The 1979 Canadian federal elections were held in Canada on May 22, 1979 . As a result, 282 members of the 31st parliament of the country were elected. The progressive-conservative party led by Joe Clark won the election. The official opposition was the liberal party .
← 1974  1980 → | |||
| Canadian federal elections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 1979 | |||
 |  |  | |
| Candidate | Joe Clark | Pierre Trudeau | Ed broadbent |
| The consignment | Progressive conservative | Liberal Party | NDP |
| Seats received | 136 | 114 | 26 |
| Votes | 4 111 606 (35.89%) | 4,595,319 (40.11%) | 2,048,998 (17.88%) |
| Change in the percentage of votes | +0.43% | -3.04% | + 2.45% |
| Candidate | Fabien Roy | ||
| The consignment | Social Credit Party | ||
| Seats received | 6 | ||
| Votes | 527 604 (4.61%) | ||
| Change in the percentage of votes | -0.46% | ||
 | |||
| Election result | New Prime Minister: Joe Clark (Progressive Conservative Party) Former Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau (Liberal Party) | ||
Campaign
Trudeau pulled heavily with the announcement of new elections, calling them five years after the previous ones (usually elections are called four years later). Trudeau hoped that during this time his party would strengthen its position, lost slightly due to problems in the country ( budget deficit , inflation , high unemployment rate). The liberals played as rivals in their youth, speaking with the slogans “This is no time for on-the-job training”, and “We need tough leadership to keep Canada growing. A leader must be a leader. ”
in 1976, Joe Clark became the head of the progressive-conservative party, but he was little known to the public and very young. In some cases, Clark was not very convincing. In particular, he felt insecure after his baggage was lost on a tour of the Middle East . The party performed with the slogans “Let's get Canada working again” and “It's time for a change - give the future a chance!”
The Social Credit Party, just before the election, elected the new head of Fabien Roy , who found support from the Quebec separatists . The party performed under the slogan C'est à notre tour (“It's our turn”), which repeats the words of the Quebec separatist anthem “C'est votre tour, de vous laisser parler d'amour”. At the same time, the party lost the support of opponents of such cooperation.
Results
As a result of the parliamentary elections, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada , the Liberal Party of Canada , the New Democratic Party and the Social Credit Party of Canada were held . In addition, the Rhino party, Union Populaire, the libertarian party of Canada , the Marxist-Leninist party of Canada , the communist party of Canada took part in the elections, but did not get a single seat in parliament.
A progressively conservative party won the election, but it could only form a minority government . For successful work, the government needed the support of small parties, in particular the party of social credit, which had 6 seats. The Social Credit Party continued to lose ground after the death of the party leader Real Cowett in 1976. These were the last elections in which she got seats.
The liberal party lost 27 seats in parliament, in particular several ministers of the previous government did not go into the House of Commons. After the election, Trudeau resigned, but returned soon after the Joe Clark government was unable to accept the budget and new elections were called.