Site MenuThe March 1996 By-Elections – Technological Innovation – Reaping the Rewards
FIRST PAST THE POST
The final (post-election) list of electors, including polling day registrants and electors registered to vote by special ballot, contained a total of 294 796 names. A total of 139 777 ballots were cast in the six electoral districts. Voter turnout tends to be lower in by-elections than in general elections, and this was the case here. In the 1993 general election, turnout was 70.9%; for these by-elections, it averaged 47.41%. Turnout was highest (54.87%) in the Lac-Saint-Jean riding, followed by Labrador (52.81%) and Papineau - Saint-Michel (52.31%). The lowest turnout was in Humber - St. Barbe - Baie Verte, where 40.49% of electors came to the polls.
From the beginning of the count to the end of the evening, each returning officer's office was linked by modem to the central Election Results System computer, which electronically swept the local systems at about 45-second intervals. As soon as the electronic files were received and consolidated in Ottawa, they were immediately relayed to the server, which posted them at the Elections Canada web site. Barely two minutes elapsed from the time the data were retrieved from a riding computer to posting on the Internet. The public and the media showed considerable interest in the results displayed on the Internet: in the three hours following the closing of the polls, close to 8 500 accesses to the Elections Canada home page were recorded, originating on every continent except Asia. Between March 26 and April 25, 14 952 additional accesses were recorded.
Canadian Press correspondents in each of the six returning offices received the preliminary results and phoned them in to the agency head office for immediate dissemination to local and national media via their wire service.
When the count was completed, five Liberal candidates had won, with the Lac-Saint-Jean seat going to the Bloc Québécois candidate.
STILL MORE TO DO
For the public and the journalists, the six by-elections were now in the past. For Elections Canada and the returning officers, as well as the candidates, the work continued.
On March 26, four of the six returning officers carried out an official addition, adding up the numbers from each polling station to verify the election-night tallies. The two other returning officers proceeded with their official additions on March 31. No judicial recount was requested. On the seventh day following the official addition in each riding, the returning officer declared the winner in that riding by signing the back of the writ and returning it to the Chief Electoral Officer in Ottawa, who published the results in the Canada Gazette between April 4 and April 12, 1996.
| Candidate | Political affiliation | Place of residence |
Occupation | Votes obtained |
Percentage of valid votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Etobicoke North | |||||
| Roy Cullen Joe Peschisolido Mario Annecchini Maxine Caron Ron Gray Sylvie Charbin John C. Turmel |
Liberal Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada New Democratic Party Christian Heritage Party of Canada No affiliation Abolitionnist Party of Canada |
Toronto Etobicoke Brampton Mississauga Abbotsford Toronto Ottawa |
Chartered Accountant Businessman Businessman Retail Writer Electronics Assembler Engineer |
12 290 9 563 2 812 1 400 284 96 75 |
46.34 36.06 10.60 5.28 1.07 0.36 0.28 |
| Humber - St. Barbe - Baie Verte | |||||
| Gerry Byrne Danny Kane Deon Hancock Coleen Dingwell-Corbin |
Liberal Party of Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada New Democratic Party |
Corner Brook Corner Brook Steady Brook St. John's |
Political Assistant Radio Personality, Sales Marketing Director Volunteer, Unemployed |
12 453 5 253 4 099 554 |
55.70 23.49 18.33 2.48 |
| Labrador | |||||
| Lawrence D. O'Brien John Michael McGrath Randy Collins Darlene Gear-White Alain Roy |
Liberal Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada New Democratic Party Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Independant |
Happy Valley - Goose Bay Happy Valley - Goose Bay Labrador City Happy Valley Labrador |
Councillor Consultant Staff Representative Businesswoman Industrial Electrician |
4 032 3 027 1 974 867 63 |
40.47 30.38 19.81 8.70 0.63 |
| Lac-Saint-Jean | |||||
| Stéphan Tremblay Clément Lajoie Philippe Harris Denis Simard Karl Bélanger |
Bloc Québécois Liberal Party of Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada New Democratic Party |
Alma Saint-Bruno Montréal Repentigny Québec |
Bush Pilot Transit Controller Student Lawyer Student |
20 777 5 846 205 175 136 |
76.56 21.54 0.76 0.64 0.50 |
| Papineau - Saint-Michel | |||||
| Pierre S. Pettigrew Daniel Turp Raymond Laurent Nicole Roy-Arcelin Martin Masse |
Liberal Party of Canada Bloc Québécois New Democratic Party Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada |
Outremont Westmount Montréal Montréal Montréal |
Minister Professor Organizer Nurse Newswriter |
15 330 8 787 899 608 272 |
59.20 33.93 3.47 2.35 1.05 |
| Saint-Laurent - Cartierville | |||||
| Stéphane Dion Michel Sarra-Bournet G. Garo Toubi Shaul Petel Carole Caron Sara Mayo |
Liberal Party of Canada Bloc Québécois Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Reform Party of Canada No affiliation New Democratic Party |
Montréal Laval Laval Dollard-des-Ormeaux Montréal Montréal |
Professor Historian Contractor Teacher Aircraft Electrician Student |
21 336 4 000 699 441 229 212 |
79.27 14.86 2.60 1.64 0.85 0.79 |
Returning officers also sent to Ottawa for payment all their remaining invoices for election expenses and office accounts. Elections Canada's Finance staff processed some 4 800 accounts related to by-election expenses. Cheques were issued for the rental of office space, for various suppliers and to some 4 100 Canadians who worked as election officials.
The official agent for each candidate has until four months after polling day (July 25, 1996) to submit a report of the candidate's campaign expenses and contributions. During the coming months, those 32 reports will be audited by Finance staff. Registered political parties will report on money spent by or on behalf of the party during the by-elections with their 1996 fiscal returns, to be filed within the first six months of 1997.
The Commissioner of Canada Elections began to investigate four complaints about infractions of the Canada Elections Act. The complaints related to absence of the official agent's name on campaign printed matter, destruction of a sign, campaign advertising during the blackout and an election sign that did not meet the rules.
Staff in Ottawa now turned their attention to preparing Elections Canada's statutory reports to Parliament. The final poll-by-poll results for each electoral district were verified and tabled. Returning officers and staff attended post-election evaluation sessions, to review programs and procedures and discuss changes which will improve their effectiveness for the next event.