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National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums in 1898 and 1942 saw a large number of voters in Quebec and in the remainder of Canada take dramatically-opposing stands, and the third in 1992 saw most of the voters take a stand opposed to that of the party in power.
The question:
Canadian plebiscite on prohibition September 29, 1898 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Jurisdiction | Yes | No | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |
British Columbia | 5,731 | 54.6 | 4,756 | 45.4 |
Manitoba | 12,419 | 80.7 | 2,978 | 19.3 |
New Brunswick | 26,919 | 73.8 | 9,575 | 26.2 |
Northwest Territories | 6,238 | 68.8 | 2,824 | 31.2 |
Nova Scotia | 34,678 | 86.6 | 5,370 | 13.4 |
Ontario | 154,498 | 57.3 | 115,284 | 42.7 |
Prince Edward Island | 9,461 | 89.2 | 1,146 | 10.8 |
Quebec | 28,582 | 18.9 | 122,614 | 81.1 |
278,526 | 51.3 | 264,547 | 48.7 |
The government did not adopt Prohibition, saying the overall majority in favour of Prohibition was slight and turn-out low.
The Question:
Canadian conscription plebiscite, 1942 Provincial results | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Jurisdiction | Yes | No | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Alberta | 186,624 | 71.1 | 75,880 | 28.9 |
British Columbia | 253,844 | 80.4 | 62,033 | 19.6 |
Manitoba | 218,093 | 80.3 | 53,651 | 19.7 |
New Brunswick | 105,629 | 69.8 | 45,743 | 30.2 |
Nova Scotia | 120,763 | 77.1 | 35,840 | 22.1 |
Ontario | 1,202,953 | 84.0 | 229,847 | 16.0 |
Prince Edward Island | 23,569 | 82.9 | 4,869 | 17.1 |
Quebec | 375,650 | 27.9 | 971,925 | 72.1 |
Saskatchewan | 183,617 | 73.1 | 67,654 | 26.9 |
Yukon | 847 | 74.4 | 291 | 25.6 |
Total civilian vote | 2,670,088 | 63.3 | 1,547,724 | 36.7 |
Military vote | 251,118 | 80.5 | 60,885 | 19.5 |
Canada | 2,921,206 | 64.5 | 1,608,609 | 35.5 |
The referendum was held in all 245 electoral districts, which covered all nine provinces and one of the two territories. Residents in the Northwest Territories did not have a vote, as their area was not organized as an electoral district. Based on the result, the government adopted conscription but with a light touch, initially adopting the policy that those conscripted would not be sent overseas to active fighting. These inactive conscripts were nicknamed "zombies".
The Question:
National Referendum on the Charlottetown Accord (October 26, 1992) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Jurisdiction | Yes | No | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Alberta | 483,275 | 39.8 | 731,975 | 60.2 |
British Columbia | 525,188 | 31.8 | 1,126,761 | 68.2 |
Manitoba | 198,230 | 38.0 | 322,971 | 62.0 |
New Brunswick | 230,010 | 61.7 | 145,096 | 38.3 |
Newfoundland | 133,193 | 63.1 | 77,881 | 36.9 |
Northwest Territories | 14,750 | 61.0 | 9,416 | 39.0 |
Nova Scotia | 218,618 | 48.7 | 230,182 | 51.3 |
Ontario | 2,410,119 | 50.1 | 2,397,665 | 49.9 |
Prince Edward Island | 48,687 | 74.0 | 17,124 | 26.0 |
Quebec | 1,710,117 | 43.4 | 2,232,280 | 56.6 |
Saskatchewan | 203,361 | 44.6 | 252,459 | 55.4 |
Yukon | 5,354 | 43.6 | 6,922 | 56.4 |
6,185,902 | 45.0 | 7,550,732 | 55.0 |
During the 2004 federal election, the NDP stated that it would require the federal government to hold a national referendum on electoral reform (specifically proportional representation) for support from the NDP should the Liberals win a minority government. The Liberals won a minority, and the NDP announced they would press for electoral reform through a referendum. The possibility of a national referendum on electoral reform was made more likely through the Throne speech that opened Parliament in October 2004, in which former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin included electoral reform in his plan for the next Parliament. However, no action was taken.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper became Prime Minister as a result of the 2006 federal election, ending the Liberals' opportinity to move on their promise.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau campaigned on a platform of electoral reform in the 2015 federal election, promsing to eliminate the current "first-past-the-post" single-member plurality voting system. While Trudeau had said that he liked a system where the distribution of seats was more in line with the popular vote on a Canada-wide basis, he had acquired a preference for Instant-runoff voting, which he called preferential voting as it uses ranked ballots. his government announced in December 2015 that an all-party parliamentary committee would be formed in early 2016 to consider a variety of alternative election systems, including proportional representation. During a discussion of the plan, Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef referred to it as “an open and robust process of consultation”. However, she refused to commit to the Conservative Party's demand for a public referendum that would allow Canadians to vote on their preferred electoral system, indicating that she did not want to "prejudice the outcome of that consultation process". In the end the parliamentary committee did not settle on one alternative system, and PM Trudeau did not move to reform the election system.
There had been discussion regarding a national referendum over the issue of same-sex marriage, which was a divisive issue in Canada. A national plebiscite had been suggested by Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and some Conservatives and Liberal backbenchers. However, Paul Martin's Liberal government, with the support of the NDP and Bloc Québécois, passed the Civil Marriage Act , legalizing same-sex marriage through Parliament in July 2005 without holding a plebiscite. In December 2006, Stephen Harper's government introduced a motion to re-open the marriage debate, which lost. Notably, members of all parties, including some Conservative cabinet members, voted it down.
For a list of Wikipedia articles on provincial referendums, see "Referendums in Canada by province or territory". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Referendums_in_Canada_by_province_or_territory)
Alberta has held several referendums during its history.
Three concerned Prohibition (ban on the sale of liquor). The referendums resulted in the adoption, retention and replacement of Prohibition -- 1915, 1920 and 1923, respectively.
Another held in 1948 was on whether or not the provincial government should take control of the province's electrical generation and distribution system, at the time a mixed system of municipal and private corporate ownership, and the preferred method of rural electrification - private corporations or provincial government.
In 2021, a two-part referendum was held, on whether equalization payments should be eliminated from the Constitution of Canada and whether Alberta should observe daylight saving time year-round.
In British Columbia has held several referendums. A few of them are listed here.
In BC, a Treaty Referendum was held on First Nations treaty rights in 2002. The referendum proposed eight questions that voters were asked to either support or oppose. Critics claimed the phrasing was flawed or biased toward a predetermined response. Critics, especially First Nations and religious groups, called for a boycott of the referendum, and only about one third of ballots were returned, significantly less than the usual turnout in provincial general elections. The ballots that were returned showed enthusiastic support, with over 80 per cent of participating voters agreeing to all eight proposed principles.
A referendum on electoral reform on May 17, 2005, was held in conjunction with the provincial election that year. British Columbian voters were asked to approve a new electoral system based on the Single Transferable Vote called BC STV. It passed with the support of a majority of voters (57%), but failed to meet the required "supermajority" threshold of 60%. Premier Gordon Campbell announced due to the large support shown for electoral reform a second referendum would be held in correspondence with the 2009 British Columbia general election. This referendum would also have required approval by 60% of those voting.
The second referendum was held on May 12, 2009, in conjunction with the provincial election. The results were a "supermajority" of 60.92% voting for retaining the current "first past the post" electoral system and 39.8% voting for the proposed Single Transferable Vote.
A mail-in referendum was held from June 13 to August 5, 2011, on the fate of the province's harmonized sales tax. The government pledged to discontinue the tax if more than 50% of the voters opt to have the tax discontinued. It was passed, with 55% in favour.
The province held another referendum on proportional representation in late 2018. With 42% turnout, proportional representation was defeated by 61% of the vote.
Manitoba held a referendum on Prohibition in 1902. A majority voted against prohibition. [1]
The island of Newfoundland, then a British colony, held two referendums in 1948 to determine its future. An initial referendum was held on June 3, 1948, to decide between continuing with the British appointed Commission of Government that had ruled the island since the 1930s, revert to dominion status with responsible government, or join Canadian Confederation. The result was inconclusive, with 44.6% supporting the restoration of dominion status, 41.1% for confederation with Canada, and 14.3% for continuing the Commission of Government. A second referendum on July 22, 1948, which asked Newfoundlanders to choose between confederation and dominion status, was decided by a vote of 52% to 48% for confederation with Canada. Newfoundland joined Canada on March 31, 1949.
A referendum was held in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1995 that approved replacing the province's system of parochial schools with a largely public school system. In 1997, a second referendum to amend the Terms of Union to allow for the Catholic and Pentecostal school systems to be disbanded and brought into the public system.
On May 14, 2001, New Brunswick held a referendum on whether to continue to permit Video Lottery Terminals to operate in the province. 53.1% of those who voted in favour of retaining the terminals.
Two referendums were held in Northwest Territories.
In 2004, Nova Scotia held a plebiscite on whether to allow 'Sunday shopping'. The result was a slight victory for the No side although the government went ahead and legalized Sunday Shopping the following year after a court decision overturned the law.
On October 10, 2007, Ontario held a referendum on whether to adopt a mixed-member proportional system of elections. The proposed system failed with 63% voting for the status quo, First-Past-the-Post voting. See 2007 Ontario electoral reform referendum for more information. This was the first referendum in that province since 1924 when a referendum on prohibition was held.
The small province of Prince Edward Island (under 150,000 people and therefore in scale more like a municipal government) has had several referendums in its past, although the correct terminology in the province is a plebiscite.
On January 18, 1988, a provincial plebiscite was held to determine if Islanders were in favour of a fixed link to the mainland. It passed 60% to 40%. This allowed the provincial and federal governments to attract contractors to build what is now the Confederation Bridge.
On November 28, 2005, Islanders were asked to vote by plebiscite whether or not they wanted mixed-member proportional representation - partly "party list-based" - electoral system. Islanders decided, 64% to 36%, to keep the status quo first-past-the-post based electoral.
A plebiscite was held in 2016 concerning mixed-member proportional representation, with the result of 52% of Islanders voting to adopt the changes. Citing low voter turn out (below 40%) in the plebiscite, the government refused to implement the reforms. Another PEI plebiscite on electoral reform is scheduled for 2019.
Three referendums were held in Quebec:
Officially though, there have been four, as the 1992 pan-Canadian referendum was organized by the DGEQ in Quebec, whereas Elections Canada organized it in the rest of Canada.
Two referendums were held in Yukon.
Mixed-member proportional representation is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral systems which combine local winner-take-all elections with a compensatory tier with party lists, in a way that produces proportional representation overall. Like proportional representation, MMP is not a single system, but a principle and goal of several similar systems. Some systems designed to achieve proportionality are still called mixed-member proportional, even if they generally fall short of full proportionality. In this case, they provide semi-proportional representation.
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 37th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party won a third majority government.
The politics of Alberta are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Edmonton, where the provincial Legislative Building is located.
The 1968 Canadian federal election was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 28th Parliament of Canada.
Canada holds elections for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: for the federal (national) government, provincial and territorial governments, and municipal governments. Elections are also held for self-governing First Nations and for many other public and private organizations including corporations and trade unions. Municipal elections can also be held for both upper-tier and lower-tier governments.
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform was created by the government of British Columbia, Canada to investigate changes to the provincial electoral system. On October 25, 2004, the citizens' assembly proposed replacing the province's existing first past the post (FPTP) system with BC-STV, a single transferable vote (STV) system. This recommendation was put to the electorate in a referendum in 2005 held during that year's provincial election. The provincial government required the referendum to achieve a super-majority of 60 percent of voters and simple majorities in 60 percent of the 79 districts in order to pass. The second of these thresholds was easily met, with a majority supporting the reform in 77 out of 79 electoral districts, but the overall vote fell short of the 60 percent requirement, with 57.69 percent of the votes in favour. A second referendum in 2009 on adopting the STV system also failed to pass carrying 8 electoral districts and 39.09 percent of the overall vote.
The 2005 British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The British Columbia Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell. The main opposition was the British Columbia New Democratic Party, whose electoral representation was reduced to two MLAs in the previous provincial election in 2001.
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005, to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to replace the existing first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP) with a single transferable vote system (BC-STV). It was held in conjunction with the BC Legislative Assembly election of 2005. Voters were given two ballots at that time: a ballot to vote for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency and a referendum ballot. The referendum received considerable support from the electorate but failed in meeting the 60-percent threshold that had been set. A second referendum was held in 2009.
The 1948 Alberta general election was held on August 17, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform was established by the government of the province of Ontario, Canada, in March 2006. Modelled on the British Columbia equivalent, it reviewed the first past the post electoral system currently in use to elect members of the Ontario Legislature, with the authority to recommend an alternative. In May 2007, the assembly recommended, in a decision of 94 to 8, that Ontario adopt a form of mixed member proportional representation (MMP).
A referendum was held on October 10, 2007, on the question of whether to establish a mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The vote was strongly in favour of the existing plurality voting or first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.
The Politics of British Columbia involve not only the governance of British Columbia, Canada, and the various political factions that have held or vied for legislative power, but also a number of experiments or attempts at political and electoral reform.
The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a unicameral legislature, the General Assembly composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, which operates on the Westminster system of government. The executive function of government is formed by the Lieutenant Governor, the premier and his or her cabinet.
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 28, 2005, to determine whether to adopt the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system as recommended by the Prince Edward Island Electoral Reform Commission in 2003.
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results.
The 2019 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The vote in 26 of the 27 districts was held on 23 April 2019, while the vote for the member from Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park was deferred to 15 July due to the death of the Green Party's candidate. However, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park still voted in a referendum on electoral reform. Natalie Jameson won the deferred election in the district.
The House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE) (French: Comité spécial sur la réforme électorale) was a special committee of the House of Commons of Canada established in 2016 during the 42nd Canadian Parliament to investigate reforms to the Canadian electoral system. The formation of "an all-party Parliamentary committee to review... [electoral] reforms" was an election promise by Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau in the 2015 federal election. After the Liberals won a majority in the election, and Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada, he indicated the formation of a special committee was a priority in his mandate letter for Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef. Shortly after the committee submitted its report to Parliament on December 1, 2016, Monsef was transferred to the position of the Minister of Status of Women and Karina Gould took over the electoral reform file. Shortly after taking her position, Gould announced that the government would no longer be pursuing reform of the electoral system, stating "It has become evident that the broad support needed among Canadians for a change of this magnitude does not exist."
A non-binding referendum on electoral reform was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island between 27 October – 7 November 2016. This was the second electoral reform referendum to be held in Prince Edward Island, following a vote to maintain the status quo in 2005. The referendum asked which of five voting systems residents would prefer to use in electing members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The referendum involved four counts under Instant-runoff voting rules and at the end, mixed member proportional representation was the majority choice with 55.03% support on the final ballot, with support of 52.42% of votes cast.
A referendum on electoral reform took place by mail-in ballot between October 22 and December 7, 2018, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. 61.3 percent of voters supported maintaining the first-past-the-post voting system rather than switching to a proportional representation voting system, which was supported by 38.7 percent of voters. This was British Columbia's third referendum on electoral reform, following ones in 2005 and 2009.
A referendum on electoral reform was held on April 23, 2019, in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island – simultaneously with the 2019 provincial election – to determine if the province should adopt a mixed-member proportional representation voting system (MMP). A narrow majority voted to keep the existing first-past-the-post system. However, the referendum was not binding, as neither the yes or no side received majority support in 60% or more of the province's 27 electoral districts.