1953 Manitoba general election


The 1953 Manitoba general election was held on June 8, 1953 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. This was the first election held in Manitoba after the breakup of a ten-year coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressives and Progressive Conservatives. The coalition, which began in 1940, was ended in 1950 when the Progressive Conservatives crossed to the opposition side.
This was also the last provincial election in Manitoba to feature multi-member constituencies and election by the single transferable ballot. Winnipeg Centre, Winnipeg North and Winnipeg South elected four members each, while St. Boniface elected two members. All other constituencies elected one member by instant runoff voting.
The result of the election was a convincing victory for the Liberal-Progressive government of Premier Douglas Campbell, which won thirty-two of fifty-seven seats. Three Independent Liberal-Progressives were also elected. The Progressive Conservatives, led by Errick Willis, saw their representation in the legislature increase from nine to twelve members. This was a disappointing result for many in the party. Willis had been a prominent cabinet minister in the coalition government, and many questioned the sincerity of his new-found opposition to Campbell's ministry. The following year, he lost the leadership of the party to Dufferin Roblin.
The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation suffered a disappointing loss under new leader Lloyd Stinson, falling from seven seats to five.
During the campaign, the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper devoted considerable attention to the return of the Social Credit Party in Manitoba. The party had not contested the previous provincial election, but was buoyed by the recent Social Credit victory in British Columbia and ran several candidates. The Free Press, which supported the Liberal-Progressives, and played up the threat of a Social Credit victory to rally popular support for the government. The actual threat posed by Social Credit was minimal: only two of its candidates were elected.
The Communist Labor-Progressive Party also won representation in the legislature, with party incumbent Bill Kardash taking one of the four constituency seats in Winnipeg North. This was the last time that a Communist candidate won election to the Manitoba legislature, or indeed to any provincial legislature in Canada.
Two independent candidates were also elected, in addition to the three Independent Liberal-Progressives.

Results

Constituency results

denotes incumbent.

Single-member constituencies

Assiniboia:
First Count
Fournier and Bloomfield were eliminated, and their votes were distributed as follows: Wightman 837, Mackling 768. 600 votes were non-transferable.
Final Count
Birtle:
Brandon City:
First Count
Wyborn was eliminated, and his votes were distributed as follows: Lissaman 272, Creighton 138. 646 votes were non-transferable.
Second Count
Carillon:
Cypress:
First Count
Ferg was subsequently declared elected on transfers from Philippe.
Dauphin:
First Count
Bullmore was subsequently elected on transfers.
Deloraine-Glenwood:
Dufferin:
First Count
McDonald was subsequently elected on transfers from Collins.
Emerson:
First Count
Solomon was subsequently declared elected on transfers from Friesen.
Ethelbert:
Fairford:
First Count
Joseph H. Kacher entered the contest as an Independent Liberal-Progressive, but withdrew before election day. Anderson was subsequently elected on transfers.
Fisher:
Gilbert Plains:
First Count
Brown and Elliott were eliminated, and their votes were transferred as follows: Mitchell 239, Wilson 222. 614 votes were non-transferable.
Final Count
Gimli:
Gladstone:
Hamiota:
First Count
Charles was eliminated, and his votes were distributed as follows: Venables 123, Shuttleworth 88. 314 votes were non-transferable.
Second Count
Iberville:
First Count
Hilgenga and Rempel were eliminated, and their votes were distributed as follows: Jarvis 207, McDowell 195. 637 votes were non-transferable.
Final Count
Kildonan—Transcona:
First Count
Although Melnyk ran as an independent, he was supported by the local Progressive Conservative association.
Both Carson and Melnyk were eliminated after the first count. Paulley received 275 additional votes on transfers, while Bodie received 163. It is assumed that all of these transfers came from Melynk's total, and that Paulley was declared elected before Carson's ballots were scrutinized. For the purposes of this article, Carson's final vote total is listed under "votes not transferred".
Second Count
Killarney:
First Count
Harrison was subsequently elected on transfers from Paterson.
Lakeside:
Lansdowne:
First Count
Sutherland was subsequently elected on transfers from Doherty. The Winnipeg Free Press of June 12, 1953, indicates that Sutherland had 2,160 votes on the second count.
La Verendrye:
Manitou-Morden:
First Count
Morrison was subsequently elected on transfers from O'Donnell.
Minnedosa:
First Count
Hutton was subsequently elected on transfers from Burgess.
Morris:
First Count
Tinkler was eliminated, and his votes were distributed as follows: Shewman 432, Beaubien 58. 354 votes were not transferred.
Second Count
Mountain:
Norfolk-Beautiful Plains:
First Count
Nelson was eliminated, and his votes were distributed as follows: McKinnon 342, Burch 257. 766 votes were not transferred.
Portage la Prairie:
First Count
Rempel was eliminated, and his votes were transferred as follows: Warren 200, Greenlay 94. 490 votes were non-transferable.
Rhineland:
Roblin:
Rockwood:
Russell:
First Count
Clement was subsequently elected on transfers.
St. Andrews:
St. Clements:
Fred Klym entered the contest as an Independent Liberal Progressive candidate, but withdrew before election day.
St. George:
Halldorson was also supported by the St. George Progressive Conservative Association.
Springfield:
First Count
Watt was eliminated, and his votes were distributed as follows: Storsley 206, Lucko 128. 309 votes were not transferred.
Swan River:
First Count
Renouf was subsequently elected on transfers.
The Pas:
Turtle Mountain:
Virden:
Eric Bailey was nominated for the Social Credit Party, but withdrew before election day. Herman Scheel was nominated in his place, but also withdrew after discovering that some electors who had signed his nomination papers believed they were endorsing Bailey.

Multi-member constituencies

St. Boniface

Winnipeg Centre

The surpluses of Swailes and Juba were not transferred, as they were too small to affect the final candidate order. Scott was declared elected to the fourth position, despite finishing below the quota.

Winnipeg North

Kardash and Turk were declared elected to the third and fourth positions, even though both finished below the quota.

Winnipeg South

Stinson's surplus of 146 was not transferred, as it would not have affected the candidate order.

Deferred elections

The election in Rupertsland was deferred to July 6, due to the difficulties of enumeration in this vast northern constituency. The election in Ste. Rose was also deferred to July 6, after incumbent Liberal-Progressive candidate Maurice Dane MacCarthy died on the eve of the general election.
The election did not technically end until July 21, 1953, when the final results for Rupertsland were announced.
Rupertsland :
First Count
The Progressive Conservatives initially nominated E.G. Perry, but he withdrew from the contest and endorsed Brown. Brown was declared elected following transfers from Abbott. The official Elections Manitoba report of this constituency lists Boulette as an official Liberal-Progressive candidate, but newspaper reports from the period indicate that he was an Independent Liberal-Progressive.
Ste. Rose:
First Count
Pineau was eliminated, and his votes were transferred as follows: Molgat 192, Fletcher 83. 616 votes were not transferred.
Second Count

Post-election changes

resigned his seat in the first half of 1955, while James O. Argue died in the same period. By-elections for both constituencies were held on June 27, 1955. The CCF concluded that it did not have a chance of victory in either seat, and declined to nominate candidates. Social Credit also planned to stay out of the elections, until Roger Poiron entered the Mountain poll without consulting the provincial party. Although not technically an official candidate, he still received support from the Social Credit organization.
The Winnipeg Free Press's coverage indicates that the Campbell government was concerned with the results of the 1955 by-elections. Mountain had previously been regarded as one of the safest Liberal-Progressive seats in the province, and Boulic's performance was unexpectedly strong. Many leading government figures had campaigned for Clark in the campaign's final days, to ensure his victory. Clark received most of his support from Mountain's Anglo-Saxon majority and large Flemish community, while Boulic did well among French Canadians, who made up about one third of the voters.
St. George, December 30, 1956:
Emerson, November 14, 1957:
Manitou-Morden, November 14, 1957:
Gladstone
Dauphin
Arthur