1890 Ontario general election

The 1890 Ontario general election was the seventh general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 5, 1890, to elect the 91 members of the 7th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").^[1]

1890 Ontario general election

← 1886 June 5, 1890 1894 →
← outgoing members
91 seats in the 7th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 46 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Oliver Mowat William Ralph Meredith Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1872 1879 Leader's seat Oxford North London Last election 57 32 Seats won 53 34 Seat change 4 2
Premier before election Oliver Mowat Liberal Premier after election Oliver Mowat Liberal

The Assembly had been increased from 90 members after the passage of an Act in 1889 creating Nipissing as a riding.^[2]

The election was a victory for the Ontario Liberal Party, led by Oliver Mowat.^[3] The party won a sixth consecutive term in government, despite losing a small number of seats in the Legislature.

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by William Ralph Meredith won two additional seats.

This election was held partially using the Limited voting system where each Toronto voter had two votes for the three MPPs in the district. This produced mixed representation in that district and thus a degree of minority representation.^[4]

A key issue in the election was the segregation of schools for Catholic and Protestant students, with the Liberal Party supporting the segregation and the Conservatives opposing it.^[3]

An 1887 Act had renamed the riding of Cornwall and Stormont as Stormont.^[5]

Results

^[1]

Elections to the 7th Parliament of Ontario (1890)

Political party		Party leader	MPPs					Votes
			Candidates	1886	Dissol.	1890	±	#	%	± (pp)
	Liberal	Oliver Mowat	87	57		53	4	162,118	49.63%	1.22
	Conservative	William Ralph Meredith	74	32		34	2	130,289	39.88%	7.14
	Conservative-Equal Rights		14	–	–	2	2	26,154	8.01%	New
	Liberal-Equal Rights		2	–	–	2	2	3,352	1.03%	New
	Independent		1	1	–	–	1	7	–	0.68
	Equal Rights		7	–	–	–		3,131	0.96%	New
	Independent-Liberal		1	–	–	–		1,620	0.50%	New
	Labour			–	–	–		Did not campaign
	Temperance			–	–	–		Did not campaign
	Vacant
Total			186	90	90	91		326,671	100.00%
Blank and invalid ballots								3,110
Registered voters / turnout								473,853	69.60%	0.09

Seats and popular vote by party of major influence

Party		Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
	Liberal[a 1]	53 / 91	49.63%	1.22		1.22
	Conservative[a 1]	34 / 91	39.88%	-7.14
	Equal Rights	4 / 91	10.00%	10.00		10
	Labour	0 / 91	0.00%	-3.85
	Other	0 / 91	0.49%	-0.23

1. Straight party support only. Other MLAs sponsored by Equal Rights Party are allocated to the latter, to show extent of influence.

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1890 Ontario general election^[1]

Riding[a 1]	Winning party								Turnout	Votes
Name[a 2]	1886		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		Lib	Con	EqR	I-Lib	Ind	Total
Addington		Con		Con	1,498	51.48%	86	2.96%	62.05%	1,412	1,498	–	–	–	2,910
Algoma East		Lib		Con	1,569	50.97%	60	1.95%	110.54%	1,509	1,569	–	–	–	3,078
Algoma West		Lib		Lib	786	51.95%	59	3.90%	116.85%	786	727	–	–	–	1,513
Brant North		Lib		Lib	1,178	64.20%	521	28.39%	66.55%	1,178	657	–	–	–	1,835
Brant South		Lib		Lib	2,067	59.06%	634	18.11%	65.02%	2,067	1,433	–	–	–	3,500
Brockville		Lib		Lib	1,781	52.37%	161	4.73%	62.44%	1,781	–	–	1,620	–	3,401
Bruce Centre		Lib		Lib	1,860	54.56%	311	9.12%	69.74%	1,860	–	1,549	–	–	3,409
Bruce North		Con		Con	1,835	50.23%	17	0.47%	70.83%	1,818	1,835	–	–	–	3,653
Bruce South		Lib		Lib	2,179	64.41%	975	28.82%	64.86%	2,179	1,204	–	–	–	3,383
Cardwell		Con		Con	1,183	50.97%	45	1.94%	41.81%	–	2,321[a 3]	–	–	–	2,321
Carleton		Con		Con	1,145	50.20%	9	0.39%	45.56%	1,136	1,145	–	–	–	2,281
Stormont		Lib		Lib	2,262	54.27%	356	8.54%	68.38%	2,262	1,906	–	–	–	4,168
Dufferin		Con		C-ER	1,333	54.70%	730	29.95%	40.18%	603	–	1,834[a 4]	–	–	2,437
Dundas		Lib		Con	2,104	51.92%	156	3.85%	78.15%	1,948	2,104	–	–	–	4,052
Durham East		Con		C-ER	1,314	50.19%	10	0.38%	55.35%	–	1,304	1,314	–	–	2,618
Durham West		Lib		Lib	1,694	50.76%	51	1.53%	73.21%	1,694	1,643	–	–	–	3,337
Elgin East		Lib		Con	2,038	51.49%	118	2.98%	74.29%	1,920	2,038	–	–	–	3,958
Elgin West		Con		Con	2,384	52.02%	185	4.04%	67.70%	2,199	2,384	–	–	–	4,583
Essex North		Lib		Con	1,901	47.90%	635	16.00%	58.22%	2,068[a 5]	1,901	–	–	–	3,969
Essex South		Lib		Lib	2,505	52.15%	207	4.31%	73.61%	2,505	2,298	–	–	–	4,803
Frontenac		Con		Con	1,258	52.03%	98	4.05%	65.67%	1,160	1,258	–	–	–	2,418
Glengarry		Lib		Lib	1,756	53.96%	258	7.93%	66.38%	1,756	1,498	–	–	–	3,254
Grenville		Con		Con	1,611	57.33%	412	14.66%	48.87%	–	2,810[a 6]	–	–	–	2,810
Grey Centre		Con		Con	1,513	52.48%	143	4.96%	48.76%	1,370	1,513	–	–	–	2,883
Grey North		Con		Lib	2,312	54.44%	377	8.88%	67.88%	2,312	1,935	–	–	–	4,247
Grey South		Con		Lib	2,156	51.73%	144	3.45%	72.98%	2,156	2,012	–	–	–	4,168
Haldimand		Lib		Lib	2,000	54.54%	333	9.08%	81.00%	2,000	1,667	–	–	–	3,667
Halton		Con		Con	2,377	51.98%	181	3.96%	78.53%	2,196	2,377	–	–	–	4,573
Hamilton		Lib		Con	4,111	50.53%	86	1.06%	78.54%	4,025	4,111	–	–	–	8,136
Hastings East		Con		Con	1,801	50.13%	9	0.25%	79.49%	1,792	1,801	–	–	–	3,593
Hastings North		Con		Con	acclaimed
Hastings West		Con		Lib	1,678	52.11%	136	4.22%	64.41%	1,678	1,542	–	–	–	3,220
Huron East		Lib		Lib	2,256	56.27%	503	12.55%	73.87%	2,256	1,753	–	–	–	4,009
Huron South		Lib		Lib	2,144	51.91%	158	3.83%	68.23%	2,144	1,986	–	–	–	4,130
Huron West		Lib		Lib	2,125	51.35%	112	2.71%	64.60%	2,125	2,013	–	–	–	4,138
Kent East		Lib		Lib	2,347	53.99%	633	14.56%	88.46%	4,061[a 7]	–	286	–	–	4,347
Kent West		Con		Con	2,823	50.37%	41	0.73%	65.34%	2,782	2,823	–	–	–	5,605
Kingston		Con		Con	1,629	50.45%	29	0.90%	58.16%	1,600	1,629	–	–	–	3,229
Lambton East		Lib		Lib	2,203	52.40%	462	10.99%	73.65%	2,203	1,741	260	–	–	4,204
Lambton West		Lib		Lib	2,748	55.46%	713	14.39%	56.04%	2,748	2,035	172	–	–	4,955
Lanark North		Lib		L-ER	1,525	53.30%	189	6.61%	71.27%	–	1,336	1,525[a 8]	–	–	2,861
Lanark South		Con		Con	1,509	58.17%	431	16.62%	54.29%	1,078	1,509	–	–	7	2,594
Leeds		Con		Con	1,813	57.10%	451	14.20%	57.69%	1,362	1,813	–	–	–	3,175
Lennox		Con		Con	1,441	50.38%	22	0.77%	70.54%	1,419	1,441	–	–	–	2,860
Lincoln		Lib		Con	2,424	51.63%	153	3.26%	67.51%	2,271	2,424	–	–	–	4,695
London		Con		Con	acclaimed
Middlesex East		Con		Con	2,508	50.58%	58	1.17%	74.07%	2,450	2,508	–	–	–	4,958
Middlesex North		Lib		Lib	2,060	51.05%	85	2.11%	78.04%	2,060	1,975	–	–	–	4,035
Middlesex West		Lib		Lib	1,950	51.64%	124	3.28%	80.35%	1,950	1,826	–	–	–	3,776
Monck		Lib		Lib	1,765	56.83%	424	13.65%	71.30%	3,106[a 9]	0	–	–	–	3,106
Muskoka		Con		Con	1,565	51.46%	89	2.93%	77.76%	1,476	1,565	–	–	–	3,041
Nipissing	New			Lib	881	67.25%	452	34.50%	64.56%	881	429	–	–	–	1,310
Norfolk North		Lib		Lib	1,601	55.30%	307	10.60%	72.46%	1,601	1,294	–	–	–	2,895
Norfolk South		Con		Lib	1,563	51.06%	65	2.12%	76.54%	1,563	1,498	–	–	–	3,061
Northumberland East		Con		Con	2,185	53.36%	275	6.72%	83.74%	1,910	2,185[a 10]	–	–	–	4,095
Northumberland West		Lib		Lib	1,453	57.82%	393	15.64%	65.90%	1,453	1,060	–	–	–	2,513
Ontario North		Lib		Con	1,869	51.07%	78	2.13%	70.38%	1,791	1,869	–	–	–	3,660
Ontario South		Lib		Lib	2,460	51.38%	132	2.76%	73.43%	2,460	2,328	–	–	–	4,788
Ottawa		Lib		Lib	3,379	63.24%	1,415	26.48%	58.66%	3,379	–	1,964	–	–	5,343
Oxford North		Lib		Lib	acclaimed
Oxford South		Lib		Lib	1,764	64.69%	801	29.37%	44.21%	1,764	–	963	–	–	2,727
Parry Sound		Ind		Lib	1,387	52.06%	110	4.13%	n/a	1,387	1,277	–	–	–	2,664
Peel		Lib		Lib	2,059	51.54%	123	3.08%	74.33%	2,059	–	1,936	–	–	3,995
Perth North		Con		Lib	2,729	50.86%	92	1.71%	72.44%	2,729	2,637	–	–	–	5,366
Perth South		Lib		Lib	2,241	58.19%	631	16.39%	61.55%	2,241	–	1,610	–	–	3,851
Peterborough East		Lib		Lib	1,421	51.43%	79	2.86%	70.40%	1,421	–	1,342	–	–	2,763
Peterborough West		Lib		Lib	1,925	58.58%	564	17.16%	70.65%	1,925	–	1,361	–	–	3,286
Prescott		Lib		Lib	acclaimed
Prince Edward		Lib		Lib	2,040	50.09%	7	0.17%	71.71%	2,040	2,033	–	–	–	4,073
Renfrew North		Lib		Con	1,843	51.22%	88	2.45%	75.64%	1,755	1,843	–	–	–	3,598
Renfrew South		Lib		Lib	1,470	49.71%	229	7.74%	63.02%	2,711[a 11]	–	246	–	–	2,957
Russell		Lib		Lib	2,223	61.56%	835	23.12%	57.36%	2,223	1,388	–	–	–	3,611
Simcoe Centre		Lib		Lib	1,559	57.72%	417	15.44%	60.03%	1,559	–	1,142	–	–	2,701
Simcoe East		Lib		Con	2,092	51.96%	158	3.92%	62.59%	1,934	2,092	–	–	–	4,026
Simcoe West		Con		Con	1,318	61.56%	495	23.12%	44.95%	823	1,318	–	–	–	2,141
Victoria East		Con		Con	1,459	51.26%	72	2.53%	55.05%	1,387	1,459	–	–	–	2,846
Victoria West		Con		L-ER	1,827	56.70%	432	13.41%	66.13%	–	1,395	1,827	–	–	3,222
Waterloo North		Lib		Lib	2,205	59.79%	722	19.58%	66.67%	2,205	1,483	–	–	–	3,688
Waterloo South		Lib		Lib	2,161	55.34%	417	10.68%	66.42%	2,161	1,744	–	–	–	3,905
Welland		Lib		Con	2,345	50.77%	71	1.54%	71.83%	2,274	2,345	–	–	–	4,619
Wellington East		Lib		Lib	1,562	58.61%	459	17.22%	53.37%	1,562	1,103	–	–	–	2,665
Wellington South		Lib		Lib	2,098	59.20%	652	18.40%	61.76%	2,098	1,446	–	–	–	3,544
Wellington West		Lib		Lib	1,495	55.70%	306	11.40%	58.64%	1,495	1,189	–	–	–	2,684
Wentworth North		Lib		Lib	1,469	55.43%	288	10.87%	72.58%	1,469	1,181	–	–	–	2,650
Wentworth South		Lib		Lib	1,472	50.88%	51	1.76%	81.96%	1,472	1,421	–	–	–	2,893
York East		Lib		Lib	1,705	58.94%	517	17.87%	63.29%	1,705	–	1,188	–	–	2,893
York North		Lib		Lib	1,875	61.29%	691	22.59%	47.87%	1,875	–	1,184	–	–	3,059
York West		Lib		Lib	1,789	50.87%	61	1.73%	94.73%	1,789	–	1,728	–	–	3,517

1. excluding Toronto, a multi-member constituency
2. order is as given in EO reports
3. the incumbent William Henry Hammell was the winning candidate
4. John Barr (Conservative/Equal Rights) was the winning candidate
5. the incumbent Gaspard Pacaud received 1,266 votes
6. the incumbent Frederick John French received 1,199 votes
7. the incumbent Robert Ferguson was the winning candidate
8. the Liberal incumbent William Clyde Caldwell ran as a Liberal/Equal Rights candidate
9. the incumbent Richard Harcourt was the winning candidate
10. William Arnson Willoughby was elected in 1886, but was unseated by the court
11. the winning candidate John Francis Dowling had been previously elected to the Legislature

  = open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = previously incumbent in another riding

  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = incumbency arose from prior election result being overturned by the court

  = other incumbents renominated

  = joint Conservative/Equal Rights candidate

  = joint Liberal/Equal Rights candidate

  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = multiple candidates

^[1]

Results for Toronto (3 seats)

Political party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected	Incumbent
	Conservative	Edward Frederick Clarke	5,862	18.81	Y	Y
	Conservative	Henry Edward Clarke	5,542	17.78	Y	Y
	Liberal	Joseph Tait	5,359	17.20	Y
	Liberal	Alfred McDougall	5,197	16.68
	Conservative/Equal Rights	E.D. Armour	4,502	14.45
	Conservative/Equal Rights	Robert Bell	4,001	12.84
	Equal Rights	Frank Moses	703	2.26
Majority[a 1]			162	0.52
Turnout			31,287	72.31
Registered voters			43,265

1. plurality for third winning candidate

Analysis

Party candidates in 2nd place^{[1][a 1]}

Party in 1st place		Party in 2nd place						Total
		Accl	Lib	Con	C-ER	Ind-L	ER
	Liberal	2	3	35	10	1	1	52
	Conservative	2	28	2				32
	C-ER		1	1				2
	L-ER			2				2
Total		4	32	40	10	1	1	88

1. excluding Toronto seats

Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party^[1]

Parties	Accl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
█ Liberal	2	50	32	2	1
█ Conservative	2	31	41
█ Conservative/Equal Rights		2	10			1
█ Liberal/Equal Rights		2
█ Equal Rights			1	5
█ Independent Liberal			1
█ Independent				1

Resulting composition of the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario^[1]

Source		Party
		Lib	Con	C-ER	L-ER	Total
Seats retained	Incumbents returned	36	14			50
	Returned by acclamation	2	2			4
	Open seats held	6	3			9
	Byelection loss reversed		2			2
	Defeated by same-party candidate		1			1
Seats changing hands	Incumbents defeated	5	9		1	15
	Open seats gained	2		2		4
	Byelection gains held		1			1
	Incumbent changed allegiance				1	1
New seat	New MLAs	1				1
Toronto seats	MLA returned		2			2
	New MLAs	1				1
Total		53	34	2	2	91

MLAs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

  Liberal

  Conservative

  Conservative/Equal Rights

  Liberal/Equal Rights

Northern Ontario   Algoma East: Alexander Franklin Campbell   Algoma West: James Conmee   Nipissing: John Loughrin Ottawa Valley   Carleton: George William Monk   Lanark North: William Clyde Caldwell   Lanark South: Nathaniel McLenaghan   Ottawa: Erskine Henry Bronson   Prescott: Alfred Évanturel   Renfrew North: Arunah Dunlop   Renfrew South: John Francis Dowling   Russell: Alexander Robillard Saint Lawrence Valley   Brockville: Christopher Finlay Fraser   Cornwall and Stormont: William Mack   Dundas: James Pliny Whitney   Glengarry: James Rayside   Grenville: Orlando Bush   Kingston: James Henry Metcalfe   Leeds: Robert Henry Preston Central Ontario   Addington: James Reid   Durham East: George Campbell[a]   Durham West: William Thomas Lockhart   Frontenac: Hugh Smith   Hastings East: William Parker Hudson   Hastings North: Alpheus Field Wood   Hastings West: William Hodgins Biggar   Lennox: Walter William Meacham   Northumberland East: William Arnson Willoughby   Northumberland West: Corelli Collard Field   Peterborough East: Thomas Blezard   Peterborough West: James Robert Stratton   Prince Edward: John Allison Sprague   Victoria East: John Fell   Victoria West: John McKay

Georgian Bay   Bruce North: John George[b]   Grey North: James Cleland   Muskoka: George Frederick Marter   Parry Sound: James Sharpe   Simcoe Centre: Robert Paton   Simcoe East: Andrew Miscampbell   Simcoe West: Thomas Wylie Wentworth/Halton/Niagara   Halton: William Kerns   Hamilton: Thomas Stinson[c]   Lincoln: James Hiscott   Monck: Richard Harcourt   Welland: William McCleary   Wentworth North: James McMahon   Wentworth South: Nicholas Awrey Midwestern Ontario   Brant North: William Bruce Wood   Brant South: Arthur Sturgis Hardy   Bruce Centre: Walter MacMorris Dack   Bruce South: Hamilton Parke O'Connor   Dufferin: John Barr   Grey Centre: Joseph Rorke   Grey South: James Hill Hunter   Haldimand: Jacob Baxter   Huron East: Thomas Gibson   Huron South: Archibald Bishop   Huron West: James Thompson Garrow   Norfolk North: John Bailey Freeman[d]   Norfolk South: William Andrew Charlton[e]   Oxford North: Oliver Mowat   Oxford South: Angus McKay   Perth North: Alfred Emanuel Ahrens[f]   Perth South: Thomas Ballantyne   Waterloo North: Elias Weber Bingeman Snider   Waterloo South: John Douglas Moore   Wellington East: Charles Clarke   Wellington South: Donald Guthrie   Wellington West: Absalom Shade Allan

Southwestern Ontario   Elgin East: Henry Thomas Godwin   Elgin West: Dugald McColl   Essex North: Solomon White   Essex South: William Douglas Balfour   Kent East: Robert Ferguson   Kent West: James Clancy   Lambton East: Hugh McKenzie   Lambton West: Charles MacKenzie   London: William Ralph Meredith   Middlesex East: Richard Tooley   Middlesex North: John Waters   Middlesex West: George William Ross Peel/York/Ontario   Cardwell: William Henry Hammell   Ontario North: James Glendinning   Ontario South: John Dryden   Peel: Kenneth Chisholm   Toronto: Edward Frederick Clarke   Toronto: Henry Edward Clarke   Toronto: Joseph Tait   York East: George Byron Smith   York North: Elihu James Davis   York West: John Taylor Gilmour

Seats that changed hands

In its first election, Nipissing returned the Liberal candidate John Loughrin as its MLA.

Elections to the 18th Parliament of Ontario – seats won/lost by party, 1886–1890

Party		1886	Gain from (loss to)										1890
			Lib		Con		Con-ER		Lib-ER		Ind
	Liberal	57			5	(10)				(1)	1		52
	Conservative	32	10	(5)				(2)		(1)			34
	Conservative-Equal Rights	–			2								2
	Liberal-Equal Rights	–	1		1								2
	Independent	1		(1)									–
Total		90	11	(6)	8	(10)	–	(2)	–	(2)	1	–	90

In the election, 20 seats changed their allegiance.

Liberal to Conservative Algoma East Dundas Elgin East Essex North Hamilton Lincoln Ontario North Renfrew North Simcoe East Welland

Liberal to Liberal-Equal Rights Lanark North Conservative to Liberal Grey North Grey South Hastings West Norfolk South Perth North Conservative to Conservative-Equal Rights Dufferin Durham East

Conservative to Liberal-Equal Rights Victoria West Independent to Liberal Parry Sound

See also

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

Notes and references

Notes

1. Election declared void because of corrupt practices. Writ for new election issued. Campbell was reelected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]
2. Election declared void because of corrupt practices. Writ for new election issued. David Porter (Liberal) was elected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]
3. Election declared void because of corrupt practices. Writ for new election issued. John Morison Gibson (Liberal) was elected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]
4. Died before assuming office. Writ for new election issued. Edwin Clarendon Carpenter (Liberal) was elected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]
5. Election declared void because of corrupt practices. Writ for new election issued. Charlton was reelected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]
6. Election declared void because of corrupt practices. Writ for new election issued. Thomas Magwood (Conservative) was elected in the subsequent byelection.^[6]

References

1. "1890 general election results". Elections Ontario. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
2. An Act to give Representation in the Legislative Assembly to the District of Nipissing, S.O. 1889, c. 2
3. Dunning, Wm. A. (1890). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 5 (4): 741. doi:10.2307/2139551. JSTOR 2139551.
4. 1921 Special House of Commons Committee on pro-rep. report, p. 12
5. An Act to give early effect to certain amendments of the Law recommended by the Statute Commissioners, S.O. 1887, c. 8 , Schedule
6. Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario. Vol. XXIV. Toronto: Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 1891. pp. 7–27, 35.