The Canadian federal election of 1891 was held on March 5 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 of the 7th Parliament

7th Canadian Parliament

The 7th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 29, 1891 until April 24, 1896. The membership was set by the 1891 federal election on March 5, 1891, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1896 election.It was controlled by a...

 of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was won by the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Canada (historical)

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

 of Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Sir John A. Macdonald

John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

.
The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy

National Policy

The National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876 and put into action in 1879. It called for high tariffs on imported manufactured items to protect the manufacturing industry...

, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity

Reciprocity (Canadian politics)

In nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America...

 (free trade) with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Macdonald led a conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

. It was a close election and he campaigned hard. Macdonald died a few months after the election, which led to his succession by four different Conservative Prime Ministers until the 1896 election

Canadian federal election, 1896

The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...

.

Senator John Abbott succeeded Macdonald as Conservative leader and Prime Minister after Macdonald's death on June 6, 1891. Abbott's most famous political comment was "I hate politics", and he had in fact supported John Thompson to succeed Macdonald. Abbott, in failing health, was finally succeeded by Thompson in 1892. Mackenzie Bowell

Mackenzie Bowell

Sir Mackenzie Bowell, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Canada from December 21, 1894 to April 27, 1896.-Early life:Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, England to John Bowell and Elizabeth Marshall...

, another senator, succeeded Thompson after his sudden death from a heart attack on Dec. 12, 1894. Bowell was ousted by several of his own cabinet ministers and replaced by Charles Tupper

Charles Tupper

Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after...

 in April 1896, who led the Conservatives in the June 1896 election.

This was Wilfrid Laurier

Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

's first election as leader of the Liberals

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

. Although he lost the election, he increased the Liberals' support and returned in 1896 to win a solid majority.

This election was the lowest voter turnout by percentage up to this point in Canadian Federal elections.

Voter turnout: 64.4%

Canadian voters would return to the issue of free trade 20 years later during the 1911 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1911

The Canadian federal election of 1911 was held on September 21 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Canada.-Summary:...

.

National results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1887 Canadian federal election, 1887 The Canadian federal election of 1887 was held on February 22, 1887 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Canada.The Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A...	Elected	Change	#	%	Change	Conservative Conservative Party of Canada (historical) The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...	John A. Macdonald John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...	187	87	97	+11.5%	332,961	42.96%	+2.80 %	Liberal-Conservative	25	24	20	-16.7%	43,557	5.62%	-1.64%	Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...	Wilfrid Laurier Wilfrid Laurier Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....	194	79	90	+13.9%	350,512	45.22%	+2.09%	Independent Conservative		4	3	3	-	15,045	1.94%	+0.38%	Independent		4	3	2	-66.7%	6,357	0.82%	-0.42%	Nationalist		1	1	1	-	-1	0.00%	-0.66%	Independent Liberal		2	5	1	-80%	5,573	0.72%	-1.45%	Nationalist Conservative Nationalist Conservative The label Nationalist Conservative was used by several Quebec Members of the Canadian Parliament and several unsuccessful candidates. They used this label in order to distinguish themselves from the British imperialist reputation of the Conservative Party or as a result of disputes with the...		1	2	1	-50%	1,271	0.16%	-0.32%	Unknown		14	1	-	-100%	16,890	2.18%	-1.15%	Equal Rights		2	*	-	*	2,455	0.32%	*	Progressive2		2	*	-	*	468	0.06%	*
Total			436	205	215	+4.9%	775,089	100%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.

² The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being “Progressives”. This may be an error.

Acclamations:

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

• British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
• Manitoba: 1 Conservative
• Ontario: 1 Conservative
• Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist

Results by province

Party name			BC British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...	NW Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...	MB Manitoba Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...	ON Ontario Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....	QC Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....	NB New Brunswick New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...	NS Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...	PE Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...	Total | rowspan="2"|Conservative Conservative Party of Canada (historical) The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...	Seats:	5	4	1	39	24	10	12	2	97	Popular vote (%):	71.6	81.0	12.6	42.2	45.4	48.9	41.9	48.5	43.0	Liberal-Conservative	Seats:	1		3	7	3	2	4		20	Vote (%):			40.5	5.3	3.0	3.7	10.8		5.6	Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...	Seats:	-	-	1	44	33	4	5	3	90	Vote (%):	28.4	19.0	46.9	49.1	45.9	41.3	43.6	41.0	45.2	Independent Conservative	Seats:				1	2				3	Vote (%):				1.3	5.9				1.9	Independent	Seats:				1	1	-			2	Vote (%):				0.7	1.2	3.2			0.8	Nationalist	Seats:					1				1	Vote (%):					-				-	Independent Liberal	Seats:						-		1	1	Vote (%):						2.9		10.5	0.7	Nationalist Conservative	Seats:					1				1	Vote (%):					0.7				0.2
Total seats			6	4	5	92	65	16	21	6	215
Parties that won no seats:												Unknown	Vote (%):				2.0	3.8		3.1		2.2	Equal Rights	Vote (%):				0.7					0.3	Progressive	Vote (%):							0.5		0.1

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 7th Canadian Parliament
  7th Canadian Parliament
  The 7th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 29, 1891 until April 24, 1896. The membership was set by the 1891 federal election on March 5, 1891, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1896 election.It was controlled by a...
  
  

External links

• The Election of 1891: A Question of Loyalty, by James Marsh