Canadian federal election, 1946

The result of the 1945 federal election was anything but decisive. The results showed the socialist CCF with the most seats, with 83, but that was far and away from a majority of the 245 seat House of Commons. As a result, the coalition- led by Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King attempted to stay in power, with their 77 seats, with the hopes that the large amount of coalition friendly independents in Quebec would help prop them up as well as perhaps some of the Bloc Populaire and Social Credit MPs. The Coalition + the Quebec Independent caucus was still not enough for a majority, totaling just 104 seats.

To make things more complicated, neither Liberal leader Mackenzie King nor Tory leader John Bracken won their home ridings. PLUS, within the coalition caucus, the Liberals won 39 seats, and the Tories 38, meaning it would be hugely divided. The Liberals quickly found a seat for King in Glengarry, but with the coalition winning just 1 seat in Manitoba (a Liberal), Bracken opted to lead the Tories from outside the legislature. He was later appointed to the Senate so he could remain in Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister.

The coalition would attempt to lead the government, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In the Fall of 1945, King asked the Governor General, the Earl of Athlone to dissolve parliament and hold elections, but Athlone refused, suggesting the CCF- which won more seats should have a chance to form government. This caused a bit of a constitutional crisis. In any event, the CCF would then take over the reigns of government, with the support of the minor parties. Surprisingly, the communist Labour Progressive Party was the hardest to get on board, as the LPP and the CCF were bitter rivals. The LPP agreed to prop up the CCF on the condition that the Communist Party of Canada would once again be a legal entity, and they would begin to call themselves the Communist Party once again. The new Prime Minister, Major James Coldwell agreed, and begun an attempt to govern.

The Coldwell-led CCF planned to undertake an ambitious plan for new social programs across the country, but had difficulty getting much passed. They did set up some Farmer's programs with the help of the Social Credit Party, and threw some bones to Quebec in order to get the support of the BPC. However, it was ultimately the Communists that would be the downfall for the government. With the end of World War II came the beginning of the Cold War, and many grew suspicious of the Communist Party. A Soviet defector by the name of Igor Gouzenko pointed the finger at Communist MP Fred Rose as the leader of a massive spy ring for the Soviets. Rose denied these allegations, but the Communists were tarnished, and the CCF decided they could not longer work with them, and dissolved Parliament.

Parties:

CCF:

Leader: M.J. Coldwell, MP for Rosetown-Biggar, SK

The CCF has governed the country since the Fall of 1945 with an ambitious plan of social programs that were unable to get through the fractured minority parliament. The party is running on this plan in an appeal to voters to give them a majority government. The party plans on creating a number of publicly owned corporations (Crown Corporations), making it legal to unionize in the public service, a promise of free health care, and passing a bill of rights.

Coalition

Liberal leader: W.L. Mackenzie King, MP for Glengarry, ON

Progressive Conservative leader: John Bracken, Senator for Manitoba

The Liberal-Progressive Conservative Coalition has managed to stay together throughout the minority government as a united force. With Parliament as fractured as it is, the two parties knew they had to stick together to ensure the CCF would never form a majority government, which would be likely if the coalition were divided. The coalition is mostly running on a platform of suggesting the CCF is "in bed with Moscow", and is pointing to the CCF working with the Communists and legalizing the party as proof of this. Socially however, they are also promising some mild social reforms (such as hospital insurance, old-age pensions, and veterans' pensions) in order to attract soft CCF support.

Bloc populaire

Leader: Maxime Raymond, MP for Beauharnois-Laprairie, QC

Bloc populaire saw great success in the 1945 election, winning 29 seats- all but one in Quebec. The party had been created to oppose the coalition and its support for the war. However, with the war over, the party exists solely to promote French Canadian interests and opposition to the coalition in Quebec. The party faces a great struggle within its ranks between supporting the coalition or supporting the CCF in parliament. They had chosen to back the CCF in order to order to get more French language rights enshrined in law.

Communist

Leader: Tim Buck, MP for Trinity, ON

The Communists under the name "Labour-Progressive Party" exceeded expectations in the 1945 election by winning 14 seats, spread out across the country. In a deal to help prop up the CCF government, the CCF legalized the existence of the Communist Party, and thus the LPP are now running as the Communist Party. However, the CCF grew disgusted by allegations that the many Communists are Soviet spies, including their lone Quebec MP, Fred Rose. With the Cold War beginning, the Communist Party is attempting to distance themselves from Moscow.

Social Credit

Leader: Solon Earl Low, MP for Peace River, AB

The SoCreds won 11 seats in the 1945 election, and agreed to prop up the CCF in exchange for new legislation to help farmers and some other minor social credit policies. However, the socially conservative Social Credit movement found it difficult to work with the Socialist CCF and didn't allow the government to enact many of its desired policies. The Social Credit base is almost entirely in Alberta, where they won 10 seats. However, the other seat came from Quebec where they won the riding of Beauce.

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