1965 Canadian federal election

none September 2023 1965 Canadian federal election Canada parliamentary no no no 74.8%Pomfret R. Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=turn&document=index&lang=e Elections Canada Elections Canada 23 February 2014 ( 4.4 pp) Opinion polling for the 1965 Canadian federal election 1963 Canadian federal election 1963 1968 Canadian federal election 1968 265 seats in the House of Commons 133 November 8, 1965 27th Canadian Parliament 26th Canadian Parliament x160px Lester_B._Pearson_(1963_ABC_press_photo).jpg CA Liberal nohash Lester B. Pearson January 16, 1958 CA Liberal name Algoma East 128 seats, 41.52% 128 131 3 3,099,521 40.18% 1.34 pp John Diefenbaker in the Toronto Star, 1962 (cropped).jpg CA PC nohash John Diefenbaker December 14, 1956 CA PC name Prince Albert 95 seats, 32.72% 95 97 2 2,500,113 32.41% 0.31 pp Premier Tommy Douglas (F1257 s1057 it2743) (cropped).jpg CA NDP nohash Tommy Douglas August 3, 1961 CA NDP name Burnaby—Coquitlam 17 seats, 13.24% 17 21 4 1,381,658 17.91% 4.67 pp Real Caouette (cropped).jpg CA Ralliement créditiste nohash Réal Caouette September 1, 1963 CA Ralliement créditiste name Villeneuve New partyresults0 Elected 20 MPs in Quebec as part of the Social Credit Party of Canada. 19 9 10 359,258 4.66%results0 Only contested seats in Quebec and Restigouche—Madawaska and Glengarry—Prescott in New Brunswick and Ontario respectively. New party CA Social Credit nohash Robert N. Thompson July 7, 1961 CA Social Credit name Red Deer 24 seats, 11.92% 4 5 1 282,454 3.66% 8.26 pp Canada 1965 Federal Election.svg 400px Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Lester B. Pearson CA Liberal name Lester B. Pearson CA Liberal name Chambre des Communes 1965.png 380px The Canadian parliament after the 1965 election The 1965 Canadian federal election was held on November 8, 1965, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected to government, winning more seats than any other party. It won more seats in the House even though it received a smaller share of the popular vote. It fell short of a majority government. It formed a minority government that due to support from other MPs, lasted three years. Overview On September 7, 1965, for the first time ever, the election writ was announced on live television across Canada by Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Star Ottawa Bureau September 8, 1965 They're starting rough in Nov. 8 vote campaign Toronto Daily Star Torstar 1 0319-0781 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-toronto-star-theyre-starting-rough/181043669/ September 14, 2025 Newspapers.com The networks then broadcast responses to the election announcement from all four House of Commons opposition leaders. The Liberals campaigned on their record of having kept the promises made in the 1963 campaign, which included job creation, lowering income taxes, higher wages, higher family allowances and student loans. They promised to implement a national Medicare program by 1967, and the Canada Pension Plan system of public pensions. The party also urged voters to give them a majority for "five more years of prosperity". The party campaigned under the slogans, "Good Things Happen When a Government Cares About People", and, "For Continued Prosperity". However, the Liberals came up two seats short of a majority, largely due to being virtually nonexistent in the Prairies for the second consecutive election. They actually lost five seats in the region, the only survivor being Veterans Affairs Minister Roger Teillet. The Progressive Conservative Party of John Diefenbaker, campaigning with the slogan, "Policies for People, Policies for Progress", gained a small number of seats. Despite losing a second time, Diefenbaker refused to resign as party leader, and was eventually forced from the position by a campaign by the party president Dalton Camp. Diefenbaker subsequently ran for re-election as leader in the party's 1967 leadership convention, but lost to Robert Stanfield. Old age pensions were an important issue in this campaign. The Liberal Party pointed to having increased the pension to $75 per month for persons 70 years of age and older, planned to reduce the eligibility age to 65 by 1970 and also promised a "Canada Assistance Program" payment for seniors with lower incomes. The PCs promised to increase OAP to $100 per month for all those 70 years old and over. The New Democratic Party of Tommy Douglas, campaigning under the slogan, "Fed up? Speak up! Vote for the New Democrats!", increased its share of the popular vote by more than four and a half percentage points, and became the third largest party in the House of Commons. However, it won only four more seats as it continued to fail to make the electoral break-through that was hoped for when the party was founded in 1960. The Social Credit Party of Canada split in two before this election. Réal Caouette led French-Canadian Socreds out of the party into the new Ralliement créditiste (Social Credit Rally) but lost more than half of the party's Quebec seats. Robert N. Thompson continued to lead the Social Credit Party in English-speaking Canada, and actually managed to gain one seat outside Quebec although it was still fewer than the French-Canadian breakaway party. However, even the combined seat totals of the two factions would not have been enough to prevent the NDP from replacing Social Credit as the third largest party. The election would be the last time that the Social Credit Party elected federal candidates outside Quebec. This was the first election for the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, a satirical party led by Cornelius the First. The party fielded only one candidate. Cornelius, a resident of the Granby zoo, did not seek election because Canadian election law does not permit rhinoceroses (or other zoo animals) to be nominated. In order to govern, the minority Liberals relied on the New Democratic Party and occasionally other smaller opposition parties in order to remain in power. Pearson announced his intention to resign as Liberal leader in December 1967 and was replaced the following April by Pierre Trudeau. Having served just short of five years, Pearson is the longest-serving Canadian prime minister to have never led a majority government. Notably, this election marked the last time that a single conservative party did not win an absolute majority of the vote in Alberta (although the totals of the Progressive Conservatives and Social Credit combined did add up to over two thirds of the vote in that province). Party platforms Liberal Party: $500 million for medical and dental research over 15 years; $40 million university scholarship program over 2 years; improve crop insurance for farmers; create a national dairy marketing board; allow full-time farm workers to participate in Unemployment Insurance; increase old age security payments; $100 million programs to build roads in northern Canada; $25 million to support the coal industry in Nova Scotia. Progressive Conservative Party: increase grants to universities; special tax deduction for gifts to universities; grants to support medical and dental research; establish a federal government grain agency; provide grants to farmers; increase old age security payments from $75 per month to $100 per month for senior citizens over the age of 70; create a national water conservation program, and divert water from northern Canada to southern regions; develop hydro-electric potential of Nelson River, Peace River and the Bay of Fundy; reduce corporate and personal income taxes; provide tax deductions for home-owners. New Democratic Party: implement a national medicare program by July 1, 1967; eliminate university tuition fees; provide grants for universities' capital costs; increased funding for technical training; increase the minimum price for wheat; increase the old age security payment from $75 per month to $100 per month at age 65; implement economic planning program that lays down guidelines for wages and prices; halt unjustified price increases. Social Credit Party: increased federal aid for education; introduce a non-compulsory medicare program; require the Bank of Canada to provide loans for government capital projects. Ralliement des creditistes/Social Credit Rally: in lieu of a medicare program, provide government allowance to individuals to buy private medical insurance; subsidize farmers' crop losses; increase old age security payments to $100 per month immediately, and to $125 per month over time; require the Bank of Canada to pay $15 million of dividends to Canadians. Source: The Globe and Mail newspaper, October 1965. Electoral system Most MPs were elected using First-past-the-post voting. But Halifax and the riding of Queen's (PEI) were two-seat districts, electing their MPs using plurality block voting. After this election, single-winner first past the post would be the only electoral system used to elect MPs.Parliamentary Guide 1969, p. 333–334 National results center|300px PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1963DissolutionElected% Change#%Change CA Liberal row Liberal Lester Pearson 265128128 131+2.3% 3,099,521 40.18%-1.34pp CA PC row Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker 2659595 97+4.3% 2,500,113 32.41% -0.31pp CA NDP row New Democrats Tommy Douglas 2551717 21+23.5% 1,381,658 17.91% +4.67pp CA Ralliement créditiste row Ralliement créditiste Real Caouette 77  19 9-47.4% 359,258 4.66%   CA Social Credit row-name R.N. Thompson 86244 5-79% 282,454 3.66% -8.26pp CA Independent rowIndependent 24 - 1  52,155 0.68% +0.61pp CA Independent rowIndependent PC 4-- 1  13,198 0.17% +0.15pp CA Independent rowIndependent Liberal 10-- -- 16,738 0.22% +0.03pp CA Communist row-name William Kashtan 12-- -- 4,285 0.06% x CA Independent row New Capitalist Frank O'Hearn 3    -  1,009 0.01%   CA Independent row Ouvrier Indépendant   2-- -- 650 0.01% -0.01pp CA Independent row Droit vital personnel H-G Grenier 1    -  465 0.01%   CA Independent rowIndependent Social Credit 2-- -- 4220.01% x CA Independent rowIndependent Conservative 1-- -- 373 xx CA Rhinoceros (historical) row-name Cornelius I 1    -  321 x   CA Independent row Republican   1    -  297 x  CA Independent row Progressive Workers   1    -  274 x  CA Independent row Socialist Labour   1-- -- 147 xxTotal 1,011265265265-7,713,338 100%Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 https://web.archive.org/web/20081204121507/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E 2008-12-04 Notes: "% change" refers to change from previous election x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote 1 "Previous" refers to the results of the previous election, not the party standings in the House of Commons prior to dissolution. Vote and seat summaries Ternary plots - shift of electoral support (1963-1965) 350 200 yes center Electoral districts identified by colours of winning parties File:Ternary CA1963.svg 1963 Ternary plot of 1963 results File:Ternary CA1965.svg 1965 Ternary plot of 1965 results Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 40.18 PC #9999FF 32.41 NDP #F4A460 17.91 RC CA Ralliement créditiste 4.66 Social Credit CA Social Credit 3.66 Others #DCDCDC 1.18 Seat totals #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 49.43 PC #9999FF 36.60 NDP #F4A460 7.92 RC CA Social Credit 3.39 Social Credit CA Social Credit 1.88 Independent #DCDCDC 0.75 Results by province Party nameBCABSKMBONQCNBNSPENLYKNWTotal CA Liberal rowLiberal Seats: 7 - - 1 51 56 6 2 - 7 - 1 131 CA Liberal row Popular Vote: 30.0 22.4 24.0 31.0 43.6 45.6 47.5 42.0 44.1 64.1 44.8 56.2 40.2 CA PC rowProgressive Conservative Seats: 3 15 17 10 25 8 4 10 4 - 1 - 97 CA PC row Vote: 19.2 46.6 48.0 40.7 34.0 21.3 42.5 48.6 53.9 32.4 55.2 39.1 32.4 CA NDP rowNew Democrats Seats: 9 - - 3 9 - - - - -   - 21 CA NDP row Vote: 32.9 8.2 26.0 24.0 21.7 12.0 9.4 9.1 2.0 1.2   4.7 17.9 CA Ralliement créditiste rowRalliement créditiste Seats:         - 9 -           9 CA Social Credit row Vote:         xx 17.5 0.4           4.7 CA Social Credit rowSocial Credit Seats: 3 2 - - -   -     -     5 CA Social Credit row Vote: 17.4 22.5 1.9 4.3 0.4   0.1     1.6     3.7 CA Independent rowIndependent Seats:           1             1 CA Independent row Vote: 0.2 0.1   0.1 0.2 2.1   0.3         0.7 CA Independent rowIndependent PC Seats:         - 1             1 CA Independent row Vote:         xx 0.6             0.2 Total seats:22 17 17 14 8575 10 12 47 1 1 265Parties that won no seats:CA Independent row Independent Liberal Vote:           0.8       0.7     0.2 CA Communist row-name Vote: 0.2 0.1 xx   xx xx             0.1 CA Independent row New Capitalist Vote:         xx               xx CA Independent row Ouvrier Indépendant Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent row Droit vital personnel Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent row Independent Social Credit Vote: xx         xx             xx CA Independent row Independent Conservative Vote:         xx               xx CA Rhinoceros (historical) row-name Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent rowRepublican Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent row Progressive Workers Vote: xx                       xx CA Independent row Socialist Labour Vote:        xx               xx xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote See also Canada Politics List of Canadian federal general elections List of political parties in Canada 27th Canadian Parliament References lower-roman lower-alpha Further reading Saywell John John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1965 1966 University of Toronto Press Toronto https://archive.org/details/canadianannualre0000unse_o7z5 registration LeDuc Lawrence Pammett Jon H. McKenzie Judith L. Turcotte André Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics 2010 Dundurn Press Toronto 978-1-55488-886-3 https://archive.org/details/dynastiesinterlu0000unse registration Canada, Chief Electoral Officer Twenty-Seventh General Election, 1965: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer 1965 Queen's Printer Ottawa 2027/umn.31951d013775845 free Category:1965 elections in Canada 1965 Category:November 1965 in Canada