By-elections to the 3rd Canadian Parliament explained

By-elections to the 3rd Canadian Parliament were held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada between the 1874 federal election and the 1878 federal election. The Liberal Party of Canada led a majority government for the 3rd Canadian Parliament.

The number of by-elections is notable and so is the number that were of successfully contested, mainly because courts in Canada began to take a more objective view of petitions at that time, following legal reforms on election procedure.^[1] Despite many new elections being called, many politicians were nonetheless reelected a second time.

The following list includes Ministerial by-elections which occurred due to the requirement that Members of Parliament recontest their seats upon being appointed to Cabinet. These by-elections were almost always uncontested. This requirement was abolished in 1931.

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause	Retained
New Westminster	March 25, 1878	James Cunningham			Liberal	Thomas Robert McInnes			Independent	Resignation	No
Northumberland	February 5, 1878	Peter Mitchell			Independent	Peter Mitchell			Independent	Resignation to re-contest after being accused of violating the Independence of Parliament Act by leasing a building to the government while he was a senator.	Yes
Halifax	January 29, 1878	Alfred Gilpin Jones			Independent	Alfred Gilpin Jones			Independent	Resignation to re-contest because of an alleged breach of the Independence of Parliament Act.	Yes
Digby	January 19, 1878	William Berrian Vail			Liberal	John Chipman Wade			Conservative	Resignation to re-contest due to conflict of interest allegations.	No
Restigouche	January 12, 1878	George Moffat Sr.			Conservative	George Haddow			Independent	Resignation	No
Nicolet	December 18, 1877	Joseph Gaudet			Conservative	François-Xavier-Ovide Méthot			Independent Conservative	Appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec	No
Quebec East	November 28, 1877	Isidore Thibaudeau			Liberal	Wilfrid Laurier			Liberal	Resignation to provide a seat for Laurier.	Yes
Quebec-Centre	November 3, 1877	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon			Conservative	Jacques Malouin			Independent	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba.	No
Drummond—Arthabaska	October 27, 1877	Wilfrid Laurier			Liberal	Désiré Olivier Bourbeau			Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	No
Gloucester	July 2, 1877	Timothy Anglin			Liberal	Timothy Anglin			Liberal	Resignation to re-contest after being found in violation of the Independence of Parliament Act for accepting government printing contracts, and being censured by the House of Commons Committee on Privilege.	Yes
Ottawa (City of)	May 9, 1877	Joseph Merrill Currier			Liberal-Conservative	Joseph Merrill Currier			Liberal-Conservative	Resignation to re-contest for having infringed the Independence of Parliament Act by conducting business dealings with the government while still a member.	Yes
Lincoln	May 9, 1877	James Norris			Liberal	James Norris			Liberal	Resigns in order to re-contest after acquiring a government contract.^[2]	Yes
Charlevoix	March 23, 1877	Hector-Louis Langevin			Conservative	Hector-Louis Langevin			Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Kamouraska	February 19, 1877	Charles Alphonse Pantaléon Pelletier			Liberal	Charles-François Roy			Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Jacques Cartier	December 28, 1876	Rodolphe Laflamme			Liberal	Rodolphe Laflamme			Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	Yes
Cardwell	December 14, 1876	John Hillyard Cameron			Conservative	Dalton McCarthy			Conservative	Death	Yes
Queen's County	November 22, 1876	David Laird			Liberal	James Colledge Pope			Conservative	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories.	No
Bothwell	November 15, 1876	David Mills			Liberal	David Mills			Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of the Interior and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs.	Yes
Beauce	October 18, 1876	Christian Henry Pozer			Liberal	Joseph Bolduc			Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Victoria	September 21, 1876	Barclay Edmund Tremaine			Liberal	Charles James Campbell			Conservative	Appointed a County Court judge.	No
Glengarry	July 31, 1876	Archibald McNab			Liberal	Archibald McNab			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Ontario South	July 5, 1876	Malcolm Cameron			Liberal	Thomas Nicholson Gibbs			Liberal-Conservative	Death	No
Ontario North	July 5, 1876	Adam Gordon			Liberal	William Henry Gibbs			Conservative	Death	No
Wellington South	July 5, 1876	David Stirton			Liberal	Donald Guthrie			Liberal	Appointed Postmaster of Guelph.	Yes
Middlesex North	June 7, 1876	Thomas Scatcherd			Liberal	Robert Colin Scatcherd			Liberal	Death	Yes.
Two Mountains	March 11, 1876	Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky			Independent	Jean-Baptiste Daoust			Conservative	Resignation	No
Charlevoix	January 22, 1876	Pierre-Alexis Tremblay			Liberal	Hector-Louis Langevin			Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Renfrew North	January 21, 1876	William Murray			Liberal	Peter White			Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Chambly	January 7, 1876	Amable Jodoin			Liberal	Pierre Basile Benoit			Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Argenteuil	December 31, 1875	Lemuel Cushing, Jr.			Liberal	Thomas Christie			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Quebec-Centre	December 27, 1875	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon			Conservative	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon			Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as President of the Privy Council.	Yes
Dorchester	December 14, 1875	François Fortunat Rouleau			Liberal-Conservative	François Fortunat Rouleau			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal Centre	November 26, 1875	Bernard Devlin			Liberal	Bernard Devlin			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Bellechasse	November 23, 1875	Télesphore Fournier			Liberal	Joseph Goderic Blanchet			Conservative	Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.	No
West Toronto	November 6, 1875	Thomas Moss			Liberal	John Beverly Robinson			Conservative	Appointed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario	No
Montreal West	October 30, 1875	Frederick Mackenzie			Liberal	Thomas Workman			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria North	September 17, 1875	James Maclennan			Liberal	Hector Cameron			Conservative	Court overturns result of 1874 by-election and declared Cameron seated.	No
Gaspé	July 10, 1875	Louis George Harper			Conservative	John Short			Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Glengarry	July 7, 1875	Donald Alexander Macdonald			Liberal	Archibald McNab			Liberal	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.	Yes
Perth North	July 7, 1875	Andrew Monteith			Conservative	Andrew Monteith			Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
York North	June 29, 1875	Alfred Hutchinson Dymond			Liberal	Alfred Hutchinson Dymond			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Monck	June 22, 1875	Lachlin McCallum			Liberal-Conservative	Lachlin McCallum			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Napierville	June 19, 1875	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine			Liberal	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Bruce South	June 2, 1875	Edward Blake			Liberal	Edward Blake			Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Justice.	Yes
Toronto Centre	May 21, 1875	Robert Wilkes			Liberal	John Macdonald			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Hamilton	May 20, 1875	Andrew Trew Wood and Aemilius Irving			Liberal	Aemilius Irving and Andrew Trew Wood			Liberal	Double member constituency - elections declared void.	Yes
Victoria	April 28, 1875	Charles James Campbell			Conservative	Barclay Edmund Tremaine			Liberal	Campbell unseated by decision of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia., 28 February 1875; Tremaine declared duly elected by decision of Election Court, 28 April 1875	No
Provencher	March 31, 1875	Louis Riel			Independent	Andrew Bannatyne			Liberal	Unseated from the House of Commons and declared an outlaw, 25 February 1875	No
Wellington North	March 18, 1875	Nathaniel Higinbotham			Liberal	Nathaniel Higinbotham			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Berthier	February 27, 1875	Anselme-Homère Pâquet			Liberal	Edward Octavian Cuthbert			Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Two Mountains	February 26, 1875	Wilfrid Prévost			Liberal	Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky			Independent	Election declared void	No
Renfrew South	February 20, 1875	John Lorn McDougall			Liberal	John Lorn McDougall			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
London	February 18, 1875	John Walker			Liberal	James Harshaw Fraser			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void	No
Huron South	February 11, 1875	Malcolm Colin Cameron			Liberal	Thomas Greenway			Independent	Election declared void.	No
Middlesex East	January 28, 1875	Crowell Willson			Liberal-Conservative	Duncan Macmillan			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Halton	January 25, 1875	Daniel Black Chisholm			Liberal-Conservative	William McCraney			Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Toronto East	January 18, 1875	John O'Donohoe			Liberal-Conservative	Samuel Platt			Independent	Election declared void.	No
L'Assomption	January 16, 1875	Hilaire Hurteau			Liberal-Conservative	Hilaire Hurteau			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal Centre	January 12, 1875	Michael Patrick Ryan			Liberal-Conservative	Bernard Devlin			Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Chambly	December 30, 1874	Pierre Basile Benoit			Conservative	Amable Jodoin			Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Kingston	December 29, 1874	John A. Macdonald			Liberal-Conservative	John A. Macdonald			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Simcoe North	December 26, 1874	Herman Henry Cook			Liberal	Herman Henry Cook			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria North	December 22, 1874	James Maclennan			Liberal	James Maclennan			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Niagara	December 22, 1874	Josiah Burr Plumb			Conservative	Josiah Burr Plumb			Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria	December 17, 1874	William Ross			Liberal	Charles James Campbell			Conservative	Appointed to Collector of Customs at Halifax.	No
Colchester	December 17, 1874	Thomas McKay			Liberal-Conservative	Thomas McKay			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Leeds North and Grenville North	December 16, 1874	Charles Frederick Ferguson			Liberal-Conservative	Charles Frederick Ferguson			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Norfolk South	December 16, 1874	John Stuart			Liberal	William Wallace			Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Wellington Centre	December 13, 1874	George Turner Orton			Liberal-Conservative	George Turner Orton			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Northumberland East	December 12, 1874	James Lyons Biggar			Independent Liberal	James Lyons Biggar			Independent Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Joliette	December 10, 1874	Louis François Georges Baby			Conservative	Louis François Georges Baby			Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal West	December 10, 1874	Frederick Mackenzie			Liberal	Frederick Mackenzie			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Richmond—Wolfe	December 4, 1874	Henry Aylmer			Liberal	Henry Aylmer			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Northumberland West	November 17, 1874	William Kerr			Liberal	William Kerr			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Lincoln	November 17, 1874	James Norris			Liberal	James Norris			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Argenteuil	November 4, 1874	John Abbott			Liberal-Conservative	Lemuel Cushing, Jr.			Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Renfrew North	November 4, 1874	Peter White			Conservative	William Murray			Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Addington	October 28, 1874	Schuyler Shibley			Conservative	Schuyler Shibley			Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Digby	October 26, 1874	Edwin Randolph Oakes			Liberal-Conservative	William Berrian Vail			Liberal	Appointed to the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia.	No
Renfrew South	October 24, 1874	John Lorn McDougall			Liberal	John Lorn McDougall			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Essex	October 22, 1874	William McGregor			Liberal	William McGregor			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Cornwall	October 20, 1874	Alexander Francis Macdonald			Liberal	Alexander Francis Macdonald			Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Provencher	September 3, 1874	Louis Riel			Independent	Louis Riel			Independent	Expelled from the House of Commons	Yes
Marquette	August 25, 1874	Robert Cunningham			Liberal	Joseph O'Connell Ryan			Liberal	Death, Ryan awarded seat upon re-examination of votes cast.	Yes
Elgin East	August 11, 1874	William Harvey			Liberal	Colin MacDougall			Liberal	Death	Yes
Napierville	August 4, 1874	Antoine-Aimé Dorion			Liberal	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine			Liberal	Appointed Chief Justice of Quebec.	Yes
Verchères	July 25, 1874	Félix Geoffrion			Liberal	Félix Geoffrion			Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	Yes
Oxford South	May 23, 1874	Ebenezer Vining Bodwell			Liberal	James Atchison Skinner			Liberal	Appointed Superintendent of the Welland Canal.	Yes
Durham West	April 7, 1874	Edmund B. Wood			Liberal	Harvey William Burk			Liberal	Appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba.	Yes

References

• Parliament of Canada–Elected in By-Elections

See also

• List of federal by-elections in Canada

Notes and References

1. Elections Canada, A History of the Vote in Canada , Chapter 2: From a Privilege to a Right 1867–1919, n.d. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
2. Book: Journals of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada. Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. 1877. 11. 264. 2015-06-24.