1949 Manitoba general election

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1949 Manitoba general election
Flag of Manitoba.svg
← 1945 November 10, 1949 (1949-11-10) 1953 →
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
29 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Douglas Campbell Errick Willis Edwin Hansford
Party Liberal–Progressive Progressive Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since November 13, 1948 June 9, 1936 1948
Leader's seat Lakeside Turtle Mountain St. Boniface
Last election 25 13 9
Seats won 31 19 7
Seat change Increase6 Decrease4 Decrease2
Percentage 38.70% 19.013% 25.6%
Premier before election

Douglas Lloyd Campbell
Liberal–Progressive

Premier after election

Douglas Lloyd Campbell
Liberal–Progressive

The 1949 Manitoba general election was held on November 10, 1949, to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.

This election pitted the province's coalition government, made up of the Liberal-Progressive Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, against a variety of opponents.

The social democratic Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was the coalition's primary challenger, while the communist Labour Progressive Party and an assortment of independent candidates also challenged the coalition in some constituencies.

Liberal-Progressive and Progressive Conservative candidates ran against each other in some ridings, generally where no anti-coalition candidates had a serious chance of winning.

The result was a landslide victory for the coalition. Premier Douglas Campbell's Liberal-Progressives remained the dominant party in government, increasing their caucus to thirty-one seats out of fifty-seven—enough to form a majority government even without assistance from other parties. One of these candidates was elected simply as a "Liberal", but sat as a full member of the Liberal-Progressive caucus.

The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Errick Willis, remained the junior partner in government, falling to nine seats from thirteen in the previous election. Five independent "Conservative" or "Progressive Conservative" candidates were also elected, with all but one opposing the coalition government. These results provoked serious debate in the Progressive Conservative Party about the wisdom of staying with the coalition.

The CCF under Edwin Hansford fell to seven seats, down from nine in the previous election. Bill Kardash of the LPP retained his seat in north-end Winnipeg. Three pro-coalition independents were also elected, as was Edmond Prefontaine, an independent Liberal opposing the coalition.

The Social Credit League did not contest the election, having fallen into a state of internal disorganization.

Winnipeg had 12 seats filled through Single Transferable Voting, St. Boniface had two seats filled through STV, and the other districts elected one MLA each through Alternative Voting, where a candidate had to have majority of the votes to be elected. In Iberville, Morris and Rhineland, where no candidate had the majority in the First Count, only the First Count totals are shown - the final vote count and the intermediate counts are not. In all three cases, the leader in the first count was elected. Instant runoff voting thus made no change to whom would have been elected versus who would have been elected under First past the post.

Results[]

Party Party leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular vote
1945 Elected % Change # % % Change
  Liberal-Progressive Douglas Campbell   25 31     38.7%  
  Progressive Conservative Errick Willis   13 9     19.1%  
  Co-operative Commonwealth Edwin Hansford   9 7     25.6%  
Labor–Progressive William Cecil Ross   1 1        
  Independent   5 9        
Total   57 57     100%  
Popular vote
Liberal-Progressive
 
 38.70%
CCF
 
 25.60%
PC
 
 19.10%
Others
 
 16.60%
Seats summary
Liberal-Progressive
 
 54.39%
PC
 
 15.79%
CCF
 
 12.28%
Labor-Progressive
 
 1.75%
Independent
 
 15.79%

See also[]

  • List of Manitoba political parties

Riding results[]

Party key:

(x) denotes incumbent.

Single-member constituencies[]

Arthur:

  • (x)John R. Pitt (LP/Coalition) 1758
  • (Ind LP/Coalition) 952
  • (CCF) 552

Assiniboia:

Birtle:

  • (x)Francis Bell (LP/Coalition) accl.

Brandon City:

Carillon:

Cypress:

Dauphin:

Deloraine-Glenwood:

Dufferin:

Emerson:

  • (x)John Solmon (LP/Coalition) accl.

Ethelbert:

  • Michael N. Hryhohczuk (LP/Coalition) 2171
  • Fred Zaplitny (CCF) 1409

Fairford:

Fisher:

Gilbert Plains:

Gimli:

  • (x)Steinn Thompson (LP/Coalition) accl.

Gladstone:

Hamiota:

  • Charles L. Shuttleworth (LP/Coalition) 1478
  • Edward P. Venables (PC/Coalition) 1237

Iberville:

  • John McDowell (IPC/Anti-Coalition) 1540
  • (LP/Coalition) 1334
  • (CCF) 701

A second count was held to allow Robertson's votes to be transferred, which gave McDowell a majority of the vote.

Kildonan-Transcona:

Killarney:

Lakeside:

Lansdowne:

La Verendrye:

Manitou-Morden:

Minnedosa:

Morris:

A second count was held to allow Wishart's votes to be transferred, which gave Shewman a majority of the vote.

Mountain:

Norfolk-Beautiful Plains:

  • Samuel Burch (LP/Coalition) 2208
  • (PC/Coalition) 1575
  • G.H. McIntosh (CCF) 610

Portage la Prairie:

Rhineland:

  • (x)Wallace Miller (PC/Coalition) accl.

Roblin:

A second count was held to allow Cryderman's votes to be transferred, which gave Robertson a majority of the vote.

Rockwood:

  • Robert Bend (Ind PC/Coalition) 2044
  • (IL/Anti-Coalition) 859

Rupertsland:

Russell:

  • Rodney Clement (Ind/Coalition) 2207
  • (CCF) 1346

St. Andrews:

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
  Progressive Conservative (Coalition) James McLenaghen 3,478 67.80
  Cooperative Commonwealth Federation William Earl Gordon 1,652 32.30
Total valid votes 5,130 100.00
Rejected votes 102
Turnout 5,232 68.3

St. Clements:

St. George:

Ste. Rose:

  • (x)Dane MacCarthy (LP/Coalition) accl.

Springfield:

  • William Lucko (LP/Coalition) 2062
  • (Independent LP/Anti-Coalition) 860
  • Fred Small (CCF) 807

Swan River:

  • (x)George P. Renouf (C/Anti-Coalition) 3352
  • (LP/Coalition) 1046

The Pas:

  • Francis Jobin (L/Coalition) 4311
  • (x) (Ind/Anti-Coalition) 1522
  • (CCF) 816

Turtle Mountain:

Virden:

Multi-member constituencies[]

St. Boniface[]

St. Boniface
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
Liberal–Progressive Joseph Van Belleghem (Coalition) 26.77 3,936 4,055 5,906
Co-operative Commonwealth (x)Edwin Hansford 26.56 3,905 4,897 5,206
Progressive Conservative Paul Marion (Anti-Coalition) 18.57 2,730 2,836 3,105
Liberal–Progressive G.P. Shearer (Coalition) 18.01 2,647 2,681  
Co-operative Commonwealth E.R. Gagnon 10.09 1,483    
Electorate: 29,981   Valid: 14,701   Spoilt: 237   Quota: 4,901   Turnout: 14,938 (49.82%)
St. Boniface (analysis of transferred votes, ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
Party Candidate Maximum
round 		Maximum
votes 		Share in
maximum
round 		Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


Liberal-Progressive Joseph Van Belleghem 3 5,906 41.54%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Edwin Hansford 3 5,206 36.62%
​​
Progressive Conservative Paul Marion 3 3,105 21.84%
​​
Liberal-Progressive G.P. Shearer 2 2,681 18.53%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth E.R. Gagnon 1 1,483 10.09%
​​
Exhausted votes 484 3.29%
​​

Winnipeg Centre[]

Four to be elected.

Winnipeg Centre
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Liberal–Progressive (x)Charles Rhodes Smith (Coalition) 25.01 5,140 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112
Co-operative Commonwealth (x)Donovan Swailes 24.45 5,025 5,025 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112 4,112
Progressive Conservative Hank Scott (Coalition) 11.40 2,338 2,529 2,559 2,681 2,965 3,122 3,258 3,378
Co-operative Commonwealth Gordon Fines 10.48 2,149 2,170 2,749 2,784 2,871 3,225 4,321 4,112
Liberal–Progressive Paul Bardal (Coalition) 8.97 1,839 2,448 2,478 2,903 3,193 3,279 3,444 3,578
Labor–Progressive John McNeil 5.91 1,211 1,230 1,256 1,286 1,392      
Co-operative Commonwealth Ina Thompson 5.45 1,117 1,146 1,366 1,396 1,491 1,741    
Independent Liberal Stephen Juba (Coalition) 4.95 1,015 1,065 1,078 1,155        
Liberal–Progressive J.H. Walker (Coalition) 3.27 621 830 845          
Electorate: 50,339   Valid: 20,555   Spoilt: 220   Quota: 4,112   Turnout: 20,775 (41.27%)
Winnipeg Centre (analysis of transferred votes, ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
Party Candidate Maximum
round 		Maximum
votes 		Share in
maximum
round 		Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


Liberal-Progressive Charles Rhodes Smith 1 5,140 25.01%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Donovan Swailes 1 5,025 24.45%
​​
Progressive Conservative Hank Scott 8 3,378 17.51%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Gordon Fines 7 4,321 22.45%
​​
Liberal-Progressive Paul Bardal 8 3,578 18.55%
​​
Labor-Progressive John McNeil 5 1,392 6.91%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Ina Thompson 6 1,741 8.89%
​​
Independent Liberal Stephen Juba 4 1,155 5.65%
​​
Liberal-Progressive J.H. Walker 3 845 4.11%
​​
Exhausted votes 1,263 6.14%
​​

Winnipeg North[]

Winnipeg North
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Co-operative Commonwealth (x)Morris Gray 27.33 6,718 4,917 4,917 4,917 4,917 4,917 4,917 4,917
Labor–Progressive (x)Bill Kardash 16.40 4,032 4,199 4,219 4,240 4,772 4,804 4,862 5,204
Liberal–Progressive Frank Chester (Coalition) 14.85 3,649 3,714 3,923 4,035 4,107 4,501 4,824 5,660
Co-operative Commonwealth John Hawryluk 7.88 1,938 2,569 2,616 2,678 3,497 3,700 4,316 4,485
Liberal–Progressive John M. Kozoriz (Coalition) 7.33 1,804 1,818 1,868 1,914 1,935 2,110 2,681 2,809
Independent Liberal-Progressive (x)William Scraba (Coalition) 6.81 1,673 1,697 1,718 1,810 1,827 2,046    
Liberal–Progressive Abe Simkin (Coalition) 6.54 1,607 2,139 2,227 2,243 2,270 2,351 2,411  
Progressive Conservative Stan Carrick (Coalition) 4.58 1,126 1,149 1,211 1,369 1,384      
Co-operative Commonwealth Herman Shaak 3.12 767 1,100 1,116 1,131        
Independent Jerdry Wach (Coalition) 2.63 646 651 671          
Liberal–Progressive Donald Callis 2.12 521 533            
Independent Labour A.J. Yallits 0.40 99 104            
Electorate: 46,649   Valid: 24,580   Spoilt: 329   Quota: 4,917   Turnout: 24,909 (53.39%)
Winnipeg North (analysis of transferred votes, ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
Party Candidate Maximum
round 		Maximum
votes 		Share in
maximum
round 		Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


Co-operative Commonwealth Morris Gray 1 6,718 27.33%
​​
Labor-Progressive Bill Kardash 8 5,204 22.55%
​​
Liberal-Progressive Frank Chester 8 5,660 24.53%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth John Hawryluk 8 4,485 19.44%
​​
Liberal-Progressive John M. Kozoriz 8 2,809 12.17%
​​
Independent Liberal-Progressive William Scraba 4 2,046 8.38%
​​
Liberal-Progressive Abe Simkin 7 2,411 10.04%
​​
Progressive Conservative Stan Carrick 5 1,384 5.61%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Herman Shaak 4 1,131 4.65%
​​
Independent Jerdry Wach 3 671 2.74%
​​
Liberal-Progressive Donald Callis 2 533 2.17%
​​
Independent Labour A.J. Yallits 2 104 0.42%
​​
Exhausted votes 1,505 6.12%
​​

Winnipeg South[]

4 to be elected. Quota was 5522.

Winnipeg South
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Liberal–Progressive (x)John McDiarmid (Coalition) 23.42 6,466 5,522 5,522 5,522 5,522
Co-operative Commonwealth (x)Lloyd Stinson 22.99 6,346 6,346 5,522 5,522 5,522
Liberal–Progressive (x)Ronald Turner (Coalition) 20.02 5,526 5,526 5,526 5,526 5,526
Independent Progressive Conservative Dufferin Roblin (Anti-Coalition) 12.47 3,443 3,572 3,767 4,601 5,557
Independent C.F. Green (Anti-Coalition) 8.51 2,349 2,444 2,833 3,151 3,959
Liberal–Progressive J. Gurzon Harvey (Coalition) 6.30 1,739 2,320 2,447 3,003  
Progressive Conservative (x)Alex Stringer (Coalition) 6.30 1,738 1,877 1,990    
Electorate: 53,742   Valid: 27,607   Spoilt: 155   Quota: 5,522   Turnout: 27,762 (51.7%)
Winnipeg South (analysis of transferred votes, ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
Party Candidate Maximum
round 		Maximum
votes 		Share in
maximum
round 		Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


Liberal-Progressive John McDiarmid 1 6,466 23.42%
​​
Co-operative Commonwealth Lloyd Stinson 1 6,346 22.99%
​​
Liberal-Progressive Ronald Turner 1 5,526 20.02%
​​
Independent Progressive Conservative Dufferin Roblin 5 5,557 21.30%
​​
Independent C.F. Green 5 3,959 15.18%
​​
Liberal-Progressive J. Gurzon Harvey 4 3,003 10.99%
​​
Progressive Conservative Alex Stringer 3 1,990 7.21%
​​
Exhausted votes 1,521 5.51%
​​

Post-election changes[]

On August 15, 1950, Progressive Conservative leader Errick Willis resigned his seat in cabinet. The party formally left the coalition later in the summer, and John McDowell, Hugh Morrison and Dufferin Roblin joined the party caucus.

Some Progressive Conservative MLAs opposed their party's decision, and chose to remain with the coalition side. Charles Greenlay and Wallace Miller chose to remain in cabinet, while James Argue and Joseph Donaldson sat as pro-coalition independents. Argue rejoined the Progressive Conservatives in 1953, while Donaldson resigned his seat. Thomas Seens did not initially support the party's decision to leave the coalition, but sat with the Progressive Conservatives in the legislature.

Ronald Robertson and Edmond Prefontaine rejoined the Liberal-Progressives, while independents Rod Clement and Walter Weir also remained on the government side. Harry Shewman appears to have sided with the opposition.

St. Andrews (dec. James McLenaghen, June 23, 1950), October 24, 1950:

St. Clements (dec. Nicholas Stryk, 1950), October 24, 1950:

Brandon City (res. Joseph Donaldson, April 18, 1951), January 21, 1952:

La Verendrye (dec. Sauveur Marcoux, November 16, 1951), January 21, 1952:

Winnipeg South (res. Charles Rhodes Smith, 1952)

St. Clements (dec. Albert Trapp, January 9, 1953)

Cypress (dec. James Christie, January 19, 1953)

Virden (dec. Robert Mooney, January 30, 1953)

Ste. Rose (dec. Maurice MacCarthy, June 8, 1953)

Further reading[]

  • "Historical Summaries" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. 2007.
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