1945 Manitoba general election

1945 Manitoba general election
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba ; 29 seats needed for a majority
Premier before election; Stuart Garson ; Liberal–Progressive	Premier after election; Stuart Garson ; Liberal–Progressive

Last updated February 06, 2025

The 1945 Manitoba general election was held on October 15, 1945 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. The election was a landslide majority government for the incumbent coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressive Party.

The 1945 provincial election was extremely different from the previous election, which was held in 1941. In the 1941 election, the province's four legal political parties were united in a coalition government—and while coalition partners ran against one another in some constituencies, the final outcome was never in doubt.

By 1945, the coalition had been reduced to three parties. The dominant party was the Liberal-Progressive Party, whose leader was Premier Stuart Garson. The Progressive Conservative Party of Errick Willis (formerly called the Conservative Party) was the junior partner in government, while the small Social Credit League and some independents also supported the coalition.

The social-democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) left the coalition in 1943, and experienced a surge in popularity over the next two years. This party was the primary opposition to the coalition government in 1945. When Tommy Douglas's CCF won a landslide election victory in 1944 in neighbouring Saskatchewan, many believed that the Manitoba party had a chance of forming government.

The communist Labour Progressive Party also ran in the election, against the coalition. The Communist Party of Canada had been banned in 1941 so sitting MLA Bill Kardash and candidates of that ilk ran under the label "Labour Progressive Party" starting in 1943.

A revived Socialist Party of Canada also fielded one candidate in Winnipeg.

The CCF experienced numerous difficulties during the campaign. Two of its incumbent members, Dwight Johnson and Beresford Richards, were accused of holding communist sympathies, and broke from the party to seek re-election as "Independent CCF" candidates. Party members were divided on the positions held by Johnson and Richards, and the CCF entered the campaign in a divided state. The party also suffered a series of unexpected technical problems: some candidates were unable to campaign because of late nomination filing, insufficient signatures on their nomination forms, and related reasons.

The result of the election was a landslide majority government for the coalition. Twenty-five Liberal-Progressives and thirteen Progressive Conservatives were elected, along with two Social Crediters and three independent coalitionists. This gave the coalition forty-three of fifty-seven seats. Most of the coalition's members were from rural constituencies.

The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation won four of ten seats in Winnipeg, but could not duplicate this success in the rest of the province. The party won only nine seats in total, up from three in the previous election. Richards, who was re-elected as an Independent CCF candidate, later rejoined the caucus as a tenth member. The CCF actually received more votes than any other party, but this meant little in practical terms: the combined coalition vote was well above the CCF total, and some coalition seats were won by acclamation.

Labour Progressive Party leader Bill Kardash also won a Winnipeg seat, as did independent leftist Lewis Stubbs.

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 (October 15, 1945)^[1]
Party		Leader	First-preference votes			Seats
Party		Leader	Votes	% FPv	± (pp)	Cand.	1941	Elected	Change
	Coalition candidates
	█ Liberal–Progressive	Stuart Garson	70,475	32.2	3.5	34	27	25	2
	█ Progressive Conservative	Errick Willis	34,819	15.9	0.1	28	12	13	1
	█ Independent		6,384	2.9	8.6	7	5	3	2
	█ Independent Liberal-Progressive		3,248	1.5	1.5	3	–	–	–
	█ Independent-Liberal		824	0.4	0.4	1	–	–	–
	█ Social Credit		2,953	1.3	0.3	2	3	2	1
	Anti-Coalition candidates
	█ Co-operative Commonwealth ^{[a 1]}	Seymour Farmer	73,988	33.8	16.5	39	3	9	6
	█ Social Credit		1,548	0.7	4.9	2	–	–	–
	█ Conservative		–	–	4.4	–	3	–	3
	█ Independent		9,420	4.3	0.2	3	1	1
	█ Labor–Progressive ^{[a 2]}		10,566	4.8	1.8	13	1	1
	█ Independent-CCF		4,394	2.0	2.0	2	–	1	1
	█ Socialist		222	0.1	0.1	1	–	–	–
	█ Sound Money Economics		–	–	0.5	–	–	–	–
	█ Liberal		–	–	0.4	–	–	–	–
Valid			218,841	100.0	–	135	55	55	–
Rejected^{[a 3]}			1,906
Total votes cast			220,747
Registered voters/Turnout^{[a 4]}			397,527	55.1

↑ Exited the Coalition in 1943
↑ Formerly the Communist Party
↑ For rural ridings only. No tally was taken for Winnipeg.
↑ 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: Ernest Draffin

Beautiful Plains: John Poole*^{[a 1]}

Birtle: Francis Bell*

Brandon: Leslie McDorman

Carillon: Edmond Prefontaine *

Cypress: James Christie*

Dauphin: Robert Hawkins*

Deloraine: James O. Argue

Dufferin: Earl Collins *^{[a 2]}

Emerson: John Solomon*^{[a 3]}

Ethelbert: Michael Sawchuk

Fairford: Stuart Garson*

Fisher: Nicholas Bachynsky*

Gilbert Plains: Stanley Fox*

Gimli: Steinn Thompson

Gladstone: William Morton *

Glenwood: Gilbert Grant

Hamiota: Norman Turnbull*

Iberville: John McDowell (Ind PC)

Kildonan & St. Andrews: James McLenaghen*

Killarney: Abram Harrison*^{[a 2]}

Lakeside: Douglas Campbell *

Lansdowne: Matthew Sutherland*

La Verendrye: Sauveur Marcoux*

Manitou: Hugh Morrison *

Minnedosa: Earl Rutledge*

Morden & Rhineland: Wallace C. Miller*

Morris: John C. Dryden

Mountain: Ivan Schultz*

Norfolk: John Lawrie*

Portage la Prairie: Charles Greenlay*^{[a 2]}

Roblin: Ronald Robertson

Rockwood: W.J. Campbell

Rupertsland: Daniel Hamilton

Russell: William Wilson

St. Boniface: Edwin Hansford

St. Clements: Wilbert Doneleyko

St. George: Christian Halldorson

Ste. Rose: Maurice Dane MacCarthy*

Springfield: George Olive

Swan River: George Renouf*

The Pas: Beresford Richards *^{[a 4]} (Ind-CCF)

Turtle Mountain: Errick Willis *^{[a 5]}

Virden: Robert Mooney*

Winnipeg: John Stewart McDiarmid*

Winnipeg: William Scraba

Winnipeg: Charles Rhodes Smith*

Winnipeg: Seymour Farmer *

Winnipeg: Morris Gray *

Winnipeg: Lloyd Stinson

Winnipeg: Donovan Swailes

Winnipeg: Gunnar Thorvaldson*

Winnipeg: Lewis Stubbs *

Winnipeg: Bill Kardash *

↑ Elected in 1941 as an Anti-Coalition candidate
1 2 3 Elected in byelection
↑ Elected in 1941 as an Independent-Coalition candidate
↑ Elected in byelection as a CCF candidate
↑ Formerly MLA for Deloraine

Winnipeg

Ten MLAs elected through Single transferable vote.

Winnipeg MLAs returned by party
Party		Number
	Co-operative Commonwealth	4
	Liberal–Progressive	3
	Independent	1
	Labor–Progressive	1
	Progressive Conservative	1
Total		10

Winnipeg (ten members)
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
	Co-operative Commonwealth	(incumbent) Seymour Farmer	14.15	11,237
	Liberal–Progressive	(incumbent) J.S. McDiarmid	13.56	10,771	10,771
	Independent	(incumbent) Lewis Stubbs (Opposition)	10.46	8,309	8,309	8,309
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Lloyd Stinson	9.79	7,773	7,773	7,773	7,773
	Liberal–Progressive	(incumbent) Charles Rhodes Smith	6.18	4,909	4,946	6,059	6,174	6,181	6,313	6,889	6,973	6,995	7,010	7,957
	Co-operative Commonwealth	(incumbent) Morris Gray	5.13	4,075	5,743	5,787	5,915	6,026	6,111	6,165	6,664	7,462
	Labor–Progressive	(incumbent) Bill Kardash	5.05	4,014	4,067	4,076	4,133	4,138	4,183	4,212	4,237	6,141	6,319	6,388	6,394	6,512	6,832	6,892
	Progressive Conservative	(incumbent) Gunnar Thorvaldson	4.96	3,941	3,966	4,592	4,671	4,677	4,830	5,099	5,128	5,145	5,148	5,818	6,013	6,067	6,162	7,256
	Liberal–Progressive	William Scraba	4.55	3,616	3,656	3,790	3,828	3,833	3,900	4,032	4,085	4,135	4,143	4,479	4,712	4,847	4,931	5,774
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Long	3.79	3,012	3,035	3,227	3,272	3,276	3,425	3,776	3,806	3,819	3,822	4,121	4,191	4,232	4,273
	Labor–Progressive	Joseph Zuken	3.70	2,939	2,963	2,974	3,010	3,014	3,049	3,092	3,103
	Progressive Conservative	Morley Lougheed	3.38	2,681	2,715	3,200	3,285	3,291	3,407	3,637	3,664	3,679	3,683	3,993	4,192	4,242	4,315	5,621
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Donovan Swailes	3.35	2,663	3,682	3,709	3,876	4,087	4,210	4,243	4,902	4,924	4,941	5,065	5,089	7,863
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George Stapleton	2.93	2,329	2,687	2,698	2,757	2,838	2,928	2,942	3,942	3,960	3,971	4,047	4,055
	Liberal–Progressive	(incumbent)Paul Bardal	2.58	2,053	2,094	2,677	2,766	2,773	2,882	3,213	3,237	3,290	3,291
	Liberal–Progressive	M. Walsh	2.35	1,867	1,898	2,127	2,166	2,171	2,253
	Co-operative Commonwealth	A.N. Robertson	2.26	1,796	2,391	2,419	2,483	2,568	2,659	2,694
	Social Credit	T.H. Taylor	0.80	635	656	663	689	692
	Progressive Conservative	Roy Sully	0.75	592	623	665	706	716
	Socialist Party of Canada	James Milne	0.28	222	236	254	263	264
Electorate: 155,824 Valid: 79,433 Spoilt: n/a Quota: 7,222 Turnout: 79,433 (50.98%)

Winnipeg (analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference votes)
Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Seymour Farmer	1	11,237	14.15%
	Liberal-Progressive	J.S. McDiarmid	1	10,771	13.56%
	Independent	Lewis Stubbs	1	8,309	10.46%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Lloyd Stinson	1	7,773	9.79%
	Liberal-Progressive	Charles Rhodes Smith	11	7,957	10.20%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Morris Gray	9	7,462	9.51%
	Labor-Progressive	Bill Kardash	15	6,892	9.06%
	Progressive Conservative	Gunnar Thorvaldson	15	7,256	9.54%
	Liberal-Progressive	William Scraba	15	5,774	7.59%
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Long	14	4,273	5.54%
	Labor-Progressive	Joseph Zuken	8	3,103	3.95%
	Progressive Conservative	Morley Lougheed	15	5,621	7.39%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Donovan Swailes	13	7,863	10.20%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George Stapleton	12	4,055	5.20%
	Liberal-Progressive	Paul Bardal	10	3,291	4.20%
	Liberal-Progressive	M. Walsh	6	2,253	2.85%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	A.N. Robertson	7	2,694	3.42%
	Social Credit	T.H. Taylor	5	716	0.90%
	Progressive Conservative	Roy Sully	5	692	0.87%
	Socialist Party of Canada	James Milne	5	264	0.33%
Exhausted votes				3,336	4.20%

Post-election changes

Beresford Richards (Ind CCF) was re-admitted to the CCF caucus in December 1945.

Special elections for members of the armed forces were held in January 1946, in light of the fact that many Manitoba citizens had served overseas in World War II and were unable to vote in the general election. Gordon Churchill was elected to represent the Canadian Army, Alex J. Stringer was elected for the Royal Canadian Navy and Ronald Turner was elected for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Stringer later became a Progressive Conservative, while Turner became a Liberal-Progressive. Churchill sat as an Independent.

Minnedosa (res. Earl Rutledge, July 13, 1948), November 2, 1948:

Henry Rungay (LP) 3470
Frith (CCF) 1362

Fairford (res. Stuart Garson, November 13, 1948), December 23, 1948:

James Anderson (LP) elected
Michael Taczynski (CCF)

Beresford Richards and Wilbert Doneleyko were expelled from the CCF in July 1949, and sat as independent members.

Iberville (res. John McDowell, 1949)

Winnipeg (res. Gunnar Thorvaldson, 1949)

Gordon Churchill, Army Representative, resigns in 1949.

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References

↑ "Twenty-Second General Election Held October 15, 1945 - Summary of Results" (PDF). electionsmanitoba.ca. Elections Manitoba . Retrieved January 16, 2023.

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[2] Exited the Coalition in 1943

[3] Formerly the Communist Party

[4] For rural ridings only. No tally was taken for Winnipeg.

[5] Excludes constituencies where candidates returned by acclamation

[6] Elected in 1941 as an Anti-Coalition candidate

[Byelection-7] 1 2 3 Elected in byelection

[8] Elected in 1941 as an Independent-Coalition candidate

[9] Elected in byelection as a CCF candidate

[10] Formerly MLA for Deloraine

[1] "Twenty-Second General Election Held October 15, 1945 - Summary of Results" (PDF). electionsmanitoba.ca. Elections Manitoba . Retrieved January 16, 2023.

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v t e Elections in Manitoba
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See also: List of Manitoba by-elections