1963 Canadian federal election

none September 2023 1963 Canadian federal election Canada 1957 parliamentary no no no 79.2%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 ( 0.2 pp) Opinion polling for the 1963 Canadian federal election 1962 Canadian federal election 1962 1965 Canadian federal election 1965 265 seats in the House of Commons 133 April 8, 1963 26th Canadian Parliament 25th Canadian Parliament Lester_B._Pearson_(1963_ABC_press_photo).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 CA Liberal nohash Lester B. Pearson January 16, 1958 CA Liberal name Algoma East 99 seats, 36.97% 128 29 3,276,996 41.48% 4.51 pp John Diefenbaker in the Toronto Star, 1962 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 CA PC nohash John Diefenbaker December 14, 1956 CA PC name Prince Albert 116 seats, 37.22% 95 21 2,591,613 32.80% 4.42 pp SC CA Social Credit nohash Robert N. Thompson July 7, 1961 CA Social Credit name Red Deer 30 seats, 11.61% 24 6 940,703 11.91% 0.30 pp Premier Tommy Douglas (F1257 s1057 it2743) (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 CA NDP nohash Tommy Douglas August 3, 1961 CA NDP name Burnaby—Coquitlam 19 seats, 13.57% 17 2 1,044,701 13.22% 0.35 pp Canada 1963 Federal Election.svg 350px Prime Minister Prime Minister after election John Diefenbaker CA PC name Lester B. Pearson CA Liberal name Chambre des Communes 1963.png The Canadian parliament after the 1963 election The 1963 Canadian federal election was held on April 8, 1963, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative (Tory) government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, with the Liberals returning to power for the first time in 6 years, where they would remain for twenty of the next twenty-one years (winning every election except the 1979 election until their landslide defeat in 1984). For the Social Credit Party, despite getting their highest ever share of the vote, the party lost 6 seats compared to its high-water mark in 1962. The 1963 election was the first in which all of the Northwest Territories were contained in an electoral district. Consequently, it was also the first election in which 100% of Canadian territory was represented in Parliament. Overview During the Tories' last year in office, members of the Diefenbaker Cabinet attempted to remove him from the leadership of the party, and therefore from the Prime Minister's office. In addition to concern within the party about Diefenbaker's mercurial style of leadership, there had been a serious split in party ranks over the issue of cancelling the AVRO Arrow un-employing 50,000 aerospace workers and stationing American nuclear missiles (see Bomarc missile) on Canadian soil for protection from possible Soviet attack. Diefenbaker and his allies opposed this proposal, while many other Conservatives and the opposition Liberal Party were in favour. Minister of National Defence Douglas Harkness resigned from Cabinet on February 4, 1963, because of Diefenbaker's opposition to accepting the missiles. When it turned out that nearly half of his cabinet was also prepared to resign over the issue, Diefenbaker announced that he himself would resign with immediate effect and recommend that the Governor General appoint Minister of Justice Donald Fleming as acting Prime Minister pending a new Progressive Conservative leadership convention. Diefenbaker's allies persuaded him not to go through with the resignation, however the furore caused by the cabinet split and Diefenbaker's rejecting a proposed deal with the Social Credit Party, whose support the Progressive Conservatives had been relying on to remain in power since the previous election, resulted in Diefenbaker's government losing two non-confidence motions the next day and consequently falling.Lipad - February 5, 1963 - Browse the Canadian House of Commons https://www.lipad.ca/full/1963/02/05/21/ www.lipad.ca Lipad 30 April 2025 The House was dissolved on February 6.Journals : House of Commons Journals, 26th Parl... - Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources https://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.HOC_2601_110_01/4 parl.canadiana.ca Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources 30 April 2025 The Liberal Party of Lester Pearson were ahead of the Tories when the election was called; it looked inevitable that they would form a majority government. Their campaign began to falter, however. It started to falter when Pearson was struck down with a bout of ill-health which precluded him from actively campaigning. More importantly, it also started to falter when the U.S. Department of Defense leaked a document detailing the proposed missile defences (which ironically may have been done in an effort to help Pearson's campaign); this allowed Diefenbaker to accuse the United States of wanting to use Canada as a decoy to lessen the potential damage to its cities in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. The Tories surged in the polls, leaving it briefly looking possible that they might not only be able to continue in power; it was possible that they may even return to majority government status. Ultimately, the Liberals were able to regain the momentum with a platform promising that, if elected, they would begin their term with "60 Days of Decision" on several key questions, while Diefenbaker's repeated attacks on President Kennedy had limited effectiveness. The Tories' refusal to work with the Socreds also proved damaging, contributing to their losing ground in British Columbia, where they slipped to third place behind the Liberals and NDP. Kennedy strongly favoured Pearson and made an effort to help his election campaign. Kennedy sent his consultant, Lou Harris, to work on the Pearson campaign and General Lauris Norstad publicly criticised the Conservatives for not meeting their NATO contributions.Kendall Holloway Steven Canadian Foreign Policy: Defining the National Interest 2006 Broadview Press 141 Harris later said "One of the highlights of my life was helping Pearson".Honnig Bonnie Shell-Shocked Feminist Criticism After Trump 2021 Fordham University Press Despite winning 41% of the vote, which is usually sufficient for ensuring the election of a majority government, the Liberals came up five seats short of a majority due to winning only six seats in the Prairies. The Liberals formed a minority government that was dependent on the support of the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) in order to pass legislation. The social-democratic NDP had been formed in 1961 by a socialist party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and by the Canadian Labour Congress. The 1963 election was the second vote contested by the NDP. The party won slightly fewer votes, and two fewer seats, than they had received in the 1962 election. They were again disappointed by the failure of their new partnership with the labour movement to produce an electoral breakthrough, particularly in the province of Ontario, which has the largest population and the largest number of seats in the House of Commons. The Social Credit Party was unable to increase its representation in western Canada, and lost four of its Quebec seats despite gaining a slightly better share of the vote compared to 1962. Indeed, 1963 represented the highest share the party would ever get. The continuing lopsided result led to a split in the party when leader Robert N. Thompson refused to step aside in favour of his deputy, Réal Caouette, the longtime leader of the social credit movement in Quebec. The Socred MPs from Quebec considered Caouette their leader, not Thompson. Ultimately, Caouette and his followers left the Social Credit Party to sit as the Ralliement des créditistes. National results center|300px PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1962Elected% Change#%pp Change CA Liberal row Liberal Lester Pearson 265 99 128 +29.3% 3,276,996 41.48% +4.51 CA PC row Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker 265 116 95 -18.1% 2,591,613 32.80% -4.42 CA Social Credit row-name R.N. Thompson 224 30 24 -20.0% 940,703 11.91% +0.30 CA NDP row New Democrats Tommy Douglas 232 19 17 -10.5% 1,044,701 13.22% -0.35 CA Liberal row Liberal-Labour 1 1 1 - 16,794 0.21% +0.01 CA Independent rowIndependent Liberal 6 - -- 14,658 0.19% +0.05 CA Independent rowIndependent 9- - - 5,236 0.07% -0.04 CA Communist row-name Leslie Morris 12 - - - 4,234 0.05% -0.03 CA Independent rowIndependent PC 2 - - - 1,965 0.02% -0.01 CA Independent rowIndependent Conservative 2* -* 1,159 0.01% * CA Independent rowOuvrier Indépendant   1 - - - 1,064 0.01% +0.01 CA Independent rowIndependent Social Credit 2* -* 717 0.01% * CA Independent row Nationalist   1* -* 540 0.01%* CA Independent rowCandidat libéral des electeurs   1 - - - 496 0.01% -0.02 CA Independent row Socialist Labour   1* -* 43 x *Total1,023265265 -7,900,919100%  Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 Notes: * The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote Vote and seat summaries Ternary plots - shift of electoral support (1962-1963) 350 200 yes center Electoral districts identified by colours of winning parties File:Ternary CA1962.svg 1962 Ternary plot of 1962 results File:Ternary CA1963.svg 1963 Ternary plot of 1963 results Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 41.48 PC #9999FF 32.80 NDP #F4A460 13.22 Social Credit CA Social Credit 11.91 Others #DCDCDC 0.59 Seat totals #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 48.30 PC #9999FF 35.84 Social Credit CA Social Credit 9.05 NDP #F4A460 6.41 Others #DCDCDC 0.37 Results by province Party nameBCABSKMBONQCNBNSPENLYKNWTotal CA Liberal rowLiberal Seats: 7 1 - 2 51 47 6 5 2 7 - - 128 CA Liberal row Popular Vote: 32.3 22.1 24.1 33.8 45.8 45.6 47.3 46.7 46.4 64.5 41.0 43.2 41.5 CA PC rowProgressive Conservative Seats: 4 14 17 10 27 8 4 7 2 - 1 1 95 CA PC row Vote: 23.4 45.3 53.7 42.3 35.0 19.5 40.4 46.9 52.0 30.1 49.6 56.8 32.8 CA Social Credit rowSocial Credit Seats: 2 2 - - - 20 - -     -   24 CA Social Credit row Vote: 13.3 25.8 3.9 7.0 2.0 27.3 8.6 0.1     9.4   11.9 CA NDP rowNew Democrats Seats: 9 - - 2 6 - - - - -     17 CA NDP row Vote: 30.3 6.5 18.2 16.7 16.2 7.1 3.7 6.4 1.6 4.2     13.2 CA Liberal rowLiberal-Labour Seats:         1             1 CA Liberal row Vote:       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:         0.3 0.1       1.3     0.2 CA Independent rowIndependent Vote: xx 0.1 xx 0.2 xx 0.1             0.1 CA Communist row-name Vote: 0.1 0.1 0.1   0.1 xx             0.1 CA Independent row Independent PC Vote:         xx 0.1             xx CA Independent row Independent Conservative Vote:         xx               xx CA Independent row Ouvrier Indépendant Vote:           0.1             xx CA Independent row Independent Social Credit Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent row Nationalist Vote:           xx             xx CA Independent row C. l. des electeurs 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 26th Canadian Parliament References Further reading Saywell John T. John Saywell Canadian Annual Review for 1963 1964 University of Toronto Press Toronto https://archive.org/details/canadianannualre0000unse_b0o5 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 Beck James Murray James Murray Beck Pendulum of Power; Canada's Federal Elections 1968 Prentice-Hall of Canada Scarborough 978-0-13-655670-1 https://archive.org/details/pendulumofpower0000unse registration Canada, Chief Electoral Officer Twenty-Sixth General Election, 1963: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer 1963 Queen's Printer Ottawa 2027/umn.31951d013775837 free External links A Sordid Affair, by Norman Hillmer Category:1963 elections in Canada 1963 Category:April 1963 in Canada