The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000.

The governing Liberals won a third consecutive majority government easily, as they had been expected to do when the election was called in October, and throughout the campaign. The election was regarded as a great success by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and the Liberal Party, but a failure for every other party. Without important issues or a very exciting campaign, voter turn-out reached a record low.

Voter turn-out: 64.1% (corrected from initial reporting of 61.2%)

Popular vote map with bar graphs showing seats by province and territory

The parties:

• The Liberals campaigned on their successful economic record and their relatively scandal-free seven years in office. The Liberals increased their number of seats in the Canadian House of Commons from 155 seats to 172 seats. The Liberals also regained ground in eastern Canada that they lost during the 1997 election due to a change to unemployment rules that hurt seasonal workers.

• The Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (Canadian Alliance) went into the election with great hopes. New leader Stockwell Day was expected to appeal far more to the crucial Ontario voters, and the Canadian Alliance was hoping for major improvements. The Alliance campaigned on tax cuts, an end to the federal gun registration program, and family values. The campaign was dogged by accusations that the party would allow private health care to operate along-side the public Medicare system and introduce two-tier health care, and for threatening gay rights and abortion rights, all of which the party denied. Day's personal image also suffered, particularly due to gaffes along the campaign trail. The Alliance ended up winning only two Ontario ridings. This led to the eventual downfall of Day the next year. At one point, the Alliance was at 30.5% in the polls, and some thought they could win the election. While they did not do so, they did, however, retain their official opposition status, and increased their numbers in the House of Commons by six seats, from 60 to 66.

• The Bloc Québécois failed to attract much interest in their campaign, and Gilles Duceppe, despite performing well in the debates, was not a very popular leader in Quebec. The Bloc's seat total fell from 44 to 38. Many analysts thought the party would do worse, but the other parties split the federalist vote in Quebec, allowing the Bloc to win many seats that they would not have won if the federalist vote had been united.

• The New Democratic Party campaigned intensely on the issue of medicare, but failed to make much headway with voters. Their seat count fell from 21 to 13. The NDP's vote remained high in eastern Canada, especially Nova Scotia, where it traditionally has not done so well.

• The Progressive Conservatives, despite great hope of regaining their lost glory under former Prime Minister Joe Clark, had a very disappointing election, falling from 20 to 12 seats, and being almost exclusively confined to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland. The party, however, won the 12 seats needed for Official party status in the House of Commons. Failure to win 12 seats would have marginalized the party in the House of Commons and likely led to a more rapid decline.

37th Parliament

One interesting sidenote was that the entire election was started, took place, finished, and a winner was chosen, all while the votes were being counted in the 2000 US presidential election. This observation was made by This Hour has 22 Minutes, a news satire TV show in Canada.

National results

Notes:

"Before" refers to standings in the House of Commons at dissolution, and not to standings at the previous election.

¹ - percentage change from Reform Party of Canada in previous election
² - party was not recognized in previous election

Results by province

Source: Elections Canada (http://www.elections.ca/gen/rep/37g/table9_e.html)

Seat by seat results

• Canadian federal election, 2000 (candidates)

Notes

• Number of Parties: 11
  • First appearance: Marijuana Party of Canada
  • Reappearance after hiatus: Communist Party of Canada
  • Final appearance: Natural Law Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
  • First-and-only appearance: Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance

External links

• Elections Canada: 2000 election (http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=index&dir=rep/37g&lang=e&textonly=false)