Quebec general election, 1944

The Quebec general election of 1944 was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale, led by former premier Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout. This was the first Quebec provincial election in which women were allowed to vote, having been granted suffrage at the provincial level in 1940 and at the federal level in 1919.

This election marked Duplessis's comeback after having defeated Godbout in the 1936 election and having lost to him in the 1939 election. Duplessis won another three elections in a row, for a total of five terms of office (four consecutive), before dying in office in 1959.

In this wartime election, Godbout's support for Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in the Conscription Crisis of 1944 may have contributed to his defeat.

The Bloc Populaire won four seats on an anti-conscription platform. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (predecessor of the New Democratic Party) won one seat. Party member David Côté was elected to the legislature, but in July 1945, he decided to sit as an independent.

Results

Party Party leader # of
candidates		 Seats Popular Vote
1939 Elected % Change # % % Change
Union Nationale Maurice Duplessis 90 15 48 +220%   38.02% -1.1%
Liberal Adélard Godbout 91 70 37 -47.1%   39.35% -14.7%
Bloc populaire André Laurendeau 80 * 4 *   14.40% *
     Co-operative Commonwealth Romuald-Joseph Lamoureux [1] 25 0 1 *   2.56% *
     Other 47 1 1     5.67% +3.3%
Total   86 91 +5.8%   100%  

Note:

* Information on party's actions in previous election not available.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Maurice Duplessis reprend le pouvoir, Les Archives de Radio-Canada, August 8, 1944

See also


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