Canadian Election Series

After 11 years in power, the CCF had become unpopular, and were dealt a stiff defeat.

Unionist: 38% (+19%), 125 seats (+104)
CCF: 28% (-17%), 59 seats (-92)
Liberal: 23% (+1%) 47 seats (-20)
Social Credit: 12% (-2%), 34 seats (+8)

The Unionists under Donald Fleming had an impressive resurgence, going from first to fourth, although they still fell eight seats short of a majority. The Liberals had a modest gain in popular vote, but they mostly competed with the Tories and lost seats. The main story of the election was the fragmenting of the West. Since the Great Depression, the CCF had swept or near-swept BC, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, while Social Credit did the same in Alberta. As the CCF receded, Social Credit and the Unionists surged in the Prairies, the former winning socially conservative farming seats, and the latter taking seats in the newly prosperous cities, resulting in Western Canada having its most competitive results in a generation.

Although the Unionists fell short of a majority, there was enough common ground between the anti-socialist parties for substantial legislation to be passed. Fleming returned the government to pro-business orthodoxy, reversing the pipeline nationalization bill, and cutting the federal oil royalty tax, both with the support of Social Credit.

The Unionists also attempted to reverse the healthcare reforms that Gillis and the CCF had implemented, but they backed off most of their proposals as they found stiff resistance from the Liberals and the public at large. In the end, they only managed to give the provinces more control over local administration as Social Credit wanted, and to give more freedom to private health care professionals with the support of the Liberals.

As 1959 ended and turned into 1960, Canada entered a recession. Unemployment spiked, and the deficit rose as there were no oil royalties, and health care expenditure continued to climb. Social Credit, who had previously backed the Tory government, sensed an opportunity to improve their standing and introduced a motion of non-confidence. Fleming attempted to secure the support of Lesage’s Liberals, who offered to support the government in exchange for passing legislation to legalize divorce, and replace the Red Ensign, with a new flag. For the monarchist, socially conservative Tories, this was a bridge too far and the government fell.

Unionist: Fleming and the Unionists, to retain government, and turn their minority into a majority government. Fleming has spent most of his time attacking the CCF and Gillis, portraying them as economic incompetents, who will destroy economic activity via nationalizations. Fleming is proposing an austerity program to deal with the recession, cutting spending in order to maintain budget balance.

CCF: Hoping to capitalize on the recession, GIllis is hoping to remind voters of the need of a lavish welfare state. With that in mind, he is proposing a new Canada Pension Plan, funded from payroll taxes, to help reduce senior poverty. Gillis is also proposing a new 80% tax bracket on incomes over $500,000 (today’s dollars)

Liberal: In addition to their proposals to legalize divorce and abortion, Jean Lesage and the Liberals are attempting to pry away non-Anglo voters from the other parties by replacing the British Red Ensign with a new national flag. As is typical for the Liberals, the party has a variety of economic views ranging from fairly conservative to social democratic.

Social Credit: Thanks to Ernest Manning’s behind the scenes work, Social Credit will be running a national slate of candidates for the first time ever. Attempting to differentiate his party from the opposition, Low is proposing Alberta-style electoral reform be implemented nationally. Under the Alberta system, Large cities would be combined into multi-member districts elected by STV, while rural and small town seats would continue under FPTP. Outside of this, Low is continuing his rhetoric about a return to traditional values.

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