| Parliament name |
Parliament of Canada - Parlement du Canada |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Commons |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
23 January 2006 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
Elections were held for all members of the House of Commons following the premature dissolution of this body. General elections had been held previously on 28 June 2004. |
On 28 November 2005
after months of political instability
the Liberal Government lost a vote of confidence in the House of Commons
171 votes to 133. The vote was triggered by three opposition parties
the Conservative Party
the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party
which had previously backed the Liberals in a June 2005 no-confidence vote. After the vote
Governor General Michaëlle Jean dissolved the House of Commons on 29 November.
The Liberal Party
led by Mr. Paul Martin
had ruled the country since 1993 but had failed to win an outright majority at the last elections in June 2004. The election campaign had been marked by the "sponsorship scandal" concerning the awarding of government contracts to advertising agencies connected to the Liberal Party in the late 1990s. While the official investigation exonerated Prime Minister Paul Martin of any wrongdoing
the Liberal Party agreed to pay back 1.1 million Canadian dollars to the Government.
During the campaign for the 2005 elections
the Liberal Party was hampered by fresh allegations
this time of insider trading
which the Conservative Party lost no time in incorporating into its TV campaign. The Conservatives
led by Mr. Stephen Harper
pledged to pass a Federal Accountability Act to ensure corruption-free government and also promised to cut taxes
fight crime and improve relations with the United States.
On 23 January 2006
64.67% of some 23 million registered voters went to the polls. The Conservative Party came in first with 124 seats
but failed to win a majority (154 seats). The Liberals became the main opposition party with 103 seats
followed by the Bloc Québécois with 51 seats. The New Democrats won 29 seats
ten more than at the 2004 elections. On 24 January
Prime Minister Paul Martin said he would step down as the Liberal Party leader. One victorious Liberal Party candidate crossed the floor and joined the Conservative Party after the elections
bringing the number of Conservative members of the House of Commons to 125.
On 6 February 2006
Mr. Harper was sworn in as Prime Minister. He proceeded to form the smallest minority government in Canadian history
and invited the opposition to put forward candidates for the position of Speaker. The House of Commons held its first session on 3 April 2006 and re-elected Mr. Peter Milliken of the Liberal Party as Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 23 January 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
23'054'615
14'908'703 (64.67%)
91'544
14'817'159 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Conservative Party |
308 |
5'374'071 |
|
|
36.27 |
|
|
| Liberal Party |
308 |
4'479'415 |
|
|
30.23 |
|
|
| Bloc Québécois (BQ) |
75 |
1'553'201 |
|
|
10.48 |
|
|
| New Democratic Party (NDP) |
308 |
2'589'597 |
|
|
17.48 |
|
|
| Independents |
89 |
81'860 |
|
|
0.55 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Conservative Party |
124
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Party |
103
|
|
|
|
|
| Bloc Québécois (BQ) |
51
|
|
|
|
|
| New Democratic Party (NDP) |
29
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
244
64
20.78%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
Unknown
|
8
39
78
122
54
2
5
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Law
social science
education
government service |
114 |
| Management (Senior managers) |
71 |
| Business and finance (Professional occupations) |
21 |
| Management (Middle managers and other occupations) |
20 |
| Primary industry (Skilled occupations) |
19 |
| Administration and business (Skilled occupations) |
13 |
| Natural and applied sciences (Professional occupation) |
13 |
| Art and culture (Professional occupations) |
11 |
| Health (Technical and skilled occupations) |
9 |
| Sales and service (Skilled occupations) |
8 |
| Transport and equipment (Trades and skilled operators) |
4 |
| Sales and service (Intermediate occupations) |
3 |
| Art
culture
recreation and sport (Technical and skilled occupations) |
3 |
| Natural and applied sciences (Technical occupation) |
2 |
| Law
social services
education and religion (Paraprofessional) |
1 |
| Processing and manufacturing machine (Operators and assemblers) |
1 |
| Sales and service (Elemental occupations) |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Note on "Distribution of seats according to profession"
Some members have listed more than one primary occupation.
Sources:
- http://enr.elections.ca/
- http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/WomenHofCIdx.asp?Language=E&Hist=N
- http://www.cbc.ca
- http://www.cnn.com |
A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page