cundy (C) 592 La Verendrye: Philippe Talbot (L) 713 (incumbent)Jean-Baptiste Lauzon (C) 558 Manitou: George Thomas Armstrong (L) 1090 W.H. Sharpe (C) 1006 Minnedosa: (incumbent)George Grierson (L) 1173 James Muir (C) 654 Morden and Rhineland: (incumbent)Valentine Winkler (L) 1180 William Johnston Tupper (C) 712 Morris: (incumbent)Jacques Parent (C) 740 William Molloy (L) 683 Mountain: (incumbent)James Baird (L) 1331 John T. Dale (C) 419 Norfolk: (incumbent)John Graham (L) 933 Robert F. Lyons (C) 770 Portage la Prairie: (incumbent)Ewan McPherson (L) 1065 Fawcett Taylor (C) 807 Roblin: (incumbent)Frederic Newton (C) 714 William Angus (L) 609 Rockwood: Arthur Lobb (L) 1275 Thomas Scott (C) 639 Russell: William Wilber Wilfred Wilson (L) 1033 J.P. Laycock (C) 614 St. Boniface: Joseph Dumas (L) 921 J.A. Beaupre (C) 790 J.P. Howden (Ind L) 640 St. Clements: (incumbent)Donald Ross (L/Ind) 1014 Thomas Hay (C) 489 St. George: Skuli Sigfusson (L) 1291 Paul Reykdal (C) 831 Ste. Rose: (incumbent)Joseph Hamelin (C) 443 Z.H. Rheaume (L) 414 A. McLeod (Ind) 266 Swan River: (incumbent)William Sims (L) 626 Daniel D. McDonald (C) 414 Turtle Mountain: George William McDonald (L) 687 (incumbent)James Johnson (C) 651 Virden: (incumbent)George Clingan (L) 1181 R.A. Knight (C) 772 Winnipeg Winnipeg North "A": Robert Newton Lowery (L) 2443 Arthur Beech (SDP) 2248 (incumbent)Joseph P. Foley (C) 1490 Winnipeg North "B": Richard Rigg (SDP) 2494 Solomon Hart Green (L) 2263 E.R. Levinson (C) 1248 Winnipeg Centre "A": (incumbent)Thomas Herman Johnson (L) 6763 A.J. Norquay (C) 2346 Winnipeg Centre "B": (incumbent) Fred Dixon (Ind, formerly Lib-Lab MLA) 6443 H.M. Hanneson (C) 2048 George Armstrong (SPC) 804 Winnipeg South "A": (incumbent)Albert Hudson (L) 5986 W.J. Boyd (C) 2011 Winnipeg South "B": (incumbent)William Parrish (L) 5635 Lendrum McMeans (C) 2303 http://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/galleries/download/Statement_of_Votes/39th_General_Election/2007_statvotes_history.pdf Historical Summaries Elections Manitoba 2012-09-23 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120306221303/http://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/galleries/download/Statement_of_Votes/39th_General_Election/2007_statvotes_history.pdf 2012-03-06 http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/BDS/1915/07/28/articles/28.xml/iarchives https://archive.today/20130115170815/http://manitobia.ca/content/en/newspapers/BDS/1915/07/28/articles/28.xml/iarchives usurped January 15, 2013 Constituencies and Candidates Brandon Daily Sun July 28, 1915 3 2012-12-19 Deferred elections The Pas, August 25, 1915: Edward Brown (L) accl. Horace Halcrow had been nominated by the Conservatives to contest this riding, but withdrew before the election. Halcrow had been Manitoba's chief game warden under the Roblin government. Post-election changes Rupertsland (new constituency), September 16, 1916: John Morrison (Ind-L) accl. Iberville (res. Aime Benard, 1917), November 1, 1917: Arthur Boivin (C) elected Roblin (res. Frederic Newton, 1917), November 19, 1917: William Westwood (Ind-L) elected Irwin L. Mitchell (L) (A Winnipeg Free Press report from November 20, 1917 shows Westwood winning by 186 votes, with one poll yet to declare. This was likely the first provincial election where Manitoba women cast votes.) Morris (dep. Jacques Parent, 1917; no by-election) Minnedosa (George Grierson to cabinet, November 10, 1917), November 30, 1917: George Grierson (L) elected Winnipeg North "B" (res. Richard Rigg, 1917), January 15, 1918: Robert Jacob (Union-L) 2923 E.R. Levinson (Ind) 2251 (Numbers taken from the Winnipeg Free Press.) Rhineland (dec. Valentine Winkler, June 7, 1920; no by-election) References Category:1915 elections in Canada 1915 Category:1915 in Manitoba Category:August 1915 in Canada