The 1902 Ontario general election was the tenth general election held in the province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. It was held on May 29, 1902, to elect the 98 Members of the 10th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

, led by Sir George William Ross, formed the government for a ninth consecutive term, although with only a very slim, two-seat majority in the legislature. The Ontario Conservative Party, led by Sir James P. Whitney formed the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

Expansion of the Legislative Assembly

The number of electoral districts was increased from 93 to 97, under an Act passed in 1902.

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

in both cases was entitled to elect two members, and thus 98 MLAs would now be elected to the legislature. The following electoral changes were made: :* Algoma West was divided into Fort William and Lake of the Woods and Port Arthur and Rainy River :* Algoma East was divided into Algoma, Manitoulin and Sault Ste. Marie :* Nipissing was divided into Nipissing East and Nipissing West

had two seats, and

plurality block voting Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when the candidates div ...

was used. Elsewhere the

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

election system was used.

Notable candidates

Margaret Haile Margaret Haile () was a Canadian socialist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a teacher and journalist by profession. She was active in the socialist movements in both Canada and the United States. Frederic Heath's "Socialism in ...

, a

Canadian Socialist League The Canadian Socialist League (CSL) was the first nationwide socialist organization founded in Canada. It originated in Montreal in 1898, but was strongest in Ontario and British Columbia. The leaders espoused a moderate socialism based on Chris ...

candidate in

Toronto North Toronto North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1925. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Toronto Centre, Wes ...

, made history as the first woman ever to run for political office in Canada.Janice Newton
The feminist challenge to the Canadian Left, 1900-1918

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=5 , MPPs ! colspan=3 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

! Dissol. !1902 !± !# !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;", George William Ross , 94 , 51 , , 50 , 1 , 206,709 , 47.54% , 0.25 , style="text-align:left;", James P. Whitney , 97 , 42 , , 48 , 6 , 215,883 , 49.65% , 1.96 , style="text-align:left;", , 2 , 1 , , – , 1 , 1,646 , 0.38% , 0.03 , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , – , – , – , , 5,133 , 1.18% , 3.42 , style="text-align:left;", , 6 , – , – , – , , 3,126 , 0.72% , , style="text-align:left;", , 9 , – , – , – , , 1,993 , 0.46% , , style="text-align:left;", , 4 , – , – , – , , 277 , 0.06% , , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , colspan="3", ''Did not campaign'' , colspan="3", , , colspan="5", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 216 , 94 , 94 , 98 , , 434,767 , 100.00% , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Blank and invalid ballots , align="right", 4,021 , style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Registered voters / turnout , 588,570 , 74.55% , 7.50

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = previously incumbent in another riding : = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = incumbency arose from prior election result being overturned by the court : = other incumbents renominated : = previously an MP in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

: = multiple candidates , - ! colspan=2 , Political party ! Candidate ! Votes ! % ! Elected ! Incumbent , - , style="text-align:left;", Dennis Murphy , 5,770 , , 27.15 , style="text-align:center;", , - , style="text-align:left;", Charles Berkeley Powell , 5,633 , , 26.50 , style="text-align:center;", , style="text-align:center;", , - , style="text-align:left;", S. Bingham , 5,154 , , 24.25 , - , style="text-align:left;", Alexander Lumsden , 4,698 , , 22.10 , style="text-align:center;", , style="text-align:center;", , - !colspan="3" style="text-align:right;", Majorityplurality for third winning candidate , 479 , , 2.25 , - !colspan="3" style="text-align:right;", Turnout , 11,247 , , 71.85 , - !colspan="3" style="text-align:right;", Registered voters , 15,653

Analysis

MLAs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows: Northern Ontario * * * * * * * Ottawa Valley * * * * * * * * * Saint Lawrence Valley * * * * * * * Central Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Georgian Bay * * * * * * * Wentworth/Halton/Niagara * * * * * * * * Midwestern Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Southwestern Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * Peel/York/Ontario * * * * * * * Toronto * * * *

Division of ridings

The newly created ridings returned the following MLAs:

Seats that changed hands

Of the constituencies that were not altered, there were 23 seats that changed allegiance in the election: Liberal to Conservative * Bruce Centre * Essex North * Lambton West * Lennox *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Norfolk North Norfolk North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act 1867, which divided the county of Norfolk ...

* Northumberland East *

(2nd MLA) * Oxford South * Perth North *

Wellington South Wellington South was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act 1867 as the "South Riding of ...

York West York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Conservative to Liberal * Durham West *

Grey North Grey North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act 1867, which divided the County of Grey into ...

* Middlesex East *

Ontario South Ontario South was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1925. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act 1867. The South riding consisted initia ...

* Prince Edward * Renfrew North *

Simcoe Centre Simcoe Centre was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Grey—Simcoe, Simcoe Sou ...

* Simcoe East * Stormont * Wentworth North Independent-Conservative to Conservative * Carleton

Expansion of the Legislative Assembly

Notable candidates

Results

Synopsis of results

Analysis

MLAs elected by region and riding

Division of ridings

Seats that changed hands

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Further reading