1965 Canadian federal election

← 1963 November 8, 1965 1968 →
← outgoing members elected members →
265 seats in theHouse of Commons 133 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	74.8%[1] ( 4.4pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lester B. Pearson John Diefenbaker Tommy Douglas Party Liberal Progressive Conservative New Democratic Leader since January 16, 1958 December 14, 1956 August 3, 1961 Leader's seat Algoma East Prince Albert Burnaby—Coquitlam Last election 128 seats, 41.52% 95 seats, 32.72% 17 seats, 13.24% Seats before 128 95 17 Seats won 131 97 21 Seat change 3 2 4 Popular vote 3,099,521 2,500,113 1,381,658 Percentage 40.18% 32.41% 17.91% Swing 1.34pp 0.31pp 4.67pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Réal Caouette Robert N. Thompson Party Ralliement créditiste Social Credit Leader since September 1, 1963 July 7, 1961 Leader's seat Villeneuve Red Deer Last election New party[a] 24 seats, 11.92% Seats before 19 4 Seats won 9 5 Seat change 10 1 Popular vote 359,258 282,454 Percentage 4.66%[i] 3.66% Swing New party 8.26pp
The Canadian parliament after the 1965 election
Prime Minister before election Lester B. Pearson Liberal Prime Minister after election Lester B. Pearson Liberal

The1965 Canadian federal election was held on November 8, 1965, to elect members of theHouse of Commons of Canada of the27th Parliament ofCanada. TheLiberal Party ofPrime MinisterLester B. Pearson was re-elected to government, winning more seats than any other party. It won more seats in the House even though it received a smaller share of the popular vote. It fell short of amajority government. It formed a minority government that due to support from other MPs, lasted three years.

On September 7, 1965, for the first time ever, theelection writ was announced on live television across Canada by Prime Minister Lester Pearson.^[2] The networks then broadcast responses to the election announcement from all four House of Commons opposition leaders.^[2]

The Liberals campaigned on their record of having kept the promises made in the1963 campaign, which included job creation, lowering income taxes, higher wages, higher family allowances and student loans. They promised to implement a nationalMedicare program by 1967, and theCanada Pension Plan system of public pensions. The party also urged voters to give them a majority for "five more years of prosperity". The party campaigned under the slogans, "Good Things Happen When a Government Cares About People", and, "For Continued Prosperity". However, the Liberals came up two seats short of a majority, largely due to being virtually nonexistent in the Prairies for the second consecutive election. They actually lost five seats in the region, the only survivor being Veterans Affairs MinisterRoger Teillet.

TheProgressive Conservative Party ofJohn Diefenbaker, campaigning with the slogan, "Policies for People, Policies for Progress", gained a small number of seats. Despite losing a second time, Diefenbaker refused to resign as party leader, and was eventually forced from the position by a campaign by the party presidentDalton Camp. Diefenbaker subsequently ran for re-election as leader in the party's1967 leadership convention, but lost toRobert Stanfield.

Old age pensions were an important issue in this campaign. The Liberal Party pointed to having increased the pension to $75 per month for persons 70 years of age and older, planned to reduce the eligibility age to 65 by 1970 and also promised a "Canada Assistance Program" payment for seniors with lower incomes. The PCs promised to increase OAP to $100 per month for all those 70 years old and over.

TheNew Democratic Party ofTommy Douglas, campaigning under the slogan, "Fed up? Speak up! Vote for the New Democrats!", increased its share of the popular vote by more than four and a half percentage points, and became the third largest party in the House of Commons. However, it won only four more seats as it continued to fail to make the electoral break-through that was hoped for when the party was founded in 1960.

TheSocial Credit Party of Canada split in two before this election.Réal Caouette ledFrench-Canadian Socreds out of the party into the newRalliement créditiste (Social Credit Rally) but lost more than half of the party's Quebec seats.Robert N. Thompson continued to lead the Social Credit Party in English-speaking Canada, and actually managed to gain one seat outside Quebec although it was still fewer than the French-Canadian breakaway party. However, even the combined seat totals of the two factions would not have been enough to prevent the NDP from replacing Social Credit as the third largest party. The election would be the last time that the Social Credit Party elected federal candidates outside Quebec.

This was the first election for theRhinoceros Party of Canada, a satirical party led byCornelius the First. The party fielded only one candidate. Cornelius, a resident of theGranby zoo, did not seek election because Canadian election law does not permitrhinoceroses (or other zoo animals) to be nominated.

In order to govern, the minority Liberals relied on theNew Democratic Party and occasionally other smaller opposition parties in order to remain in power. Pearson announced his intention to resign as Liberal leader in December 1967 and was replaced the following April byPierre Trudeau. Having served just short of five years, Pearson is the longest-serving Canadian prime minister to have never led a majority government.

Notably, this election marked the last time that a single conservative party did not win an absolute majority of the vote in Alberta (although the totals of the Progressive Conservatives and Social Credit combined did add up to over two thirds of the vote in that province).

Liberal Party:

• $500 million for medical and dental research over 15 years;
• $40 million university scholarship program over 2 years;
• improve crop insurance for farmers;
• create a national dairy marketing board;
• allow full-time farm workers to participate in Unemployment Insurance;
• increase old age security payments;
• $100 million programs to build roads in northern Canada;
• $25 million to support the coal industry inNova Scotia.

Progressive Conservative Party:

• increase grants to universities;
• special tax deduction for gifts to universities;
• grants to support medical and dental research;
• establish a federal government grain agency;
• provide grants to farmers;
• increase old age security payments from $75 per month to $100 per month for senior citizens over the age of 70;
• create a national water conservation program, and divert water from northern Canada to southern regions;
• develop hydro-electric potential ofNelson River,Peace River and theBay of Fundy;
• reduce corporate and personal income taxes;
• provide tax deductions for home-owners.

New Democratic Party:

• implement a nationalmedicare program by July 1, 1967;
• eliminate university tuition fees;
• provide grants for universities' capital costs;
• increased funding for technical training;
• increase the minimum price for wheat;
• increase the old age security payment from $75 per month to $100 per month at age 65;
• implement economic planning program that lays down guidelines for wages and prices;
• halt unjustified price increases.

Social Credit Party:

• increased federal aid for education;
• introduce a non-compulsory medicare program;
• require theBank of Canada to provide loans for government capital projects.

Ralliement des creditistes/Social Credit Rally:

• in lieu of a medicare program, provide government allowance to individuals to buy private medical insurance;
• subsidize farmers' crop losses;
• increase old age security payments to $100 per month immediately, and to $125 per month over time;
• require theBank of Canada to pay $15 million of dividends to Canadians.

Source:The Globe and Mail newspaper, October 1965.

Most MPs were elected usingFirst-past-the-post voting. ButHalifax andthe riding of Queen's (PEI) were two-seat districts, electing their MPs usingplurality block voting. After this election, single-winner first past the post would be the only electoral system used to elect MPs.^[3]

Notes:

"% change" refers to change from previous election

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

¹ "Previous" refers to the results of the previous election, not the party standings in the House of Commons prior to dissolution.

• xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 27th Canadian Parliament

• Saywell, John, ed. (1966).Canadian Annual Review for 1965. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• LeDuc, Lawrence; Pammett, Jon H.; McKenzie, Judith L.; Turcotte, André (2010).Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics. Toronto: Dundurn Press.ISBN 978-1-55488-886-3.

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