1981_Manitoba_general_election

1981 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; Sterling Lyon; Progressive Conservative	Premier after election ; Howard Pawley; New Democratic

1981 Manitoba general election

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The 1981 Manitoba general election was held on November 17, 1981 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the Manitoba Liberal Party was shut out from the legislature for the only time in its history. The newly formed Progressive Party failed to win any seats.

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

Sterling Lyon's Progressive Conservative government ran on a promise to continue investing in the province's "mega-projects" (including as a $500 million Alcan aluminum smelter, a $600 million potash mine and a "Western power grid"), and suggested that an NDP government would jeopardize these plans. The NDP campaign, which was largely co-ordinated by Wilson Parasiuk, questioned the Lyon government's fiscal accountability in such matters, noting that it had sold 50% of Trout Lake Copper Mine stock, possibly at a major loss. Jacques Bougie, the Alcan administrator for Manitoba, was also described as holding undue influence over the government.

The NDP campaign generally focused on the economy, and drew attention to the issue of Manitobans emigrating from the province because of job losses. Progressive Party leader Sidney Green described Lyon's initiatives as "bega-projects", a reference to the government's controversial fundraising with foreign corporations.

The election was considered too close to call until the final week, when the NDP campaign gained momentum.

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Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Before¹	Elected	% Change	#	%	Change
	New Democratic	Howard Pawley	57	20	34	+70.0%	228,784	47.38%	+8.76
	Progressive Conservative	Sterling Lyon	57	32	23	-28.1%	211,602	43.82%	-4.93
	Liberal	Doug Lauchlan	39	1	-	-100%	32,373	6.70%	-5.59
	Progressive	Sidney Green	36	3	-	-100%	8,731	1.81%	+1.81
	Communist	Paula Fletcher	2	-	-	-	261	.05%	-0.01
	Independent		4	1	-	-100%	1,141	.24%	+0.24
	Vacant			1	n.a.
Total			195	57	57	-	487,154	100%

v t e 1981 Manitoba general election: Concordia
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Peter Fox	5,333	60.91
	Progressive Conservative	Scotty McVicar	2,586	29.54
	Liberal	Gail Stapon	309	3.53
	Progressive	Josephine Young	306	3.50
	Independent	Bob Fraser	221	2.52
Total valid votes			8,755	–
Rejected			15	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			12,589	69.54
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 1981 Manitoba general election: Elmwood
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Russell Doern	5,140	67.83	16.72
	Progressive Conservative	Eveline Holtmann	1,910	25.20	-15.35
	Liberal	Eric Wood	347	4.58	-3.76
	Progressive	Curtis Bloodworth	181	2.39	–
Total valid votes			7,578	–	–
Rejected			36	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			11,506	66.17	-6.17
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 1981 Manitoba general election: St. Johns
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Donald Malinowski	4,004	56.99
	Progressive Conservative	Don Cilinsky	1,785	25.41
	Liberal	Henry Kowlowski	674	9.59
	Progressive	Bernie Bellan	446	6.35
	Communist	William Cecil Ross	117	1.67
Total valid votes			7,026
Rejected ballots			70
Turnout			7,096	67.18
Electors on the lists			10,562

v t e 1981 Manitoba general election: St. Vital
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Jim Walding	5,504	52.80	+11.18
	Progressive Conservative	John Robertson	4,236	40.64	+4.69
	Liberal	Gord Patterson	684	6.56	-15.87
Total valid votes			10,424	100.00
Rejected votes			34
Turnout			10,458	80.61
Electors on the lists			12,974
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.24

1981_Manitoba_general_election

1981 Manitoba general election

Results

Riding results

Post-election changes

See also

Further reading

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