Left Gains in Canada

On October 31, 1972, the Canadian elec torate surveyed what it had just done at the polls and found itself with a hangover—literally. No party had a majority of seats. With the threat of another election hanging over the new parliament, the results ushered in a period of political uncertainty.

All opposition parties gained at the expense of the Liberals, yet it took only a small shift in the popular vote to bring about this change. The heaviest Liberal defeats were suffered in the fo...