The Election of 1997 Jean Chrétien opted to seek
reelection on June 2, 1997, in less than the normal
four years served by majority governments. His gov-
ernment’s record would be the main issue. It had in-
stituted severe spending cuts to deal with a budget-
ary deficit. These cuts disproportionately affected
the provinces of Atlantic Canada. Other issues in-
cluded the place of Quebec in Canada. A referen-
dum related to sovereignty had only narrowly been
defeated in 1995. The government had also reneged
on its promise to repeal the Goods and Services Tax.
The results involved a close election that reinforced
trends from 1993. The Liberals captured a majority
government, winning all of the parliamentary seats
in the province of Ontario, but with a vastly reduced
majority of only four parliamentary seats above the
required 50 percent of the overall total. This was a
decline of twenty-two seats from the 1993 election.
Many of these occurred in Atlantic Canada, where
unhappiness with government policy led to the de-
feat of Liberal members of Parliament, including
cabinet ministers. Elsewhere, both the Progressive
Conservatives and New Democrats made gains
enough to provide them with official party status.
The Bloc Québécois and the Reform Party contin-
ued to dominate their respective regions, although
the Reform Party, headed by Preston Manning, won
more seats than its Quebec counterpart to become
the official opposition party.
Impact The 1993 election represented the end of
the Progressive Conservative era, the return of the
Liberals to power, and a political fracturing of Can-
ada along political lines. The 1997 election only re-
inforced these trends. The Liberals retained power,
the Conservatives remained marginalized, and the
regional parties remained dominant in their respec-
tive strongholds.
Further Reading
Bliss, Michael.Right Honourable Men: The Descent of
Canadian Politics from Macdonald to Chrétien.To-
ronto: HarperCollinsCanada, 2004. A well-known
Canadian historian presents a collection of short
biographies of Canadian prime ministers, includ-
ing Campbell and Chrétien, who were involved in
elections in the 1990’s.
Fife, Robert.Kim Campbell: The Making of a Politician.
Toronto: HarperCollins, 1993. A biography of
Campbell, who lost the 1993 election.
Flanagan, Thomas.Waiting for the Wave: The Reform
Party and Preston Manning. Toronto: Stoddart,- A thoughtful look at the rise of the Reform
Party and its leader, Preston Manning.
Martin, Lawrence.Antagonist: A Biography of Lucien
Bouchard.Toronto: Viking Canada, 1997. A biog-
raphy of Bouchard, who would gain prominence
in the 1990’s as the leader, of the Bloc Québécois.
___.Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien.
Toronto: Viking Canada, 2003. The book covers
Chrétien’s years as prime minister, including the
1993 and 1997 elections.
Simpson, Jeffrey.Anxious Years: Politics in the Age of
Mulroney and Chrétien. Toronto: Key Porter Books, - A look by a Canadian journalist at Canadian
politics in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Steve Hewitt
See also Bloc Québécois; Campbell, Kim; Char-
lottetown Accord; Chrétien, Jean; Mulroney, Brian;
Quebec referendum of 1995. Elections in the United States,
midterm
The Event U.S. congressional elections during
the Bush and Clinton administrations
Date November 6, 1990; November 8, 1994;
November 3, 1998
The midterm congressional election of 1990 was fairly pre-
dictable and registered little change, but that of 1994 was
the fruit of Republican Newt Gingrich’s Contract with
America, realigning both houses in the face of President Bill
Clinton’s Democratic administration. The year 1998 saw
unexpected Democratic gains, undermining Gingrich’s
“Republican Revolution” and strengthening Clinton in the
face of scandal and impeachment.
The 1990 congressional midterm elections took
place at the end of the 101st Congress and in the
middle of the only presidential term of George
H. W. Bush. Political analysts detected a strong anti-
incumbent mood in the electorate, though nearly 20
percent of incumbents went unopposed. Democrats
controlled both the House of Representatives and
the Senate, but House Democrats had been shaken
by the resignations of Speaker Jim Wright of Texas
and Majority Whip Tony Coelho of California over
ethics issues. A group of senators, known as the
Keating Five, were also tainted by connection to aThe Nineties in America Elections in the United States, midterm 297