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57 seats of theLegislative Assembly of Manitoba 29 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of Election Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1981 Manitoba general election was held on November 17, 1981 to elect Members of theLegislative Assembly of the Province ofManitoba, Canada. It was won by the oppositionNew Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governingProgressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while theManitoba Liberal Party was shut out from the legislature for the only time in its history. The newly formedProgressive 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 byWilson 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 leaderSidney 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.
| 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.
| New Democratic | 47.38% | |||
| PC | 43.82% | |||
| Liberal | 6.70% | |||
| Others | 2.10% | |||
| New Democratic | 59.65% | |||
| PC | 40.35% | |||
Party key:
Note: There was one vacant seat at the time of the election.
(incumbent) denotes incumbent.
| 1981 Manitoba general election:Concordia | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| New Democratic | Peter Fox | 5,333 | 60.91 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Scotty McVicar | 2,586 | 29.54 | |||||
| Liberal | Gail Stapon | 309 | 3.53 | |||||
| Progressive | Josephine Young | 306 | 3.50 | |||||
| Independent | Bob Fraser | 221 | 2.52 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 8,755 | – | ||||||
| Rejected | 15 | – | ||||||
| Eligible voters / Turnout | 12,589 | 69.54 | ||||||
Source(s) Source:Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999).Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999(PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. | ||||||||
| 1981 Manitoba general election:Elmwood | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Russell Doern | 5,140 | 67.83 | 16.72 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Eveline Holtmann | 1,910 | 25.20 | -15.35 | ||||
| Liberal | Eric Wood | 347 | 4.58 | -3.76 | ||||
| Progressive | Curtis Bloodworth | 181 | 2.39 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 7,578 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected | 36 | – | ||||||
| Eligible voters / Turnout | 11,506 | 66.17 | -6.17 | |||||
Source(s) Source:Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999).Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999(PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. | ||||||||
Riel:
| 1981 Manitoba general election:St. Johns | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| New Democratic | Donald Malinowski | 4,004 | 56.99 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Cilinsky | 1,785 | 25.41 | |||||
| Liberal | Henry Kowlowski | 674 | 9.59 | |||||
| Progressive | Bernie Bellan | 446 | 6.35 | |||||
| Communist | William Cecil Ross | 117 | 1.67 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 7,026 | |||||||
| Rejected ballots | 70 | |||||||
| Turnout | 7,096 | 67.18 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 10,562 | |||||||
| 1981 Manitoba general election:St. Vital | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Jim Walding | 5,504 | 52.80 | +11.18 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | John Robertson | 4,236 | 40.64 | +4.69 | ||||
| Liberal | Gord Patterson | 684 | 6.56 | -15.87 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 10,424 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected votes | 34 | |||||||
| Turnout | 10,458 | 80.61 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 12,974 | |||||||
| New Democratichold | Swing | +3.24 | ||||||
| 1981 Manitoba general election:Turtle Mountain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Brian Ransom | 4,775 | 72.36 | 29.99 | ||||
| New Democratic | Joan Johannson | 1,660 | 25.16 | – | ||||
| Independent | Bill Harrison | 164 | 2.49 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 6,599 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected | 33 | – | ||||||
| Eligible voters / Turnout | 10,533 | 62.96 | – | |||||
Source(s) Source:Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999).Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999(PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. | ||||||||
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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