1990 Manitoba general election
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Refimprove Template:Infobox election The 1990 Manitoba general election was held on September 11, 1990 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, which took 30 out of 57 seats. The New Democratic Party finished second with 20, while the Liberal Party fell from 21 to 7.
Background
The 1990 election took place against the backdrop of the failed Meech Lake constitutional accord, which sought to clarify Quebec's position within Canada. The accord, which was signed in 1988, required passage by the federal government and the ten provincial governments before June 23, 1990 to become law. Although Manitoba Premier Howard Pawley had approved the accord in 1987, his government did not bring it before the legislature before their surprise defeat in 1988.
Pawley's replacement, PC leader Gary Filmon, was less inclined to support the deal, and requested that certain aspects be re-negotiated before his government would grant approval. After some reluctance, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney allowed re-negotiations with all provincial Premiers, and convinced Filmon to introduce the accord to the Manitoba legislature shortly before the scheduled deadline. Liberal leader Sharon Carstairs and NDP leader Gary Doer were also willing to support the revised deal.
Some members of Doer's caucus still opposed the accord, however. When it was put before the legislature, NDP MLA Elijah Harper refused to grant unanimous leave for emergency debate, on the grounds that the deal did not recognize the position of aboriginals in Canada's constitutional framework. Harper, the first indigenous member of the Manitoba legislature, was strongly supported by aboriginal leaders such as Phil Fontaine and Ovide Mercredi, and continued his protest in the legislature during the following weeks. With assistance from former parliamentary clerk Gord Mackintosh, Harper was able to delay the legislative process until the accord simply could not be passed on time. Harper became a national celebrity, and polls showed that most English-speaking Canadians supported his stand.
Ironically, Gary Filmon's Tories may have benefitted from Harper's actions. Filmon was a long-time opponent of the accord, and was a fairly tepid supporter even after the renegotiated compromise was reached. Subsequently, Filmon used the accord's failure to highlight differences between himself and Mulroney, who was becoming increasingly unpopular as Prime Minister.
Reorganization of electoral divisions
An Act was passed in 1989, providing for the following changes to representation in the Legislative Assembly:<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref>
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Issues
Filmon's Progressive Conservatives made the fewest promises of any major party. Their platform called for an end to abuse of the elderly in retirement homes, environmental initiatives, and low-cost economic development. They proposed to cut the size of the Winnipeg City Council, and vowed not to raise taxes.
The Liberals focused on economic issues, promising a major investment in job training, research and development, and business support. They also proposed to cut the Winnipeg Council, create government grants for tourism and adult education, and restore Tory cuts to health and other programs.
The NDP platform focused on workers' concerns, the environment, preventive health programs and housing. They supported an increase in the minimum wage, affirmative action programs, and laws which would make it expensive to shut down plants in Manitoba. They also promised not to raise taxes, and opposed the sale of Manfor Ltd., a Crown corporation owned by the Province of Manitoba.
The campaign
A poll published in the Winnipeg Free Press indicated that the NDP were the most trusted party on economic issues, followed by the Tories. The NDP were still damaged from their poor showing in the 1988 election, however, and began the campaign in third place. The struggle for government initially appeared to be between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.
The Liberals ran a weak campaign, however, and were overtaken by the NDP after a strong performance from Gary Doer in the leaders' debate. Doer further increased the NDP's standing in the last weeks of the campaign by highlighting the connections between Filmon and the Mulroney government on a number of issues. The NDP's return to official opposition status was regarded as a major development after their near-collapse in 1988.
Opinion polls
| Polling firm | Last day of survey |
Source | PC | MLP | NDP | Other | Template:Abbr | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Canadian party colour;" data-sort-type="number"| | style="background:Template:Canadian party colour;" data-sort-type="number"| | style="background:Template:Canadian party colour;" data-sort-type="number"| | style="background:Template:Canadian party colour;" data-sort-type="number"| | |||||
| Election 1990 | September 11, 1990 | 41.99 | 28.15 | 28.80 | 1.06 | |||
| Viewpoints | March 1990 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 36.8 | 36.8 | 26.5 | Template:N/A | Template:N/A | Template:N/A |
| Election 1988 | April 26, 1988 | 38.37 | 35.52 | 23.62 | 2.49 |
Results
The Tories continued their dominance in Manitoba's rural south, winning every seat in the region. They also won 13 of 31 seats in Winnipeg and a few ridings to the city's immediate north, enough to provide the party with a majority of two.
The NDP won 11 seats in Winnipeg, and swept the province's north. They also won four seats in the mid-northern region, and retained Brandon East, their lone southern riding outside of Winnipeg.
All seven seats retained by the Liberals were in Winnipeg, mostly in the centre and northwest of the city. With few exceptions, many of the centre-left voters who had voted Liberal in 1988 switched back to the NDP.
| Party | Party Leader | # of candidates |
Seats | Popular Vote | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Before1 | Elected | % Change | # | % | Change | Progressive Conservative | Gary Filmon | 57 | 24 | 30 | +25.0% | 206,810 | 41.99% | +3.62 | New Democratic | Gary Doer | 57 | 12 | 20 | +66.7% | 141,328 | 28.80% | +5.18 | Liberal | Sharon Carstairs | 57 | 21 | 7 | -66.7% | 138,146 | 28.15% | -7.37 | Irene Armishaw (president) | 5 | - | - | - | 1,564 | 0.32% | -1.00 | Western Independence | Fred Cameron | 6 | - | - | - | 1,355 | 0.28% | -0.17 | Sidney Green | 5 | - | - | - | 1,163 | 0.24% | +0.06 | Clancy Smith | 5 | - | - | - | 637 | 0.13% | +0.04 | Frank Goldspink (organizer) | 1 | - | - | - | 25 | 0.00% | -0.05 | Independent | 5 | - | - | - | 450 | 0.09% | -0.30 | |
| Total | 198 | 57 | 57 | - | 490,690 | 100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 "Before" refers to standings in the Legislature at dissolution, and not to the results of the previous election. These numbers therefore reflect changes in party standings as a result of by-elections and members crossing the floor.
Vote and seat summaries
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Synopsis of results
- Template:Color box = open seat
- Template:Color box = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
- Template:Color box = incumbent had switched allegiance
- Template:Color box = previously incumbent in another riding
- Template:Color box = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
- Template:Color box = other incumbents renominated
- Template:Color box = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
- Template:Color box = multiple candidates
Turnout, winning shares and swings
Changes in party shares
Post-election changes
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|Crescentwood
September 15, 1992
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|Jenny Hillard
1,995
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|Tim Sale
2,256
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|Avis Gray
2,697
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|Sidney Green (P)
900
Ken Carver (R)
97
Dennis Rice (Lbt)
19
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Jim Carr
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|Portage la Prairie
September 15, 1992
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Brian Pallister
3,226
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|Ralph Jackson
648
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|Helen Christoffersen
1,995
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|Fred Debrecen (R)
388
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Edward Connery
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|Rupertsland
September 21, 1993
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|Eric Kennedy
614
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Eric Robinson
1,697
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|George Munroe
1,023
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|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Elijah Harper
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|Rossmere
September 21, 1993
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|Ed Martens
2,159
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Harry Schellenberg
2,990
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|Sherry Wiebe
1,590
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|Cynthia Cooke (Ind)
186
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Harold Neufeld
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|The Maples
September 21, 1993
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|David Langtry
1,362
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|Norma Walker
2,138
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Gary Kowalski
3,619
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|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Gulzar Singh Cheema
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|Osborne
September 21, 1993
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|Roger Young
1,496
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|Irene Haigh
2,420
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Norma McCormick
2,966
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|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Reg Alcock
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| style="background:whitesmoke;"|St. Johns
September 21, 1993
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|June Robertson
465
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Gord Mackintosh
3,232
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|Naty Yankech
878
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|Neil Schipper (P)
241
|Template:Canadian party colour|
|Judy Wasylycia-Leis
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Two further vacancies, in Flin Flon (resignation of Jerry Storie, July 20, 1994) and River Heights (Sharon Carstairs appointed to the Senate of Canada, September 15, 1994), were not filled in by-elections before the 1995 election.
See also
- List of Manitoba political parties
- Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba candidates in the 1990 Manitoba provincial election