1926 Ontario general election explained

Election Name:1926 Ontario general election
Country:Ontario
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1923 Ontario general election
Previous Year:1923
Next Election:1929 Ontario general election
Next Year:1929
Seats For Election:112 seats in the 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
57 seats were needed for a majority
Election Date:December 1, 1926
Leader1:George Howard Ferguson
Leader Since1:December 2, 1920
Leaders Seat1:Grenville
Last Election1:75
Seats1:72
Seat Change1:3
Percentage1:57.6%
Swing1:7.8pp
Leader2:W.E.N. Sinclair
Leader Since2:1923
Leaders Seat2:Ontario South
Last Election2:14
Seats2:14
Percentage2:17.2%
Swing2:4.1pp
Leader4:William Raney
Leader Since4:January 1925
Leaders Seat4:Prince Edward
Last Election4:split from UFO
Seats4:10
Seat Change4:10
Percentage4:6.3%
Swing4: -
Image5: UFO
Leader5:Leslie Oke
Leader Since5:-
Leaders Seat5:Lambton East
Last Election5:17
Seats5:3
Seat Change5:14
Percentage5:1.3%
Swing5:19.8pp
Premier
Posttitle:Premier after election
Before Election:G. Howard Ferguson
After Election:G. Howard Ferguson
Elected Members:elected members
Outgoing Members:outgoing members

The 1926 Ontario general election was the 17th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on December 1, 1926, to elect the 112 Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").[1]

Campaign

The United Farmers of Ontario decided to withdraw from electoral politics after having been defeated in the 1923 election, and most of its MPPs redesignated themselves as Progressives with former UFO Attorney-General William Edgar Raney becoming party leader. Nevertheless, several MPPs, including Raney himself, continued to run as candidates endorsed by local UFO associations.

Leslie Oke and Beniah Bowman were opposed to Raney's leadership as he was not a farmer. They were also opposed to the creation of a new Progressive Party which would not focus exclusively on farmers' issues, so they chose to remain as UFO MPPs. Bowman later resigned from the legislature before the election.

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by Howard Ferguson, was re-elected for a second term in government. There were several disputes in the selection of candidates: in Port Arthur, Donald Hogarth was one of two Conservative candidatesthe other being the incumbent Francis Keeferwho were selected in parallel meetings arising from a dispute over the validity of the list of delegates.[2]

The principal issue of the campaign was the government's proposal to repeal the Ontario Temperance Act, replacing prohibition with government control of liquor sales. The Daily British Whig described it as "the greatest issue that has ever been placed before [the voters]". The Liberal and Progressive parties both campaigned against repeal, and one of Ferguson's ministers, William Folger Nickle, resigned from the cabinet and ran for re-election against the government as a Prohibitionist candidate. Raney proposed that the Progressives and Liberals work in concert to support a single dry ticket in certain ridings, which led to the nomination of 27 Prohibitionist candidates.[3] In other ridings, the two parties tended to avoid campaigning against each other, in order to minimize the split of the temperance vote.

The Conservatives fielded candidates in all but two ridings, and three of them were returned by acclamation. In 54 two-way contests, the Liberals declined to field a candidate in favour of an ally considered more likely to gain votes. There were only 15 three-cornered races, one four-way and one five-way battles.

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1926)
Candidates align="center" Con align="center" Lib align="center" Prog align="center" L-P align="center" UFO align="center" Lab align="center" I-Con align="center" I-Lib align="center" Ind-Prog align="center" Proh align="center" LL align="center" L-Proh align="center" LLPTotal
13 3
290 38 13 10 3 2 1 1 1 20 1 3 1 184
317 8 3 1 3 6 1 5 1 45
41 1 1 1 4
51 1 2 1 5
Total112 48 16 10 4 3 7 7 2 27 2 3 1 241

Several Liberals, protesting their party's temperance stand, chose to stand as Independent-Liberals.[3]

Outcome

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by W.E.N. Sinclair, obtained 13 seats, while the Progressives won 10. Five Liberal-Progressive candidates were also elected, along with several independents. The selection of Liberal-Progressive candidates was complex in some cases: in Victoria North, William Newman was selected by the Progressives, while W.G. Carley was the Liberal nominee. Newman was named as the L-P candidate in a joint meeting of the local parties.[4]

Oke was the only UFO MPP who was re-elected as such, and he was joined by Thomas Farquhar from Manitoulin and Farquhar Oliver from Grey South. The latter won with the assistance of federal MP Agnes MacPhail.

Karl Homuth of Waterloo South was the only Labour MPP returned. His support of the government (and eventual admission to the Conservative caucus after the election) led to Labour's collapse as a party.

The fracture of the UFO, together with a large number of resignations from MPPs (of which five chose to run federally in 1925, and two more in 1926) significantly changed the composition of the Assembly.

Post-election scandals

After the election, the Toronto Star reported accusations of corrupt payments during the campaign:[5]

The election in Bruce South was later declared void in June 1927.[6]

Pre-election timeline

Changes in seats held (1923–1926)
SeatBeforeChange
DateMemberPartyReasonDateMemberParty
LennoxAugust 23, 1923 John Perry VroomanDied in officeOctober 22, 1923Charles Wesley Hambly
Toronto Northwest - AMay 15, 1924Thomas CrawfordAccepted provincial appointmentJuly 7, 1924William Henry Edwards
Simcoe SouthApril 14, 1925William Earl RoweResigned to run in 1925 federal election
KenoraApril 14, 1925Peter HeenanResigned to run in 1925 federal election
CochraneApril 14, 1925Malcolm LangResigned to run in 1925 federal election
Norfolk NorthApril 14, 1925George David SewellResigned to run in 1925 federal election
Grey CentreApril 14, 1925Dougall CarmichaelResigned to run in 1925 federal election
Kent EastApril 14, 1925Manning William DohertyResigned seat to promote cooperative movement
LondonAugust 15, 1925Adam BeckDied in office
Middlesex EastApril 8, 1926John Willard FreebornResigned to run in 1926 federal election
ManitoulinApril 8, 1926Beniah BowmanResigned to run in 1926 federal election
Kent WestOctober 11, 1926Robert Livingstone BrackinDied in office

Redistribution of seats

A 1925 Act provided for the redistribution of the Legislative Assembly into 112 ridings for the election.[7]

The dual-member ridings in the City of Toronto, in effect since the 1914 election, were abolished and replaced by single-member seats:

Abolished ridings New ridings
Split between St. David, St. George and Riverdale

Beaches was drawn out from York East, and High Park from York West.

There were other changes made to ridings elsewhere in the Province:

A further Act in 1926 merged Simcoe South and Simcoe West into Simcoe Southwest, and divided Cochrane into Cochrane North and Cochrane South.[10]

Raney complained that the net effect of the redistribution was to transfer up to 11 seats from rural to urban voters, and thus "to secure the re-election of the Ferguson Government".

Results

|-! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party! rowspan=2 | Party leader! colspan=5 | MPPs! colspan=3 | Votes|-! Candidates!1923!Dissol.!1926!±!#!%! ± (pp)|style="text-align:left;"|Howard Ferguson|112|75|74|73|2|640,515|55.87%|6.10|style="text-align:left;"|W.E.N. Sinclair|48|14|11|13|1|196,813|17.17%|4.16|style="text-align:left;"|William Raney|16| - |11|10|10|72,277|6.30%|||10| - | - |5|5|48,619|4.24%||style="text-align:left;"|Leslie Oke|3|17|1|3|14|15,417|1.34%|19.60||3|4|3|1|3|14,794|1.29%|3.46||1|1| - | - |1|colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Did not campaign|style="text-align:left;"||7| - |1|4|4|21,002|1.83%||style="text-align:left;"||7| - | - |1|1|20,144|1.76%||style="text-align:left;"|Liberal-Prohibitionist|style="text-align:left;"||3| - | - |1|1|11,526|1.01%||style="text-align:left;"||2| - | - |1|1|6,029|0.51%||style="text-align:left;"||27| - | - | - | - |92,435|8.06%||style="text-align:left;"|Liberal-Labour|style="text-align:left;"||2| - | - | - | - |4,633|0.40%||style="text-align:left;"|Liberal-Labour-Prohibitionist|style="text-align:left;"||1| - | - | - | - |2,298|0.20%||colspan="3"||10|colspan="5"||-style="background:#E9E9E9;"|colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|Total|241|111|111|112||1,146,502|100.00%||-|colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Blank and invalid ballots|align="right"|6,785|style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2"||-style="background:#E9E9E9;"|colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Registered voters / turnout|1,792,757|63.95%|5.61|}

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1926 Ontario general election[11] [12]
RidingWinning partyTurnout
[13]
Votes
NameParty Votes Share Margin
#
Margin
%
Con Lib UFO Labour Total
 
001 AddingtonCon acclaimed
002 AlgomaCon 3,554 61.50% 1,329 23.00% 54.94% 3,554 2,225 5,779
003 Brant CountyProg4,114 55.70% 842 11.40% 70.74% 3,272 4,114 7,386
004 BrantfordCon 7,751 55.73% 1,595 11.47% 71.11% 7,751 6,156 13,907
005 BrockvilleCon 4,881 60.69% 1,720 21.39% 71.92% 4,881 3,161 8,042
006 Bruce NorthLib3,601 38.39% 663 7.07% 69.63% 2,938 3,601 2,840 9,379
007 Bruce SouthProg4,922 50.66% 128 1.32% 72.30% 4,794 4,922 9,716
008 CarletonCon 4,530 60.18% 1,533 20.37% 61.02% 4,530 2,997 7,527
009 Cochrane NorthCon 2,886 54.35% 462 8.70% 56.22% 2,886 2,424 5,310
010 Cochrane SouthCon 5,124 68.17% 2,732 36.35% 38.49% 5,124 2,392 7,516
011 DufferinProg4,478 58.87% 1,349 17.73% 73.73% 3,129 4,478 7,607
012 DundasL-Proh4,407 55.22% 833 10.44% 76.76% 3,574 4,407 7,981
013 DurhamLib6,639 55.27% 1,267 10.55% 73.87% 5,372 6,639 12,011
014 Elgin EastLib4,122 55.51% 818 11.02% 71.48% 3,304 4,122 7,426
015 Elgin WestCon 6,818 52.52% 655 5.05% 65.80% 6,818 6,163 12,981
016 Essex NorthCon acclaimed
017 Essex SouthLib4,560 51.20% 213 2.39% 65.34% 4,347 4,560 8,907
018 Fort WilliamCon 5,286 76.10% 3,626 52.20% 50.56% 5,286 1,660 6,946
019 Frontenac—LennoxLib4,625 53.24% 563 6.48% 66.49% 4,062 4,625 8,687
020 GlengarryCon 4,442 63.17% 1,852 26.34% 63.81% 4,442 2,590 7,032
021 GrenvilleCon 4,617 58.02% 1,277 16.05% 75.71% 4,617 3,340 7,957
022 Grey NorthProg8,423 63.95% 3,674 27.89% 67.85% 4,749 8,423 13,172
023 Grey SouthUFO7,100 54.45% 1,160 8.90% 72.16% 5,940 7,100 13,040
024 HaldimandLib5,212 53.97% 767 7.94% 73.29% 4,445 5,212 9,657
025 HaltonCon 6,164 51.53% 365 3.05% 73.34% 6,164 5,799 11,963
026 Hamilton CentreCon 9,784 75.90% 7,094 55.03% 62.30% 9,784 2,690 416 12,890
027 Hamilton EastCon 10,174 69.07% 5,617 38.13% 64.76% 10,174 4,557 14,731
028 Hamilton WestCon 8,436 73.48% 5,392 46.97% 65.73% 8,436 3,044 11,480
029 Hastings EastCon 3,983 62.68% 1,612 25.37% 67.43% 3,983 2,371 6,354
030 Hastings NorthCon 4,008 67.23% 2,054 34.45% 60.92% 4,008 1,954 5,962
031 Hastings WestCon 6,273 61.96% 2,421 23.91% 70.54% 6,273 3,852 10,125
032 Huron NorthLib6,386 58.97% 1,942 17.93% 73.57% 4,444 6,386 10,830
033 Huron SouthProg6,003 57.93% 1,644 15.87% 72.86% 4,359 6,003 10,362
034 Kent EastProg4,562 51.67% 1,252 14.18% 73.73% 3,310 957 4,562 8,829
035 Kent WestCon 8,443 57.24% 2,135 14.47% 64.22% 8,443 6,308 14,751
036 KenoraCon 2,641 52.30% 400 7.92% 52.13% 2,641 168 2,241 5,050
037 KingstonCon 6,705 60.45% 2,319 20.91% 76.05% 6,705 4,386 11,091
038 Lambton EastUFO6,075 57.88% 1,654 15.76% 68.57% 4,421 6,075 10,496
039 Lambton WestCon 7,092 60.72% 2,504 21.44% 68.73% 7,092 4,588 11,680
040 Lanark NorthCon 3,589 51.70% 236 3.40% 70.61% 3,589 3,353 6,942
041 Lanark SouthCon 3,870 56.77% 923 13.54% 62.49% 3,870 2,947 6,817
042 LeedsCon 3,702 51.48% 213 2.96% 69.36% 3,702 3,489 7,191
043 LincolnProg4,348 56.37% 983 12.74% 65.45% 3,365 4,348 7,713
044 London NorthCon 7,763 61.83% 2,970 23.65% 60.55% 7,763 4,793 12,556
045 London SouthCon 9,064 63.17% 3,779 26.34% 69.15% 9,064 5,285 14,349
046 ManitoulinUFO2,242 51.13% 99 2.26% 65.26% 2,143 2,242 4,385
047 Middlesex NorthI-Prog5,861 56.04% 1,264 12.09% 73.06% 4,597 5,861 10,458
048 Middlesex WestProg5,723 63.36% 2,413 26.71% 66.94% 3,310 5,723 9,033
049 MuskokaCon 4,206 57.83% 1,139 15.66% 65.47% 4,206 3,067 7,273
050 Niagara FallsCon 7,900 68.58% 4,281 37.16% 52.80% 7,900 3,619 11,519
051 NipissingCon 5,215 61.09% 3,414 39.99% 55.81% 5,215 1,521 1,801 8,537
052 NorfolkCon 7,421 54.64% 1,260 9.28% 79.24% 7,421 6,161 13,582
053 NorthumberlandLib7,612 53.46% 985 6.92% 72.27% 6,627 7,612 14,239
054 Ontario NorthProg3,878 55.58% 779 11.17% 75.02% 3,099 3,878 6,977
055 Ontario SouthLib8,901 57.30% 2,268 14.60% 72.73% 6,633 8,901 15,534
056 Ottawa EastI-Lib5,195 43.86% 418 3.53% 53.60% 4,777 5,195 1,872 11,844
057 Ottawa NorthCon 9,042 67.59% 4,707 35.19% 43.91% 9,042 4,335 13,377
058 Ottawa SouthCon 9,171 62.27% 3,615 24.55% 56.95% 9,171 5,556 14,727
059 Oxford NorthL-Prog6,012 58.88% 1,813 17.76% 68.51% 4,199 6,012 10,211
060 Oxford SouthL-Prog5,793 56.97% 1,418 13.95% 73.59% 4,375 5,793 10,168
061 Parry SoundCon 4,628 60.85% 1,650 21.69% 57.33% 4,628 2,978 7,606
062 PeelCon 6,193 51.50% 361 3.00% 68.46% 6,193 5,832 12,025
063 Perth NorthCon 7,350 55.97% 1,568 11.94% 61.23% 7,350 5,782 13,132
064 Perth SouthLib4,176 53.14% 494 6.29% 70.66% 3,682 4,176 7,858
065 Peterborough CityCon 6,396 57.33% 1,636 14.66% 72.87% 6,396 4,760 11,156
066 Peterborough CountyLib3,261 54.57% 546 9.14% 67.35% 2,715 3,261 5,976
067 Port ArthurCon 2,683 38.31% 172 2.46% 60.40% 5,194[14] 1,810 7,004
068 PrescottI-Lib2,855 35.56% 24 0.30% 66.17% 5,173 2,855 8,028
069 Prince EdwardProg4,378 50.28% 49 0.56% 80.46% 4,329 4,378 8,707
070 Rainy RiverCon 2,230 48.18% 777 16.79% 55.89% 2,230 1,453 945 4,628
071 Renfrew NorthCon 5,000 59.74% 1,630 19.47% 58.40% 5,000 3,370 8,370
072 Renfrew SouthCon 5,208 56.92% 1,267 13.85% 63.27% 5,208 3,941 9,149
073 RussellI-Lib5,231 42.86% 983 8.05% 66.40% 4,248 2,725 5,231 12,204
074 St. CatharinesI-Con8,669 72.91% 5,448 45.82% 60.51% 3,221 8,669 11,890
075 Sault Ste. MarieCon 5,497 77.38% 3,890 54.76% 38.96% 5,497 1,607 7,104
076 Simcoe CentreCon 5,315 50.93% 195 1.87% 70.47% 5,315 5,120 10,435
077 Simcoe EastCon 7,312 55.84% 1,530 11.68% 71.09% 7,312 5,782 13,094
078 Simcoe SouthwestL-Prog5,779 52.03% 452 4.07% 68.41% 5,327 5,779 11,106
079 StormontCon 7,101 65.97% 3,438 31.94% 66.98% 7,101 3,663 10,764
080 Sturgeon FallsI-Lib2,043 49.26% 103 2.48% 50.97% 1,940 164 2,043 4,147
081 SudburyCon acclaimed
082 TemiskamingCon 4,048 63.79% 1,750 27.58% 45.36% 4,048 2,298 6,346
083 Victoria NorthL-Prog3,207 52.26% 277 4.51% 70.03% 2,930 3,207 6,137
084 Victoria SouthL-Prog4,632 53.38% 587 6.77% 74.48% 4,045 4,632 8,677
085 Waterloo NorthCon 9,500 69.03% 5,238 38.06% 49.84% 9,500 4,262 13,762
086 Waterloo SouthLab9,093 62.01% 3,523 24.03% 67.91% 5,570 9,093 14,663
087 WellandCon 7,697 69.54% 4,325 39.07% 56.34% 7,697 3,372 11,069
088 Wellington NortheastLib6,601 62.24% 2,596 24.48% 71.26% 4,005 6,601 10,606
089 Wellington SouthCon 8,044 53.04% 921 6.07% 74.20% 8,044 7,123 15,167
090 Wentworth NorthCon 4,817 54.55% 803 9.09% 69.76% 4,817 4,014 8,831
091 Wentworth SouthCon 8,383 67.38% 4,324 34.75% 62.85% 8,383 4,059 12,442
092 Windsor EastCon 9,750 83.70% 7,851 67.40% 48.24% 9,750 1,899 11,649
093 Windsor WestCon 8,741 77.79% 6,245 55.58% 47.95% 8,741 2,496 11,237
094 BeachesCon 9,590 73.08% 6,058 46.17% 64.83% 9,590 3,532 13,122
095 WoodbineCon 9,578 78.28% 6,920 56.55% 60.61% 9,578 2,658 12,236
096 GreenwoodCon 9,101 78.64% 6,629 57.28% 58.23% 9,101 2,472 11,573
097 RiverdaleCon 8,832 69.12% 4,886 38.24% 61.96% 8,832 3,946 12,778
098 EglintonCon 10,230 61.73% 3,887 23.45% 78.03% 10,230 6,343 16,573
099 St. DavidCon 10,948 77.68% 7,803 55.37% 62.81% 10,948 3,145 14,093
100 St. GeorgeCon 7,865 56.34% 4,881 34.97% 66.62% 7,865 729 2,984 2,381 13,959
101 St. PatrickCon 6,339 69.64% 4,145 45.53% 65.48% 6,339 570 2,194 9,103
102 St. AndrewsCon 4,536 44.00% 1,171 11.36% 67.37% 4,536 311 2,097 3,365 10,309
103 BellwoodsCon 9,452 76.79% 6,595 53.58% 62.09% 9,452 2,857 12,309
104 BracondaleCon 10,563 69.41% 7,560 49.67% 70.33% 10,563 1,653 3,003 15,219
105 DovercourtCon 6,239 66.93% 3,156 33.86% 62.07% 6,239 3,083 9,322
106 BrocktonCon 11,245 57.40% 5,810 29.65% 61.72% 11,245 5,435 2,912 19,592
107 ParkdaleCon 8,915 65.44% 4,207 30.88% 66.23% 8,915 4,708 13,623
108 High ParkCon 10,466 61.13% 3,810 22.25% 76.55% 10,466 6,656 17,122
109 York EastCon 11,085 66.02% 5,379 32.04% 58.74% 11,085 5,706 16,791
110 York NorthLib6,009 57.49% 1,565 14.97% 75.01% 4,444 6,009 10,453
111 York SouthCon 10,242 66.49% 5,080 32.98% 55.36% 10,242 5,162 15,404
112 York WestCon 9,927 62.20% 6,813 42.69% 63.04% 9,927 2,919 3,114 15,960

= turnout is above provincial average

= incumbent switched allegiance for the election

= not incumbent; previously elected as a UFO MLA

= not incumbent; previously elected as a Labour MLA

= not incumbent; previously elected as a Liberal-Temperance MLA

= petition against election withdrawn

= petition against election dismissed

= election declared void

Notable groups of candidates

Candidates returned by acclamation! Riding !! Party !! Candidate !! Reason
AddingtonWilliam David BlackNomination of F.A. Anglin (Prohibitionist) ruled invalid
Essex NorthPaul PoissonE.P. Tellier (Liberal and incumbent MLA) withdrew his nomination
SudburyCharles McCreaSole nominee
Candidate !! Votes !! Placed
2,683 1st
Francis Henry Keefer2,511 2nd
Edmund Mooney 2,831 2nd
Louis Beaudoin2,342 3rd
Cecil Armstrong 1,664 3rd
Edward Owens717 5th

See also

Notes and references

References

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1926 General Election . Elections Ontario . January 3, 2021.
  2. News: . November 11, 1926. Two Conservatives Run Same Riding. Oshawa Daily Reformer. 2.
  3. Web site: Booze, bullying, and moral panic: The temperance election of 1926. Bradburn. Jamie . May 9, 2018. tvo.org. TV Ontario.
  4. News: . November 1, 1926. Fusionist Chosen. Oshawa Daily Reformer. 8.
  5. News: . December 9, 1926. Election Scandals. The Canadian Champion. Milton. 2.
  6. Book: . 1928. Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario . 62. 9–10.
  7. The Representation Act, 1925. S.O.. 1925. 7 . https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovin1925onta/page/8/mode/2up.
  8. Also absorbed parts of York East and York West.
  9. Originally named Sherbourne in the 1925 Act; subsequently renamed in the 1926 Act.
  10. The Representation Act, 1926. S.O.. 1926. 2 . https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovin1926onta/page/n15/mode/2up.
  11. Web site: 1926 General Election. . elections.on.ca. Elections Ontario. August 3, 2023. EO data errors on political affiliations adjusted to conform with Canadian Annual Review listing
  12. Book: . 1928. Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario . 62. 6–10.
  13. including spoilt ballots
  14. two candidates nominated