1919 Ontario general election

1919 Ontario general election

← 1914 October 20, 1919 1923 →
← outgoing members
111 seats in the 15th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 56 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   UFO Leader none Hartley Dewart Party United Farmers Liberal Leader since - June 26, 1919 Leader's seat - Toronto Southwest Last election pre-creation 24 Seats won 44 27 Seat change 44 3 Percentage 21.0% 25.5% Swing 21.0% 12.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader William Hearst Walter Rollo Party Conservative Labour Leader since 1914 - Leader's seat Sault Ste. Marie (lost re-election) Hamilton West Last election 84 1 Seats won 25 11 Seat change 59 10 Percentage 34.1% 9.1% Swing 19.8% 7.8%
Premier before election William Hearst Conservative Premier after election Ernest C. Drury United Farmers

The 1919 Ontario general election, held on October 20, 1919, elected 111 Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The United Farmers of Ontario captured the most seats but only a minority of the legislature. They joined with 11 Labour MPPs and three others to form a coalition government, ending the 14-year rule of the Ontario Conservatives.^[1]

It was the 15th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. This was the first general election in which women could vote and run for office, under Acts passed in 1917 and 1919 respectively.^[2][3]

The young United Farmers of Ontario defeated the Ontario Conservative Party, led by Sir William Howard Hearst. He aimed to win a fifth consecutive term for the Conservatives, but instead the party became the first in Ontario history to fall from first to third place.^[4] As newspaperman John Willison later remarked, "There could not have been a worse time for a general election."^[4]

Campaign[]

Hearst aimed to save money by holding the election on the same day as the scheduled referendum on prohibition.^[4]

The parties had different strategies for fielding candidates. Only the Conservatives attempted to field a full slate, while the UFO focused on rural ridings, and the Liberals tried to avoid direct contests with UFO candidates.^[4]

The UFO's leader, R.H. Halbert, did not campaign, as he had been elected to the House of Commons of Canada in an earlier by-election.^[5] It had only two incumbent MPPs, Beniah Bowman and John Wesley Widdifield, who had entered the legislature by winning by-elections in Manitoulin and Ontario North.

Impact[]

The UFO emerged from the vote with the largest bloc of seats, joining the eleven Labour MLAs to form a coalition government. Liberal-UFO MLA David James Taylor of Grey North and "Soldier" MLA Joseph McNamara of Riverdale and Labour-UFO MLA Karl Homuth of Waterloo South were also members of the governing caucus giving Drury's coalition 58 seats in total.

The election had several sweeping results:^[6]

• only about two dozen MPPs from the previous Legislative Assembly were re-elected;
• William Hearst and Sir Adam Beck were defeated by Labour candidates;
• three clergymen were elected;
• eighteen soldiers were elected; and
• all anti-Prohibition candidates were defeated.

Upon hearing the news of the Conservative defeat, Hearst noted:

I will not make any prophecy as to what will take place. I thought the Government was going to sweep the country, and I was not alone in that, for a great many Liberals who were supporting me thought so, too. The Temperance Act no doubt had a great deal to do with my defeat, but I did what I felt was right, and if I had it to do over again, I would do the same thing.^[7]

Three days after the election, James J. Morrison, Secretary of the UFO, issued the following statement:

The members-elect of the United Farmers of Ontario, after due consideration of the matter, have decided that it would be unwise for them to enter into alliance with either of the old Parties as parties. They are prepared to assume the fullest share of responsibility and form a Government in co-operation with such members of other parties as are in sympathy with their platform and principles and are free to give support thereto. In the formation of a Cabinet full consideration will be given to the various interests of the Province.^[8]

Ernest C. Drury agreed to lead the new government as Premier of Ontario,^[8] and a UFO-Labour coalition cabinet was formed.^[9] Although he was Vice-President of the UFO,^[5] Drury had not been a candidate in the election^[5] and had to run in a by-election to enter the legislature following his appointment to the office of Premier.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Hartley Dewart, maintained and increased the size of its caucus by a small number. The Conservative Party lost the most ground to the UFO and Labour.

Results[]

Elections to the 15th Parliament of Ontario (1919)^[1]

Political party		Party leader	MPPs					Votes
			Candidates	1914	Dissol.	1919	±	#	%	± (pp)
	UFO-Labour Coalition
	█ United Farmers	–	64	–	2	44	44	248,274	20.97%	New
	█ Labour	Walter Rollo	21	1	1	11	10	107,588	9.09%	7.75
	█ Farmer–Labour		5	–	–	1	1	27,841	2.35%	New
	█ Farmer-Liberal		2	–	–	1	1	7,448	0.63%	New
	█ Soldier		2	–	–	1	1	9,618	0.81%	New
	Coalition Total					58		400,679	33.85%
	Liberal	Hartley Dewart	66	24	27	27	3	301,995	25.51%	12.41
	Conservative	William Hearst	103	84	79	25	59	403,655	34.09%	19.78
	Independent Liberal		1	1	1	1		5,354	0.45%	0.01
	Liberal-Temperance		–	1	1	–	1	Did not campaign
	Independent		14	–	–	–	–	48,244	4.07%	3.08
	Independent Conservative		3	–	–	–	–	14,213	1.20%	0.81
	Soldier–Labour		2	–	–	–	–	9,088	0.77%	New
	Socialist		3	–	–	–	–	637	0.05%	0.87
Total			286	111	111	111		1,183,955	100.00%
Blank and invalid ballots								50,810
Registered voters / turnout								1,443,746	85.53%	21.10

Seats that changed hands[]

There were 77 seats that changed allegiance in the election:

Notable groups of candidates[]

(* - incumbent; † - chaplain; ‡ - Anti-Prohibition)

See also[]

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

References[]

Further reading[]

• Hopkins, J. Castell (1920). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1919. Toronto: The Annual Review.
• Scollie, Frederick Brent (2012). "The Woman Candidate for the Ontario Legislative Assembly, 1919-1929" (PDF). Ontario History. 104 (2): 1–27.
• Tennyson, Brian Douglas (1969). "The 1919 General Election in 1919: The Beginnings of Agrarian Unrest". Journal of Canadian Studies. 4 (1): 26–36. doi:10.3138/jcs.4.1.26.