# When was the first Canadian federal election you voted in, and whom did you vote for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250 "2007-04-09T01:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/21 "2007-04-10T07:59:39Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] 1979, but I can’t remember who I voted for. It was either Clark or Trudeau, though. [/QUOTE] Well the only other serious candidate could have been Ed Broadbent. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/22 "2007-04-10T15:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] Well the only other serious candidate could have been Ed Broadbent. [/QUOTE] Your riding didn’t have a PC, a Liberal, an NDP, a Rhino, a Marxist-Leninist, a Communist, a Libertarian, and about five or six others whose parties I can’t remember now? All except the Rhino considered themselves serious, and all (again, except the Rhino) had dumped literature on my doorstep. Jeez, by remembering either “Clark or Trudeau,” I figured I was doing _well_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/23 "2007-04-10T15:25:41Z")
I’ve declined my ballot twice. When there’s no one, there’s no one. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/24 "2007-04-10T18:47:53Z")
My first federal election I voted NDP in NDG in Montreal. November 1988. Mulroney got in for his second term. Grrr. My first ever election was in Thunder Bay-Nipigon riding in 1987. Incidentally I voted a few days before I turned 18, because I voted in the advanced polls. The election was after I turned 18, but because it was my first full day of University, I voted at the advanced polls. For the record, that was the first last and only time I ever voted Liberal. Im very fond of ORANGE. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/25 "2007-04-10T20:15:31Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] 1979, but I can’t remember who I voted for. It was either Clark or Trudeau, though. [/QUOTE] That’s impossible; they weren’t in the same riding. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/26 "2007-04-10T20:31:06Z")
1. Reform, IIRC. My vote wasn’t going to matter much, as it was pretty clear that Ralph would win by a bunch, but I voted anyway. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/27 "2007-04-10T20:36:50Z")
1993, and I honestly don’t remember. No idea. Not a sniff. Probably NDP, but if there had been a Rhino candidate they would have got my vote for sure. I was wacky in my youth. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/28 "2007-04-10T21:05:01Z")
The year Brian Mulroney was elected, was the first time I voted. I can’t remember why I chose him, though. I don’t belong to whichever party he did, or any other party, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/29 "2007-04-10T22:59:29Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] > [@Spoons](#): > > 1979, but I can’t remember who I voted for. It was either Clark or Trudeau, though. That’s impossible; they weren’t in the same riding. [/QUOTE] Good point! I think it’s interesting that some people are stating which MP they voted for, whereas others refer to the party leader who would be PM. I mean, ideally we would all vote for the MP who would do the best job, regardless of party affiliation. But really, I think at least 98% of the time your choice of MP is the same as the party you’d like to form the government. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/30 "2007-04-10T23:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=Waenara] Good point! I think it’s interesting that some people are stating which MP they voted for, whereas others refer to the party leader who would be PM. [/QUOTE] As I recall that election and that time in history, people talked about voting for Clark or Trudeau (or Broadbent, for that matter). Issues at the time were that divisive–there was a perception that Trudeau had been in too long, that it was time for somebody else to take Trudeau’s job, that Trudeau was essentially ruling the government himself, and that cabinet and the commons and debate were merely trappings to make it look legit. I still remember the “Torontonians for Trudeau” rally; it was not “Torontonians for Liberals.” Trudeau was that charismatic; he, and not the Liberals, was indeed the government in many people’s eyes. So people didn’t talk about “voting NDP,” “voting Liberal,” or “voting PC;” they talked about voting for Broadbent, Trudeau, or Clark, respectively. Maybe it was just because they didn’t feel it was fair to talk about “Trudeau vs. the Tories,” for example; but for whatever reason, that was why I said “Clark or Trudeau,” and not “my local PC or Liberal candidate,” or even “PC or Liberal.” Hope this clears things up. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/31 "2007-04-10T23:49:35Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] Hope this clears things up. [/QUOTE] No worries. I wasn’t trying to say that voting for a party instead of specific MP is a bad thing. Heck, when responding earlier in the thread I first had to search to find the the name of the candidate I voted for. I remember knowing who they were at the time, and that they were the incumbent, but now, 10 years later, I couldn’t recall their name off the top of my head. Often the major issues in an election do revolve around the party leader, and the can be seen as a referendum on them. In 2006, many people were voting for (or against) Paul Martin, and Trudeau was a more polarizing figure than Martin was. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/32 "2007-04-11T02:42:37Z")
:eek: **Robert Stanfield** :eek: - 1974 (and Conservative or Reform ever since) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/33 "2007-04-11T05:49:38Z")
2000, Liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/34 "2007-04-11T14:53:46Z")
First federal election I voted for some party that promised to hold down bank profits. I was really angry at banks at the time. This was in 1997. I have voted for the PC party (in 1995 for Mike Harris, my first vote), that was the only time I have voted for Conservatives, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. In the other Federal elections I have voted Liberal. In provincial elections I have voted for Liberal and NDP since 1995. Really it depended on who had a better chance of beating the “common sense” candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Ultraviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c77e96/32.png) [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250/35 "2007-04-11T18:44:26Z")
It would have been 1993 - First Year University. I proudly voted for Svend Robinson (NDP) - I believe he was the only out gay MP at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-first-canadian-federal-election-you-voted-in-and-whom-did-you-vote-for/399250.md?page=1)