1969_Manitoba_general_election

1969 Manitoba general election
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba ; 29 seats were needed for a majority
	Map of Election Results
Premier before election; Walter Weir; Progressive Conservative	Premier after election ; Edward Schreyer; New Democratic

1969 Manitoba general election

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The 1969 Manitoba general election was held on June 25, 1969 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was a watershed moment in the province's political history. The social-democratic New Democratic Party emerged for the first time as the largest party in the legislature, winning 28 out of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party fell to 22, and the once-dominant Liberal Party fell to an historical low of five. The Social Credit Party won one seat, and there was also one Independent elected.

Quick Facts 57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 29 seats were needed for a majority, First party ...

Although the NDP had risen from third place to only one seat short of a majority, it was not clear what form the government would take in the days immediately following the election. There were negotiations among the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives to form a minority coalition government, supported by the Social Credit and Independent members; under this scenario, former Liberal leader Gildas Molgat would have become Premier. These plans came to nothing when Liberal MLA Laurent Desjardins announced that he would sit as a "Liberal Democrat" supporting the NDP, allowing the NDP to form government by one seat. Edward Schreyer became the province's first social democratic Premier shortly thereafter.

The Manitoba NDP had a total election budget of $45,000. Although very small by modern standards, this was the most the party had ever spent up to this time.^[1]

The Liberals had managed to remain as the Official Opposition for a decade after losing power in 1959. However, this would be the start of almost 20 years in the political wilderness; the party would not come close to governing again until winning opposition status in 1988.

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[1] [1]
Ian Stewart, Just One Vote: Jim Walding's nomination to constitutional defeat, (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press), 2009, p. 17.

[2] [2]
"Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1969)".

[3] [3]
"Memorable Manitobans: Gordon Wilbert Beard (1920-1972)".

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Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	1966	Elected	% Change	#	%	Change
	New Democratic	Edward Schreyer	57	11	28	+154.5%	128,080	38.27%	+15.13
	Progressive Conservative	Walter Weir	57	31	22	-29.0%	119,021	35.56%	-4.40
	Liberal	Robert Bend	57	14	5	-64.3%	80,288	23.99%	-9.14
	Social Credit	Jacob Froese (?)	6	1	1	-	4,535	1.36%	-2.18
	Communist	William Cecil Ross	2	-	-	-	744	0.22%	+0.02
	Independent		5	-	1		2,020	0.60%	+0.57
Total			184	57	57	-	334,688	100%

v t e 1969 Manitoba general election: Birtle-Russell
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Harry Graham	2,374	39.59
	New Democratic	Donald Kostesky	2,263	37.74
	Liberal	John Braendle	1,360	22.68
Total valid votes			5,997	100.00
Rejected and discarded votes			12
Turnout			6,009	72.47
Electors on the lists			8,292

v t e 1969 Manitoba general election: La Verendrye
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Leonard Barkman	1,933	52.17	-15.58
	Progressive Conservative	John Blatz	1,051	28.37	-3.88
	New Democratic	Elmer Reimer	721	19.46	–
Total valid votes			3,705	–	–
Rejected			29	–
Eligible voters / turnout			7,369	50.67	4.17
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

v t e 1969 Manitoba general election: Morris
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Warner Jorgenson	2,472	53.76	-12.01
	Liberal	Joseph Legault	1,183	25.73	-0.05
	New Democratic	William T. Loftus	712	15.48	7.03
	Social Credit	Henry Funk	231	5.02	–
Total valid votes			4,598	–	–
Rejected			15	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			7,537	61.20	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

v t e 1969 Manitoba general election: Point Douglas
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Donald Malinowski	2,253	52.52
	Progressive Conservative	Slaw Rebchuk	1,088	25.36
	Liberal	Roger Garrity	528	12.31
	Communist	Bill Kardash	421	9.81
Total valid votes			4,290	100.00
Rejected and discarded votes			62
Turnout			4,352	46.37
Electors on the lists			9,385

1969_Manitoba_general_election

1969 Manitoba general election

Results

See also

Riding results

Post-election changes

References

Further reading

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v t e Manitoba provincial by-election, April 5, 1971: St. Vital
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Jim Walding	3,378	35.94	+0.25
	Liberal	Dan Kennedy	3,083	32.80	+4.49
	Progressive Conservative	Kenneth Pratt	2,925	31.12	−4.89
	Independent	Sam Bordman	13	0.14
Total valid votes			9,399	100
Rejected and declined ballots			10
Turnout			9,409	83.05	+15.01
Electors on the lists			11,329
	New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+2.57