open Secondary menu

Thirty-seventh General Election 2000: Official Voting Results: Synopsis


OVERVIEW

PRELIMINARY REMARKS

Upon the dissolution of the House of Commons by the Governor General of Canada, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada issued the writs for Canada?s 37th general election on October 22, 2000. Election day was set for November 27, 2000. The election period therefore lasted 36 days.

The end of the electoral process is marked by the completion of the return of the writ, whereby each returning officer reports to the Chief Electoral Officer the name of the candidate elected in his or her electoral district. Six clear days are required between the validation of the results and the return of the writ, to allow candidates or electors to request a recount. In the event of a recount, the return is presented as soon as the recount has been completed. The date for the return of the writs was set as December 18, 2000. All the returns were presented between December 5 and 18, 2000.

At dissolution of the House of Commons, the Liberal Party of Canada formed the government and held 161 of the 301 seats, or an absolute majority (see Figure A). The Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance formed the official opposition with 58 seats. The Bloc Québécois held 44 seats, the New Democratic Party held 19 seats and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada held 15 seats, while 4 seats were held by independent members.

FIGURE A
Distribution of seats, by political affiliation,
upon dissolution of the 36th Parliament

ELECTORAL DISTRICTS

The 301 electoral districts remained unchanged since the previous election. Pursuant to the Constitution Act and the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, the electoral boundaries are revised after every decennial census to adjust elected representation to population changes and growth. They were revised in 1996 following the 1991 census.


[Next]   [Previous]

[Table of Content]