McCarthyites (Canada)

Last updated June 21, 2024

The McCarthyites were a short-lived anti-Catholic and anti-French Canadian political movement which contested the 23 June 1896 federal election in Canada. The McCarthyite movement and the Patrons of Industry represented the first challenge to the two-party system in Canada.^[1]

Formation and political platform

Dalton McCarthy, an Irish-born lawyer, first ran as a Conservative in Simcoe North in the 1872 election. He served as the Member of Parliament for Cardwell from an 1876 by-election. He returned to Simcoe North for the 1878 Canadian federal election; he was elected there, then re-elected in 1882 and 1887. Seen as a protégé of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and "the 'brains of the party'", McCarthy was seen as "a logical successor to leadership".^[2] However, in 1891, McCarthy left the Conservative Party after disagreements with its leader, and ran and won as an independent.

McCarthy was notoriously anti-Catholic and anti-French Canadian. He was a founder of the Canadian branch of the Imperial Federation League, a group that sought to unite Britain and its colonies and dominions in a trans-global federation.

McCarthy also appears to have been associated with the Equal Rights Party, although he did not run under its banner in the 1891 election.

The 1896 election

In 1896, McCarthy and nine of his supporters presented themselves for election in ridings in Ontario and Manitoba. At the time, candidates could present their names for election in more than one riding at a time.

McCarthy sought election and won in both Simcoe North, Ontario, and Brandon, Manitoba. Having won re-election in Simcoe North, McCarthy resigned the Brandon seat.

McCarthyite candidates polled second in three other Ontario ridings, Lanark South, Hastings North and Durham East, scoring over 40% of the vote in each case.

In Muskoka and Parry Sound, McCarthyite candidate William Edward O'Brien, who had previously served as a Tory MP, won 20.1% of the vote in a three-way race. In the other ridings, the McCarthyites did poorly, winning about 10% of the vote or less.

Across all ridings, McCarthyites collected a total of 12,861 votes, or 28.1% of the popular vote.

McCarthy and his candidates were supported by the Protestant Protective Association, though McCarthy publicly repudiated the support, saying his League "had 'nothing whatever to do'" with an internal PPA policy to nominate their members as McCarthyite candidates.^[3]

Post-election

As the only elected McCarthyite, Dalton McCarthy forged an alliance with Wilfrid Laurier's Liberals, even though Laurier was a French Canadian Catholic. This alliance began during the election, as the McCarthyites made arrangements with the Liberal Party and the Patrons of Industry in some Southern Ontario ridings to avoid vote splitting among anti-Conservative voters.^[3] He might have been appointed to cabinet had he not died following a carriage accident in early 1898. His son, Leighton McCarthy, won a by-election to succeed his father.

His followers attempted to revive the party and pursue McCarthy's anti-Catholic theme, but were unsuccessful. The party was formally disbanded in the same year.

Related Research Articles

Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minister, his 15-year tenure remains the longest uninterrupted term of office among Canadian prime ministers and his nearly 45 years of service in the House of Commons is a record for the House. Laurier is best known for his compromises between English and French Canada.

The Protestant Protective Association was an anti-Catholic group in the 1890s based in Ontario, Canada, associated with the Orange Order. Originally a spinoff of the American group the American Protective Association, it became independent in 1892. The PPA denounced the role of Catholics and French-Canadians in politics, and warned Protestants that Catholics were attempting to take over Ontario. It aimed to eliminate French language education in schools in Ontario and western Canada, and to roll back or block Catholic school systems in those provinces.

The 1896 Canadian federal election was held on June 23, 1896, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Charles Tupper, won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the next government. The election ended 18 years of Conservative rule.

The New Reform Party of Ontario was a minor provincial political party in Ontario, Canada, that promoted a populist, fiscally conservative, socially conservative, libertarian, and localist ideology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1891 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1891 Canadian federal election was held on March 5, 1891, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Greenway</span> Canadian politician

Thomas Greenway was a Canadian politician, merchant and farmer. He served as the seventh premier of Manitoba from 1888 to 1900. A Liberal, his ministry formally ended Manitoba's non-partisan government, although a de facto two-party system had existed for some years.

The Equal Rights Party was a Canadian political party that ran candidates in elections in Ontario in 1890 and 1891.

The Liberal–Labour banner has been used several times by candidates in Canadian elections:

William Alexander Macdonald was a Manitoba lawyer and politician and British Columbia judge. He briefly served as leader of the Manitoba Conservatives during the 1890s.

The Patrons of Industry in Manitoba was an extension of a farmers' organization operating in Ontario and the United States in the 1880s and 1890s. The Patrons lobbied extensively and became politically active, running provincial and federal candidates.

The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 13th Parliament of Canada. Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription. The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden's Unionist government elected with a strong majority and the largest percentage of the popular vote for any party in Canadian history.

Dalton McCarthy, or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian. He was the leader of the "Orange" or Protestant Irish, and fiercely fought against Irish Catholics as well as the French Catholics. He especially crusaded for the abolition of the French language in Manitoba and Ontario schools.

The 1905 Alberta general election was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada, shortly after the province entered Canadian Confederation on September 1, 1905. The election was held on November 9, 1905, to elect twenty-five members to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly.

Brandon was a federal electoral district in the province of Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1896 to 1953.

John McDowell was a British-born Canadian merchant and politician in Manitoba. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Progressive Conservative from 1945 to 1958.

The Christian Heritage Party is a minor political party in Canada. It ran 62 candidates in the 2004 federal election. Information about some of these candidates may be found here. The leader of the party at the time of the election was Ron Gray.

Canadian federal elections have provided the following results in Central Ontario.

The New Democratic Party of Canada ran a full slate of candidates in the 1993 federal election, and won nine seats out of 295. This brought the NDP below official party status in the House of Commons of Canada for the first, and, to date, only time in its history.

The Christian Heritage Party is a minor political party in Canada. It fielded forty-five candidates in the 2006 federal election. Information about some of these candidates may be found here. The leader of the party at the time of the election was Ron Gray.

The Liberal Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2006 federal election, and won 103 seats to form the Official Opposition against a Conservative minority government. The party had previously been in power since 1993.

References

↑ Allen, Myrna J. (September 1997). "Outside Looking In: A Study of Canadian Fringe Parties" (PDF). Dalhousie University Thesis: 11–193. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
↑ Kulisek, Larry L. (1973). "D'ALTON MCCARTHY AND THE TRUE NATIONALIZATION OF CANADA - ProQuest" (PDF). Wayne State University Dissertations: 1–16. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
1 2 Watt, James T. (1 March 1967). "Anti-Catholic Nativism in Canada: The Protestant Protective Association". Canadian Historical Review. 48 (1): 45–58. doi:10.3138/chr-048-01-04 . Retrieved 31 May 2023.

External links

Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[allen-1] Allen, Myrna J. (September 1997). "Outside Looking In: A Study of Canadian Fringe Parties" (PDF). Dalhousie University Thesis: 11–193. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[kuli-2] Kulisek, Larry L. (1973). "D'ALTON MCCARTHY AND THE TRUE NATIONALIZATION OF CANADA - ProQuest" (PDF). Wayne State University Dissertations: 1–16. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[watt67-3] 1 2 Watt, James T. (1 March 1967). "Anti-Catholic Nativism in Canada: The Protestant Protective Association". Canadian Historical Review. 48 (1): 45–58. doi:10.3138/chr-048-01-04 . Retrieved 31 May 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]