Nomination and Local Party Organization in Canada: a Case Study

• Author: Howard A. Scarrow
• Published date: 01 March 1964
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700106
• Date: 01 March 1964
• Subject Matter: Articles

NOMINATION AND LOCAL PARTY ORGANIZATION
IN CANADA: A CASE STUDY
HOWARD A. SCARROW
State University of New York, Stony Brook
N
CANADA, as in most other parliamentary democracies, the nomination of
t parliamentary candidates is the most important single function entrusted to the
local (i.e., constituency) party association. The bestowal of nomination carries
significance from the standpoint of democratic society, which is in need of an agency
to narrow down
election day choice; from the standpoint of the national party, which
is only as strong as the candidates who are nominated and elected; and from the
standpoint of the competing aspirants, the successful one of whom becomes the per-
sonal embodiment of the symbolism conveyed by the party label.
If little is known about the workings of the nomination process in Canada, or if
many local associations appear to pay little attention to the procedures which are
followed, it is due in large part to the effectiveness of the &dquo;natural&dquo; selectors, par-
ticularly the economic realities of running for, and accepting a seat in, Parliament.’
Rather than there being competition for the nomination, the onus has often been
upon the party leadership to find persons willing to stand for election. Also serving
to reduce the relevance of formal nomination procedures have been the long periods
of party tenure, combined with the practice of rather automatic renomination of in-
cumbent M.P.’s.
Not infrequently, however, a combination of circumstances will produce keen
competition for a party nomination, and will thus focus attention upon the me-
chanics of candidate selection. Such was the case for the 1962 Liberal nomination
in Urban Riding, a constituency carved out of one of Ontario’s industrial cities.
What follows is a brief account of the method by which the Liberals selected their
candidate, together with an examination of the relevant aspects of local party or-
ganization in the constituency.
THE LIBERAL NOMINATION
The Liberals had held the seat of Urban Riding from 1935 until 1958, winning
in six consecutive elections and losing to their Conservative opponents only in the
Diefenbaker landslide victory of 1958. The local Liberal Association, therefore, was
not accustomed to being faced with the problem of candidate selection; only once
(1945) during its twenty-three-year supremacy had it been necessary for the party to
find a new standard-bearer. By 1962, however, not only was there no Liberal incum-
bent, but death had removed from possible contention the Liberal member who had
met defeat in 1958. The significance of the vacuum was made all the more apparent
NOTE: The present article represents a portion of a larger study which has been prepared to be
included in a volume of papers devoted to the 1962 Canadian general election, edited by
John Meisel, and to be published by the University of Toronto Press. The author wishes
to acknowledge the support of the Social Science Research Council which made the study
possible.
1
Until 1963, M.P.’s were paid only $10,000 per year, a significant portion of which could
easily be spent on a single election campaign. Legislation enacted in 1963 raised the
figure to $18,000.
55

---

56
by the fact that this traditional Liberal stronghold was an area of high unemploy-
ment and thus of political discontent. It is not surprising that under these circum-
stances a record number of aspirants dropped hints of their availability; at one stage
the local newspaper counted at least seven. Even so, the economic selectors were con-
spicuously at work. A few weeks prior to the scheduled nomination meeting one of
the leading contenders dropped out of the race because of the pressures within his
own
business; and each of the four aspirants whose names were finally placed before
the convention either came from a wealthy family or himself commanded an income
which would place him well within the top 5 or 10 per cent income bracket of the
community. (The same could be said of the candidates ultimately adopted by all
three parties. )
The role of the Liberal Association was to select a candidate from among the
remaining eligibles. The method which was prescribed by the constitution, and
which as long as anyone could recall had always been followed in both the federal
and the comparable provincial constituency, was the open convention. Under this
procedure, anyone who lives in the constituency and who is a &dquo;Liberal supporter&dquo;
can attend the nomination convention and cast a ballot. Proof of the former can be
found in the city directory; proof of the latter is possible only in the negative sense
that scrutineers placed at the door by the competing candidates can spot persons who
’
have been conspicuously identified with another party. With this last important
qualification, there is a resemblance to the American open primary, and to judge by
the number of persons who attended the Liberal convention of 1935 -
an estimated
4,000 compared with 11,000 Liberal votes cast in the subsequent general election -
it is...