In all, 13 174 698 electors, or 67% of
the registered electors, exercised their right to vote. On polling day, 12 146 080
valid votes were cast, representing 93.5% of all valid votes.
TABLE J
Valid ballots cast by voting method –
36th general election 1997
Voting method
Valid ballots cast
Stationary polling stations
Mobile polling stations
Advance polling stations
Special Voting Rules ? Group 1*
Special Voting Rules ? Group 2**
12 088 532***
57 548
704 336
34 560
100 898
Total
12 985 874***
*
Includes Canadian citizens temporarily residing
outside Canada, members of the Canadian Forces and inmates.
**
Includes Canadian citizens residing in Canada who
voted by special ballot in or outside their electoral districts.
***
Revised data, March 2000
A total of 704 336 valid ballots were cast at advance polls.
Those polls were open from 12 noon until 8:00 p.m.
on the 10th, 9th and 7th days before polling day – May 23, 24 and
26, 1997.
Others voted by special ballot pursuant to Schedule II
of the Canada Elections Act. These electors fell into two groups.
Group 1 comprised Canadian citizens temporarily residing
outside Canada, members of the Canadian Forces and inmates. Canadian citizens
residing temporarily outside Canada were responsible for forwarding their special
ballots to Elections Canada headquarters in Ottawa not later than 6:00 p.m.
on polling day (previously, they had to submit their ballots by the 3rd day
before polling day). Canadian Forces electors were able to cast their ballots
between Monday, the 14th day, and Saturday, the 9th day, before polling day –
from May 19 to 24, 1997. They could vote on all Canadian Forces
bases, both in Canada and outside Canada. Inmates were able to vote by special
ballot at their institutions on the 10th day before polling day, that is, on
May 23, 1997. Of the 88 224 electors in
this first group appearing on the list of electors, 35 833 voted.
Group 2 comprised Canadian citizens residing in Canada who voted
by special ballot from within or outside their electoral district. If they voted
from outside their district, electors had to send their special ballot to Elections
Canada headquarters in Ottawa not later than 6:00 p.m. on
polling day. (Previously, they had to do so by the 3rd day before polling day.)
If they voted from within their district, they had to submit their ballot to
the office of their returning officer and could do so until the local time at
which the polls closed. A total of 100 898 valid ballots were
cast by this group.
In total, 135 458 valid ballots were cast by special ballot.
Polling results
The Liberal Party of Canada received 38.5% of the valid votes
and the largest number of seats, 155. It was called upon to form the government.
The Reform Party of Canada placed second, with 19.4% of the valid votes and
60 seats. It was called upon to form the Official Opposition (see Table
K).
Five registered parties elected members, and those five parties
each obtained more than 10% of the total number of votes. Together, the other
five registered parties and the 76 candidates who were not supported
by a registered party obtained 1.6% of the votes. One independent candidate
was elected.
Of the 301 elected candidates, 62 are women.
TABLE K
Valid votes and seats received, by political affiliation
and
province or territory – 36th general election 1997
Province or territory
B.Q.
Lib.
N.D.P.
P.C.
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Nfld.
-
-
84 657
(37.9)
4
(57.1)
49 125
(24.8)
0
(0.0)
82 214
(36.8)
3
(42.9)
P.E.I.
-
-
31 595
(44.8)
4
(100.0)
10 675
(15.1)
0
(0.0)
26 998
(38.3)
0
(0.0)
N.S.
-
-
132 539
(28.4)
0
(0.0)
142 081
(30.4)
6
(27.3)
143 854
(30.8)
5
(45.5)
N.B.
-
-
131 246
(32.9)
3
(30.0)
73 249
(18.4)
2
(20.0)
139 431
(35.0)
5
(50.0)
Que.
1 385 821
(37.9)
44
(58.7)
1 342 567*
(36.7)
26
(34.7)
71 558
(2.0)
0
(0.0)
811 410
(22.2)
5
(6.7)
Ont.
-
-
2 294 593
(49.5)
101
(98.1)
495 155
(10.7)
0
(0.0)
871 616
(18.8)
1
(1.0)
Man.
-
-
163 226
(34.3)
6
(42.9)
110 181
(23.2)
4
(28.6)
84 511
(17.8)
1
(7.1)
Sask.
-
-
109 200
(24.7)
1
(7.1)
136 555
(30.9)
5
(35.7)
34 460
(7.8)
0
(0.0)
Alta.
-
-
253 983
(24.0)
2
(7.7)
60 633
(5.7)
0
(0.0)
152 309
(14.4)
0
(0.0)
B.C.
-
-
438 769
(28.8)
6
(17.6)
277 006
(18.2)
3
(8.8)
94 550
(6.2)
0
(0.0)
N.W.T.
-
-
8 866
(43.1)
2
(100.0)
4 289
(20.9)
0
(0.0)
3 424
(16.7)
0
(0.0)
Y.T.
-
-
3 036
(22.0)
0
(0.0)
4 002
(28.9)
1
(100.0)
1 928
(13.9)
0
(0.0)
Total
1 385 821
(10.7)
44
(14.6)
4 994 277* (38.5)
155
(51.5)
1 434 509
(11.0)
21
(7.0)
2 446 705
(18.8)
20
(6.6)
* Revised data, March 2000
Note: Totals may not add to 100% due
to rounding.
TABLE K
Valid votes and seats received, by political affiliation
and province or territory – 36th general election 1997 (continued)
Province or territory
Ref.
Other
Total
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Valid votes
(%)
Seats
(%)
Nfld.
5 632
(2.5)
0
(0.0)
1 952
(0.9)
0
(0.0)
223 580
(100.0)
7
(100.0)
P.E.I.
1 056
(1.5)
0
(0.0)
219
(0.3)
0
(0.0)
70 543
(100.0)
4
(100.0)
N.S.
45 207
(9.7)
0
(0.0)
3 689
(0.8)
0
(0.0)
467 370
(100.0)
11
(100.0)
N.B.
52 270
(13.1)
0
(0.0)
2 519
(0.6)
0
(0.0)
398 715
(100.0)
10
(100.0)
Que.
10 767
(0.3)
0
(0.0)
37 772
(1.0)
0
(0.0)
3 659 895*
(100.0)
75
(100.0)
Ont.
886 797*
(19.1)
0
(0.0)
85 549
(1.8)
1
(1.0)
4 633 710*
(100.0)
103
(100.0)
Man.
112 863
(23.7)
3
(21.4)
5 162
(1.1)
0
(0.0)
475 943
(100.0)
14
(100.0)
Sask.
159 332
(36.0)
8
(57.1)
2 739
(0.6)
0
(0.0)
442 286
(100.0)
14
(100.0)
Alta.
577 551
(54.6)
24
(92.3)
12 444
(1.2)
0
(0.0)
1 056 920
(100.0)
26
(100.0)
B.C.
655 699
(43.1)
25
(73.5)
56 500
(3.7)
0
(0.0)
1 522 524
(100.0)
34
(100.0)
N.W.T.
2 413
(11.7)
0
(0.0)
1 567
(7.6)
0
(0.0)
20 559
(100.0)
2
(100.0)
Y.T.
3 493
(25.3)
0
(0.0)
1 370
(9.9)
0
(0.0)
13 829
(100.0)
1
(100.0)
Total
2 513 080
(19.4)
60
(19.9)
211 482
(1.6)
1
(0.3)
12 985 874* (100.0)
301
(100.0)
* Revised data, March 2000
Note: Totals may not add to 100% due
to rounding.
Recounts
Three recounts were requested following the official addition
of the votes by the returning officers: in the electoral districts of Selkirk–Interlake
(Manitoba), Bellechasse–Etchemins–Montmagny–L'Islet (Quebec)
and Sackville–Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia). The Nova Scotia case was an
"automatic" recount as provided under section 171 of the Canada Elections
Act, because the difference between the two candidates with the largest
number of votes was less than one one-thousandth of the total number of ballots
cast. In the other two cases, the recount was requested by a candidate under
section 177 of the Act.
In all three cases, the placement of the candidates remained
the same after the recount.
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