1927 Manitoba general election

The 1927 Manitoba general election was held on 28 June 1927 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. The result was a second consecutive victory for Manitoba farmers.

This was the first election in Manitoba history to elect MLAs through casting of ranked ballots in all districts. Ten candidates were elected in Winnipeg through Single transferable vote. The other districts elected MLAs through Instant-runoff voting.

The result was a second consecutive victory for the Progressive Party of Manitoba, which was supported by the United Farmers of Manitoba. The Progressives, led by Premier John Bracken, won twenty-nine seats out of fifty-five to win their second majority government. During the campaign, the Progressives stressed that they were not a party in the traditional sense and promised "A business (not a party) government". Many Progressive candidates simply described themselves as Bracken supporters.

The Conservatives won fifteen seats under the leadership of Fawcett Taylor, an improvement from seven in the election of 1922. This election re-established the Conservatives as the leading opposition party in Manitoba, and made the party a credible challenger for government in the next election.

The Manitoba Liberal Party was unable to regain the support it had lost to the Progressive Party in the previous election. The Liberals won seven seats under the new leadership of Hugh Robson, down one from their 1922 total. After the election, many senior Liberals began to work for an electoral alliance with the Progressives. Robson, who opposed this plan, was persuaded to resign as leader in 1930. The alliance was formalized in 1932.

The Independent Labour Party fell to three seats, down from six in the previous election. All three members, including party leader John Queen, were elected in the city of Winnipeg.

Independent candidate John Edmison was also re-elected in Brandon.

Jacob Penner ran in Winnipeg as a Communist candidate, but was not successful.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
				1922	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Progressive	John Bracken		28	29			32.4%
	Conservative	Fawcett Taylor		7	15			27.2%
	Liberal	Hugh Robson		8	7			20.7%
	Independent Labour	John Queen		6	3			10.5%
	Communist
	Independent				1
Total				55	55			100%

Popular vote Progressive   32.40% Conservative   27.20% Liberal   20.70% Ind. Labour   10.50% Others   9.20%

Seats summary Progressive   52.73% Conservative   27.27% Liberal   12.73% Ind. Labour   5.45% Others   1.82%

See also

• List of Manitoba political parties

Results by electoral division

Quotas in the single-member districts are the simple majority (50 percent plus 1).

Arthur

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Duncan Lloyd McLeod	57.6%	1,226
	Conservative	J. Arthur Ross	42.4%	902
Electorate: 2,732   Valid: 2,128   Quota: 1,065   Turnout: 77.9%

Assiniboia

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Conservative	Joseph Cotter	32.4%	1,380		1,963
	Independent Labour	Robert B. Russell	31.0%	1,320		1,535
	Independent Progressive	Charles L. Richardson	13.3%	566	668
	Liberal	Andrew W. Myles	12.2%	520	659
	Progressive	Alexander S. Pildrum	11.1%	471
Electorate: 5,277   Valid: 4,257   Quota: 2,129   Turnout: 80.9%

Beautiful Plains

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	Adalbert J.M. Poole	48.0%	1,360	1,549
	Conservative	Ernest H. Whelpley	34.0%	965	1,153
	Liberal	Stanley H. Kerr	18.0%	511
Electorate: 4,150   Valid: 2,836   Quota: 1,419   Turnout: 68.3%

Birtle

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	John Pratt	45.2%	1,134	1,215
	Liberal	Albert J. McLeod	29.5%	742	1,071
	Conservative	Alfred S. Arnold	25.3%	635
Electorate: 3,153   Valid: 2,511   Quota: 1,256   Turnout: 71.5%

Brandon City

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent	John H. Edmison	64.7%	3,256
	Independent Labour	William Hill	25.6%	1,288
	Progressive	Harry William Cater	9.7%	489
Electorate: 6,316   Valid: 5,033   Quota: 2,517   Turnout: 79.7%

Carillon

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Albert Prefontaine	77.8%	1,604
	Liberal	Thomas B. Molloy	22.2%	458
Electorate: 2,806   Valid: 2,062   Quota: 1,032   Turnout: 73.5%

Cypress

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	William H. Spinks	46.8%	1,235	1,320
	Progressive	Andrew Moore	41.4%	1,091	1,189
	Liberal	J.F. Davidson	11.8%	311
Electorate: 3,313   Valid: 2,637   Quota: 1,319   Turnout: 79.6%

Dauphin

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	Robert Ferguson	39.5%	1,022	1,350
	Progressive	George Palmer	35.5%	920	1,064
	Liberal	Archibald Esplen	25.0%	647
Electorate: 3,729   Valid: 2,589   Quota: 1,295   Turnout: 69.4%

Deloraine

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	Hugh McKenzie	45.9%	1,174	1,299
	Conservative	Arthur T. Hainsworth	39.7%	1,014	1,147
	Liberal	Peter Spence	14.4%	369
Electorate: 3,542   Valid: 2,557   Quota: 1,279   Turnout: 72.2%

Dufferin

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	John Munn	56.9%	1,790
	Conservative	A.E. Shewfelt	33.3%	1,047
	Liberal	G.A. Hall	9.8%	307
Electorate: 4,538   Valid: 3,144   Quota: 1,573   Turnout: 69.3%

Emerson

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Liberal–Progressive	Robert Curran	30.8%	793			975
	Liberal	Herbert Henry Wright	25.4%	652			787
	Independent	J.K. Kulackowsky	17.5%	449		637
	Independent	Dmytro Yakimischak	14.2%	364	371
	Conservative	Roy Whitman	12.2%	313
	Independent	P. Tanchuk	N/A	Retired
Electorate: 4,248   Valid: 2,571   Quota: 1,286   Turnout: 60.5%

Ethelbert

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent Farmer	Nicholas Hryhorczuk	58.7%	1,302
	Independent	Peter Melnyk	41.3%	917
Electorate: 3,710   Valid: 2,219   Quota: 1,110   Turnout: 59.8%

Fairford

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	Stuart Garson	40.1%	437	501
	Liberal	Albert W. Kirvan	32.8%	358	416
	Conservative	A.H. Francis	27.1%	296
Electorate: 1,847   Valid: 1,091   Quota: 546   Turnout: 59.0%

Fisher

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Nicholas Bachynsky	60.1%	754
	Conservative	Henry L. Mabb	24.7%	310
	Liberal	George Prout	14.3%	179
	Independent	Charles Ciupak	0.9%	12
Electorate: 2,132   Valid: 1,255   Quota: 628   Turnout: 58.9%

Gilbert Plains

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Arthur Berry	53.0%	1,021
	Conservative	Samuel Hughes	30.7%	592
	Liberal	J.G. Vance	16.3%	315
Electorate: 3,041   Valid: 1,928   Quota: 965   Turnout: 63.4%

Gimli

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Progressive	Ingimar Ingaldson	35.7%	1,026			1,231
	Liberal	Einar Jonasson	27.9%	801			1,038
	Independent	Michael Rojeski	19.7%	567		619
	Independent	Nicholas Boychuk	8.0%	230	238
	Conservative	F. Gisli Sigmundson	6.9%	198	199
	Independent	Dymtro Derhak	1.7%	49
Electorate: 5,505   Valid: 2,871   Quota: 1,436   Turnout: 52.1%

Gladstone

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	William Morton	67.8%	1,311
	Independent	John Foster	33.2%	624
Electorate: 3,952   Valid: 1,935   Quota: 968   Turnout: 49.0%

Glenwood

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Liberal	James Breakey	45.9%	1,072	1,217
	Progressive	Sam Forrest	30.9%	721	850
	Conservative	Fred Cross	23.3%	544
Electorate: 3,141   Valid: 2,337   Quota: 1,169   Turnout: 74.4%

Hamiota

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Thomas Wolstenholme	52.5%	1,086
	Conservative	William Edward Warren	25.1%	520
	Liberal	William Braid	22.3%	462
Electorate: 3,538   Valid: 2,068   Quota: 1,035   Turnout: 58.5%

Iberville

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent Progressive	Arthur R. Boivin	N/A	Acclaimed
Electorate: 2,236   Valid: 0   Quota: 0   Turnout: N/A

Kildonan and St. Andrews

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	James McLenaghen	37.7%	1,387	1,530
	Liberal	Walter Henry Gabriel Gibbs	31.5%	1,159	1,456
	Progressive	Charles A. Tanner	30.8%	1,134
Electorate: 5,211   Valid: 3,680   Quota: 1,841   Turnout: 70.6%

Killarney

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Conservative	John Laughlin	56.0%	1,189
	Progressive	Andrew E. Foster	44.0%	934
Electorate: 2,814   Valid: 2,123   Quota: 1,062   Turnout: 75.4%

Lakeside

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Douglas Lloyd Campbell	53.1%	1,442
	Conservative	John P. Bend	46.9%	1,274
Electorate: 3,515   Valid: 2,716   Quota: 1,359   Turnout: 77.3%

Lansdowne

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Liberal	Tobias Norris	78.0%	1,947
	Conservative	E.D. Alder	22.0%	550
Electorate: 3,988   Valid: 2,497   Quota: 1,249   Turnout: 62.6%

La Verendrye

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Philippe Adjutor Talbot	51.3%	1,074
	Liberal	J. Napoleon Landry	27.7%	581
	Conservative	Paul Royal	21.0%	440
Electorate: 4,061   Valid: 2,095   Quota: 1,048   Turnout: 51.6%

Manitou

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	Joseph Lusignan	44.8%	1,330	1,467
	Progressive	George Compton	37.0%	1,097	1,338
	Liberal	Charles A. Jopp	18.2%	541
Electorate: 4,355   Valid: 2,968   Quota: 1,485   Turnout: 68.2%

Minnedosa

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	George Compton	41.1%	1,377	1,595
	Progressive	Norman W.P. Shuttleworth	41.9%	1,405	1,581
	Liberal	Walter Cooper Richardson	17.0%	572
Electorate: 4,759   Valid: 3,354   Quota: 1,678   Turnout: 70.5%

Morden and Rhineland

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Conservative	Hugh McGavin	38.9%	1,016	1,252
	Progressive	John Henry Black	41.2%	1,075	1,132
	Liberal	Peter Buerckert	19.9%	518
Electorate: 3,925   Valid: 2,609   Quota: 1,305   Turnout: 66.5%

Morris

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	William Clubb	85.4%	1,663
	Liberal	Walter J. Fulton	14.6%	285
Electorate: 3,091   Valid: 1,948   Quota: 975   Turnout: 63.0%

Mountain

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Liberal	Irving Cleghorn	51.4%	1,578
	Progressive	Charles Cannon	48.6%	1,494
Electorate: 4,916   Valid: 3,072   Quota: 1,537   Turnout: 62.5%

Norfolk

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	John Muirhead	50.6%	1,341
	Conservative	Reuben Waugh	49.4%	1,307
Electorate: 3,291   Valid: 2,648   Quota: 1,325   Turnout: 80.5%

Portage la Prairie

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Conservative	Fawcett Taylor	66.5%	1,580
	Liberal	Sydney McKay	33.5%	795
Electorate: 2,698   Valid: 2,375   Quota: 1,188   Turnout: 88.0%

Roblin

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Conservative	Frederic Newton	51.3%	1,057
	Progressive	H.H. Simpson	35.6%	734
	Liberal	D. Rostoky	13.1%	270
Electorate: 3,243   Valid: 2,061   Quota: 1,031   Turnout: 63.6%

Rockwood

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	William McKinnell	54.1%	1,486
	Conservative	Major Proctor	26.2%	719
	Liberal	Arthur Lobb	17.3%	474
	Independent	Michael Slobadianek	2.4%	66
Electorate: 4,494   Valid: 2,745   Quota: 1,373   Turnout: 61.0%

Rupertsland

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent Progressive	Herbert Beresford	48.9%	216	235
	Liberal	Fred C. Hamilton	32.8%	145	160
	Conservative	Hyman Udell	18.3%	81
Electorate: 640   Valid: 442   Quota: 222   Turnout: 69.0%

Russell

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Progressive	Isaac Griffiths	37.0%	1,227		1,431
	Conservative	Robert Peden	28.2%	936		1,311
	Liberal	William W.W. Wilson	27.2%	903	932
	Independent	Basil Lazaruk	7.7%	254
Electorate: 5,042   Valid: 3,320   Quota: 1,661   Turnout: 65.8%

St. Boniface

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Conservative	Joseph Bernier	30.9%	1,990		2,646
	Liberal	L.P. Gagnon	27.8%	1,790		2,618
	Independent Labour	Marcus Hyman	22.8%	1,469	???
	Progressive	H. Laurendeau	18.5%	1,188
Electorate: 8,692   Valid: 6,437   Quota: 3,219   Turnout: 74.1%

The ballot-counting process in this constituency was extremely controversial. Laurendeau was eliminated after the first count, and Hyman was eliminated after the second count. Gagnon was originally declared the winner on the third count by a single vote, but Bernier appealed the decision and was declared elected on recount. The final totals were: Bernier 2646, Gagnon 2618.

St. Clements

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Robert Hoey	53.4%	2,146
	Independent	Donald A. Ross	35.7%	1,436
	Independent Labour	Matthew Stanbridge	10.9%	440
Electorate: 6,172   Valid: 4,022   Quota: 2,012   Turnout: 65.2%

St. George

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Liberal	Skuli Sigfusson	45.1%	814	1,006
	Progressive	Albert E. Kristjansson	29.0%	524	597
	Conservative	Paul Reykdal	25.8%	466
Electorate: 3,522   Valid: 1,804   Quota: 903   Turnout: 51.2%

Ste. Rose

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	Maurice Dane MacCarthy	47.0%	1,055	1,161
	Conservative	Joseph Hamelin	37.0%	831	960
	Liberal	Arthur Hurst	16.0%	358
Electorate: 4,122   Valid: 2,244   Quota: 1,123   Turnout: 54.4%

Springfield

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Liberal	Murdoch Mackay	41.6%	1,389	1,507
	Progressive	Clifford Barclay	43.7%	1,459	1,489
	Conservative	Theo Stefanik	14.7%	491
Electorate: 5,140   Valid: 3,339   Quota: 1,670   Turnout: 65.0%

Swan River

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Progressive	Andrew McCleary	47.5%	1,213	1,347
	Conservative	W.H.C. Hinchcliffe	31.2%	797	1,009
	Liberal	William Henry Sims	21.4%	546
Electorate: 3,659   Valid: 2,556   Quota: 1,279   Turnout: 69.9%

The Pas

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	John Bracken	56.2%	582
	Liberal	Stephan Stephansson	43.8%	454
Electorate: 1,375   Valid: 1,036   Quota: 519   Turnout: 75.3%

Turtle Mountain

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Conservative	Richard G. Willis	55.2%	1,167
	Progressive	Duncan Henderson	44.8%	951
Electorate: 2,574   Valid: 2,113   Quota: 1,057   Turnout: 82.1%

Virden

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Progressive	Robert Mooney	N/A	Acclaimed
Electorate: 3,964   Valid: 0   Quota: 0   Turnout: N/A

Winnipeg

Eligible voters 67,124 Valid votes 50,706 Turnout: 76%

10 seats. Quota: 4,610

Winnipeg

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Conservative	John Thomas Haig	%	5,108	4,610
	Liberal	Hugh Robson	%	4,862	4,610
	Conservative	William Sanford Evans	%	4,551	4,610	4,610
	Independent Labour	John Queen	%	3,985	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	4,610
	Independent Labour	Seymour Farmer	%	3,497	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	4,610	4,610
	Progressive	William James Major	%	3,713	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	4,610	4,610
	Liberal	Edith Rogers	%	1,582	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	4,764	4,610
	Independent Labour	William Ivens	%	1,435	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	4,007	4,700
	Conservative	William Tobias	%	1,687	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	3,685	4,114
	Progressive	Edward William Montgomery	%	2,236	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	3,960
	Independent	John K. Downes	%	2,047	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	3,411
	Conservative	Theodore A. Hunt	%	1,075	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Communist	Jacob Penner	%	2,016	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Liberal	Duncan Cameron	%	1,271	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Progressive	Royal Burritt	%	1,604	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Independent Labour	R. Durward	%	993	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Liberal	W.J. Lindal	%	1,362	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Liberal	Ralph Maybank	%	1,191	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Progressive	Max Steinkopf	%	1,241	???	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Independent	Arthur Moore	%	1,153	???	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Conservative	R.A. Gillespie	%	941	???	???	???	???	???	x
	Independent Labour	Sam Cartwright	%	999	???	???	???	???	x
	Independent Progressive	F. Sedziak	%	836	???	???	???	x
	Liberal	J. MacLean	%	761	???	???	x
	Independent Labour	W.A. James	%	561	???	x
Electorate: 67,124   Valid: 50,706   Quota: 4,610   Turnout: 75.5%

• (x) = Candidate eliminated in this count.

Winnipeg:

First count (quota: 4610)

• (x)John Thomas Haig (C) 5108
• Hugh Robson (L) 4862
• (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4551
• (x)John Queen (ILP) 3985
• William Major (P) 3713
• (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 3497
• Edward Montgomery (P) 2236
• (x)John K. Downes (Ind [Moderationist]) 2047
• Jacob Penner (Comm) 2015
• William Tobias (C) 1687
• Royal Burritt (P) 1604
• (x)Edith Rogers (L) 1582
• (x)William Ivens (ILP) 1435
• W.J. Lindal (L) 1362
• Duncan Cameron (L) 1271
• Max Steinkopf (P) 1241
• Ralph Maybank (L) 1191
• Arthur Moore (Ind [Moderationist]) 1153
• Theodore A. Hunt (C) 1075
• Sam Cartwright (ILP) 999
• R. Durward (ILP) 993
• R.A. Gillespie (C) 941
• F. Sedziak (Ind P) 836
• J. MacLean (L) 761
• W.A. James (ILP) 561
• Second count: Haig surplus
• Third count: Robson surplus (Evans declared elected)
• Fourth count: Evans surplus
• Fifth count: James eliminated
• Sixth count: MacLean eliminated
• Seventh count: Sedziak eliminated
• Eight count: Cartwright eliminated
• Ninth count: Gillespie eliminated
• Tenth count: Moore eliminated
• Eleventh count: Steinkopf eliminated
• Twelfth count: Maybank eliminated (Queen declared elected)
• Thirteenth count: Queen surplus
• Fourteenth count: Lindal eliminated
• Fifteenth count: Durward eliminated (Farmer declared elected)
• Sixteenth count: Farmer surplus
• Seventeenth count: Burritt eliminated (Major declared elected)
• Eighteenth count: Major surplus
• Nineteenth count: Cameron eliminated
• Twentieth count: Penner eliminated
• Twenty-first count (Hunt eliminated):
• (x)John Thomas Haig (C) 4610
• Hugh Robson (L) 4610
• (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4610
• (x)John Queen (ILP) 4610
• (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 4610
• William Major (P) 4610
• (x)Edith Rogers (L) 4764
• (x)William Ivens (ILP) 4007
• William Tobias (C) 3685
• Edward Montgomery (P) [number not listed]
• (x)J.K. Downes (Ind [Moderationist]) 3411

Twenty-second count (final standings of elected candidates):

• (x)John Haig (C) 4610
• Hugh Robson (L) 4610
• (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4610
• (x)John Queen (ILP) 4610
• (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 4610
• William Major (P) 4610
• (x)Edith Rogers (L) 4610
• (x)William Ivens (ILP) 4700
• William Tobias (C) 4114
• Edward Montgomery (P) 3960

Sources

The first ballot results for Winnipeg and results for all other constituencies are taken from an official Manitoba government publication entitled "Manitoba elections, 1920–1941", cross-referenced with the 1928 Canadian Parliamentary Guide, and an appendix to the Manitoba government's report of the 2003 provincial election.

All ballot results for Winnipeg after the first count are taken from reports in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper. It is possible that some errors appeared in the original publication.

Post-election changes

Birtle (John Pratt leaves the government side, early in the parliament).

Lansdowne (res. Tobias Norris, 1928), 10 November 1928:

• Donald McKenzie (Liberal/Progressive) 1527
• Harvey Hicks (C) 1260

Morris (William Clubb to new cabinet post, 18 May 1929), 30 May 1929:

• William Clubb (P) accl.

Turtle Mountain (dec. Richard G. Willis, February 1929), 22 June 1929:

• Alexander Welch (C) 1327
• W.E. Campbell (P) 995

Winnipeg (res. Hugh Robson, January 1930)

Mountain (dec. Irving Cleghorn, 1930), 20 January 1930:

• Ivan Schultz (L [endorsed by Progressives]) accl.

The Liberals formed an alliance with the governing Progressives in 1932.

Brandon City (dec. John H. Edmison, 22 March 1932)