1981 Manitoba general election

The 1981 Manitoba general election was held on November 17, 1981 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the Manitoba Liberal Party was shut out from the legislature for the only time in its history. The newly formed Progressive Party failed to win any seats.

1981 Manitoba general election
November 17, 1981
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
29 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Howard Pawley Sterling Lyon Doug Lauchlan
Party New Democratic Progressive Conservative Liberal
Leader since November 4, 1979 December 6, 1975 November 30, 1980
Leader's seat Selkirk Charleswood Ran in Wolseley (lost)
Last election 23 33 1
Seats won 34 23 0
Seat change 11 10 1
Popular vote 228,784 211,602 32,373
Percentage 47.38% 43.82% 6.70%
Swing 8.76pp 4.93pp 5.59pp
Map of Election Results
Premier before election

Sterling Lyon
Progressive Conservative

 Premier after election

Howard Pawley
New Democratic

Sterling Lyon's Progressive Conservative government ran on a promise to continue investing in the province's "mega-projects" (including as a $500 million Alcan aluminum smelter, a $600 million potash mine and a "Western power grid"), and suggested that an NDP government would jeopardize these plans. The NDP campaign, which was largely co-ordinated by Wilson Parasiuk, questioned the Lyon government's fiscal accountability in such matters, noting that it had sold 50% of Trout Lake Copper Mine stock, possibly at a major loss. Jacques Bougie, the Alcan administrator for Manitoba, was also described as holding undue influence over the government.

The NDP campaign generally focused on the economy, and drew attention to the issue of Manitobans emigrating from the province because of job losses. Progressive Party leader Sidney Green described Lyon's initiatives as "bega-projects", a reference to the government's controversial fundraising with foreign corporations.

The election was considered too close to call until the final week, when the NDP campaign gained momentum.

Results
Party Party Leader # of
candidates		 Seats Popular Vote
Before1 Elected % Change # % Change
  New Democratic Howard Pawley 57 20 34 +70.0% 228,784 47.38% +8.76
  Progressive Conservative Sterling Lyon 57 32 23 -28.1% 211,602 43.82% -4.93
  Liberal Doug Lauchlan 39 1 - -100% 32,373 6.70% -5.59
Progressive Sidney Green 36 3 - -100% 8,731 1.81% +1.81
Communist Paula Fletcher 2 - - - 261 .05% -0.01
  Independent 4 1 - -100% 1,141 .24% +0.24
  Vacant 1 n.a.
Total 195 57 57 - 487,154 100%  

1 "Before" refers to standings in the Legislature at dissolution, and not to the results of the previous election. These numbers therefore reflect changes in party standings as a result of by-elections and members crossing the floor.

Popular vote
New Democratic
 
 47.38%
PC
 
 43.82%
Liberal
 
 6.70%
Others
 
 2.10%
Seats summary
New Democratic
 
 59.65%
PC
 
 40.35%

Riding results

Party key:

Note: There was one vacant seat at the time of the election.

(x) denotes incumbent.

Arthur:

Assiniboia:

Brandon East:

Brandon West:

  • Henry Carroll (NDP) 5069
  • John Allen (PC) 4634
  • David Campbell (L) 547

Burrows:

Charleswood:

  • (x)Sterling Lyon (PC) 6334
  • Toni Vosters (NDP) 3243
  • Ken Brown (L) 969
  • Demetre Mastoris (P) 231

Churchill:

  • (x)Jay Cowan (NDP) 2247
  • Mark Ingebrigtson (PC) 883
  • Andrew Kirkness (L) 266
  • Doug MacLachlan (P) 85
1981 Manitoba general election: Concordia
Party Candidate Votes%
New DemocraticPeter Fox5,33360.91
Progressive ConservativeD. Scotty McVicar2,58629.54
LiberalGail Stapon3093.53
ProgressiveJosephine Young3063.50
IndependentBob Fraser2212.52
Total valid votes 8,755
Rejected votes 15
Turnout 8,770 69.66
Electors on the lists 12,589

Dauphin:

Ellice:

  • (x)Brian Corrin (NDP) 4233
  • Gavin Scott (PC) 1712
  • Rod Cantiveros (L) 782
  • Adam Klym (P) 222
  • Bart Monaco (Ind) 56
1981 Manitoba general election: Elmwood
Party Candidate Votes%
New DemocraticRussell Doern5,14067.83
Progressive ConservativeEveline Holtmann1,91025.20
LiberalEric Wood3474.58
ProgressiveCurtis Bloodworth1812.39
Total valid votes 7,578
Rejected ballots 36
Turnout 7,614 66.17
Registered voters 11,506

Emerson:

  • (x)Albert Driedger (PC) 4376
  • Paul Dupuis]] (NDP) 4020
  • Stephen Zaretski (L) 308
  • Jack Thiessen (P) 116

Flin Flon:

Fort Garry:

  • (x)Bud Sherman (PC) 6227
  • Hans Wittich (NDP) 3705
  • Lil Haus (L) 1042
  • James Goodridge (P) 203

Fort Rouge:

Gimli:

Gladstone:

Inkster:

Interlake:

  • (x)Bill Uruski (NDP) 4599
  • Neil Dueck (PC) 2181
  • Bob Lundale (L) 372

Kildonan:

  • Mary Beth Dolin (NDP) 6794
  • Ken Galanchuk (PC) 4478
  • Alex Berkowits (L) 755
  • Dan Tokarz (P) 300

Kirkfield Park:

Lac Du Bonnet:

  • (x)Sam Uskiw (NDP) 4682
  • Bert Trainer (PC) 2809

Lakeside:

  • (x)Harry Enns (PC) 5055
  • Larry Moldowan (NDP) 2630
  • Bill Ridgeway (L) 592
  • Hubert John McCaw (P) 107

La Verendrye:

  • (x)Robert Banman (PC) 4418
  • Jim Henry (NDP) 1149
  • Alphonse Fournier (P) 704

Logan:

Minnedosa:

Morris:

Niakwa:

  • (x)Abe Kovnats (PC) 5432
  • Lloyd Schreyer (NDP) 4736
  • Doug Biggs (L) 1345

Osborne:

  • Muriel Smith (NDP) 5371
  • Ben Lindsey (PC) 2726
  • Fraser Dunford (L) 1262
  • George Buss (P) 165

Pembina:

  • (x)Donald Orchard (PC) 6361
  • Jeff Taylor (NDP) 862
  • Kenneth Popkes (L) 696
  • John Brooks (P) 274

Portage la Prairie:

  • (x)Lloyd Hyde (PC) 3620
  • Audrey Tufford (NDP) 2413
  • Hugh Moran (L) 1601

Radisson:

Rhineland:

Riel:

River East:

  • Phil Eyler (NDP) 5949
  • Harold Piercy (PC) 5903
  • Shirley Wolechuk (L) 259
  • Lindsay Ulrich (P) 177

River Heights:

  • (x)Warren Steen (PC) 4905
  • David Sanders (NDP) 3217
  • Jay Prober (L) 2526
  • Janet Lundman (P) 142

Roblin-Russell:

Rossmere:

  • (x)Vic Schroeder (NDP) 5776
  • Ian Sutherland (PC) 4293
  • William De Jong (L) 389
  • Merv Unger (P) 142

Rupertsland:

  • Elijah Harper (NDP) 3032
  • Alan Ross (L) 1004
  • Nelson Scribe, Sr. (PC) 272
  • Frances Thompson (P) 56

St. Boniface:

  • (x)Laurent Desjardins (NDP) 5844
  • Guy Savoie (L) 1925
  • Wes Rowson (PC) 1346
  • Don Forsyth (P) 106

St. James:

1981 Manitoba general election: St. Johns
Party Candidate Votes%
New DemocraticDonald Malinowski4,00456.99
Progressive ConservativeDon Cilinsky1,78525.41
LiberalHenry Kowlowski6749.59
ProgressiveBernie Bellan4466.35
CommunistWilliam Cecil Ross1171.67
Total valid votes 7,026
Rejected ballots 70
Turnout 7,096 67.18
Electors on the lists 10,562

St. Norbert:

  • (x)Gerry Mercier (PC) 5728
  • Ruth Pear (NDP) 3826
  • Grant Temple (L) 857
  • Allan Yap (P) 216
1981 Manitoba general election: St. Vital
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticJim Walding5,50452.80+11.18
Progressive ConservativeJohn Robertson4,23640.64+4.69
LiberalGord Patterson6846.56-15.87
Total valid votes 10,424 100.00
Rejected votes 34
Turnout 10,458 80.61
Electors on the lists 12,974
New Democratic hold Swing +3.24

Ste. Rose:

  • (x)A.R. Pete Adam (NDP) 4031
  • Ivan Traill (PC) 3823
  • Valerie Wilson (P) 194

Selkirk:

  • (x)Howard Pawley (NDP) 5626
  • Eugene Kinaschuk (PC) 3020
  • Max Hofford (P) 131

Seven Oaks:

  • Eugene Kostyra (NDP) 6127
  • Al Christie (PC) 2179
  • Wayne Glowacki (L) 486
  • Morely Golden (P) 367

Springfield:

Sturgeon Creek:

Swan River:

The Pas:

Thompson:

Transcona:

1981 Manitoba general election: Turtle Mountain
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeBrian Ransom4,77572.36
New DemocraticJoan Johannson1,66025.16
IndependentBill Rainbow Harrison1642.49
Total valid votes 6,599 100.00
Rejected and declined ballots 33
Turnout 6,632 62.96
Electors on the lists 10,533

Tuxedo:

  • (x)Gary Filmon (PC) 6731
  • Terri Gray (NDP) 2433
  • Beverly McCaffrey (L) 1257

Virden:

Wolseley:

Post-election changes

Henry Carroll (NDP) became (Ind), August 19, 1982. Russell Doern (NDP) became (Ind), March 7, 1984.

Fort Garry (res. Louis Sherman, August 5, 1984), October 2, 1984:

Kildonan (dec. Mary Beth Dolin, April 10, 1985), October 1, 1985:

Portage la Prairie (dec. Lloyd Hyde, August 25, 1985)

See also
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