Home > Canadian federal election, 1972

The Canadian federal election of 1972 resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats in the Canadian House of Commons, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive Conservatives. A further 48 seats were won by other parties and independents. On election night, the results appeared to give 109 seats to the Tories, however once the counting had finished the next day, the final results gave the Liberals a minority government. See 29th Canadian parliament for a full list of MPs elected.

The election was the second fought by Liberal leader Pierre Trudeau. The Liberals entered the election high in the polls, but the spirit of Trudeaumania had worn off, and a slumping economy hurt his party. The Tories were led by Robert Stanfield, the former premier of Nova Scotia, who had an honest but bumbling image.

The Liberals campaigned on the slogan, "The Land is Strong", and television ads illustrating Canada's secenery. The slogan quickly became much derided, and the entire campaign is viewed as being one of the worst managed in recent decades. The party had developed few real issues to campaign on. One program that hurt the Liberals in many parts of the country was official bilingualism , which many English-Canadians viewed as an expensive waste of money.

1 Results

1.1 National

n.a. = not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election.

(1) Indicates increase from total Social Credit + Ralliement creditiste vote in 1968.