1941 Manitoba general election

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1941 Manitoba general election
Flag of Manitoba.svg
  1936 April 22, 1941 1945  

55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
27 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  John Bracken circa 1941.jpg
Leader John Bracken Errick Willis Seymour Farmer
Party Liberal–Progressive Progressive Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader sinceAugust 8, 1922June 9, 19361936
Leader's seat The Pas Turtle Mountain Winnipeg
Last election23167
Seats won27123
Seat changeIncrease2.svg4Decrease2.svg4Decrease2.svg4
Popular vote58,33725,94028,301
Percentage35.1%19.9%17.0%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.2pp Decrease2.svg7.9pp Increase2.svg5.0pp

Premier before election

John Bracken
Liberal–Progressive

Premier after election

John Bracken
Liberal–Progressive

The 1941 Manitoba general election was held on April 22, 1941 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.

Contents

This election was held shortly after the formation of a coalition government in December 1940. The coalition was created after the start of World War II, as a display of unity among the different parties in the legislature.

Premier John Bracken's Liberal-Progressives were the dominant force in government, while the Conservative Party under Errick Willis held a secondary position. The smaller Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and Social Credit League were also included in the government, and had cabinet representation.

The four coalition parties were the only legal political parties in Manitoba in 1941. The Communist Party had been declared illegal the previous year. Its only Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), James Litterick, had been expelled from the legislature and had gone into hiding.

When the coalition was created, Independent MLA Lewis Stubbs was the only legislator who did not join the government side. He claimed that a healthy opposition was necessary in a parliamentary democracy, and rejected offers to join the government. Later, Social Credit MLA Salome Halldorson and Conservatives Huntly Ketchen and John Poole also crossed to the opposition. And more were elected in the 1941 election.

The coalition's victory was a foregone conclusion: in most constituencies, there were no anti-coalition candidates. The opposition came mostly from anti-coalition dissidents in the governing parties. These candidates did not run a coordinated campaign, and did not seriously threaten the government.

The Social Credit League split before the election, and most of its candidates were opposed to the coalition. The party's most prominent MLAs, however, remained on the government side.

In some constituencies, the coalition parties ran candidates against one other. This had little effect on the overall result, though it did influence the relative strength of the coalition partners after the election. In most instances, the incumbent candidates were re-elected. The CCF agreed to limit its challenges against incumbent members, although this courtesy was not always reciprocated by other parties. [1]

As expected, the coalition won a landslide victory. The government parties, along with pro-coalition independents, won 50 of the 55 seats in the legislature.

The election confirmed the Liberal-Progressives and Conservatives as the dominant parties in government. The Liberal-Progressives increased their representation from 23 MLAs to 27, only two short of an overall majority. The Conservatives were not as successful, falling from 16 seats to 12. The party remained influential in cabinet, however, and its leadership remained committed to the coalition.

For the CCF and Social Credit, the election was problematic. Many CCF members opposed the coalition, and due to the party's official support for the coalition the party had difficulty mobilizing its supporters to the voting booths. The CCF won only two seats in Winnipeg, and the Gimli constituency, for a total of three seats. John Queen, the CCF Mayor of Winnipeg, lost the legislative seat he had held since 1920.

After this result, the CCF's tenure in government was brief. Farmer left the coalition ministry in late 1942, and the party formally voted to leave the coalition at its 1943 convention. Many CCF officials later described their period in the coalition as a disaster for the party.

The result was also bad for Social Credit, which lost its internal cohesion during the campaign. All of the party's anti-coalition candidates were defeated, while three pro-government incumbents were re-elected. These MLAs effectively became an adjunct of the government, and did little in the way of promoting party policy. The Manitoba Social Credit League was marginalized in the 1940s, and did not become a functioning party again until 1953.

Five pro-coalition Independent MLAs were also elected.

Five anti-coalition MLAs were elected - three dissident Conservatives (one of whom later rejoined the government), Independent Lewis Stubbs, and Bill Kardash. Kardash, who ran as a "Worker's candidate", was widely known to be associated with the banned Communist Party. He did not proclaim this association openly, however, and was able to take his seat without a legal challenge. (He was re-elected under the label "Labor-Progressive Party" once being a Communist was no longer illegal.)

Three Sound Money Economics System candidates also ran in Winnipeg. All fared poorly, and the group disappeared soon after the election. [2]

Like previous elections, all the voters cast preferential votes. Ten MLAs were elected in city-wide Winnipeg district through Single transferable vote; all other MLAs were elected through Instant-runoff voting.

Results

Manitoba general election (April 22, 1941) [3]
PartyLeaderFirst-preference votesSeats
Votes % FPvCand. 1936 ElectedChange
 Coalition candidates
  Liberal–Progressive John Bracken 58,33735.74223274Increase2.svg
  Co-operative Commonwealth Seymour Farmer 28,30117.314734Decrease2.svg
  Conservative Errick Willis 25,94015.81816124Decrease2.svg
  Independent 18,88311.514352Increase2.svg
  Social Credit 2,7231.75532Decrease2.svg
 Anti-Coalition candidates
  Social Credit 9,1565.66
  Conservative 7,1994.4333Increase2.svg
  Independent 5,8014.1211Increase2.svg
  Communist 4,8893.0111Steady2.svg
  Sound Money Economics 8640.53
  Liberal 7010.41
Valid163,608100.01095555
Rejected2,780
Total votes cast166,388
Registered voters/Turnout405,45950.5

Results by riding

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

Winnipeg

Winnipeg:

Ten MLAs were elected through Single transferable vote.

Winnipeg MLAs returned by party
PartyCoalitionAnti-Coalition
Liberal–Progressive 3
Co-operative Commonwealth 2
Conservative 11
Independent 11
Communist 1
Total73


Winnipeg (ten members)
PartyCandidateFPv%Count
123456789101112131415161718192021
Liberal–Progressive John Stewart McDiarmid *11.876,963
Independent Lewis Stubbs *9.895,8015,801
Liberal–Progressive Charles Rhodes Smith 8.444,9555,485 5,485
Communist Bill Kardash 8.334,8894,895 4,931 4,931 4,931 4,931 4,939 4,953 4,973 4,977 4,979 5,036 5,050 5,060 5,099 5,108 5,162 5,171 5,242 5,281 5,351
Independent Stephen Krawchyk 7.964,6734,697 4,713 4,714 4,716 4,717 4,720 4,788 4,804 4,811 4,831 4,858 4,877 4,885 4,900 4,932 4,940 4,970 5,031 5,207 5,315
Conservative Huntly Ketchen *7.034,1234,209 4,270 4,273 4,279 4,322 4,335 4,335 4,402 4,419 4,468 4,563 4,721 5,176 5,217
Conservative Gunnar Thorvaldson 5.493,2203,363 3,381 3,396 3,408 3,418 3,424 3,432 3,456 3,475 3,698 3,740 3,787 3,862 3,872 4,024 4,098 4,723 4,825 5,796 5,796
Co-operative Commonwealth Morris Gray 5.263,0863,093 3,107 3,108 3,113 3,117 3,127 3,132 3,141 3,156 3,161 3,171 3,179 3,185 3,235 3,242 4,364 4,391 4,552 4,674 5,140
Conservative James A. Barry*4.252,4922,569 2,586 2,592 2,594 2,609 2,611 2,664 2,678 2,696 2,767 2,778 2,946 3,012 3,033 3,101 3,188 3,552 3,612
Co-operative Commonwealth Seymour Farmer *3.832,2492,294 2,349 2,353 2,356 2,376 2,433 2,466 2,482 2,623 2,635 2,664 2,687 2,703 3,031 3,115 3,159 3,263 4,461 4,718 6,494
Co-operative Commonwealth John Queen*3.702,1702,248 2,302 2,304 2,315 2,326 2,345 2,361 2,388 2,470 2,487 2,542 2,579 2,595 2,732 2,793 2,980 3,103 3,631 3,892
Liberal–Progressive Paul Bardal 3.622,1272,408 2,435 2,510 2,525 2,537 2,547 2,559 2,582 2,627 2,664 2,728 2,897 2,932 2,952 3,390 3,462 4,007 4,174 4,867 5,324
Co-operative Commonwealth Stanley Knowles 3.151,8491,867 1,900 1,900 1,903 1,907 1,915 1,920 1,946 2,000 2,021 2,051 2,078 2,089 2,442 2,525 2,545 2,611
Independent W.V. Tobias3.091,8151,829 1,843 1,845 1,848 1,853 1,855 1,857 1,859 1,873 1,881 1,887 1,897 1,904 1,907 1,927
Conservative F.E. Warriner2.911,7061,808 1,825 1,838 1,844 1,846 1,853 1,861 1,882 1,906 1,982 1,991 2,026 2,069 2,082 2,227 2,268
Liberal–Progressive H. Dick1.801,0591,164 1,174 1,189 1,194 1,198 1,202 1,212 1,220 1,230 1,266 1,285 1,337 1,362 1,369
Co-operative Commonwealth William Ivens 1.64962966 986 986 987 993 1,003 1,013 1,021 1,068 1,072 1,106 1,113 1,120
Conservative Harrison Dysart1.33780802 814 815 817 836 836 844 857 859 884 904 931
Liberal Laurier Regnier 1.19701742 753 762 766 768 770 785 793 801 823 853
Conservative James Cowan 1.07627641 646 647 648 654 655 656 662 665
Social Credit Asta Oddson0.98575580 587 587 594 594 691 695 716 719 721
Liberal–Progressive James Simpkin0.87510522 538 538 539 545 552 559 563
Sound Money Economics T.H. Elliott0.62361366 373 374 414 416 422 484
Sound Money Economics Madeline Hrynlewlecki0.54316318 321 321 348 349 353
Social Credit J. J. Evans 0.50294297 303 303 304 311
Independent J.K. Downes 0.50192193 198 198 198
Sound Money Economics Thomas McConochie0.32187191 193 193
Exhausted ballots36 54 89 101 252 305 337 520 572 723 806 958 1,176 1,545 1,814 2,907 3,922
Electorate: 137,437  Valid: 58,682  Spoilt: 1,033  Quota: 5,335  Turnout: 59,715 (43.45%)  
    * - Incumbent
    (Italics indicate Anti-Coalition candidate; bold indicates candidate was declared elected)
    Winnipeg (analysis of transferred votes, ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
    PartyCandidateMaximum
    round
    Maximum
    votes
    Share in
    maximum
    round
    Maximum votes
    First round votesTransfer votes
    Liberal-Progressive John Stewart McDiarmid 16,96311.87%
    Independent Lewis Stubbs 15,8019.89%
    Liberal-Progressive Charles Rhodes Smith 35,4859.35%
    Communist Bill Kardash 215,3519.77%
    Independent Stephen Krawchyk 215,3159.71%
    Conservative Huntly Ketchen 155,2179.01%
    Conservative Gunnar Thorvaldson 215,79610.58%
    CCF Morris Gray 215,1409.39%
    Conservative James A. Barry 193,6126.35%
    CCF Seymour Farmer 216,49411.86%
    CCF John Queen 203,8926.98%
    Liberal-Progressive Paul Bardal 215,3249.72%
    CCF Stanley Knowles 182,6114.57%
    IndependentW.V. Tobias161,9273.34%
    Conservative F.E. Warriner172,2683.94%
    Liberal-Progressive H. Dick151,3692.37%
    CCF William Ivens 141,1201.93%
    Conservative Harrison Dysart139311.60%
    Liberal Laurier Regnier 128531.47%
    Conservative James Cowan 116651.14%
    Social Credit Asta Oddson117211.24%
    Liberal-Progressive James Simpkin95630.96%
    Sound Money Economics T.H. Elliott84840.83%
    Sound Money Economics Madeline Hrynlewlecki73530.60%
    Social Credit J. J. Evans 63110.53%
    Independent J.K. Downes 51980.34%
    Sound Money Economics Thomas McConochie41930.33%
    Exhausted votes3,9226.73%

    Sources

    The first ballot results for Winnipeg and results for all other constituencies are taken from an official Manitoba government publication entitled "Manitoba elections, 1920-1941", cross-referenced with the 1942 Canadian Parliamentary Guide and the "Historical Statement of Votes" section of the 2003 provincial election report. Unfortunately, the second-ballot results are not listed in these sources.

    All ballot results for Winnipeg after the first count are taken from reports in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper. It is possible that some errors appeared in the original publication.

    Post-election changes

    John Poole appears to have returned to the coalition shortly after the election. The CCF left the governing coalition in 1943.

    Dufferin (dec. John Munn, 1941), June 22, 1943:

    Killarney (dec. John Laughlin, 1941), June 22, 1943:

    The Pas (res. John Bracken, January 15, 1943), August 17, 1943:

    Brandon (dec. George Dinsdale, 1943), November 18, 1943:

    Portage la Prairie (dec. Toby Sexsmith, 1943), November 18, 1943:

    Winnipeg (dec. Stephen Krawchyk, 1943)

    St. Boniface (dec. Austin Clarke, 1945)

    Morden-Rhineland (res. Wallace C. Miller, 1945

    Dwight Johnson and Beresford Richards were expelled from the CCF caucus in 1945.

    See also

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    References

    1. Ian Stewart, Just One Vote: Jim Walding's nomination to constitutional defeat, (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press), 2009, p. 14.
    2. Harold John Jansen (Spring 1998). The Single Transferable Vote in Alberta and Manitoba (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Alberta.
    3. "Twenty-First General Election Held April 22, 1941 - Summary of Results" (PDF). electionsmanitoba.ca. Elections Manitoba . Retrieved January 15, 2023.