1922 Manitoba general election

Summary

This election was a watershed moment in Manitoba's political history. Since the formal introduction of partisan government in 1888, Manitoba had been governed alternately by the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. Although the previous election of 1920 sustained the Liberals in power, it also saw the two-party dichotomy weakened by the rise of farmer and labour parliamentary blocs. Having a minority government, the Liberals had not control of the majority in the Legislature and therefore had had to depend on support from other parties to remain in power. The support had been there until MLA P.A. Talbot learned that the government had not abolished the public utilities commission as a majority of MLAs had voted to happen in the first season of the government. He proposed a vote of censure on the government, and when that passed, Premier Norris's cabinet resigned.

In 1922, the old parties were mostly swept away by the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM). The UFM and Progressives candidates won 25 seats out of 52. Elections in three northern seats were deferred until later dates for logistical reasons.

The UFM had existed for several years as a farmer's organization, but some of its members ran as "Independent-Farmers" in the 1920 election. In 1921, however, the UFM announced it would field candidates during the 1922 campaign. The UFM was opposed to partisanship, and its most prominent members insisted that it was not a "party" in the traditional sense. UFM candidates often highlighted their lack of experience in partisan politics, and promised to govern the province in a restrained and responsible manner if elected to office.

The UFM membership was also heterogeneous. Although many supporters were free-trade agrarian Liberals before 1920, a number were also Conservatives. Some prominent UFM figures were also notable members of Manitoba's francophone community, which generally supported the Conservative Party before 1920.

The United Farmers fielded candidates in rural constituencies, and also endorsed candidates of the Progressive Association in Winnipeg. Even with these endorsements, the UFM operated on a shoestring budget, and fielded candidates in only two-thirds of the ridings. However, in a major upset, the UFM and Progressives won 25 seats out of 52.

Not even the UFM had expected to win government. Indeed, its expectations were so low that it had not had a formal leader during the campaign. Thus, when the UFM caucus met after the election, its first task was to choose a leader who would become premier. Thomas Crerar and Robert Hoey declined invitations to govern, and the caucus turned to John Bracken, president of the Manitoba Agricultural College. Although he had no political experience, Bracken accepted the appointment. He ran in one of the deferred elections, in The Pas, and was elected.

The UFM also won the deferred elections in Ethelbert and Rupertsland. This gave the government a bare majority of two seats. The UFM's political arm branded itself as the Progressive Party of Manitoba.

The other parties fared poorly in the 1922 campaign. The Liberals, led by outgoing premier Tobias Norris, fell from twenty-one seats to eight. The Conservatives, under their newly chosen leader Fawcett Taylor, fell from eight seats to seven.

The Independent Labour Party also experienced difficulties. In the 1920 election, Manitoba's various left-wing and working-class groups submerged their differences to run a united campaign. This cooperation was successful, and eleven labour candidates were elected to form the second-largest parliamentary bloc. By the 1922 election, however, the Labour Party was beset by long-standing divisions among socialists, communists and conservative trade unionists.

A total of thirteen labour candidates ran for ten seats in Winnipeg. Six were members of the ILP, and a seventh, former Social Democrat John Queen, ran as an "Independent Workers" candidate allied with the ILP. The other candidates were divided among themselves. The banned Communist Party ran three candidates under its legal front, the Workers Party. These candidates disrupted meetings of Socialist incumbent George Armstrong, and accused him of selling out his principles to moderates and social gospellers. Two conservative trade-unionists also ran as Union Labour candidates, opposing radicalism in the labour movement.

Five ILP candidates were elected, and John Queen was also elected in Winnipeg. Labour leader Fred Dixon topped the poll in Winnipeg for a second time, although by a reduced margin from 1920. George Armstrong lost his Winnipeg seat, and no other labour candidates were elected. Six independent candidates were also elected.

The Progressives would go on to govern Manitoba alone until 1932, when they joined forces with the Liberals to form the "Liberal-Progressive Party." The Liberal-Progressives would go on to govern Manitoba, either alone or in coalition, until 1959.

Results

|- bgcolor=CCCCCC !rowspan="2" colspan="2" align=left|Party !rowspan="2" align=left|Party leader !rowspan="2"|Candidates !colspan="3" align=center|Seats !colspan="5" align=center|Popular voteincludes first-preference votes in Winnipeg STV count |- bgcolor=CCCCCC | | | |

Rural Manitoba

|- || |Duncan Lloyd McLeod 1130 | |John Williams 777 | | | | | | ||

| |James A. Dempsey 429 | |Richard E. Coad 939 | | | | ||

| |William Iverbach 710 | | | | | | ||

| | | | | | | |Albert Edward Smith (Brandon Labour Party/CLP) 2060 || |John Edmison (Ind) 3281 ||

| | | | | | | |Maurice Duprey (Ind) 694 ||

| |John Alexander Young 1205 | | || |William Spinks 1252 | | | | ||

| |Henry Pears Nicholson 658 || |Archibald Esplen 825 | | | |George Palmer (ILP) 742 | | ||

| |Robert Thornton 810 | |William Chalmers 829 | | | | ||

| | | | | | | |Herbert Robinson (Ind) 1504 ||

| |Robert Curran 566 | |H. Stewart 435 | |D.H. McFadden 567 | | || |Dmytro Yakimischak (Ind. Farmer) 998 ||

| |G.L. Marron 398 || |Albert Kirvan 810 | | | | | | ||

| |John Garfield Hamilton 262 | | | | | |Henry L. Mabb (Ind) 354 ||

| |George Darling Shortreed 317 | | | | | |Horace Priestly Barrett (Ind) 499 ||

| |Ingimar Ingaldson 1310 || |Michael Rojeski 1570 | |Elias Grabosky 103 | | | | ||

| |David Smith 649 | |F.J. Erick Rhind 387 | | | | ||

| |Wellington Geddas Rathwell 950

|| |James Breakey 1468 | | | | | | || |William Robson Ind. Farmer |- || |Thomas Wolstenholme 1338 | |John Henry McConnell 935 | | | | | | ||

| |H.A. Mullins 290

| | | | | | ||

| |Thomas H. Buck 394

| |G.W. Waldon 747 | | | | ||

| | | |Herbert Muir 1101 | | | | ||

| |John Morrison Allen 1219 || |Tobias Norris 1680 | | | | | | ||

| |L.P. Roy 694 | | | | | | ||

| |G.E. Davidson 531 | |John Ridley 1018 | | | |Joseph B. Lane (Ind) 548 ||

| |A.W. Shaw 1160 | | | | | | ||

| |John Sweet 960 | | || |John Kennedy 1297 | | | | ||

| |Alex Ayotte 751 | | | | | | ||

| |James Baird 968 | |George M. Fraser 578 | | | | ||

| | | |Reuben J. Waugh 1142 | | | | ||

| | | |Charles D. McPherson 1307 || |Fawcett Taylor 1436 | | | | ||

| |Henry Richardson 1176 | | || |Fred Newton 1185 | | | | ||

| | | |Harvey Hicks 706 | | | |Robert William Rutherford (Ind) 703 ||

| |William W.W. Wilson 783 | |Edgar Carnegy De Balinhard 741 | | | | ||

| |Albert E. Kristjansson 860 || |Skuli Sigfusson 1512 | | | | | | ||

| |Thomas McDonald 1272 | | | | | | || |Joseph Hamelin (Ind) 1362 ||

| | | |Daniel Hawe Sr. 548 | | | | ||

| |R.W. Ramson 955 | | || |Richard G. Willis 1059 | | | | ||

| |George Clingan 961 | | | | | | || |George Clingan |}

Winnipeg suburbs

|- | |Charles L. Richardson 999 | | | | || |William Bayley (ILP) 1844 | |William Bourke (Ind) 843 John Haddon (Ind) 494 ||

| |Samuel Henry Summerscales 828 | |Free Larter 977 | | || |Charles Albert Tanner (ILP) 1453 | | ||

| | | |H.M. Sutherland 1176 | | | |Charles W. Foster (ILP) 1124 || |Joseph Bernier (Ind) 2024 ||

| |Hugh Connolly 532 | | | | | |Nicolas Kolisynk (Workers) 387 Matthew Stanbridge (ILP) 352 || |Donald Ross (Ind) 1245 ||

| |William James Black 854 | |Samuel Leonard Henry 365 | | | | || |Arthur Moore |}

Winnipeg

Final results for Winnipeg: Liberal 2, Conservative 2, ILP 3, Moderation League 1, Independent Worker 1, Progressive Party 1

Valid votes: 44,328 Quota: 4030

Two were elected in the first count by achieving quota. One of them, Jacob, received votes exactly equal to quota. Three were elected at the end when the field of candidates was thinned to the number of remaining open seats. Their vote tallies never did come up to quota.

Eight of the front runners in the first count were elected so vote transfers affected the outcome for just two of the ten. The elected representation was more mixed and balanced than the result had been under first past the post in the two-member districts that had been in use in Winnipeg previously.

|}

Note: Reports of vote tallies were incomplete for counts 32–36. Count 31 was used as the base for calculating applicable percentages above.

Deferred elections

Elections for several northern ridings were deferred to later dates:

|- (August 26, 1922) || |Nicholas A. Hryhorczuk acclaimed | | | | | | | | || |Nicholas A. Hryhorczuk Ind. Farmer |- (September 13, 1922) || |Francis Black acclaimed | | | | | | | | ||

| | | | | | | |Herman Finger (Ind) 118 P.C. Robertson (Ind) 71 R.H. MacNeill (Ind) 38 || |Edward Brown |}

Early by-elections

When Duncan Lloyd McLeod (Arthur), Neil Cameron (Minnedosa) and William Clubb (Morris) were appointed to cabinet on August 8, 1922, they were obliged to resign their seats and seek re-election. All were returned by acclamation on August 26, 1922.

Post-election changes

Winnipeg (res. Fred Dixon, July 27, 1923)

Mountain (Charles Cannon appointed to cabinet, December 3, 1923), December 24, 1923:

• Charles Cannon (P) 1630
• George Fraser (C) 857

Carillon (Albert Prefontaine appointed to cabinet, December 3, 1923), December 24, 1923:

• Albert Prefontaine (P) 1177
• Maurice Dupez (Ind) 494

Assiniboia (William Bayley leaves the Labour Party on January 8, 1924)

Lansdowne (res. Tobias Norris, 1925), December 9, 1925:

• Tobias Norris (L) accl.

St. Boniface (res. Joseph Bernier, September 1, 1926)

References

1. "Manitoba has afforded first practical test of group govt. in Canada with fatal results". Edmonton Bulletin.