1997 Canadian federal election

1997 Canadian federal election

← 1993 June 2, 1997 (1997-06-02) 2000 →
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301 seats in the House of Commons 151 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	67.0% (3.9pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jean Chrétien Preston Manning Gilles Duceppe Party Liberal Reform Bloc Québécois Leader since June 23, 1990 November 1, 1987 March 15, 1997 Leader's seat Saint-Maurice Calgary Southwest Laurier— Sainte-Marie Last election 177 seats, 41.24% 52 seats, 18.69% 54 seats, 13.52% Seats before 174 50 50 Seats won 155 60 44 Seat change 19 10 6 Popular vote 4,994,277 2,513,080 1,385,821 Percentage 38.46% 19.35% 10.67%[i] Swing 2.78pp 0.66pp 2.85pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Alexa McDonough Jean Charest Party New Democratic Progressive Conservative Leader since October 14, 1995 April 29, 1995 Leader's seat Halifax Sherbrooke Last election 9 seats, 6.88% 2 seats, 16.04% Seats before 9 2 Seats won 21 20 Seat change 12 18 Popular vote 1,434,509 2,446,705 Percentage 11.05% 18.84% Swing 4.17pp 2.80pp
Results by electoral district, shaded by winners' vote share Results by province and territory
The Canadian parliament after the 1997 election
Prime Minister before election Jean Chrétien Liberal Prime Minister after election Jean Chrétien Liberal

The 1997 Canadian federal election was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party won a second majority government. The Reform Party replaced the Bloc Québécois as the Official Opposition.

The election results closely followed the pattern of the 1993 election. The Liberals swept Ontario, while the Bloc won a majority in Quebec. Reform made sufficient gains in the West to allow Preston Manning to become leader of the Official Opposition, but lost its only seat east of Manitoba. The most significant change was major gains in Atlantic Canada by the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the rump Progressive Conservative Party. The Liberal victory was not in doubt, though some commentators on election night were predicting that the party would be cut down to a minority government and that Chrétien might lose his seat. Chrétien narrowly won his riding, and the Liberals maintained a nine-seat majority thanks to gains in Quebec at the expense of the Bloc. Jean Charest's Tories and Alexa McDonough's NDP both regained official party status in the House of Commons.

This was the first time that five political parties held official party status in a single session of Canada's Parliament, and the only time to date that five different parties have won the popular vote in at least one of the provinces and territories of Canada.
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