1996 Newfoundland general election

1996 Newfoundland general election

←  1993 February 22, 1996 (1996-2-22) 1999  →
48 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 25 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	74.4% ( 9.2 pp) [1]
First party Second party Third party   PC Leader Brian Tobin Lynn Verge Jack Harris Party Liberal Progressive Conservative New Democratic Leader's seat Bay of Islands Humber East (lost re-election) Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi Last election 35 16 1 Seats won 37 9 1 Seat change 2 7 ±0 Popular vote 157,229 110,312 12,706 Percentage 55.10% 38.66% 4.45% Swing 6.0pp 3.44pp 2.95pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election Brian Tobin Liberal Premier after election Brian Tobin Liberal

The 1996 Newfoundland general election was held on February 22, 1996, to elect members of the 43rd General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal Party under new leader Brian Tobin. PC Leader Lynn Verge was not re-elected in her riding of Humber East.

Results

	Party	Leader	1993	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Brian Tobin	35	37	+5.7%	157,229	55.10%
	Progressive Conservative	Lynn Verge	16	9	-44%	110,312	38.66%
	New Democratic	Jack Harris	1	1	0%	12,706	4.45%
	Other		0	1	0%	5,111	1.79%
Total			52	48	-	285,385	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † represents that the incumbent is not running again.
• ‡ represents that the incumbent is running in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Kilbride 77.50% turnout		Gerry Glavine 3,118 46.67%		Ed Byrne 3,185 47.67%		Mary Snow 378 5.66%				Ed Byrne
St. John's Centre 74.31% turnout		Joan Aylward 2,579 43.05%		Paul Brown 2,254 37.62%		Wayne Lucas 1,158 19.33%				Hubert Kitchen‡ (ran in St. John's East)
St. John's East 79.37% turnout		Hubert Kitchen 2,340 38.20%		John Ottenheimer 2,989 48.80%		Sean Murray 796 13.00%				Jack Harris‡ (ran in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi)
St. John's North 73.95% turnout		Lloyd Matthews 2,789 56.37%		Ian Carter 1,649 33.33%		Raj Sharan 510 10.31%				Lloyd Matthews
St. John's South 70.73% turnout		Tom Murphy 2,417 40.62%		Tom Osborne 2,521 42.36%		Sue Skipton 858 14.42%		Bill Maddigan (Independent) 155 2.60%		Tom Murphy
St. John's West 74.82% turnout		Rex Gibbons 4,152 64.36%		Bren Kelly 1,648 25.55%		Pat Lynch 651 10.09%				Rex Gibbons
Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi 79.89% turnout		Joan Cook 1,661 30.29%		Cy Mills 902 16.45%		Jack Harris 2,800 51.07%		Jason Crummey (Independent) 120 2.19%		New district
Virginia Waters 73.88% turnout		Walter Noel 3,639 55.67%		Bev LeMoine 2,348 35.92%		Bob Buckingham 550 8.41%				Walter Noel Pleasantville

St. John's suburbs

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Cape St. Francis 82.63% turnout		Jim Martin 3,158 48.60%		Jack Byrne 3,299 51.09%						Jack Byrne St. John's East Extern
Conception Bay East & Bell Island 73.72% turnout		Jim Walsh 2,909 48.39%		Doug Cole 2,220 36.93%		David Sullivan 316 5.26%		Kenneth Kavanagh (Independent) 566 9.42%		Jim Walsh Mount Scio-Bell Island
Conception Bay South 75.51% turnout		Bill Dawe 2,628 43.50%		Bob French 3,051 50.50%		Harvey Taylor 363 6.00%				Pat Cowan†
Mount Pearl 80.94% turnout		Julie Bettney 3,686 53.51%		Neil Windsor 2,927 42.49%		Sam Kelly 275 3.99%				Neil Windsor
Topsail 79.14% turnout		Ralph Wiseman 3,510 54.72%		Dianne Whalen 2,905 45.28%						New district
Waterford Valley 73.88% turnout		Bernie Heywood 2,858 45.35%		Harvey Hodder 3,444 54.65%						Harvey Hodder Waterford-Kenmount

Avalon and Burin peninsulas

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Bellevue 69.15% turnout		Percy Barrett 3,576 63.11%		Nick Careen 1,832 32.33%		Lee Ingram 258 4.55%				Percy Barrett
Burin-Placentia West 79.71% turnout		Mary Hodder 4,944 72.29%		Terry Keating 1,895 27.71%						Glenn Tobin†
Carbonear-Harbour Grace 75.63% turnout		Art Reid 3,846 56.26%		George Faulkner 2,698 39.47%		Linda Soper 292 4.27%				Art Reid Carbonear
									Merged district
										John Crane† Harbour Grace
Ferryland 85.33% turnout		Tom Best 2,237 31.64%		Loyola Sullivan 4,834 68.34%						Loyola Sullivan
Grand Bank 76.86% turnout		Judy Foote 4,136 62.13%		Herb Edwards 2,521 37.87%						Bill Matthews†
Harbour Main-Whitbourne 76.91% turnout		Don Whelan 3,407 52.61%		Eugene Conway 2,705 41.77%		Gus Flannigan 239 3.69%		Norm Sylvia (Independent) 125 1.93%		Don Whelan Harbour Main
Placentia & St. Mary's 86.67% turnout		Anthony Sparrow 3,601 51.38%		Fabian Manning 3,407 48.62%						Nick Careen‡ Placentia (ran in Bellevue)
									Merged district
										Fabian Manning St. Mary's-The Capes
Port de Grave 76.98% turnout		John Efford 4,603 67.63%		Robert Lundrigan 2,203 32.37%						John Efford
Trinity-Bay de Verde 73.16% turnout		Lloyd Snow 3,765 56.43%		Nellie Squires 2,176 38.28%		Bill Hiscock 320 5.29%				Lloyd Snow

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Baie Verte 79.95% turnout		Bud Hulan 2,380 39.95%		Paul Shelley 3,578 60.05%						Paul Shelley Baie Verte-White Bay
Bonavista North 73.74% turnout		Beaton Tulk 3,594 56.69%		Sam Winsor 2,463 38.85%				Wayne Davis (Independent) 283 4.46%		Tom Lush‡ (ran in Terra Nova)
Bonavista South 78.29% turnout		Kay Young 2,474 34.10%		Roger Fitzgerald 4,781 65.90%						Roger Fitzgerald
Exploits 65.93% turnout		Roger Grimes 3,262 59.89%		Rod Stockley 1,581 29.02%		Peter Langdon 604 11.09%				Roger Grimes
Gander 78.32% turnout		Sandra Kelly 3,585 55.80%		Dan Crummell 2,840 44.20%						Gary Vey†
Grand Falls-Buchans 78.82% turnout		Anna Thistle 3,441 50.24%		Mike Mackey 2,321 33.89%		Joe Tremblett 1,087 15.87%				Mike Mackey Grand Falls
Lewisporte 70.00% turnout		Melvin Penney 3,252 55.59%		Rex Freake 2,598 44.41%						Melvin Penney
Terra Nova 69.75% turnout		Tom Lush 4,049 66.31%		Glenn Greening 2,057 33.69%						Kay Lush‡ (ran in Bonavista South)
Trinity North 65.98% turnout		Doug Oldford 3,784 64.04%		Sheila Kelly-Blackmore 2,125 35.96%						Doug Oldford
Twillingate & Fogo 67.46% turnout		Gerry Reid 3,885 63.85%		Terry Reid 1,689 27.76%		Wayne Greenham 511 8.40%				Walter C. Carter† Twillingate
									Merged district
										Beaton Tulk Fogo (ran in Bonavista North)
Windsor-Springdale 66.99% turnout		Graham Flight 2,857 37.30%		Alvin Hewlett 2,841 54.61%		Jim Hobbs 290 1.97%				Graham Flight Windsor-Buchans

Western and Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Bay of Islands 75.77% turnout		Brian Tobin 3,997 65.68%		Paul Hunt 1,672 27.47%		Hayward Pardy 417 6.85%				Clyde Wells†
Burgeo & La Poile 67.84% turnout		Bill Ramsay 3,598 60.17%		Cheryl Stagg 2,382 39.83%						Dave Gilbert† Burgeo-Bay D'Espoir
									Merged district
										Bill Ramsay La Poile
Fortune Bay-Cape La Hune 66.75% turnout		Oliver Langdon 4,046 74.73%		Kay Blake 1,368 25.27%						Oliver Langdon Fortune-Hermitage
Humber East 80.76% turnout		Bob Mercer 3,424 50.05%		Lynn Verge 3,417 49.95%						Lynn Verge
Humber Valley 71.27% turnout		Rick Woodford 4,109 74.91%		Evelyn Organ 1,376 25.09%						Rick Woodford
Humber West 72.49% turnout		Paul Dicks 4,215 73.86%		Pat Callahan 1,492 26.14%						Paul Dicks
Port au Port 71.05% turnout		Gerald Smith 4,011 67.93%		Scott Hurley 1,894 32.07%						Gerald Smith
St. Barbe 74.17% turnout		Chuck Furey 3,374 64.19%		Carolyn Lavers 1,844 35.08%						Chuck Furey
St. George's-Stephenville East 66.01% turnout		Kevin Aylward 3,505 61.68%		Cec Stein 1,640 28.86%				Roy Spencer (Independent) 538 9.47%		Bud Hulan‡ St. George's (ran in Baie Verte)
									Merged district
										Kevin Aylward Stephenville
The Straits & White Bay North 63.98% turnout		Chris Decker 2,581 49.27%		Conan Coates 999 19.07%				Dennis Coates (Independent) 1,659 31.67%		Chris Decker Strait of Belle Isle

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair 86.69% turnout		Danny Dumaresque 1,233 41.94%		Berkley Bursey 42 1.43%		Yvonne Jones (Independent) 1,665 56.63%		Danny Dumaresque Eagle River
Labrador West 82.46% turnout		Perry Canning 3,547 63.37%		Alec Snow 2,140 38.23%				Alec Snow Menihek
Lake Melville 60.38% turnout		Ernie McLean 2,762 76.57%		Darlene Gear-White 845 23.43%				Edward Roberts† Naskaupi
Torngat Mountains 91.97% turnout		Wally Andersen 795 70.29%		Bill Flowers 336 29.71%				William Andersen III†

See also

• List of Newfoundland and Labrador General Assemblies
• List of Newfoundland and Labrador political parties

Parties

• Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (see also Progressive Conservative Party of Canada)
• Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (see also Liberal Party of Canada)
• Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (see also New Democratic Party)

References

1. "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the General Election for the Forty-Third General Assembly - February 22, 1996" (PDF). Elections NL . Retrieved March 13, 2025.

• Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Elections Newfoundland and Labrador
• Election Report

Further reading

• Mutimer, David, ed. (2002). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1996 . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442672093.