1973 Quebec general election

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1973 Quebec general election
← 1970 October 29, 1973 1976 →
110 seats in the 30th National Assembly of Quebec
56 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout80.39% (Decrease3.84%)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Robert Bourassa René Lévesque
Party Liberal Parti Québécois
Leader since January 17, 1970 October 14, 1968
Leader's seat Mercier Lost election in Dorion
Last election 72 seats, 45.40% 7 seats, 23.06%
Seats won 102 6
Seat change Increase30 Decrease1
Popular vote 1,623,734 897,809
Percentage 54.65% 30.22%
Swing Increase9.25% Increase7.16%
  Third party Fourth party
  PC
Leader Yvon Dupuis Gabriel Loubier
Party Parti créditiste Union Nationale
Leader since February 4, 1973 June 19, 1971
Leader's seat Lost election in Saint-Jean Bellechasse (lost re-election)
Last election 12 seats, 11.19% 17 seats, 19.65%
Seats won 2 0
Seat change Decrease10 Decrease17
Popular vote 294,706 146,209
Percentage 9.92% 4.92%
Swing Decrease1.27% Decrease14.73%
Premier before election

Robert Bourassa
Liberal

Premier after election

Robert Bourassa
Liberal

The 1973 Quebec general election was held on October 29, 1973 to elect members to National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Bourassa, won re-election, defeating the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, and the Union Nationale (UN).

The Liberals won the largest majority government in the province's history, with 102 seats. In the process, they reduced the opposition to just eight seats (six PQ, two créditistes) in total. The Parti Québécois held its own, losing only one seat, and despite having fewer seats, became the official Opposition, although PQ leader René Lévesque failed to win a seat in the Assembly.

The Union Nationale, which had held power until the previous 1970 general election, was wiped off the electoral map, losing all 17 of its seats. It would be the first time since the UN's founding in 1935 that the party was without representation in the legislature. However, UN candidate Maurice Bellemare later won a seat in a 1974 by-election.

The popular vote was not as lopsided as the seat count would indicate, even though the Liberals won 54 percent of the popular vote. The Parti Québécois, for instance, won 30% of the popular vote, a significant improvement over their previous showing of 23% in the 1970 election. However, their support was spread out across the entire province, and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into more seats. Quebec elections have historically produced significant disparities in seat counts.

Legislative reforms (1970–1973)[edit]

Abolition of protected ridings[edit]

Upon Confederation in 1867, section 80 of the British North America Act, 1867 provided for the following ridings in the Legislative Assembly to be protected from having their boundaries altered without the consent of the majority of the members representing them:

Consent by a majority of the members of the 18 districts concerned was finally secured in December 1970, and the constitutional restrictions were accordingly revoked.[1] Work would then proceed on a comprehensive redistribution for the next ensuing election.

Redistribution of ridings[edit]

A 1972 Act [2] increased the number of MPPs from 108 to 110 through the following changes:

Abolished ridings New ridings
Drawn from parts of other ridings
Abolition of ridings
Reorganization of ridings
Merger of ridings
Division of ridings
Renaming of ridings
  1. ^ from parts of Bourassa, Bourget and LaFontaine
  2. ^ from parts of Chauveau and Montmorency
  3. ^ from parts of Taillon and Chambly
  4. ^ from parts of D'Arcy-McGee, Dorion and Outremont
  5. ^ from parts of the existing Jacques-Cartier and Robert-Baldwin
  6. ^ from parts of Montcalm and Terrebonne
  7. ^ from parts of Gouin and Jeanne-Mance
  8. ^ from parts of Compton, Richmond and Sherbrooke
  9. ^ from parts of Jean-Talon and Saint-Sauveur
  10. ^ from parts of Dorion, Gouin, Jeanne-Mance and Olier

Campaign[edit]

The Liberals, Unionists and péquistes all fielded full slates, while the créditistes failed to nominate a candidate only in Saint-Laurent (because a traffic accident prevented that candidate from presenting his nomination papers before the deadline),[3] so virtually all constituencies experienced at least four-way contests:

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1973)[4]
Candidates Lib PQ UN RC Ind M-L Comm Total
3 1 1 1 3
4 76 76 76 76 304
5 29 29 29 29 16 12 1 145
6 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 12
7 1 1 1 1 2 1 7
8 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 8
Total 110 110 110 109 22 15 3 479

Results[edit]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1973)[4]
Political party Party leader MPPs Votes
Candidates 1970 1973 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Liberal Robert Bourassa 110 72 102 30Increase 1,623,734 319,393Increase 54.65% 9.25Increase
Parti Québécois René Lévesque 110 7 6 1Decrease 897,809 235,405Increase 30.22% 7.16Increase
Parti créditiste[a 1] Yvon Dupuis 109 12 2 10Decrease 294,706 26,664Decrease 9.92% 1.27Decrease
Union Nationale Gabriel Loubier 110 17 – 17Decrease 146,209 418,335Decrease 4.92% 14.73Decrease
Independent 22 – – – 6,961 5,567Decrease 0.23% 0.21Decrease
Marxist–Leninist 15 – – – 1,395 1,395Increase 0.05% New
Communist 3 – – – 164 49Decrease 0.01% –
Total 479 108 110 2,970,978 100.00%
Rejected ballots 54,760 2,269Decrease
Voter turnout 3,025,738 95,739Increase 80.38 3.85Decrease
Registered electors 3,764,611 286,033Increase
  1. ^ 1973 results compared to 1970 Ralliement créditiste total
Seats and popular vote by party
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Liberal
102 / 110
54.65%
 9.25 9.25
 
█ Parti Québécois
6 / 110
30.22%
 7.16 7.16
 
█ Parti créditiste
2 / 110
9.92%
 -1.27
 
█ Union Nationale
0 / 110
4.92%
 -14.73
 
█ Independent
0 / 110
0.23%
 -0.21
 
█ Other
0 / 110
0.36%
 -0.20
 

Synopsis of results[edit]

Results by riding - 1973 Quebec general election[4][5]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1] 		Votes
Name 1970 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Lib PQ Cr UN Ind ML Comm Total
 
Abitibi-Est RC Lib 12,696 50.75% 6,657 26.61% 65.38% 12,696 5,726 6,039 343 212 – – 25,016
Abitibi-Ouest RC Lib 9,963 48.28% 2,712 13.14% 74.96% 9,963 2,804 7,251 513 106 – – 20,637
Anjou New Lib 15,037 48.59% 828 2.68% 83.41% 15,037 14,209 1,278 425 – – – 30,949
Argenteuil Lib Lib 14,022 57.96% 8,811 36.42% 80.41% 14,022 3,730 5,211 766 465 – – 24,194
Arthabaska Lib Lib 16,275 55.30% 9,458 32.14% 87.34% 16,275 4,994 6,817 1,342 – – – 29,428
Beauce-Nord New Lib 13,814 56.14% 9,469 38.48% 81.86% 13,814 4,345 4,293 2,153 – – – 24,605
Beauce-Sud New Cr 10,481 46.29% 7,688 33.96% 80.39% 9,586 1,898 10,481 676 – – – 22,641
Beauharnois Lib Lib 15,817 51.56% 3,685 12.01% 87.77% 15,817 12,132 1,727 1,002 – – – 30,678
Bellechasse UN Lib 9,206 44.30% 1,044 5.02% 77.99% 9,206 2,054 1,357 8,162 – – – 20,779
Berthier UN Lib 11,428 51.48% 6,570 29.60% 82.22% 11,428 4,858 2,988 2,923 – – – 22,197
Bonaventure Lib Lib 12,936 69.64% 9,482 51.04% 78.61% 12,936 3,454 821 1,365 – – – 18,576
Bourassa Lib Lib 15,822 53.81% 3,889 13.23% 81.44% 15,822 11,933 1,195 453 – – – 29,403
Bourget PQ Lib 13,916 46.94% 300 1.01% 83.63% 13,916 13,616 1,646 375 91 – – 29,644
Brome-Missisquoi New Lib 12,999 62.02% 9,687 46.22% 78.27% 12,999 2,860 3,312 1,587 202 – – 20,960
Chambly Lib Lib 19,005 56.55% 6,745 20.07% 86.44% 19,005 12,260 1,629 714 – – – 33,608
Champlain Lib Lib 14,698 54.91% 8,821 32.96% 82.79% 14,698 5,877 4,575 1,616 – – – 26,766
Charlesbourg New Lib 19,770 57.79% 8,172 23.89% 85.16% 19,770 11,598 1,964 876 – – – 34,208
Charlevoix Lib Lib 13,682 63.91% 9,982 46.63% 82.37% 13,682 3,700 3,265 760 – – – 21,407
Châteauguay Lib Lib 17,152 60.43% 8,095 28.52% 80.13% 17,152 9,057 1,432 743 – – – 28,384
Chauveau Lib Lib 18,510 55.22% 8,555 25.52% 83.07% 18,510 9,955 3,726 1,328 – – – 33,519
Chicoutimi UN PQ 12,359 42.14% 1,031 3.52% 83.86% 11,328 12,359 1,370 4,268 – – – 29,325
Crémazie New Lib 15,993 50.18% 1,396 4.38% 86.07% 15,993 14,597 783 450 – 50 – 31,873
D'Arcy-McGee Lib Lib 26,958 93.77% 25,737 89.52% 77.59% 26,958 1,221 418 152 – – – 28,749
Deux-Montagnes Lib Lib 15,732 59.18% 7,979 30.02% 83.17% 15,732 7,753 2,290 808 – – – 26,583
Dorion Lib Lib 13,649 47.68% 293 1.02% 79.27% 13,649 13,356 982 522 – 116 – 28,625
Drummond Lib Lib 14,781 46.84% 6,798 21.54% 86.11% 14,781 7,457 7,983 1,333 – – – 31,554
Dubuc UN Lib 11,042 50.43% 4,186 19.12% 81.90% 11,042 6,856 1,858 2,139 – – – 21,895
Duplessis Lib Lib 13,404 52.94% 2,481 9.80% 66.99% 13,404 10,923 504 416 – 70 – 25,317
Fabre Lib Lib 20,810 52.06% 3,753 9.39% 85.61% 20,810 17,057 1,558 545 – – – 39,970
Frontenac[a 2] New Lib 10,527 39.75% 4,274 16.14% 85.41% 10,527 6,253 3,882 5,820 – – – 26,482
Gaspé New Lib 13,004 62.25% 6,949 33.26% 75.67% 13,004 6,055 690 1,141 – – – 20,890
Gatineau Lib Lib 15,025 70.15% 11,638 54.33% 69.95% 15,025 3,387 2,184 823 – – – 21,419
Gouin PQ Lib 12,506 48.07% 636 2.44% 78.21% 12,506 11,870 1,078 560 – – – 26,014
Hull Lib Lib 15,325 57.08% 7,107 26.47% 68.99% 15,325 8,218 2,402 587 316 – – 26,848
Huntingdon Lib Lib 11,328 58.54% 8,126 41.99% 79.76% 11,328 2,853 1,969 3,202 – – – 19,352
Iberville UN Lib 10,688 37.39% 2,429 8.50% 84.13% 10,688 5,373 8,259 4,132 134 – – 28,586
Îles-de-la-Madeleine Lib Lib 3,839 60.87% 1,780 28.22% 82.62% 3,839 2,059 232 177 – – – 6,307
Jacques-Cartier Lib Lib 19,551 69.25% 12,657 44.83% 78.51% 19,551 6,894 1,082 705 – – – 28,232
Jean-Talon Lib Lib 18,708 64.89% 10,196 35.37% 84.50% 18,708 8,512 677 933 – – – 28,830
Jeanne-Mance Lib Lib 22,308 55.10% 5,835 14.41% 83.17% 22,308 16,473 1,074 632 – – – 40,487
Johnson[a 3] UN Lib 10,543 48.20% 3,940 18.01% 82.05% 10,543 3,597 6,603 1,130 – – – 21,873
Joliette-Montcalm New Lib 18,010 55.61% 6,010 18.56% 84.70% 18,010 12,000 1,712 666 – – – 32,388
Jonquière Lib Lib 16,985 53.71% 4,135 13.08% 84.30% 16,985 12,850 892 897 – – – 31,624
Kamouraska-Témiscouata New Lib 10,617 51.97% 5,266 25.77% 72.81% 10,617 3,282 5,351 1,181 – – – 20,431
L'Acadie New Lib 20,354 66.39% 11,296 36.85% 83.59% 20,354 9,058 670 488 – 86 – 30,656
L'Assomption Lib Lib 16,806 48.58% 1,683 4.86% 85.40% 16,806 15,123 2,094 572 – – – 34,595
Lac-Saint-Jean Lib Lib 12,554 50.70% 3,337 13.48% 85.23% 12,554 9,217 1,545 1,378 68 – – 24,762
LaFontaine PQ PQ 14,866 50.18% 2,308 7.79% 83.27% 12,558 14,866 1,725 476 – – – 29,625
Laporte New Lib 17,427 47.14% 372 1.01% 81.76% 17,427 17,055 1,846 641 – – – 36,969
La Prairie[a 4] Lib Lib 23,723 63.13% 12,294 32.72% 83.66% 23,723 11,429 1,757 667 – – – 37,576
Laurentides-Labelle[a 5] UN Lib 10,000 41.73% 2,388 9.97% 80.70% 10,000 7,612 3,486 2,864 – – – 23,962
Laurier Lib Lib 17,889 64.81% 9,519 34.49% 78.87% 17,889 8,370 836 507 – – – 27,602
Laval Lib Lib 21,676 64.56% 11,673 34.77% 83.33% 21,676 10,003 1,386 511 – – – 33,576
Laviolette Lib Lib 11,800 46.28% 4,765 18.69% 82.88% 11,800 7,035 4,584 2,076 – – – 25,495
Lévis RC Lib 16,534 54.73% 7,450 24.66% 85.61% 16,534 9,084 3,177 1,416 – – – 30,211
Limoilou Lib Lib 16,140 53.86% 5,749 19.19% 81.32% 16,140 10,391 1,944 1,428 – 61 – 29,964
Lotbinière RC Lib 9,907 48.11% 3,744 18.18% 81.41% 9,907 2,318 6,163 2,204 – – – 20,592
Louis-Hébert Lib Lib 17,583 49.01% 777 2.17% 84.91% 17,583 16,806 735 702 – 50 – 35,876
Maisonneuve PQ PQ 12,198 50.97% 2,276 9.51% 75.34% 9,922 12,198 1,215 413 147 38 – 23,933
Marguerite-Bourgeoys Lib Lib 23,848 66.50% 13,700 38.20% 80.40% 23,848 10,148 1,137 488 242 – – 35,863
Maskinongé UN Lib 10,610 48.81% 5,276 24.27% 83.82% 10,610 3,594 2,198 5,334 – – – 21,736
Matane Lib Lib 10,102 49.58% 2,650 13.01% 76.99% 10,102 7,452 2,126 694 – – – 20,374
Matapédia Lib Lib 7,564 42.81% 2,459 13.92% 76.02% 7,564 5,105 3,092 1,906 – – – 17,667
Mégantic-Compton New Lib 9,815 47.96% 4,430 21.65% 79.01% 9,815 2,819 5,385 2,445 – – – 20,464
Mercier Lib Lib 13,757 52.87% 2,880 11.07% 75.07% 13,757 10,877 809 411 71 70 23 26,018
Mille-Îles New Lib 19,809 49.52% 2,188 5.47% 86.61% 19,809 17,621 1,954 616 – – – 40,000
Mont-Royal New Lib 23,780 83.21% 19,813 69.33% 78.45% 23,780 3,967 457 373 – – – 28,577
Montmagny-L'Islet New Lib 11,375 51.88% 5,588 25.48% 76.03% 11,375 2,538 2,227 5,787 – – – 21,927
Montmorency Lib Lib 15,248 51.89% 5,973 20.33% 84.52% 15,248 9,275 3,863 999 – – – 29,385
Nicolet-Yamaska New Lib 11,126 49.07% 4,789 21.12% 84.17% 11,126 3,233 1,978 6,337 – – – 22,674
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Lib Lib 23,263 81.64% 19,613 68.83% 77.70% 23,263 3,650 1,156 424 – – – 28,493
Orford[a 6] Lib Lib 13,924 63.08% 10,127 45.88% 81.23% 13,924 3,797 3,574 777 – – – 22,072
Outremont Lib Lib 17,262 62.84% 8,145 29.65% 77.42% 17,262 9,117 499 421 – 169 – 27,468
Papineau Lib Lib 16,610 61.22% 10,254 37.79% 72.49% 16,610 6,356 3,482 683 – – – 27,131
Pointe-Claire New Lib 26,871 87.90% 24,316 79.54% 78.40% 26,871 2,555 859 285 – – – 30,570
Pontiac-Témiscamingue New Lib 10,269 61.39% 6,576 39.31% 69.84% 10,269 1,392 3,693 1,373 – – – 16,727
Portneuf RC Lib 12,638 53.14% 6,555 27.56% 85.43% 12,638 4,067 6,083 993 – – – 23,781
Prévost New Lib 15,805 48.48% 3,938 12.08% 80.64% 15,805 11,867 3,726 1,022 105 – 73 32,598
Richelieu Lib Lib 15,198 55.21% 5,734 20.83% 87.23% 15,198 9,464 2,017 848 – – – 27,527
Richmond RC Lib 7,569 40.70% 355 1.91% 82.28% 7,569 3,130 7,214 686 – – – 18,599
Rimouski Lib Lib 13,268 50.92% 4,518 17.34% 82.19% 13,268 8,750 3,307 730 – – – 26,055
Rivière-du-Loup Lib Lib 10,827 50.41% 6,079 28.30% 79.21% 10,827 3,773 4,748 2,129 – – – 21,477
Robert-Baldwin Lib Lib 26,189 81.03% 21,106 65.30% 81.36% 26,189 5,083 701 293 – 55 – 32,321
Roberval Lib Lib 13,737 53.06% 7,661 29.59% 79.58% 13,737 6,076 4,689 1,388 – – – 25,890
Rosemont New Lib 15,002 50.65% 2,015 6.80% 81.45% 15,002 12,987 1,070 560 – – – 29,619
Rouyn-Noranda RC Cr 9,227 42.80% 4,380 20.32% 77.49% 8,195 3,815 9,227 322 – – – 21,559
Saguenay PQ PQ 10,226 51.14% 2,293 11.47% 72.20% 7,933 10,226 1,404 327 105 – – 19,995
Saint-François New Lib 12,519 53.38% 5,679 24.22% 80.26% 12,519 6,840 2,885 1,208 – – – 23,452
Saint-Henri Lib Lib 14,877 52.72% 3,548 12.57% 78.33% 14,877 11,329 1,248 625 – 141 – 28,220
Saint-Hyacinthe Lib Lib 13,325 48.29% 5,535 20.06% 83.69% 13,325 7,790 4,707 1,771 – – – 27,593
Saint-Jacques PQ PQ 11,312 51.58% 2,465 11.24% 68.84% 8,847 11,312 1,039 654 79 – – 21,931
Saint-Jean Lib Lib 12,904 45.48% 4,678 16.49% 86.65% 12,904 8,226 6,588[a 7] 656 – – – 28,374
Saint-Laurent Lib Lib 21,246 74.02% 14,312 49.86% 78.89% 21,246 6,934 – 522 – – – 28,702
Saint-Louis Lib Lib 14,095 63.34% 7,382 33.17% 61.30% 14,095 6,713 738 541 – 167 – 22,254
Saint-Maurice UN Lib 8,865 34.12% 1,414 5.44% 85.28% 8,865 7,451 2,230 7,433 – – – 25,979
Saint-Anne Lib Lib 12,755 54.92% 5,276 22.72% 71.10% 12,755 7,479 968 278 1,641 104 – 23,225
Sainte-Marie PQ Lib 10,958 46.15% 48 0.20% 75.90% 10,958 10,910 1,064 694 – 116 – 23,742
Sauvé New PQ 18,235 51.01% 2,760 7.72% 80.97% 15,475 18,235 1,491 499 47 – – 35,747
Shefford UN Lib 10,775 39.73% 3,528 13.01% 84.16% 10,775 4,633 7,247 4,467 – – – 27,122
Sherbrooke Lib Lib 15,117 52.38% 6,082 21.07% 80.87% 15,117 9,035 3,042 1,667 – – – 28,861
Taillon Lib Lib 18,346 46.67% 577 1.47% 78.88% 18,346 17,769 2,546 550 103 – – 39,314
Taschereau New Lib 11,714 51.94% 4,750 21.06% 73.79% 11,714 6,964 2,334 1,438 – 102 – 22,552
Terrebonne Lib Lib 17,255 52.52% 3,984 12.13% 85.67% 17,255 13,271 1,829 431 – – 68 32,854
Trois-Rivières Lib Lib 16,714 57.57% 8,007 27.58% 78.80% 16,714 8,707 1,865 1,746 – – – 29,032
Vanier New Lib 16,410 53.73% 6,183 20.25% 81.19% 16,410 10,227 2,199 1,164 539 – – 30,539
Vaudreuil-Soulanges Lib Lib 14,563 56.88% 7,551 29.49% 82.53% 14,563 7,012 3,010 1,017 – – – 25,602
Verchères Lib Lib 14,315 52.90% 5,306 19.61% 85.09% 14,315 9,009 2,418 1,317 – – – 27,059
Verdun Lib Lib 19,439 67.25% 11,496 39.77% 80.23% 19,439 7,943 1,109 415 – – – 28,906
Viau New Lib 16,404 56.67% 5,600 19.35% 78.93% 16,404 10,804 1,069 525 142 – – 28,944
Westmount Lib Lib 21,354 76.92% 17,752 63.95% 75.78% 21,354 3,602 402 256 2,146 – – 27,760
  1. ^ including spoilt ballots
  2. ^ covers a virtually different area from the previous incarnation of Frontenac
  3. ^ formerly Bagot
  4. ^ formerly Napierville-Laprairie
  5. ^ formerly Labelle
  6. ^ formerly Stanstead
  7. ^ Yvon Dupuis had also been previously elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1952 for Montréal–Sainte-Marie
  = 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
  = other incumbents renominated
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates

Analysis[edit]

Party candidates in 2nd place[4]
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
Lib PQ Cr UN
Liberal 81 16 5 102
Parti Québécois 6 6
Parti créditiste 2 2
Total 8 81 16 5 110
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[4]
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
█ Liberal 102 8
█ Parti Québécois 6 81 23
█ Parti créditiste 2 16 76 15
█ Union Nationale 5 9 94 2
█ Independent 2 17
█ Marxist–Leninist 13
█ Communist 1
Resulting composition of the 28th Quebec Legislative Assembly[5]
Source Party
Lib PQ Cr Total
Seats retained Incumbents returned 48 4 1 53
Open seats held - taken by incumbents from other ridings 2 2
Open seats held - new MPPs 10 10
Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated 17 1 18
Open seats gained 1 1
New ridings Previous incumbents from other ridings 13 1 14
New MPPs 11 1 12
Total 102 6 2 110

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ An Act respecting the electoral districts, L.Q. 1970, c. 7
  2. ^ An Act to amend the Territorial Division Act, L.Q. 1972, c. 4
  3. ^ Saumart, Ingrid (October 23, 1973). "Déjà ministre..." [Minister already...]. La Presse (in French). Montreal. p. A10.
  4. ^ a b c d e Drouilly, Pierre (November 7, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1973". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.
  5. ^ a b "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
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