By-elections to the 3rd Canadian Parliament

Editorial cartoon from Quebec's L'opinion publique in 1874: "A Country's Remorse". The accompanying text says, "Canada mourns her sins; she is right, remorse is healthy; all these electoral court challenges have revealed a series of facts which, in the eyes of the foreigner, demeans and humiliates Canada. Hope for a better future."

By-elections to the 3rd Canadian Parliament were held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada between the 1874 federal election and the 1878 federal election. The Liberal Party of Canada led a majority government for the 3rd Canadian Parliament.

The number of by-elections is notable and so is the number that were of successfully contested, mainly because courts in Canada began to take a more objective view of petitions at that time, following legal reforms on election procedure. Despite many new elections being called, many politicians were nonetheless reelected a second time.

The following list includes Ministerial by-elections which occurred due to the requirement that Members of Parliament recontest their seats upon being appointed to Cabinet. These by-elections were almost always uncontested. This requirement was abolished in 1931.

By-election	Date	Incumbent	Party		Winner	Party		Cause	Retained
New Westminster	March 25, 1878	James Cunningham		Liberal	Thomas Robert McInnes		Independent	Resignation	No
Northumberland	February 5, 1878	Peter Mitchell		Independent	Peter Mitchell		Independent	Resignation to re-contest after being accused of violating the Independence of Parliament Act by leasing a building to the government while he was a senator.	Yes
Halifax	January 29, 1878	Alfred Gilpin Jones		Independent	Alfred Gilpin Jones		Independent	Resignation to re-contest because of an alleged breach of the Independence of Parliament Act.	Yes
Digby	January 19, 1878	William Berrian Vail		Liberal	John Chipman Wade		Conservative	Resignation to re-contest due to conflict of interest allegations.	No
Restigouche	January 12, 1878	George Moffat Sr.		Conservative	George Haddow		Independent	Resignation	No
Nicolet	December 18, 1877	Joseph Gaudet		Conservative	François-Xavier-Ovide Méthot		Independent Conservative	Appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec	No
Quebec East	November 28, 1877	Isidore Thibaudeau		Liberal	Wilfrid Laurier		Liberal	Resignation to provide a seat for Laurier.	Yes
Quebec-Centre	November 3, 1877	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon		Conservative	Jacques Malouin		Independent	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba.	No
Drummond—Arthabaska	October 27, 1877	Wilfrid Laurier		Liberal	Désiré Olivier Bourbeau		Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	No
Gloucester	July 2, 1877	Timothy Anglin		Liberal	Timothy Anglin		Liberal	Resignation to re-contest after being found in violation of the Independence of Parliament Act for accepting government printing contracts, and being censured by the House of Commons Committee on Privilege.	Yes
Ottawa (City of)	May 9, 1877	Joseph Merrill Currier		Liberal-Conservative	Joseph Merrill Currier		Liberal-Conservative	Resignation to re-contest for having infringed the Independence of Parliament Act by conducting business dealings with the government while still a member.	Yes
Lincoln	May 9, 1877	James Norris		Liberal	James Norris		Liberal	Resigns in order to re-contest after acquiring a government contract.	Yes
Charlevoix	March 23, 1877	Hector-Louis Langevin		Conservative	Hector-Louis Langevin		Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Kamouraska	February 19, 1877	Charles Alphonse Pantaléon Pelletier		Liberal	Charles-François Roy		Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Jacques Cartier	December 28, 1876	Rodolphe Laflamme		Liberal	Rodolphe Laflamme		Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	Yes
Cardwell	December 14, 1876	John Hillyard Cameron		Conservative	Dalton McCarthy		Conservative	Death	Yes
Queen's County	November 22, 1876	David Laird		Liberal	James Colledge Pope		Conservative	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories.	No
Bothwell	November 15, 1876	David Mills		Liberal	David Mills		Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of the Interior and Superintendent General of Indian Affairs.	Yes
Beauce	October 18, 1876	Christian Henry Pozer		Liberal	Joseph Bolduc		Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Victoria	September 21, 1876	Barclay Edmund Tremaine		Liberal	Charles James Campbell		Conservative	Appointed a County Court judge.	No
Glengarry	July 31, 1876	Archibald McNab		Liberal	Archibald McNab		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Ontario South	July 5, 1876	Malcolm Cameron		Liberal	Thomas Nicholson Gibbs		Liberal-Conservative	Death	No
Ontario North	July 5, 1876	Adam Gordon		Liberal	William Henry Gibbs		Conservative	Death	No
Wellington South	July 5, 1876	David Stirton		Liberal	Donald Guthrie		Liberal	Appointed Postmaster of Guelph.	Yes
Middlesex North	June 7, 1876	Thomas Scatcherd		Liberal	Robert Colin Scatcherd		Liberal	Death	Yes.
Two Mountains	March 11, 1876	Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky		Independent	Jean-Baptiste Daoust		Conservative	Resignation	No
Charlevoix	January 22, 1876	Pierre-Alexis Tremblay		Liberal	Hector-Louis Langevin		Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Renfrew North	January 21, 1876	William Murray		Liberal	Peter White		Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Chambly	January 7, 1876	Amable Jodoin		Liberal	Pierre Basile Benoit		Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Argenteuil	December 31, 1875	Lemuel Cushing, Jr.		Liberal	Thomas Christie		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Quebec-Centre	December 27, 1875	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon		Conservative	Joseph-Édouard Cauchon		Conservative	Recontested upon appointment as President of the Privy Council.	Yes
Dorchester	December 14, 1875	François Fortunat Rouleau		Liberal-Conservative	François Fortunat Rouleau		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal Centre	November 26, 1875	Bernard Devlin		Liberal	Bernard Devlin		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Bellechasse	November 23, 1875	Télesphore Fournier		Liberal	Joseph Goderic Blanchet		Conservative	Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.	No
West Toronto	November 6, 1875	Thomas Moss		Liberal	John Beverly Robinson		Conservative	Appointed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario	No
Montreal West	October 30, 1875	Frederick Mackenzie		Liberal	Thomas Workman		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria North	September 17, 1875	James Maclennan		Liberal	Hector Cameron		Conservative	Court overturns result of 1874 by-election and declared Cameron seated.	No
Gaspé	July 10, 1875	Louis George Harper		Conservative	John Short		Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Glengarry	July 7, 1875	Donald Alexander Macdonald		Liberal	Archibald McNab		Liberal	Appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.	Yes
Perth North	July 7, 1875	Andrew Monteith		Conservative	Andrew Monteith		Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
York North	June 29, 1875	Alfred Hutchinson Dymond		Liberal	Alfred Hutchinson Dymond		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Monck	June 22, 1875	Lachlin McCallum		Liberal-Conservative	Lachlin McCallum		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Napierville	June 19, 1875	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine		Liberal	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Bruce South	June 2, 1875	Edward Blake		Liberal	Edward Blake		Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Justice.	Yes
Toronto Centre	May 21, 1875	Robert Wilkes		Liberal	John Macdonald		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Hamilton	May 20, 1875	Andrew Trew Wood and Aemilius Irving		Liberal	Aemilius Irving and Andrew Trew Wood		Liberal	Double member constituency - elections declared void.	Yes
Victoria	April 28, 1875	Charles James Campbell		Conservative	Barclay Edmund Tremaine		Liberal	Campbell unseated by decision of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia., 28 February 1875; Tremaine declared duly elected by decision of Election Court, 28 April 1875	No
Provencher	March 31, 1875	Louis Riel		Independent	Andrew Bannatyne		Liberal	Unseated from the House of Commons and declared an outlaw, 25 February 1875	No
Wellington North	March 18, 1875	Nathaniel Higinbotham		Liberal	Nathaniel Higinbotham		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Berthier	February 27, 1875	Anselme-Homère Pâquet		Liberal	Edward Octavian Cuthbert		Conservative	Called to the Senate.	No
Two Mountains	February 26, 1875	Wilfrid Prévost		Liberal	Charles Auguste Maximilien Globensky		Independent	Election declared void	No
Renfrew South	February 20, 1875	John Lorn McDougall		Liberal	John Lorn McDougall		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
London	February 18, 1875	John Walker		Liberal	James Harshaw Fraser		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void	No
Huron South	February 11, 1875	Malcolm Colin Cameron		Liberal	Thomas Greenway		Independent	Election declared void.	No
Middlesex East	January 28, 1875	Crowell Willson		Liberal-Conservative	Duncan Macmillan		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Halton	January 25, 1875	Daniel Black Chisholm		Liberal-Conservative	William McCraney		Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Toronto East	January 18, 1875	John O'Donohoe		Liberal-Conservative	Samuel Platt		Independent	Election declared void.	No
L'Assomption	January 16, 1875	Hilaire Hurteau		Liberal-Conservative	Hilaire Hurteau		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal Centre	January 12, 1875	Michael Patrick Ryan		Liberal-Conservative	Bernard Devlin		Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Chambly	December 30, 1874	Pierre Basile Benoit		Conservative	Amable Jodoin		Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Kingston	December 29, 1874	John A. Macdonald		Liberal-Conservative	John A. Macdonald		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Simcoe North	December 26, 1874	Herman Henry Cook		Liberal	Herman Henry Cook		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria North	December 22, 1874	James Maclennan		Liberal	James Maclennan		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Niagara	December 22, 1874	Josiah Burr Plumb		Conservative	Josiah Burr Plumb		Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Victoria	December 17, 1874	William Ross		Liberal	Charles James Campbell		Conservative	Appointed to Collector of Customs at Halifax.	No
Colchester	December 17, 1874	Thomas McKay		Liberal-Conservative	Thomas McKay		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Leeds North and Grenville North	December 16, 1874	Charles Frederick Ferguson		Liberal-Conservative	Charles Frederick Ferguson		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Norfolk South	December 16, 1874	John Stuart		Liberal	William Wallace		Conservative	Election declared void.	No
Wellington Centre	December 13, 1874	George Turner Orton		Liberal-Conservative	George Turner Orton		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Northumberland East	December 12, 1874	James Lyons Biggar		Independent Liberal	James Lyons Biggar		Independent Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Joliette	December 10, 1874	Louis François Georges Baby		Conservative	Louis François Georges Baby		Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Montreal West	December 10, 1874	Frederick Mackenzie		Liberal	Frederick Mackenzie		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Richmond—Wolfe	December 4, 1874	Henry Aylmer		Liberal	Henry Aylmer		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Northumberland West	November 17, 1874	William Kerr		Liberal	William Kerr		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Lincoln	November 17, 1874	James Norris		Liberal	James Norris		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Argenteuil	November 4, 1874	John Abbott		Liberal-Conservative	Lemuel Cushing, Jr.		Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Renfrew North	November 4, 1874	Peter White		Conservative	William Murray		Liberal	Election declared void.	No
Addington	October 28, 1874	Schuyler Shibley		Conservative	Schuyler Shibley		Liberal-Conservative	Election declared void.	Yes
Digby	October 26, 1874	Edwin Randolph Oakes		Liberal-Conservative	William Berrian Vail		Liberal	Appointed to the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia.	No
Renfrew South	October 24, 1874	John Lorn McDougall		Liberal	John Lorn McDougall		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Essex	October 22, 1874	William McGregor		Liberal	William McGregor		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Cornwall	October 20, 1874	Alexander Francis Macdonald		Liberal	Alexander Francis Macdonald		Liberal	Election declared void.	Yes
Provencher	September 3, 1874	Louis Riel		Independent	Louis Riel		Independent	Expelled from the House of Commons	Yes
Marquette	August 25, 1874	Robert Cunningham		Liberal	Joseph O'Connell Ryan		Liberal	Death, Ryan awarded seat upon re-examination of votes cast.	Yes
Elgin East	August 11, 1874	William Harvey		Liberal	Colin MacDougall		Liberal	Death	Yes
Napierville	August 4, 1874	Antoine-Aimé Dorion		Liberal	Sixte Coupal dit la Reine		Liberal	Appointed Chief Justice of Quebec.	Yes
Verchères	July 25, 1874	Félix Geoffrion		Liberal	Félix Geoffrion		Liberal	Recontested upon appointment as Minister of Inland Revenue.	Yes
Oxford South	May 23, 1874	Ebenezer Vining Bodwell		Liberal	James Atchison Skinner		Liberal	Appointed Superintendent of the Welland Canal.	Yes
Durham West	April 7, 1874	Edmund B. Wood		Liberal	Harvey William Burk		Liberal	Appointed Chief Justice of Manitoba.	Yes

References

• Parliament of Canada–Elected in By-Elections Archived 2012-11-19 at the Wayback Machine

See also

• List of federal by-elections in Canada