1944_Saskatchewan_general_election
1944 Saskatchewan general election
Canadian provincial election
The 1944 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 15, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
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The election was held six years after the previous election. There is normally a five-year limit on the lifespan of Parliaments and provincial assemblies in Canada, but the emergency brought on by the Second World War allowed the government to delay the election temporarily.
It marked the first time a socialist government was elected anywhere in Canada. Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) leader Tommy Douglas became the premier of the province.
The CCF won 47 of the 52 seats in the legislature, and over half the popular vote, despite a very negative campaign by the governing Liberal Party. The Liberals, led by William John Patterson, accused Douglas of being a communist.
The Liberal popular vote fell by 10 percentage points, and they won only five seats. It is still the worst defeat of a sitting government in Saskatchewan's history.
The Social Credit Party of Saskatchewan, which had won 16% of the vote and two seats in the 1938 election, collapsed; the party had only one candidate, who won only 249 votes.
The Communist Party-led Unity movement reverted to the name Labor-Progressive Party, and lost both of the seats it had won in 1938.
The Conservative Party, renamed the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan and led by Rupert Ramsay, won over 10% of the vote, but no seats.
An at-large service vote was held for Saskatchewan residents in the Canadian armed services fighting during World War II. This special vote elected three nonpartisan members to represent Saskatchewan soldiers, sailors and airmen stationed in 1.) Great Britain, 2.) the Mediterranean region and 3.) Newfoundland and Canada outside the province. Alberta had a similar system during the war.