The 1908 Ontario general election was the 12th general election held in the Province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It was held on June 8, 1908, to elect the 106 Members of the

12th Legislative Assembly of Ontario The 12th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was in session from June 8, 1908, until November 13, 1911, just prior to the 1911 general election. The majority party was the Ontario Conservative Party led by Sir James P. Whitney Sir James Pliny Whitn ...

("MLAs"). The

Ontario Conservative Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

, led by Sir

James P. Whitney Sir James Pliny Whitney (October 2, 1843 – September 25, 1914) was a Canadian politician and lawyer in the province of Ontario. He served as Conservative member of the legislature for Dundas from 1888 and as the sixth premier of Ontario from ...

, was elected for a second term in government, increasing its majority in the Legislature significantly. The

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

, led by

Alexander Grant MacKay Alexander Grant MacKay (March 7, 1860 – April 25, 1920) was a Canadian teacher, lawyer and provincial level politician. He served prominent posts in two provincial legislatures as Leader of the Opposition in Ontario and as a Cabinet Ministe ...

, continued to lose seats.

Allan Studholme Allan Studholme (8 December 1846 – 28 July 1919) was a Canadian trade unionist and Ontario politician. He served as Labour MLA from 1906 to 1919. Born in England near Birmingham, Studholme worked from his childhood. He moved to Canada in ...

became the province's first

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MLA as the result of a 1906 Hamilton East

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. He was re-elected in the 1908 general election and would remain in the legislature until his death in 1919. The four Toronto districts each elected two members in this election. Each seat was contested separately, with each voter in the district allowed to vote for a candidate in each contest.

Expansion of the Legislative Assembly

The number of electoral districts was increased from 97 to 102, under an Act passed in 1902, returning a total of 106 MLAs. The following electoral changes were made: :*

Fort William and Lake of the Woods A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

was split into Fort William and

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...

Port Arthur and Rainy River A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

was split into Port Arthur and Rainy River :*

Nipissing East Nipissing East was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Ontario, active from 1902 to 1908. Due to population growth, the district of Nipissing was divided into Nipissing East and Nipissing West for the 1902 election. By 1 ...

was divided into Nipissing and Timiskaming :*

Nipissing West Nipissing West was a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in the Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, active from 1902 to 1908. Due to population growth, the district of Nipissing (provincial electoral district), Nipissing ...

was divided into

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

and

Sturgeon Falls West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former town, villages, townships and unorganized communi ...

:* Cardwell was renamed

Simcoe South Simcoe South was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1925, and from 1979 to 1988. It was located north of Toronto in the province of Ontario. It was initially created by the British North Amer ...

, after the transfer of Albion and Bolton to Peel :* The three ridings of Huron County were reorganized: ::*

Huron South Huron South was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the County of Huron into two ridings ...

gained from Huron West the remainder of the Township of Goderich not previously included in it, in exchange for Seaforth ::*

Huron East Huron East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from parts of Huron Centre, Huron North and Huron South ridings. The ...

and

Huron West Huron West was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from parts of Huron Centre, Huron North and Huron South ridings. The ...

were reorganized into

Huron North Huron North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1882, and from 1917 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided ...

and Huron Centre respectively :*

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

was divided into

Ottawa East Old Ottawa East or just Ottawa East (''Vieil Ottawa Est'' in French) is a neighbourhood in Capital Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located south of Nicholas Street and between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River, with Avenue Road ...

and

Ottawa West Ottawa West was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1997 and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1908 to 1926 and from 1955 to 1999. It cover ...

Toronto East Toronto East (called East Toronto until 1903) was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the provinces and territories of ...

Toronto North Toronto North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1925. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Toronto Centre, West To ...

Toronto South Toronto South was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. T ...

and

Toronto West Toronto West was a federal electoral district in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1925. This riding was created in 1903 when West Toronto riding was renamed, and reduced fr ...

now returned two MLAs each, elected separately in seats labelled A and B in each district.

Electoral system

The eight Toronto MPPs were elected in two-seat districts.

Plurality block voting Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...

was used in these districts. The other 94 MPPs were elected through

First-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

in single-member districts.

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=5 , MPPs ! colspan=3 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

! Dissol. !1908 !± !# !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;",

, 106 , 69 , , 86 , 17 , 248,194 , 55.10% , 1.73 , style="text-align:left;",

, 90 , 28 , , 19 , 9 , 177,719 , 39.45% , 5.16 , style="text-align:left;", , 8 , – , , 1 , 1 , 7,842 , 1.74% , , style="text-align:left;", , 2 , 1 , , – , 1 , 1,470 , 0.33% , 0.87 , style="text-align:left;", , 5 , – , – , – , , 6,107 , 1.36% , 1.34 , style="text-align:left;", , 5 , – , – , – , , 3,042 , 0.68% , 0.66 , style="text-align:left;", , 14 , – , – , – , , 2,891 , 0.64% , 0.35 , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , 2,187 , 0.49% , , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , 1,017 , 0.23% , , style="text-align:left;", , , – , – , – , , colspan="3", ''Did not campaign'' , style="text-align:left;", , , – , – , – , , colspan="3", ''Did not campaign'' , colspan="3", , , colspan="5", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 232 , 98 , 98 , 106 , , 450,469 , 100.00% , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Blank and invalid ballots , align="right", 6,765 , style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Registered voters / turnout , 681,564 , 72.68% , 5.59

Division and reorganization of ridings

The newly created ridings returned the following MLAs:

Seats that changed hands

Of the unaltered seats, there were 24 that changed allegiance in the election: ;Liberal to Conservative *

Brant South Brant South was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1923. It was also called the South ...

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

Essex South ''For the defunct provincial electoral district, see Essex South (provincial electoral district).'' Essex South was a federal and provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to ...

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

Kent West Kent West was a federal electoral district (or ''riding'') represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 when Kent riding was divided into two ridings, ...

* Kingston * Monck *

Norfolk North Norfolk North was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It was created by the Br ...

* Peel * Peterborough East * Prescott * Prince Edward * Sault Ste. Marie * Wentworth North ; Independent-Liberal to Conservative *

Hastings East Hastings East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1925. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the County of Hasti ...

; Conservative to Liberal * Bruce South *

Lambton East Lambton East was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from Lambton riding. The East Riding of the county of Lambton was ...

Middlesex North Middlesex North was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1917. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the ...

Oxford South Oxford South was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. In 1882, the South Riding of the co ...

Perth South Perth South was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, which divided the County of Perth int ...

Renfrew North Renfrew North (also known as Renfrew North—Nipissing East) was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North Americ ...

* Stormont * Wellington West ; Conservative to Labour * Hamilton East

Expansion of the Legislative Assembly

Electoral system

Results

Division and reorganization of ridings

Seats that changed hands

See also

References

Further reading