ruary, 1993, and the party chose Kim Camp-
bell to become its new leader and Canada’s
first female prime minister. In the fall of
1993, Campbell called an election for Octo-
ber 25.
A variety of issues dominated the cam-
paign. One was the high level of unemploy-
ment in parts of Canada. Campbell’s main
opponent, Jean Chrétien, promised that his
Liberal Party would focus on creating em-
ployment, including through a public works
program. Policies implemented by the
Mulroney government, in particular the
Goods and Services Tax of 7 percent on all
transactions, also proved unpopular. The
Liberals promised to repeal the tax. The fi-
nal problem for the Campbell government
was the rise of regional parties in the form of
the Bloc Québécois in the province of Que-
bec and the Reform Party across western
Canada. Both parties involved disaffected
Conservatives.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Lucien
Bouchard, had been a cabinet minister in
the Mulroney government who had resigned
over the failure to implement constitutional
reform designed to please Quebec. The Re-
form Party involved individuals who believed
that the Canadian federation was too domi-
nated by central Canada, including Quebec,
at the expense of western Canada. Both par-
ties would tap directly into Conservative
electoral support. The government’s elec-
tion campaign became increasingly desper-
ate as it declined in the polls. Controversially,
it ran an attack ad that appeared to make fun
of Chrétien’s facial appearance. The end re-
sult was the worst defeat of a governing party
in Canadian history. The Conservatives won
only 2 parliamentary seats out of 295 while
the Liberals with 41 percent of the vote won a
majority of seats and took control of the gov-
ernment. The Bloc captured 54 of Quebec’s
75 seats and took over half the popular vote.
In western Canada, the Reform Party won 51
of 86 seats and one seat in the province of
Ontario. This result damaged the New Dem-
ocratic Party and reduced its number of par-
liamentary seats to 9.296 Elections in Canada The Nineties in America
October 25, 1993
Incumbent prime minister and political party:
Kim Campbell, Progressive Conservative
New prime minister and political party:
Jean Chrétien, Liberal
New official opposition leader and party:
Lucien Bouchard, Bloc QuébécoisPolitical Party Seats Won % Vote
Liberal Party 177 41.3
Bloc Québécois 54 13.5
Reform Party of Canada 52 18.7
New Democratic Party 9 6.9
Progressive Conservative Party 2 16
Other 1 3.6Total seats: 295
Total votes: 13,667,671June 2, 1997
Incumbent prime minister and political party:
Jean Chrétien, Liberal
New prime minister and political party:
Jean Chrétien, Liberal
New official opposition leader and party:
Preston Manning, ReformPolitical Party Seats Won % Vote
Liberal Party 155 38.5
Reform Party of Canada 60 19.4
Bloc Québécois 44 10.7
New Democratic Party 21 11
Progressive Conservative Party 20 18.8
Other 1 1.6Total seats: 301
Total votes: 12,985,964Source:Political Database of the Americas.Results of Canadian Elections, 1993 and 1997