The Canadian Elections of 1930

Abstract

The decisive victory, on July 28, of the Conservative party in the seventeenth general election since Confederation came as a surprise to the Canadian people. The party, which did not elect a single member in six of the nine provinces in 1921, carried six provinces decisively and in two others, Saskatchewan and Quebec, scored its greatest successes since 1911. In 1926, Mr. Bennett, the new prime minister, was the only Conservative member between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains. This time he has 23 Conservatives among the 54 Prairie members. He, indeed, has more Conservative supporters in the House of Commons than any prime minister since Sir John A. MacDonald. With a majority of 28, exclusive of the speaker, over all opposition parties, he is the first prime minister in a decade to be undoubted master of the political scene (see note 1 on following page).When Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced, on May 6, the speedy dissolution of Parliament, he may have thought that it was wise to go to the country before the trade depression had been too prolonged, or, as seems more probable, he may have underestimated the seriousness of the situation. One of his strongest supporters, the Manitoba Free Press, made the following significant comment the day after the election: “The manner in which Mr. Bennett played upon Mr. King's pride, combativeness, and perhaps belief in his star in order to get him in the mood to fight a battle on ground chosen by his opponents and under conditions which helped them and put him at a disadvantage will doubtless be recorded in future books of political strategy for future prime ministers.”