The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

of the 38th Parliament of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

lost its

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

after the election. This was the first election contested by the newly amalgamated

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, after it was formed by the two

right-of-centre Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and merc ...

parties, the Progressive Conservative Party and the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

. On May 23, 2004, the

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

, on the advice of Martin, ordered the dissolution of the House of Commons, triggering an

early election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

despite the Liberals being only three and a half years into their five-year mandate. Earlier, the election result was widely expected to be a fourth consecutive majority government for the Liberals, but early in 2004 Liberal popularity fell sharply due to the emerging details of the

sponsorship scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. T ...

. Polls even started to indicate the possibility of a Conservative minority government. In the end, the Liberals won a minority government, though they were well short of a majority and lost nearly three dozen seats. On election day, polling times were arranged to allow results from most provinces to be announced more or less simultaneously, with the exception of

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

, whose results were known before the close of polling in other provinces due to the

British Columbia Supreme Court British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

's decision in '' R v Bryan''.

Major political parties

Liberal Party of Canada

Until the

, most pundits were predicting that new

would lead the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

to a fourth

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

, possibly setting a record for number of seats won. However, polls released immediately after the scandal broke showed Liberal support down as much as 10% nationwide, with greater declines in its heartland of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and

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 ...

. Although there was some recovery in Ontario and

, Liberal hopes of making unprecedented gains in the west faded. The unpopularity of some provincial Liberal parties may also have had an effect on federal Liberal fortunes. In Ontario, for instance, the provincial Liberal government introduced an unpopular budget the week of the expected election call, and their federal counterparts then fell into a statistical dead heat with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in polls there. The Liberals were also harmed by high-profile party infighting that had been plaguing the party since Martin's earlier ejection from Cabinet by now-former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

Conservative Party of Canada

In the final months of 2003, the Progressive Conservatives and the

were running a distant third and fourth, respectively, in public opinion polls. Many pundits predicted that the combination of the popular and fiscally conservative Martin, along with continued vote-splitting on the right, could have led to the almost total annihilation of the Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance. This fear prompted those two parties to form a united

, which was approved by the members of the Canadian Alliance on December 5, 2003, and controversially by the delegates of the Progressive Conservatives on December 6, 2003. The new Conservative Party pulled well ahead of the NDP in the polls just before the election, although its support remained below the combined support that the Progressive Conservatives and the Alliance had as separate parties. On March 20, the Conservatives elected

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

as their new leader. The Conservatives gained more ground in polls after Harper became leader, and the poll results in the weeks before the election had them within one to two points of the Liberals, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind them. Party supporters hoped that the voters would react negatively to the Liberal attacks on what they called Harper's "hidden agenda", and that anger over the sponsorship scandal and other Liberal failures would translate to success at the polls. Late in the campaign, the Conservatives began to lose some momentum, in part due to remarks made by MPs. Scott Reid, the party's language critic, said that the policy of

official bilingualism An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

was unrealistic and needed to be reformed.

Rob Merrifield Robert Merrifield, , (born December 19, 1953) is a Canadian politician and diplomat. He is the former Member of Parliament for Yellowhead, and was the Minister of State for Transport from October 2008 to May 2011. In September 2014 he resigne ...

, health critic, suggested that women ought to have mandatory family counseling before they choose to have an abortion. Randy White was quoted as saying "to heck with the courts" in reference to ''

Reference Re Same-Sex Marriage ''Reference Re Same-Sex Marriage'' 0043 S.C.R. 698, 2004 SCC 79, was a reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the constitutional validity of same-sex marriage in Canada. The ruling was announced December 2004, following argume ...

'', suggesting the party would overturn same-sex marriage.

Cheryl Gallant Cheryl Gallant (born May 23, 1960) is a Canadian politician who represents the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke in the House of Commons of Canada. She is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. She is currently the longest-serving w ...

drew controversy when she compared

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

to the beheading of

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

Nick Berg Nicholas Evan Berg (April 2, 1978 – May 7, 2004) was an American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist mi ...

, and called for the repeal of recently-amended hate laws that include sexual orientation as one of the protected groups. Additionally, the Liberal Party began airing controversial TV ads. Harper was also criticized for his position supporting the American-led

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. The term "hidden agenda", used commonly in the 2000 election to refer to Stockwell Day, began surfacing with increasing regularity with regard to Harper's history of supporting privatized health care. Further damaging the Conservative campaign was a press release from Conservative headquarters that suggested that Paul Martin supported

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...

. The momentum began to swing against his party, although some polls suggested it was neck and neck right up until election day. Although on the eve of the election the party was polling slightly ahead of the Liberals everywhere west of Quebec, it had dropped in support, polling behind or on par with Liberals everywhere except the West (Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), where it held onto its traditional support. All together the new Conservatives fell from the combined Canadian Alliance-Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 of 37%, to only 29% of the vote, yet still gained 21 extra seats, finishing in second-place with 99 seats.

New Democratic Party

Before the announcement of the union of the right-of-centre parties, some were predicting that the

New Democratic Party (Canada) The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

would form the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

because the NDP was polling ahead of both right-of-centre parties. A new leader (

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

) and clear

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

policies helped revitalize the NDP. Polls suggested that the NDP had returned to the 18% to 20% level of support it enjoyed in the 1984 election and 1988 election. Layton suggested that the NDP would break their previous record of 43 seats won under former leader

Ed Broadbent John Edward "Ed" Broadbent (born March 21, 1936) is a Canadian social-democratic politician, political scientist, and chair of the Broadbent Institute, a policy thinktank. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 200 ...

. The NDP focused the campaign on winning ridings in Canada's urban centres, hoping especially to win seats in central

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

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 ...

and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. The party's platform was built to cater to these regions and much of Layton's time was spent in these areas. The campaign stumbled early when Layton blamed the deaths of homeless people on Paul Martin, prompting the Liberals to accuse the NDP of negative campaigning. The NDP benefited from the decline in Liberal support, but not to the same extent as the Conservatives. There was an increasing prospect that NDP voters would switch to the Liberals to block a Conservative government. This concern did not manifest itself in the polls, however, and the NDP remained at somewhat below 20 percent mark in the polls for most of the campaign. The NDP achieved 15% of the popular vote, its highest in 16 years. However, it only won 19 seats in the House of Commons, two less than the 21 won in 1997, and far short of the 40 predicted. There was criticism that Layton's focus on urban issues and gay rights marginalized the party's traditional emphasis on the poor, the working class, and rural Canadians. Long-time MP

Lorne Nystrom Lorne Edmund Nystrom, (born April 26, 1946) is a Canadian politician and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2004. He is a member of the New Democratic Party. Nystrom has been a prominent figu ...

and several other incumbents from the Prairie provinces were defeated, with the NDP being shut out of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

for the first time since

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. Layton won his own seat in a tight race, while Broadbent was returned to Parliament after many years of absence.

Bloc Québécois

The

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

(BQ) had managed their best showing back in 1993, but they lost seats to the Liberals in 1997 and 2000, prompting pundits to suggest a decline in support for Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc continued to slide in the polls in most of 2003 after the election of the federalist

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

at the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

under

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of ...

, and during the long run-up to Paul Martin becoming leader of the federal Liberals. However, things progressively changed during 2003, partly because of the decline in popularity of the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

government of

, and partly because support for independence in Quebec rose again (49% in March). The tide took its sharp turn when, in February 2004, the sponsorship scandal (uncovered in considerable part by the Bloc) hit the Liberal federal government. These events led to a resurgence of the BQ, putting it ahead of the pack once again: according to an

Ipsos-Reid Ipsos Reid was the name of a Canada-based research company, still existing under the name Ipsos as the Canadian arm of the global Ipsos Group. Founded in Winnipeg in 1979 as the Angus Reid Group, the company expanded across the country and was pur ...

poll carried out for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' and CTV between the June 4 and 8, 50% of Quebecers intended to vote for the BQ against 24% for the Liberals. Jim Harris of the Green Party - 2008 (cropped)

Speculation was ongoing about the possibility of the Bloc forming alliances with other opposition parties or with an eventual minority government to promote its goals of

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and respect of the autonomy of provinces. Leader Gilles Duceppe stated that the Bloc, as before, would co-operate with other opposition parties or with the government when interests were found to be in common, but that the Bloc would not participate in a coalition government.

Green Party of Canada

The

Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

ran candidates in all 308 ridings for the first time in its history. The party won twice as many votes in this election than it had over the previous 21 years of its history combined, although it failed to win a seat. It also spent more money than in the previous 21 years, and although much of this money was borrowed, the Greens' share of the popular vote enabled them to receive federal funding.

Campaign slogans

These are the official slogans for the 2004 campaigns. The optional parts of the mottos (sometimes not used for efficiency) are put in brackets.

Issues

Important issues in the election: *

Sponsorship scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. T ...

: badly hurt the Liberals in the polls and the theme of widespread corruption was used by all opposition parties, especially the Bloc. *

Health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

: all parties support Canada's government-administered health care system but acknowledge that improvements must be made to meet new demographic challenges and to reduce long wait times. Transfer payments to the provinces have been cut substantially to 16% by the federal Liberal government and it was difficult for Paul Martin to reconcile these cuts with his plan to improve the system. *

Fiscal imbalance Fiscal imbalance is a mismatch in the revenue powers and expenditure responsibilities of a government. In the literature on fiscal federalism, two types of fiscal imbalances are measured: Vertical Fiscal Imbalance and Horizontal Fiscal Imbalance. W ...

: all major parties except the Liberals claimed that there was a monetary imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces and spoke of plans to reduce it, the Bloc Québécois probably being the strongest denouncer of the situation. *

Taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...

: for the Conservatives, significantly lowering taxes, to stimulate the economy, was a central issue. The Conservatives also promised to end "

corporate welfare Corporate welfare is a phrase used to describe a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment for corporations. The definition of corporate welfare is sometimes restricted to direct government subsidie ...

" and replace it with tax cuts for all businesses. The Liberals, Communist Party and NDP opposed large tax cuts and argued that money should instead be spent to improve social programs. *

Child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

: The Liberals and NDP promised national child care programs. *

Parliamentary reform In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons ...

: The Conservatives accused the Liberals of perpetuating "undemocratic practices" in Parliament, by limiting the powers of MPs. Martin called for some reform, but not to the satisfaction of the Conservatives. The Conservatives promised an elected Senate and standing committee and provincial review of judicial appointments. The NDP spoke of abolishing the Senate. *

Electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...

: Conservatives promised fixed election dates. The NDP promoted the idea of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

voting. *

Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

: The Bloc Québécois and the NDP strongly favoured same sex marriage. The NDP considers it a human rights issue, and requires its MPs to either support legislation favouring same-sex marriage or abstain on such questions. The Bloc, on the other hand, treats it as a matter of conscience, allowing its members free votes on the issue. The Liberals sent the issue to be ruled upon by the Supreme Court, and the Liberal caucus was publicly divided on the issue. The majority of Conservative candidates opposed it; the Conservative party's official stance was for the issue to be resolved by a free vote in the Commons. * National Missile Defence: the

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

administration in the U.S. wanted Canada to join the missile shield. The Conservatives strongly supported such a plan while the Bloc and the NDP opposed it. Although the Liberals reiterated past opposition to the weaponization of space, they did not have an expressed opinion on the shield. *

: the Conservatives supported the United States over Iraq, while the other parties generally opposed it. *

Gun registry A gun registry is a government record of firearms and their owners. Not all jurisdictions require gun registration. United States In the United States, there is currently no national gun registry, but some states, such as Hawaii, have provided the ...

: The Conservatives strongly opposed the gun registry while the other parties support it. *

Marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

: The Liberals have introduced measures to decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana, a move generally supported by the other opposition parties. The Conservative Party opposes such legislation. The Bloc Québécois is more explicit in its support for decriminalization, while the NDP wishes to study the issue and consider going beyond mere decriminalization. *

Abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

: This was not a significant issue in this election. Abortion is legal in Canada after Parliament's failure to pass legislation to replace previous restrictions ruled illegal by the courts. Many Conservatives and a few Liberals oppose abortion. The Liberals tried to use it as a wedge issue after comments from pro-life Conservatives, but it did not change the outcome. * Ontario budget: The introduction by the

government of

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nearl ...

of "Ontario Health Premiums" was very unpopular, despite Mr. McGuinty's claim that this new tax was necessary because of the budgetary deficit left by the previous Progressive Conservative government. The Conservatives and the NDP capitalized on this and other unpopular fiscal and tax-related policy to attack the Liberals at the federal level.

Opinion polls

National results

In 2004, a federal party required 155 of the 308 seats to form a majority government in Canada. The Liberals came short of this number, winning 135. Until extremely close ridings were decided on the west coast, it appeared as though the Liberals' seat total, if combined with that of the left-wing

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP), would be sufficient to hold a majority in the House of Commons. In the end, the Conservatives won Vancouver Island North, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast, and New Westminster-Coquitlam, after trailing in all three ridings, as preliminary results were announced through the evening. As a result, the combined seat count of the Liberals and the NDP was 154, while the other 154 seats belonged to the Conservatives, Bloquistes, and one independent

Chuck Cadman Charles Cadman (February 21, 1948July 9, 2005) was a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2005, representing the riding of Surrey North in Surrey, British Columbia. Originally a Canadian Alliance MP, Cadman won re-e ...

(previously a Conservative). Rather than forming a coalition with the NDP, the Liberal party led a minority government, obtaining majorities for its legislation on an ad hoc basis. Nevertheless, as the showdown on Bill C-48, a matter of confidence, loomed in the spring of 2005, the Liberals and NDP, who wanted to continue the Parliament, found themselves matched against the Conservatives and the Bloc, who were registering no confidence. The bill passed with the Speaker casting the decisive tie-breaking vote. Voter turnout nationwide was 60.9%, the lowest in Canadian history at that time, with 13,683,570 out of 22,466,621 registered voters casting their ballots. The voter turnout fell by more than 3 pp from the 2000 federal election which had 64.1% turnout. 2004 Canadian parliament

, - style="background-color:#CCCCCC" !rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party !rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party leader !rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , # of
candidates !colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" , Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;", Popular vote , - style="background-color:#CCCCCC" , style="text-align:center;" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;" , Dissol. , style="text-align:center;" , Elected , style="text-align:center;" , % Change , style="text-align:center;" , # , style="text-align:center;" , % , style="text-align:center;" , Change , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 308 , style="text-align:right;" , 172 , style="text-align:right;" , 168 , style="text-align:right;" , 135 , style="text-align:right;" , -21.5% , style="text-align:right;" , 4,982,220 , style="text-align:right;" , 36.73% , style="text-align:right;" , -4.12pp ¹ , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 308 , style="text-align:right;" , 78 , style="text-align:right;" , 72 , style="text-align:right;" , 99 , style="text-align:right;" , +37.5% , style="text-align:right;" , 4,019,498 , style="text-align:right;" , 29.63% , style="text-align:right;" , -8.05pp , style="text-align:left;" ,

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 75 , style="text-align:right;" , 38 , style="text-align:right;" , 33 , style="text-align:right;" , 54 , style="text-align:right;" , +42.1% , style="text-align:right;" , 1,680,109 , style="text-align:right;" , 12.39% , style="text-align:right;" , +1.67pp , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:right;" , 308 , style="text-align:right;" , 13 , style="text-align:right;" , 14 , style="text-align:right;" , 19 , style="text-align:right;" , +46.2% , style="text-align:right;" , 2,127,403 , style="text-align:right;" , 15.68% , style="text-align:right;" , +7.17pp , style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" , Independent and No Affiliation , style="text-align:right;" , 64 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 64,864 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.48% , style="text-align:right;" , +0.05pp , style="text-align:left;" , Jim Harris , style="text-align:right;" , 308 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 582,247 , style="text-align:right;" , 4.29% , style="text-align:right;" , +3.48pp , style="text-align:left;" , Ron Gray , style="text-align:right;" , 62 , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , 40,335 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.30% , style="text-align:right;" , – , style="text-align:left;" ,

Marc-Boris St-Maurice Marc-Boris St-Maurice (b. 1969) is an activist, politician and Canadian musician, who has campaigned for many years for the legalization of cannabis, and to facilitate access to the drug for health reasons. He lives in Montreal, Quebec. Music ca ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 71 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 33,276 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.25% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.27pp , style="text-align:left;" , Ernie Schreiber , style="text-align:right;" , 16 , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , 10,872 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.08% , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:left;" ,

Connie Fogal The Canadian Action Party (CAP) (french: Parti action canadienne, PAC) was a Canadian federal political party founded in 1997 and deregistered on 31 March 2017. The party stood for Canadian nationalism, monetary and electoral reform, and opposed ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 44 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 8,807 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.06% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.15pp , style="text-align:left;" , Sandra L. Smith , style="text-align:right;" , 76 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 8,696 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.06% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.03pp , style="text-align:left;" ,

Miguel Figueroa Miguel Figueroa (born July 29, 1952) is a Canadian political activist who was the leader of the Communist Party of Canada from 1992 to 2015. He is known for the landmark Figueroa case, which redefined the role of small parties and Canadian Parl ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 35 , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , 4,426 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.03% , style="text-align:right;" , -0.04pp , style="text-align:left;" ,

Jean-Serge Brisson Jean-Serge Brisson (born June 28, 1954) is a Canadian political activist, tax reform advocate, politician, and author. He is a former leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada and gained national notoriety in the 1990s for his opposition to busin ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 8 , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , - , style="text-align:right;" , * , style="text-align:right;" , 1,949 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.01% , style="text-align:right;" , * , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Vacant , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:center;" colspan="5" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Total , style="text-align:right;" , 1,683 , style="text-align:right;" , 301 , style="text-align:right;" , 301 , style="text-align:right;" , 308 , style="text-align:right;" , +2.3% , style="text-align:right;" , 13,564,702 , colspan="2", 100% , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="11" , Sources: http://www.elections.ca -
History of Federal Ridings since 1867
, - Notes: "% change" refers to change from previous election * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. In the case of the CHP, which did have 46 candidates in the previous election, the party did not have official status and is not officially compared. ¹ Conservative Party results are compared to the combined totals of the

and the Progressive Conservative Party in the 2000 election.

Vote and seat summaries

Results by province

Source
Elections Canada

10 closest ridings

Western Arctic Northwest Territories (french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada. The electoral district covers the entire territory. This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River ...

, NT:

Ethel Blondin-Andrew Ethel Dorothy Blondin-Andrew (born 25 March 1951) is a Canadian politician, educator, and public servant. She became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Parliament of Canada in 1988 when she became a member of Parliament for the di ...

(Lib) def.

Dennis Bevington Dennis Fraser Bevington (born March 27, 1953) is a Canadian politician from the Northwest Territories, and was the member of Parliament for the riding of Northwest Territories from 2006 until 2015. Born in Fort Smith, he served as mayor from 1 ...

(NDP) by 53 votes #

Jeanne-Le Ber Jeanne-Le Ber was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 112,863. It was abolished for the 2015 election and dissolved into Ville-Marie� ...

, QC:

Liza Frulla Liza Frulla (born March 30, 1949, in Montreal, Quebec), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 1998, a Liberal Member of Parliament from 20 ...

(Lib) def.

Thierry St-Cyr Thierry St-Cyr (born November 7, 1977) is an engineer and former Bloc Québécois politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the Member of Parliament for Jeanne-Le Ber from 2006 to 2011. Education and career background Born in La Plaine, Qu ...

(BQ) by 72 votes #

Simcoe—Grey Simcoe—Grey is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. It was created in 1996 from parts of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, Bruce—Grey, Simcoe Centre, Simcoe Nor ...

, ON:

Helena Guergis Helena C. Guergis, ( ; born February 19, 1969) is a Canadian politician of Assyrian descent. She represented the Ontario riding of Simcoe—Grey in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2011, and was appointed Minister of State (Status of ...

(Cons) def.

Paul Bonwick Paul Bonwick, (born October 24, 1964) is a lobbyist and former politician in Canada. Political career A businessman, sales and marketing consultant, Bonwick was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1997 Canadian federal electi ...

(Lib) by 100 votes #

New Westminster—Coquitlam New Westminster—Coquitlam was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1988, and from 2004 to 2015. Demographics :''According to t ...

, BC:

Paul Forseth Paul Eugene Forseth (born December 10, 1946) is a Canadian politician, who was a Member of Parliament for British Columbia from 1993 to 2006. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament for New Westminster—Burnaby in the 1993 federal el ...

(Cons) def. Steve McClurg (NDP) by 113 votes #

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre (formerly known as Regina—Arm River) was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. Geography The district included the northwes ...

, SK:

Tom Lukiwski Tom Lukiwski (born October 5, 1951) is a former Canadian politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2008 to 2021 as a member of the Conservative Party. He represented the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre from ...

(Cons) def. Gary Anderson (Lib) by 122 votes # Palliser, SK:

Dave Batters David Batters (July 12, 1969 – June 29, 2009) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Batters was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Palliser from 2004 to 2008. Early ...

(Cons) def.

Dick Proctor Dick Proctor (born February 12, 1941 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian political activist, former New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament, and a former journalist. Career Politics Proctor has been active with the NDP in a number of ...

(NDP) by 124 votes # Edmonton—Beaumont, AB:

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He was also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour graduated from the Universi ...

(Lib) def.

Tim Uppal Tim Uppal (born November 14, 1974) is a Canadian politician, banker, and radio host who is the member for Edmonton Mill Woods in the Parliament of Canada. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Edmonton—Sherwood Park from 2008 ...

(Cons) by 134 votes #

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, ON:

Gary Goodyear Gary T. Goodyear (born March 10, 1958 in Cambridge, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015, having been elected to represent the riding of Cambridge as a Conservative in 2004. On ...

(Cons) def.

Janko Peric Janko Perić (born February 24, 1949), is a former Canadian politician. Perić was the Liberal Party MP for the riding of Cambridge from 1993 to 2004. He was born in Orehovica near Bedekovčina, Croatia and was a welder. Perić was defeated in ...

(Lib) by 224 votes #

Kildonan—St. Paul Kildonan—St. Paul is a federal electoral district in the Winnipeg Capital Region of Manitoba, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Geography It consists of the far northern end of Winnipeg and the rura ...

, MB:

Joy Smith Joy Ann Smith (born February 20, 1947) is a Canadian politician. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1999 and 2003, and was in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Education and business career Smith was born ...

(Cons) def.

Terry Duguid Terry Duguid (born 1954 or 1955) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Winnipeg South since 2015. He has campaigned for elected office at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, and served as a city ...

(Lib) by 278 votes #

Northumberland—Quinte West Northumberland—Quinte West was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2013. Its population in 2001 was 118,906. Following the Canadian federal electoral redistributi ...

, ON:

Paul Macklin Paul Harold Macklin, PC, MP (born May 22, 1944 in Northumberland County, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Northumberland—Quinte West of the Liberal Party caucus ...

(Lib) def.

Doug Galt Doug Galt (born 1937 or 1938) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and an unsuccessful contender ...

(Cons) by 313 votes

Allegations of coalition talks

On March 26, 2011,

stated that Harper had tried to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

with the Bloc and NDP two months after the 2004 election. He was responding to Harper's warnings in 2011 that the Liberals might form a coalition with the Bloc and the NDP.

References

Notes General * *

External links

CBC - Canada Votes
(includes video files of the whole English debate)
CTV - Election 2004

SRC - Élections
(in French, includes video files of the whole French debate)
Elections Canada

Elections Canada official numbers

Election Almanac - Canada Federal Election

Predicting the 2004 Canadian Election

International Delivery of Canadian Federal Election debate
(Press Release issued by CTV and INSINC) {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Federal Election, 2004 Federal June 2004 events in Canada

Major political parties

Liberal Party of Canada

Conservative Party of Canada

New Democratic Party

Bloc Québécois

Green Party of Canada

Campaign slogans

Issues

Opinion polls

National results

Vote and seat summaries

Results by province

10 closest ridings

Allegations of coalition talks

See also

References

Further reading

External links