Portal:Canada/Selected article/7
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The Canadian federal election of 1993 (officially, the 35th general election) was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election.
The election was called by the new Progressive Conservative Party leader, Prime Minister Kim Campbell, near the end of her party's five-year mandate. Conservative support had recovered in the lead-up to the election, and was near that of the rival Liberals when the writs were issued. However, this momentum did not last, and the Conservatives suffered the most lopsided defeat for a governing party at the federal level, losing half their vote from 1988 and all but two of their 151 seats. Though they recovered slightly in subsequent elections, the Progressive Conservatives would never be a major force in Canadian politics again. In 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party disappeared entirely when it merged with the larger Canadian Alliance party to create the new Conservative Party of Canada.
Two new parties emerged in this election, largely from the supporters of the Progressive Conservatives. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois won almost half the votes in Quebec and became the Official Opposition, while the Western-based Reform Party won nearly as many seats. The Bloc Québécois had been founded only three years before and was competing in its first election, while the Reform was considered a fringe movement in the 1988 election.
The Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada. The traditional third party, the New Democratic Party, collapsed to nine seats only one election after having its best performance ever.
Voter turn-out: 70.9 (adjusted from initial tallies of 69.6% to account for deceased electors).
