The 1891 Canadian federal election was won by the Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald led a conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. Macdonald died a few months after the election.
John Abbott succeeded Macdonald as Conservative leader and Prime Minister. Abbott's most famous political comment was "I hate politics."
This was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost this election, he returned in 1896 to win a solid majority.
The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported United States.
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E)
Notes:
"Before" refers to the standings in the House of Commons at the last election, and not to the standings at dissolution.
(1) One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.
(2) The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being “Progressives”. This may be an error.
Acclamations:
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
However, if the leader of the governing party is changed shortly before an election is due and the new leader is not a Member of Parliament, he or she will normally await the general election before running for a seat.
Customarily, when a majority government is in power, elections are called 3.5 to 5 years after the previous election or as a de facto referendum if a major issue is at hand (the last of these being the 1988 election, which revolved around free trade with the United States).
Most Canadian legislation originates in the cabinet of Canada, which is a body appointed by the Prime Minister largely from the ranks of his party's MPs.
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