1. Highest number of election victories - 13
Both John Diefenbaker and Herb Gray were elected to Parliament thirteen
times. Diefenbaker also lost twice.
2. Highest number of election defeats (without ever winning) - 22
This dubious distinction belongs to John C. Turmel (also known as Jean
Turmel), who lost seven general elections and fifteen by-elections running
as an independent candidate between 1979 and 2000. H. Georges Grenier,
of "Esprit Social", and two Communist candidates, William Kashtan and
William C. Ross hold the record for losing in nine general elections.
3. Highest voter turn-out in a general election - 93.91%
The politically active voters in the Quebec riding of Iles-de-la-Madeleine
set this record in the general election of 1965. They broke their own record
of 93.69% that they had set in 1949.
4. Lowest voter turn-out in a general election - 23.71%
The voters of Toronto South set this record for apathy in the general
election of 1921.
5. Lowest number of candidates running in a single constituency - 1
Over the years, several candidates have won federal seats by acclamation.
But the last one to do it in a general election was a Liberal, Chelsey
William Carter, who was all alone in the Newfoundland riding of
Burin-Burgeo in 1957.
6. Highest number of candidates running in a single constituency - 13
The general election of 1993 saw the city of Vancouver caught up in an
electoral frenzy. Three of the city's ridings, Vancouver East, Centre, and
Quadra, each had thirteen candidates vying for the big prize. The Liberals
wound up prevailing in all three ridings. One of the defeated candidates was
Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who lost her seat in Vancouver Quadra.
7. Margins of victory in recent general elections
Highest
2000- Irwin Cotler (L) Mont -Royal - 81.24% of all votes cast
1997- Derek Lee (L) - Scarborough -Rouge River - 74.80%
1993- Sheila Finestone (L) - Mont-Royal - 82.94%
1988- Brian Mulroney (PC) - Charlevoix - 80.04%
Lowest
2000- Larry Bagnell (L) - Yukon - 32.48% of all votes cast
1997- Howard Hilstrom (Reform) - Selkirk-Interlake - 28.30%
1993- Paul E. Forseth (Reform) - New Westminster-Burnaby - 29.33%
1998- Thomas Suluk (PC) - Nunatsiaq - 32.49%
*Source: Centre for Election Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo
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