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Manitoba general election, 1981

Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAN : Manitoba general election, 1981

The Manitoba general election of November 17, 1981 was held 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 first and only time in its history. The newly-formed Progressive Party failed to win any seats.

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 seen 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 initiaves 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.

Contents

Results

Party Party Leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular Vote
Before1 Elected % Change # % % Change |- |bgcolor="sandybrown"|     New Democratic Howard Pawley   20 34 align="right"
70.0%
  47.2%   |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     Progressive Conservative Sterling Lyon   32 23 -28.1%   43.7%   |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     Liberal Doug Lauchlan   1 - align="right"
  6.7%   |- |bgcolor=#EEAAEE|     Progressive Sidney Green   3 - align="right"
      |- |bgcolor="tomato"|     Communist Paula Fletcher   align="right"
align="right"
align="right"
      |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|     Independent   1 - align="right"
     
  Vacant 1 n.a.
Total   57 57 -   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.


Preceded by:
1977 Manitoba election 		List of Manitoba elections Followed by:
1986 Manitoba election

See also

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:

Burrows:

Charleswood:

Churchill:

Concordia:

Dauphin:

Ellice:

Elmwood:

Emerson:

Flin Flon:

Fort Garry:

Fort Rouge:

Gimli:

Gladstone:

Inkster:

Interlake:

Kildonan:

Kirkfield Park:

Lac Du Bonnet:

Lakeside:

La Verendrye:

Logan:

Minnedosa:

Morris:

Niakwa:

Osborne:

Pembina:

Portage La Prairie:

Radisson:

Rhineland:

Riel:

River East:

River Heights:

Roblin-Russell:

Rossmere:

Rupertsland:

St. Boniface:

St. James:

St. Johns:

St. Norbert:

St. Vital:

Ste. Rose:

Selkirk:

Seven Oaks:

Springfield:

Sturgeon Creek:

Swan River:

The Pas:

Thompson:

Transcona:

Turtle Mountain:

Tuxedo:

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)

 

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