1949 Manitoba general election

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

1949 Manitoba general election

← 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 6 4 2 Percentage 38.70% 19.013% 25.6% Swing 6.50% 3.10% 8.2%
Premier before election Douglas Lloyd Campbell Liberal–Progressive Premier after election Douglas Lloyd Campbell Liberal–Progressive

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.^{[citation needed]}

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, with four members elected in each of three Winnipeg districts. St. Boniface had two seats filled through STV.

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 who would have been elected versus who would have been elected under First past the post.

Results

Manitoba general election (November 10, 1949)^[1]

Party		Leader	First-preference votes			Seats
			Votes	% FPv	± (pp)	Cand.	1941	Elected	Change
	Coalition candidates
	█ Liberal–Progressive	Douglas Campbell	75,291	38.2	6.0	44	25	30	5
	█ Progressive Conservative	Errick Willis	23,410	11.9	4.0	16	13	9	4
	█ Independent		7,452	3.8	0.9	5	3	4	1
	█ Liberal		4,311	2.2	1.8	1	–	1	1
	█ Independent Liberal-Progressive		2,625	1.3	0.2	1	–	–	–
	█ Independent-Liberal		1,015	0.5	0.1	1	–	–	–
	█ Social Credit		–	–	1.3	–	2	–	2
	Anti-Coalition candidates
	█ Co-operative Commonwealth	Seymour Farmer	49,933	25.3	8.5	25	9	7	2
	█ Progressive Conservative		9,696	4.9	4.9	4	–	3	3
	█ Independent		6,892	3.5	0.8	4	1	–	1
	█ Labor–Progressive		5,243	2.7	2.1	2	1	1
	█ Independent-PC		5,044	2.6	2.6	2	–	1	1
	█ Independent-Liberal		4,094	2.1	2.1	3	–	–	–
	█ Independent-CCF		1,171	0.6	1.4	1	1	–	1
	█ Independent Liberal-Progressive		860	0.4	0.4	1	–	1	1
	█ Independent Labour		99	–	–	1	–	–	–
	█ Social Credit		–	–	0.7	–	–	–	–
	█ Socialist		–	–	0.1	–	–	–	–
Valid			197,136	100.0	–	111	55	57	2
Rejected			2,540
Total votes cast			199,676
Registered voters/Turnout[a 1]			369,644	54.0

1. Excludes constituencies where candidates returned by acclamation

Results by riding

Bold names indicate members returned by acclamation. Italicized names indicate Anti-Coalition candidates returned. Incumbents are marked with *.

Arthur: John R. Pitt*   Assiniboia: Reginald Wightman   Birtle: Francis Bell*   Brandon City: Joseph Donaldson   Carillon: Edmond Prefontaine*[a 1] (Ind-LP)   Cypress: James Christie*   Dauphin: Ernest McGirr   Deloraine-Glenwood:[a 2] James O. Argue*[a 3]   Dufferin: Walter McDonald*   Emerson: John Solomon*   Ethelbert: Michael Sawchuk*[a 4]   Fairford: James Anderson*[a 5]   Fisher: Nicholas Bachynsky*   Gilbert Plains: Ray Mitchell   Gimli: Steinn Thompson*   Gladstone: William Morton*   Hamiota: Charles L. Shuttleworth   Iberville: John McDowell[a 1]   Kildonan-Transcona:[a 2] George Olive*[a 6]

Killarney: Abram Harrison*   Lakeside: Douglas Campbell*   Lansdowne: Thomas Seens   La Verendrye: Sauveur Marcoux*   Manitou-Morden:[a 2] Hugh Morrison*[a 1][a 7]   Minnedosa: Henry Rungay*[a 5]   Morris: Harry Shewman   Mountain: Ivan Schultz*   Norfolk-Beautiful Plains:[a 2] Samuel Burch   Portage la Prairie: Charles Greenlay*   Rhineland: Wallace C. Miller   Roblin: Ronald Robertson   Rockwood: Robert Bend   Rupertsland: Daniel Hamilton*   Russell: Rodney Clement   St. Andrews:[a 2] James McLenaghen*[a 8]   St. Boniface: 'Joseph Van Belleghem   St. Boniface: Edwin Hansford   St. Clements: Nicholas Stryk

St. George: Christian Halldorson*   Ste. Rose: Maurice Dane MacCarthy*   Springfield: William Lucko   Swan River: George Renouf*[a 1]   The Pas: Francis Jobin (Lib)   Turtle Mountain: Errick Willis*   Virden: Robert Mooney*   Winnipeg Centre: Paul Bardal   Winnipeg Centre: Charles Rhodes Smith*   Winnipeg Centre: Gordon Fines   Winnipeg Centre: Donovan Swailes*   Winnipeg North: Frank Chester   Winnipeg North: Morris Gray*   Winnipeg North: John Hawryluk   Winnipeg North: Bill Kardash*   Winnipeg South: John McDiarmid*   Winnipeg South: Ronald Turner*   Winnipeg South: Lloyd Stinson*   Winnipeg South: Dufferin Roblin (Ind-PC)

1. Elected in 1945 as a Coalition candidate
2. New single-member ridings arising from redistribution
3. Previously MLA for Deloraine
4. Elected in 1945 under the CCF banner
5. Elected in byelection
6. Previously MLA for Springfield
7. Previously MLA for Manitou
8. Previously MLA for Kildonan & St. Andrews

Multi-member constituencies

MLAs returned by party (multi-member constituencies)

Party		St. Boniface	Winnipeg Centre	Winnipeg North	Winnipeg South
	Liberal–Progressive	1	2	1	2
	Co-operative Commonwealth	1	2	2	1
	Labor–Progressive			1
	Independent-PC				1
Total		2	4	4	4

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	(incumbent)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	(incumbent)Charles Rhodes Smith (Coalition)	25.01	5,140
	Co-operative Commonwealth	(incumbent)Donovan Swailes	24.45	5,025	5,025
	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
	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	(incumbent)Morris Gray	27.33	6,718
	Labor–Progressive	(incumbent)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	(incumbent)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	(incumbent)John McDiarmid (Coalition)	23.42	6,466	5522
	Co-operative Commonwealth	(incumbent)Lloyd Stinson	22.99	6,346	6,346	5522
	Liberal–Progressive	(incumbent)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	(incumbent)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 C. 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:

• Thomas P. Hillhouse (LP) 2366
• William Earl Gordon (CCF) 1513
• Veitch (PC) 1187

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

• Albert Trapp (LP) 2729
• Wasylyk (CCF) 560
• Andrew Bileski (LPP) 254

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

• Reginald Lissaman (PC) 3223
• Alex McPhail (LP) 2233
• Spafford (CCF) 1305

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

• Edmond Brodeur (LP) 2334
• Arpin (PC) 1363

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)