1934 Ontario general election

The 1934 Ontario general election was the 19th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 19, 1934, to elect the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").[1]

1934 Ontario general election

← 1929 June 19, 1934 1937 →

90 seats in the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
46 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  CCF
Leader Mitchell Hepburn George S. Henry John Mitchell
as party president
Party Liberal Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since December 17, 1930 1930 n.a.
Leader's seat Elgin York East Ran in Wentworth (Lost)
Last election 11 90 n.a.
Seats won 64 17 1
Seat change Increase53 Decrease73 Increase1
Percentage 46.56% 39.78% 6.98%
Swing Increase15.06pp Decrease16.88pp Increase6.98pp

Premier before election

George S. Henry
Conservative

Premier after election

Mitchell Hepburn
Liberal

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Mitchell Hepburn, defeated the governing Ontario Conservative Party, led by George Stewart Henry. Hepburn was assisted by Harry Nixon's Progressive bloc of MLAs who ran in this election as Liberal-Progressives on the understanding that they would support a Hepburn led government. Nixon, himself, became a senior cabinet minister in the Hepburn government.

Campaign

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The campaign was brief and bitter, and both sides gained ammunition to use during that time.[2] The Liberals were helped by the effects of the Great Depression, in much the same manner as their colleagues in the recent elections in Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.[a][2] They also aggressively pledged to reduce the cost of government once in office,[3] and downplayed the issue of temperance, by pledging to bring recently passed amendments to liquor legislation[4] into force as soon as they attained office.[5]

Under their new leader Mitchell Hepburn, the Liberals were considered to possess more energy in campaigning as a party than at any time since the collapse of the Ross government in 1905.[2] In several meetings (starting in Milton in April 1934), Hepburn especially accused several Conservatives of operating a "tollgate system" in agencies selling British liquor to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario through which they earned kickbacks based on the volume sold.[5]

The Liberals fielded candidates in 81 of the 90 ridings. None of the remaining nine were won by Conservatives: they were taken by 5 Liberal-Progressives, 1 UFO, 1 Liberal-Labour, 1 CCF and 1 Independent.

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1934)
Candidates Lib Con CCF L-P UFO Lib-Lab Ind Ind-Lib Comm Other Total
2 34 39 3 1 1 78
3 28 31 22 2 6 1 1 2 93
4 13 13 10 1 4 1 6 4 52
5 3 4 2 2 1 3 5 20
6 3 3 3 2 3 4 18
Total 81 90 37 5 2 1 14 3 13 15 261
 
Election ad for the Ontario Conservatives run in the 1934 Ontario general election

Outcome

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The Liberals won a majority in the Legislature, while the Conservatives lost four out of every five seats that they had won in the previous election. Eight Cabinet ministers were defeated, and no riding west of York County returned a Tory MPP.[6] Northern Ontario went solidly Liberal.[7]

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, in its first provincial election, ran 37 candidates[8] and won a seat in the Ontario Legislature for the first time with the election of Samuel Lawrence in Hamilton East.

The United Farmers of Ontario had affiliated with the CCF but disaffiliated immediately prior to the 1934 election due to a row over suspected Communist infiltration of the party. Accordingly, two UFO nominated candidates, incumbent MLA Farquhar Oliver (Grey South) and Leslie Warner Oke, former MLA for Lambton East, ran as UFO candidates rather than with the CCF. Oliver was re-elected and later supported the Hepburn government.

Post-election developments

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Three byelections had to be held shortly afterwards in August 1934:

Redistribution and reduction of ridings

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Toronto ridings as constituted in 1926
 
Toronto riding boundaries after 1934 redistribution

The Legislative Assembly was reduced from 112 seats to 90 as a result of an Act passed in 1933:[10]

Abolished ridings New ridings
Mergers of ridings
Riding abolished; parts transferred to other ridings
Change of name
  1. ^ Part transferred to Carleton.
  2. ^ Also absorbed part of Bruce South.
  3. ^ Also absorbed part of Middlesex North.

A subsequent Act in 1934 modified the limits of several Toronto ridings.[11]

Results

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Elections to the 19th Parliament of Ontario (1934)[12]
Political party Party leader MPPs Votes
Candidates[13] 1929 Dissol. 1934 ± # % ± (pp)
Liberal Mitchell Hepburn 81 11 16 64 53  727,168 46.56% 15.06 
Conservative George Stewart Henry 90 90 88 17 73  621,218 39.78% 16.88 
Co-operative Commonwealth John Mitchell[a 1] 37 1 1  108,961 6.98% New
Liberal–Progressive[a 2] Harry Nixon 5 7 4 5 2  45,090 2.89% 1.92 
Independent 14 1 1  19,103 1.22% 1.16 
United Farmers Farquhar Oliver 2 1 1 1   8,648 0.55% 0.71 
Liberal–Labour 1 1 1  5,877 0.38% New
Independent Conservative 3 2 2 2  423 0.03% 2.13 
Labour 1 1 1 1  216 0.01% 0.84 
Independent Liberal 3 12,284 0.79% New
Communist 13 9,559 0.61% 0.46 
Socialist Labour 5 1,626 0.10% New
Farmer–Labour 1 608 0.04% New
Independent Labour 1 534 0.03% New
Independent Dry 1 165 0.01% New
  Workers 1 158 0.01% New
  Dry Liberal 1 107 0.01% New
Socialist 1 81 0.01% New
Total 261 112 112 90 -22 1,561,826 100.00%
Blank and invalid ballots 17,267
Registered voters / turnout 2,145,255 73.61% 16.99 
  1. ^ (party president)
  2. ^ Progressive and Liberal-Progressive 1929 results are combined.
Seats and popular vote by party
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
 Liberal
64 / 90
46.56%
15.06 15.06
 
 Conservative
17 / 90
39.78%
-16.88
 
 Liberal–Progressive
5 / 90
2.89%
-1.92
 
 Co-operative Commonwealth
1 / 90
6.96%
6.96 6.96
 
 United Farmers
1 / 90
0.56%
-0.71
 
 Liberal–Labour
1 / 90
0.38%
0.38 0.38
 
 Prohibitionist
0 / 90
0.00%
-2.54
 
 Other
1 / 90
2.87%
0.25 0.25
 

Synopsis of results

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Results by riding - 1934 Ontario general election[12][14]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1]
Votes
Name[a 2] Party Votes Share Margin
#
Margin
%
Lib Con CCF L-Prog UFO LL Ind Comm Ind-Lib Ind-Oth Other Total
 
Addington Con 7,223 53.81% 1,024 7.63% 79.40% 6,199 7,223 13,422
Algoma—Manitoulin Lib 9,247 62.87% 3,786 25.74% 79.07% 9,247 5,461 14,708
Brant L-P 9,402 68.65% 5,108 37.30% 70.69% 4,294 9,402 13,696
Brantford Ind 8,349 50.17% 2,014 12.10% 81.55% 6,335 1,958 8,349 16,642
Bruce Lib 10,100 60.07% 3,387 20.15% 77.98% 10,100 6,713 16,813
Carleton Con 6,842 56.36% 1,545 12.73% 72.73% 5,297 6,842 12,139
Cochrane North Lib 5,304 53.41% 1,981 19.95% 79.83% 5,304 3,323 770 534 9,931
Cochrane South Lib 8,183 47.02% 3,061 17.59% 71.56% 8,183 5,122 2,975 210 759 156 17,405
Dufferin—Simcoe Lib 8,393 53.60% 1,126 7.19% 76.21% 8,393 7,267 15,660
Durham Lib 6,232 45.75% 268 1.97% 74.32% 6,232 5,964 1,425 13,621
Elgin Lib 11,922 56.58% 2,772 13.15% 82.13% 11,922 9,150 21,072
Essex North Lib 7,459 50.71% 3,030 20.60% 77.04% 7,459 4,429 1,812 1,009 14,709
Essex South Lib 7,110 55.56% 1,423 11.12% 66.68% 7,110 5,687 12,797
Fort William Lib 9,100 62.87% 3,725 25.73% 82.43% 9,100 5,375 14,475
Glengarry Lib 6,391 61.55% 2,398 23.09% 68.33% 6,391 3,993 10,384
Grenville—Dundas Con 8,859 53.97% 1,302 7.93% 73.56% 7,557 8,859 16,416
Grey North L-P 9,770 60.52% 3,396 21.04% 79.81% 6,374 9,770 16,144
Grey South UFO 8,301 59.66% 2,689 19.33% 73.46% 5,612 8,301 13,913
Haldimand—Norfolk Lib 12,164 56.43% 2,771 12.85% 74.32% 12,164 9,393 21,557
Halton L-P 6,929 50.00% 1,301 9.39% 74.60% 5,628 1,301 6,929 13,858
Hamilton East CCF 10,458 54.86% 3,245 17.02% 67.64% 7,213 10,458 416 815 162 19,064
Hamilton Centre Lib 11,250 51.71% 3,222 14.81% 70.34% 11,250 8,028 2,478 21,756
Hamilton—Wentworth Lib 11,127 57.18% 4,284 22.01% 77.45% 11,127 6,843 1,491 19,461
Hastings East Con 6,257 51.73% 418 3.46% 78.35% 5,839 6,257 12,096
Hastings West Lib 9,627 53.26% 1,179 6.52% 80.01% 9,627 8,448 18,075
Huron Lib 8,254 57.52% 2,281 15.90% 78.86% 8,254 5,973 122 14,349
Huron—Bruce Lib 9,591 65.78% 4,602 31.56% 73.25% 9,591 4,989 14,580
Kenora L-L 5,877 62.41% 2,337 24.82% 71.92% 3,540 5,877 9,417
Kent East L-P 8,399 64.60% 4,064 31.26% 72.89% 4,335 8,399[a 3] 267 13,001
Kent West Lib 11,016 58.81% 4,879 26.04% 74.30% 11,016 6,137 1,580 18,733
Kingston Con 7,634 53.92% 1,109 7.83% 79.02% 6,525 7,634 14,159
Lambton East Lib 7,835 56.80% 2,406 17.44% 74.64% 7,835 5,429 347 183 13,794
Lambton West Lib 7,473 54.75% 2,307 16.90% 76.57% 7,473 5,166 1,010 13,649
Lanark Con 8,468 52.27% 737 4.55% 73.20% 7,731 8,468 16,199
Leeds Lib 10,195 53.24% 1,242 6.49% 77.95% 10,195 8,953 19,148
Lincoln Lib 12,924 48.85% 1,436 5.43% 76.94% 12,924 11,488 2,047 26,459
London Lib 16,442 54.69% 3,119 10.37% 74.95% 16,442 13,323 300 30,065
Middlesex North Lib 7,753 54.75% 1,345 9.50% 72.72% 7,753 6,408 14,161
Middlesex South Lib 8,239 60.33% 2,821 20.66% 73.33% 8,239 5,418 13,657
Muskoka—Ontario L-P 10,590 56.86% 2,554 13.71% 79.04% 8,036 10,590 18,626
Niagara Falls Lib 9,096 53.12% 3,982 23.25% 73.04% 9,096 5,114 2,914 17,124
Nipissing Lib 12,149 66.80% 6,111 33.60% 74.90% 12,149 6,038 18,187
Northumberland Lib 9,087 52.53% 876 5.06% 83.20% 9,087 8,211 17,298
Ontario Lib 11,409 56.63% 5,046 25.05% 76.42% 11,409 6,363 2,375 20,147
Ottawa East Lib 10,314 43.37% 3,039 12.78% 81.10% 10,314 7,275 6,116 79 23,784
Ottawa South Con 16,983 47.56% 246 0.69% 74.20% 16,737 16,983 1,531 192 165 100 35,708
Oxford Lib 11,767 50.11% 2,472 10.53% 79.50% 11,767 9,295 2,422 23,484
Parry Sound Lib 7,199 62.83% 2,940 25.66% 78.82% 7,199 4,259 11,458
Peel Lib 7,960 48.42% 244 1.48% 78.04% 7,960 7,716 764 16,440
Perth Lib 16,371 60.23% 5,560 20.45% 78.88% 16,371 10,811 27,182
Peterborough Con 9,394 44.64% 34 0.16% 76.36% 9,360 9,394 2,288 21,042
Port Arthur Lib 7,514 58.93% 3,228 25.32% 81.10% 7,514 4,286 342 608 12,750
Prescott Lib 5,004 38.79% 228 1.77% 76.80% 5,004 3,119 4,776 12,899
Prince Edward—Lennox Lib 7,866 52.15% 650 4.31% 74.95% 7,866 7,216 15,082
Rainy River Lib 4,725 68.26% 2,528 36.52% 76.13% 4,725 2,197 6,922
Renfrew North Lib 7,770 60.86% 2,772 21.71% 76.80% 7,770 4,998 12,768
Renfrew South Lib 8,406 65.18% 3,915 30.36% 76.00% 8,406 4,491 12,897
Russell Lib 6,381 54.55% 2,971 25.40% 72.36% 6,381 3,410 1,906 11,697
Sault Ste. Marie Lib 7,530 55.47% 1,811 13.34% 77.94% 7,530 5,719 327 13,576
Simcoe Centre Lib 9,004 62.59% 3,622 25.18% 74.46% 9,004 5,382 14,386
Simcoe East Lib 9,327 57.15% 2,334 14.30% 80.64% 9,327 6,993 16,320
Stormont Lib 9,430 63.06% 3,905 26.11% 72.25% 9,430 5,525 14,955
Sudbury Lib 10,516 52.88% 1,604 8.07% 76.86% 10,516 8,912 458 19,886
Temiskaming Lib 5,573 48.48% 2,300 20.01% 73.92% 5,573 3,273 2,649 11,495
Victoria Lib 10,629 57.11% 2,647 14.22% 81.29% 10,629 7,982 18,611
Waterloo North Lib 11,827 53.11% 6,241 28.03% 68.87% 11,827 5,586 4,327 528 22,268
Waterloo South Lib 8,860 50.43% 2,337 13.30% 75.91% 8,860 6,523 2,186 17,569
Welland Lib 10,386 55.74% 4,164 22.35% 73.36% 10,386 6,222 2,024 18,632
Wellington North Lib 10,209 66.29% 5,017 32.58% 74.10% 10,209 5,192 15,401
Wellington South Lib 10,376 60.36% 3,561 20.71% 84.97% 10,376 6,815 17,191
Wentworth Lib 6,272 34.47% 119 0.65% 71.89% 6,272 6,153 5,771 18,196
Windsor—Walkerville Lib 10,104 57.58% 5,324 30.34% 76.74% 10,104 4,780 2,151 512 17,547
Windsor—Sandwich Lib 9,934 56.51% 3,953 22.49% 69.85% 9,934 5,981 1,664 17,579
York East Con 12,815 42.60% 2,741 9.11% 69.78% 10,074 12,815 6,223 225 664 81 30,082
York North Lib 11,402 56.20% 3,489 17.20% 77.52% 11,402 7,913 974 20,289
York South Con 10,159 39.70% 980 3.83% 69.06% 9,179 10,159 5,546 706 25,590
York West Lib 11,600 45.60% 2,119 8.33% 63.36% 11,600 9,481 3,875 483 25,439
Beaches Con 7,822 44.38% 2,876 16.32% 67.62% 4,859 7,822 4,946 17,627
Bellwoods Lib 9,339 55.17% 3,973 23.47% 70.70% 9,339 5,366 1,133 1,091 16,929
Bracondale Con 6,452 41.10% 289 1.84% 64.84% 6,163 6,452 2,734 312 39 15,700
Dovercourt Con 9,266 41.13% 410 1.82% 66.94% 8,856 9,266 4,192 216 22,530
Eglinton Lib 12,556 46.51% 1,665 6.17% 68.03% 12,556 10,891 3,287 265 26,999
High Park Con 8,934 42.14% 993 4.68% 68.08% 7,941 8,934 4,327 21,202
Parkdale Con 10,087 42.26% 212 0.89% 67.01% 9,875 10,087 3,906 23,868
Riverdale Lib 10,898 48.90% 535 2.40% 63.70% 10,898 10,363 1,025 22,286
St. Andrew Lib 6,055 42.20% 1,371 9.55% 66.57% 6,055 4,684 2,030 1,392 188 14,349
St. David Con 6,751 40.51% 1,095 6.57% 64.63% 5,656 6,751 4,260 16,667
St. George Lib 8,296 45.49% 426 2.34% 62.16% 8,296 7,870 1,862 210 18,238
St. Patrick Lib 5,704 50.08% 18 0.16% 63.00% 5,704 5,686 11,390
Woodbine Con 9,334 41.76% 2,190 9.80% 65.43% 7,144 9,334 5,666 205 22,349
  1. ^ including spoilt ballots
  2. ^ order is as given in EO reports
  3. ^ byelection gain was under the Liberal banner
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent switched allegiance for the election
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates
Party candidates in 2nd place
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
Lib Con CCF I-Lib
Liberal 63 1 64
Conservative 16 1 17
Liberal–Progressive 5 5
United Farmers 1 1
Liberal–Labour 1 1
Co-operative Commonwealth 1 1
Independent 1 1
Total 16 72 1 1 90
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total
 Liberal 64 16 1 90
 Conservative 17 72 1 90
 Liberal–Progressive 5 5
 Co-operative Commonwealth 1 1 34 1 37
 Independent 1 7 4 2 14
 United Farmers 1 1 2
 Liberal–Labour 1 1
 Independent Liberal 1 1 1 3
 Communist 3 10 13
 Socialist Labour 2 2 4
 Farmer–Labour 1 1
 Independent Conservative 1 1 2
 Independent Labour 1 1
 Labour 1 1
 Workers 1 1
 Dry Liberal 1 1
 Independent Dry 1 1

Reorganization of ridings

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1929 1934
Riding Party Riding Party
Mergers of ridings
Algoma  Conservative Algoma—Manitoulin  Liberal
Manitoulin  Conservative
Brockville  Conservative Leeds  Liberal
Leeds  Conservative
Bruce North  Liberal Bruce  Liberal
Bruce South  Liberal
Dufferin  Progressive Dufferin—Simcoe  Liberal
Simcoe Southwest  Conservative
Elgin East  Conservative Elgin  Liberal
Elgin West  Conservative
Dundas  Conservative Grenville—Dundas  Conservative
Grenville  Conservative
Haldimand  Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk  Liberal
Norfolk  Conservative
Hamilton West  Conservative Wentworth  Liberal
Wentworth South  Conservative
Lanark North  Conservative Lanark  Conservative
Lanark South  Conservative
Lincoln  Conservative Lincoln  Liberal
St. Catharines  Conservative
London North  Conservative London  Liberal
London South  Conservative
Muskoka  Conservative Muskoka—Ontario  Liberal–Progressive
Ontario North  Conservative
Nipissing  Conservative Nipissing  Liberal
Sturgeon Falls  Conservative
Ottawa North  Conservative Ottawa South  Conservative
Ottawa South  Conservative
Oxford North  Liberal–Progressive Oxford  Liberal
Oxford South  Liberal
Perth North  Conservative Perth  Liberal
Perth South  Conservative
Peterborough City  Conservative Peterborough  Conservative
Peterborough County  Conservative
Prince Edward  Conservative Prince Edward—Lennox  Liberal
Frontenac-Lennox  Conservative
Victoria North  Liberal–Progressive Victoria  Liberal
Victoria South  Conservative
Riding abolished; parts transferred to other ridings
Brockton  Conservative
Greenwood  Conservative
Hastings North  Conservative

Seats that changed hands

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Elections to the 18th Parliament of Ontario – unaltered seats won/lost by party, 1929–1934
Party 1929 Gain from (loss to) 1934
Con Lib Pro L-Pro UFO Lab I-Con CCF Ind
Conservative 55 (39) (1) (1) (1) 13
Liberal 8 39 1 2 50
Progressive 3 (1) (2)
Liberal–Progressive 1 1 2 4
United Farmers 1 1
Labour[a 1] 1 1
Independent-Conservative 2 (2)
Co-operative Commonwealth 1 1
Independent 1 1
Total 71 42 (42) 3 (3) 2 (1) (1) 71
  1. ^ Incumbent changed affiliation to Liberal-Labour for the 1934 election

Of the unaltered seats, there were 47 that changed allegiance in the election:

See also

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Notes and references

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "1934 General Election". Elections Ontario. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 174.
  3. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 175.
  4. ^ The Liquor Control Act, 1934, S.O. 1934, c. 26
  5. ^ a b Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 176.
  6. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 178.
  7. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 179.
  8. ^ "Nominations for Elections in Ontario and Saskatchewan". Ottawa Citizen. June 13, 1934. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 180.
  10. ^ The Representation Act, 1933, S.O. 1933, c. 56
  11. ^ The Representation Act, 1934, S.O. 1934, c. 51
  12. ^ a b "1934 General Election". elections.on.ca. Elections Ontario. Retrieved August 13, 2023. EO data errors on party affiliations corrected: "Results by Constituencies in Ontario and Saskatchewan". Ottawa Citizen. June 20, 1934. p. 17. Supplementary correction for T.A. Blakelock (Halton) - he was nominated, and campaigned, as a Liberal-Progressive): "Liberal-Progressive Convention". The Canadian Champion. Milton. April 26, 1934. p. 3., "T.A Blakelock Candidate". The Canadian Champion. Milton. May 3, 1934.
  13. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, p. 177.
  14. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1935, pp. 178–179.

Further reading

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