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1934 Ontario general election

The 1934 Ontario general election was the 19th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 19, 1934, to elect the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").[1]

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Mitchell Hepburn, defeated the governing Ontario Conservative Party, led by George Stewart Henry. Hepburn was assisted by Harry Nixon's Progressive bloc of MLAs who ran in this election as Liberal-Progressives on the understanding that they would support a Hepburn led government. Nixon, himself, became a senior cabinet minister in the Hepburn government.

Campaign

The campaign was brief and bitter, and both sides gained ammunition to use during that time.[2] The Liberals were helped by the effects of the Great Depression, in much the same manner as their colleagues in the recent elections in Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.[a][2] They also aggressively pledged to reduce the cost of government once in office,[3] and downplayed the issue of temperance, by pledging to bring recently passed amendments to liquor legislation[4] into force as soon as they attained office.[5]

Under their new leader Mitchell Hepburn, the Liberals were considered to possess more energy in campaigning as a party than at any time since the collapse of the Ross government in 1905.[2] In several meetings (starting in Milton in April 1934), Hepburn especially accused several Conservatives of operating a "tollgate system" in agencies selling British liquor to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario through which they earned kickbacks based on the volume sold.[5]

The Liberals fielded candidates in 81 of the 90 ridings. None of the remaining nine were won by Conservatives: they were taken by 5 Liberal-Progressives, 1 UFO, 1 Liberal-Labour, 1 CCF and 1 Independent.

Election ad for the Ontario Conservatives run in the 1934 Ontario general election

Outcome

The Liberals won a majority in the Legislature, while the Conservatives lost four out of every five seats that they had won in the previous election. Eight Cabinet ministers were defeated, and no riding west of York County returned a Tory MPP.[6] Northern Ontario went solidly Liberal.[7]

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, in its first provincial election, ran 37 candidates[8] and won a seat in the Ontario Legislature for the first time with the election of Samuel Lawrence in Hamilton East.

The United Farmers of Ontario had affiliated with the CCF but disaffiliated immediately prior to the 1934 election due to a row over suspected Communist infiltration of the party. Accordingly, two UFO nominated candidates, incumbent MLA Farquhar Oliver (Grey South) and Leslie Warner Oke, former MLA for Lambton East, ran as UFO candidates rather than with the CCF. Oliver was re-elected and later supported the Hepburn government.

Post-election developments

Three byelections had to be held shortly afterwards in August 1934:

Redistribution and reduction of ridings

Toronto ridings as constituted in 1926
Toronto riding boundaries after 1934 redistribution

The Legislative Assembly was reduced from 112 seats to 90 as a result of an Act passed in 1933:[10]

  1. ^ Part transferred to Carleton.
  2. ^ Also absorbed part of Bruce South.
  3. ^ Also absorbed part of Middlesex North.

A subsequent Act in 1934 modified the limits of several Toronto ridings.[11]

Results

  1. ^ (party president)
  2. ^ Progressive and Liberal-Progressive 1929 results are combined.

Synopsis of results

  1. ^ including spoilt ballots
  2. ^ order is as given in EO reports
  3. ^ byelection gain was under the Liberal banner
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent switched allegiance for the election
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates

Reorganization of ridings

Seats that changed hands

  1. ^ Incumbent changed affiliation to Liberal-Labour for the 1934 election

Of the unaltered seats, there were 47 that changed allegiance in the election:

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ as experienced in the recent 1933 Nova Scotia general election, 1933 British Columbia general election and 1934 Saskatchewan general election.

References

  1. ^ "1934 General Election". Elections Ontario. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 174.
  3. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 175.
  4. ^ The Liquor Control Act, 1934, S.O. 1934, c. 26
  5. ^ a b Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 176.
  6. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 178.
  7. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 179.
  8. ^ "Nominations for Elections in Ontario and Saskatchewan". Ottawa Citizen. June 13, 1934. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 180.
  10. ^ The Representation Act, 1933, S.O. 1933, c. 56
  11. ^ The Representation Act, 1934, S.O. 1934, c. 51
  12. ^ a b "1934 General Election". elections.on.ca. Elections Ontario. Retrieved August 13, 2023. EO data errors on party affiliations corrected: "Results by Constituencies in Ontario and Saskatchewan". Ottawa Citizen. June 20, 1934. p. 17. Supplementary correction for T.A. Blakelock (Halton) - he was nominated, and campaigned, as a Liberal-Progressive): "Liberal-Progressive Convention". The Canadian Champion. Milton. April 26, 1934. p. 3., "T.A Blakelock Candidate". The Canadian Champion. Milton. May 3, 1934.
  13. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 177.
  14. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, pp. 178–179.

Further reading