The 1981 Manitoba general election was held on November 17, 1981 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the Manitoba Liberal Party was shut out from the legislature for the only time in its history. The newly formed Progressive Party failed to win any seats.
Sterling Lyon's Progressive Conservative government ran on a promise to continue investing in the province's "mega-projects" (including as a $500 million Alcan aluminum smelter, a $600 million potash mine and a "Western power grid"), and suggested that an NDP government would jeopardize these plans. The NDP campaign, which was largely co-ordinated by Wilson Parasiuk, questioned the Lyon government's fiscal accountability in such matters, noting that it had sold 50% of Trout Lake Copper Mine stock, possibly at a major loss. Jacques Bougie, the Alcan administrator for Manitoba, was also described as holding undue influence over the government.
The NDP campaign generally focused on the economy, and drew attention to the issue of Manitobans emigrating from the province because of job losses. Progressive Party leader Sidney Green described Lyon's initiatives as "bega-projects", a reference to the government's controversial fundraising with foreign corporations.
The election was considered too close to call until the final week, when the NDP campaign gained momentum.
Results.
1 "Before" refers to standings in the Legislature at dissolution, and not to the results of the previous election. These numbers therefore reflect changes in party standings as a result of by-elections and members crossing the floor.
Riding results.
Party key:
Note: There was one vacant seat at the time of the election.
(incumbent) denotes incumbent.
Arthur:
Assiniboia:
Brandon East:
Brandon West:
Burrows:
Charleswood:
Churchill:
! colspan="9"|1981 Manitoba general election: Concordia
! colspan=" style="width:" bgcolor="" |
! width="250px" |Candidate
! width="48px" |Votes!! width="43px" |%
Source:
Dauphin:
Ellice:
! colspan="9"|1981 Manitoba general election: Elmwood
! colspan=" style="width:" bgcolor="" |
! width="250px" |Candidate
! width="48px" |Votes!! width="43px" |%!! width="52px" | ;templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" / ;±%
Source:
Emerson:
Flin Flon:
Fort Garry:
Fort Rouge:
Gimli:
Gladstone:
Inkster:
Interlake:
Kildonan:
Kirkfield Park:
Lac Du Bonnet:
Lakeside:
La Verendrye:
Logan:
Minnedosa:
Morris:
Niakwa:
Osborne:
Pembina:
Portage la Prairie:
Radisson:
Rhineland:
Riel:
River East:
River Heights:
Roblin-Russell:
Rossmere:
Rupertsland:
St. Boniface:
St. James:
! colspan="9"|1981 Manitoba general election: St. Johns
! colspan=" style="width:" bgcolor="" |
! width="250px" |Candidate
! width="48px" |Votes!! width="43px" |%
St. Norbert:
! colspan="9"|1981 Manitoba general election: St. Vital
! colspan=" style="width:" bgcolor="" |
! width="250px" |Candidate
! width="48px" |Votes!! width="43px" |%!! width="52px" | ;templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" / ;±%
Ste. Rose:
Selkirk:
Seven Oaks:
Springfield:
Sturgeon Creek:
Swan River:
The Pas:
Thompson:
Transcona:
! colspan="9"|1981 Manitoba general election: Turtle Mountain
! colspan=" style="width:" bgcolor="" |
! width="250px" |Candidate
! width="48px" |Votes!! width="43px" |%!! width="52px" | ;templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" / ;±%
Source:
Tuxedo:
Virden:
Wolseley:
Post-election changes.
Henry Carroll (NDP) became (Ind), August 19, 1982.
Russell Doern (NDP) became (Ind), March 7, 1984.
Fort Garry (res. Louis Sherman, August 5, 1984), October 2, 1984:
Kildonan (dec. Mary Beth Dolin, April 10, 1985), October 1, 1985:
Portage la Prairie (dec. Lloyd Hyde, August 25, 1985)