14-645: Prior to the 1917 federal election in Canada , the Liberal Party of Canada split into two factions. To differentiate the groups, historians tend to use two retrospective names: Seeking broader support for the imposition of conscription in 1917 , Borden invited the Liberals into a wartime coalition government with the Conservatives . Sir Wilfrid Laurier, an opponent of conscription who feared for
28-561: A ballot with the simple choice of "Government" or "Opposition". It is calculated that the Unionist government took 14 seats from the Opposition due to its use of Army votes. Soon after these measures were passed, Borden convinced a faction of Liberals (using the name Liberal-Unionists ) along with Gideon Decker Robertson , who was described as a "Labour" Senator (but was unaffiliated with any Labour Party ) to join with them, forming
42-699: A one-year extension, which was implemented by the British Parliament. The Borden government hoped that the delay would allow the formation of a "grand coalition" government, encompassing all the parties, such as existed in Britain. Sir Wilfrid Laurier , head of the Liberal Party of Canada , refused to join the coalition over the issue of conscription, which was strongly opposed in the Liberal heartland of Quebec . Laurier worried that agreeing to Borden's coalition offer would cause that province to abandon
56-589: A strong majority and the largest percentage of the popular vote for any party in Canadian history. The previous election had been held in 1911 and was won by Borden's Conservatives . Normally, there is a constitutional requirement that Parliament last no longer than five years, which would have resulted in an election in 1916. However, citing the emergency of the Great War , the Parliament of Canada approved
70-563: The khaki election ) was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 13th Parliament of Canada . Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription (see Conscription Crisis of 1917 ). The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden 's Unionist government elected with
84-605: The Laurier Liberals (all in Quebec) and 16 to the Unionists (all outside Quebec). Two of the Unionist acclamations were for the riding of Halifax, where the only candidates were two Unionists, and where, eleven days earlier, the tragic Halifax Explosion had taken place. The election was conducted mostly using First past the post in single-member ridings but Ottawa, Queens, and Halifax each had two members and each of
98-779: The Liberals and perhaps even Canada. Borden proceeded to form a "Unionist" government, and the Liberal Party split over the issue. Many English Canadian Liberal MPs and provincial Liberal parties in English Canada supported the new Unionist government. To ensure victory for conscription, Borden introduced two laws to skew the voting towards the government. The first, the Wartime Elections Act , disenfranchised conscientious objectors and Canadian citizens if they were born in enemy countries and had arrived after 1902. The law also gave female relatives of servicemen
112-525: The Unionist government in October 1917. He then dissolved parliament to seek a mandate in the election, which pitted "Government" candidates, running as the Unionist Party, against the anti-conscription faction of the Liberal Party, which ran under the name Laurier Liberals . As well, Independent, Labour and Socialist candidates ran in many ridings across the country. The divisive debate ended with
126-608: The country divided on linguistic lines. The Liberals won 82 seats, 62 in Quebec, with many other seats won in provinces such as Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Ontario in ridings with significant French Canadian populations. The Unionists won 153 seats. The three Unionist won seats in Quebec were all in mainly English-speaking ridings. That led to the Francœur Motion in January 1918. Out of 235 seats, 33 were won by acclamation—17 to
140-528: The formation of the National Liberal and Conservative Party . However, under a new leader, William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Liberals were able to recover enough of their support in English Canada to form a minority government following the 1921 federal election . 1917 Canadian federal election Robert Borden Government (Unionist) Robert Borden Government (Unionist) The 1917 Canadian federal election (sometimes referred to as
154-637: The nation if an opposition was not represented in Parliament, refused the request. Despite Laurier's refusal, the request split the Liberal Party largely along linguistic lines. Many provincial Liberal parties in English-speaking Canada and a number of Liberal Members of Parliament supported conscription and decided to support Borden's "Unionist" government. Quebec Liberals, along with a minority of English candidates (such as William Lyon Mackenzie King ) refused to join Borden and continued in
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#1732781070680168-475: The party under Laurier's leadership. The candidates ran as Liberals, and on military ballots, were labelled as "Opposition." Of the 235 seats in the House of Commons of Canada , only 82 returned Laurier Liberals in the election held December 17, 1917: With only 20 seats outside Quebec, the Liberal Party was reduced to a largely French-Canadian parliamentary rump in 1917. The Conservatives attempted to make their alliance with Liberal Unionists permanent through
182-585: The vote. Thus, the 1917 election was the first federal election in which some women were allowed to vote. The other new law was the Military Voters Act , which allowed soldiers serving abroad to choose which riding their vote would be counted in or to allow the party for which they voted to select the riding in which the vote would be counted. That allowed government officials to guide the strongly pro-conscription soldiers into voting in those ridings where they would be more useful. Servicemen were given
196-405: The voters there cast up to two votes as per Plurality block voting . Notes: * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. % change for Government compared to Conservative Party (including Liberal-Conservatives ) in 1911 election, and for Opposition to Liberal Party. Primary sources Wartime Elections Act Too Many Requests If you report this error to
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