Manitoba general election, 1988

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The Manitoba general election of April 26, 1988 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It resulted in a hung parliament. The Progressive Conservative Party won 25 seats, against 20 for the Liberal Party and 12 for the New Democratic Party.

1 Background
2 Issues
3 The Campaign
4 Results
5 See also
6 Riding results
- 6.1 Post-election changes

[edit] Background

The election was called unexpectedly in early 1988, after disgruntled NDP backbencher Jim Walding voted against his government's budget on March 9, 1988. Walding's defection in an almost evenly-divided house resulted in Howard Pawley's NDP government being defeated, 28 votes to 27. As the budget vote was a confidence measure, the Pawley ministry was forced to resign and call new elections two years ahead of schedule.

Popular support for the NDP was at an historically low level when the election was called, due to soaring Autopac rates and a taxpayer-funded bailout of the Manitoba Telephone System. The Pawley government's support for the Meech Lake Accord was also unpopular in some circles. One internal poll had the party at only 6% support, and there were concerns that they could be reduced to only two or three seats in the 57-seat legislature. Pawley resigned as party leader, and Gary Doer narrowly defeated Leonard Harapiak to replace him at a party convention held during the campaign.

Doer's selection did not improve the NDP's chances of forming government, though they managed to stabilize at around 20% in the polls. Many traditional NDP voters, especially in the city of Winnipeg, abandoned the party to support the Liberals in this cycle.

[edit] Issues

The Progressive Conservatives, led by Gary Filmon, ran on a platform of saving revenue by selling public corporations, including ManOil and Manfor. Filmon also promised to scrap the province's Public Investment Corporation entirely. The Liberals also promised more prudent fiscal management, but did not propose to sell these crown corporations. Liberal leader Sharon Carstairs was also known as a prominent opponent of the Meech Lake Accord.

The NDP, which retained a support base in the north of the province, promised to create northern training centres in Thompson and The Pas.

The national abortion debate also surfaced in this campaign, although none of the major parties put forward a clear position on the issue. Although Filmon was personally pro-life, the Progressive Conservatives were unwilling to propose specific action on the subject, and withdrew from an early promise to close Henry Morgentaler's private clinic. The Liberals favoured counselling, including a focus on adoption. The NDP emphasized prevention and support services for poorer women who choose to continue their pregnancies.

The small Progressive Party promised balanced budgets, opposed affirmative action, and was against government interference in negotiations between trade unions and management.

[edit] The Campaign

The Progressive Conservatives entered the election with a significant lead in the polls, but saw their support undercut by the Liberals in the campaign's final weeks. Before the party leaders' debate, a Winnipeg Free Press poll indicated that 40% of voters considered Liberal leader Sharon Carstairs as the best choice for Premier, with 24% favouring Progressive Conservative Gary Filmon and 19% favouring NDP leader Gary Doer. 17% were undecided.

Carstairs performed well in the leaders' debate, and did much to improve her party's popularity as the campaign reached its end.

[edit] Results

The Liberal Party performed extremely well in Winnipeg, winning 19 out of 29 seats in that city and picking up ridings from both the NDP and Tories. The party won only one seat outside Winnipeg, however, in the urban community of Selkirk.

The Progressive Conservatives thoroughly dominated the rural south of the province, and made some inroads into NDP territory immediately north of Winnipeg. The party also won six seats in Winnipeg, and took the northern seat of Swan River from the NDP.

The New Democrats managed to retain four seats in Winnipeg, five in the north, the mid-northern ridings of Dauphin and Interlake, and Brandon East in the south of the province.

Exit polls later revealed that "new voters" (ie. immigrants and first-time voters) had polled strongly for the Liberals in Winnipeg.

Gary Filmon was named Premier, and the Progressive Conservatives were able to form government through an unofficial arrangement with the NDP. It may be noted that both parties were concerned about a Liberal victory in the next election.

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Before¹	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Filmon		26	25	-3.85%		38.3%
	Liberal	Sharon Carstairs		1	20	+1900%		35.4%
	New Democratic	Gary Doer		30	12	-60.0%		23.6%
	Progressive	Sidney Green		-	-	-
	Libertarian	Clancy Smith		-	-	-
	Confederation of Regions	Dennis Heeney		-	-	-		1.8%
	Communist	Lorne Robson		-	-	-
	Western Independence	Fred Cameron		-	-	-
	Independent			2	-	-100%
Total				57	57	-		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.

Preceded by 1986 Manitoba election	List of Manitoba elections	Succeeded by 1990 Manitoba election

[edit] See also

List of Manitoba political parties

[edit] Riding results

Party key:

PC: Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
L: Manitoba Liberal Party
NDP: New Democratic Party of Manitoba
P: Progressive Party of Manitoba
Comm: Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba
WIP: Western Independence Party of Manitoba
CoR: Confederation of Regions Party of Manitoba
Lbt: Libertarian Party of Manitoba
Ind: Independent

(x) denotes incumbent.

Arthur:

(x)Jim Downey (PC) 4359
Douglas Mosset (L) 2171
Ross Meggison (CoR) 863
Goldwyn Jones (NDP) 575

Assiniboia:

Ed Mandrake (L) 3918
(x)Ric Nordman (PC) 3731
Robert Johannson (NDP) 1031
Linda Cress (WIP) 166

Brandon East:

(x)Leonard Evans (NDP) 3512
Jim Armstrong (PC) 2859
Lois Fjeldsted (L) 2260
Garth Shurvell (Ind) 208

Brandon West:

(x)James McCrae (PC) 5039
John Worley (L) 3618
Ishbel Solvason (NDP) 2313

Burrows:

William Chornopyski (L) 3114
Doug Martindale (NDP) 3005
Allan Yap (PC) 129
Michael Kibzey (Ind) 129
Lorne Robson (Comm) 79

Charleswood:

(x)Jim Ernst (PC) 6670
Shari Nelson (L) 5850
Bruno Zimmer (NDP) 1180
David Hollins (Ind) 158

Churchill:

(x)Jay Cowan (NDP) 2396
Wayne Wittmeier (PC) 1019
George Kernaghan (L) 714

Concordia:

(x)Gary Doer (NDP) 3702
Barbara Blomeley (L) 2948
Victor Rubiletz (PC) 2634
Bill Seman (Ind) 358
Fred Cameron (WIP) 114
Charles Henry (P) 61

Dauphin:

(x)John Plohman (NDP) 3983
Russell Secord (PC) 3435
Peter Rampton (L) 2475

Ellice:

Avis Gray (L) 3081
(x)Harvey Smith (NDP) 2457
Alex Arenson (PC) 1538
Susan Caine (WIP) 109

Elmwood:

(x)Jim Maloway (NDP) 3012
Ed Price (L) 2839
Frank Syms (PC) 1920
Russ Letkeman (Lbt) 113

Emerson:

(x)Albert Driedger (PC) 5027
Martin Stadler (L) 2615
Kurt Penner (NDP) 1407
Jake Wall (CoR) 366

Flin Flon:

(x)Jerry Storie (NDP) 2948
Gordon Mitchell (PC) 1563
Brian King (L) 867

Fort Garry:

Laurie Evans (L) 6055
(x)Charlie Birt (PC) 5173
Brian Pannell (NDP) 1553
Ivan Merritt (WIP) 173
Millie Lamb (Comm) 45

Fort Rouge:

Jim Carr (L) 5127
(x)Roland Penner (NDP) 2912
Robert Haier (PC) 2303
Gordon Pratt (P) 75
Dennis Owens (Lbt) 66
Nigel Hanrahan (Comm) 46

Gimli:

Ed Helwer (PC) 4716
(x)John Bucklaschuk (NDP) 3352
Morley Murray (L) 2347
Eugene Klochko (WIP) 261

Gladstone:

(x)Charlotte Oleson (PC) 3760
Cordell Barker (L) 2132
Brian Hildebrandt (CoR) 759
Fred Tait (NDP) 509

Inkster:

Kevin Lamoureux (L) 4466
(x)Don Scott (NDP) 4098
Resty Taruc (PC) 2151
Nancy Watkins (Comm) 64

Interlake:

(x)Bill Uruski (NDP) 3057
Ed Dandeneau (PC) 2810
Clyde Sigurdson (L) 1777

Kildonan:

Gulzar Cheema (L) 5653
John Baluta (PC) 5068
(x)Marty Dolin (NDP) 4542
Sidney Green (P) 445
Tracy Fuhr (WIP) 133

Kirkfield Park:

(x)Gerrie Hammond (PC) 5269
Irene Friesen (L) 5014
Hamish Gavin (NDP) 868

Lac du Bonnet:

Darren Praznik (PC) 3773
(x)Clarence Baker (NDP) 2911
Peter Raymond (L) 2411

Lakeside:

(x)Harry Enns (PC) 4475
Delmer Nott (L) 2828
Eduard Hiebert (NDP) 972
Cam Baldwin (CoR) 864

La Verendrye:

(x)Helmut Pankratz (PC) 4377
C.E. Goertzen (L) 2948
Walter McDowell (NDP) 708

Logan:

(x)Maureen Hemphill (NDP) 2646
John Dobbin (L) 1660
Linda Thomson (PC) 1085
Barry Marchand (Ind) 81
Frank Goldspink (Comm) 46

Minnedosa:

Harold Gilleshammer (PC) 3669
Terry Drebit (L) 2496
Susan Proven (NDP) 1476
Dennis Heeney (CoR) 820

Morris:

(x)Clayton Manness (PC) 4578
Barbara Plas (L) 1832
Raymond Switzer (CoR) 597
Clifford Hodgins (NDP) 449
Jeffrey Plas (Ind) 57

Niakwa:

Herold Driedger (L) 8576
(x)Abe Kovnats (PC) 7222
Stan Williams (NDP) 2026
Lyle Cruickshank (WIP) 237

Osborne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Reg Alcock	4,334	44.90
	New Democratic Party	(x)Muriel Smith	2,753	28.52
	Progressive Conservative	Rosemary Vodrey	2,421	25.08
	Libertarian	Clancy Smith	145	1.50
Total valid votes			9,653	100.00
Rejected ballots			38
Turnout			9,691	78.85

Pembina:

(x)Don Orchard (PC) 6043
Marilyn Skubovius (L) 2171
Abe Giesbrecht (CoR) 499
Hans Wittich (NDP) 382

Portage La Prairie:

(x)Ed Connery (PC) 4020
Darlene Hamm (L) 2812
Bill Zettler (NDP) 722
Irene Armishaw (CoR) 603

Radisson:

Allan Patterson (L) 4918
(x)Gerard Lecuyer (NDP) 3113
John Samborski (PC) 3049

Rhineland:

Jack Penner (PC) 5166
Walter Hebert (L) 1059
Reg Loeppky (NDP) 341

Riel:

(x)Gerry Ducharme (PC) 4289
Chris Sigurdson (L) 3965
Bob Ages (NDP) 1834
John Hiebert (CoR) 121
Neil Knight (WIP) 75

River East:

(x)Bonnie Mitchelson (PC) 7563
Morley Golden (L) 3805
Michael Dyck (NDP) 3019
Niel Friesen (WIP) 233

River Heights
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	(x)Sharon Carstairs	6,620	59.69
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Vandewater	3,373	30.41
	New Democratic Party	Harry Daniels	1,036	9.34
	Libertarian	Jim Weidman	62	0.55
Total valid votes			11,091	100.00
Rejected ballots			17
Turnout			11,108	87.07