1 Courtney, John C., “Leadership Conventions and the Development of the National Political Community in Canada,” in Carty, R. Kenneth and Ward, W. Peter, eds., National Politics and Community in Canada (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1986), 94.Google Scholar

2 The data in this article was current as of October 1, 1995.

3 See, for example, Theéiault, Yvon, “New System for Choosing the Party Leader,” Canadian Parliamentary Review 8, 4 (1985–1986), 27–28Google Scholar; Latouche, Daniel, “Universal Democracy and Effective Leadership: Lessons from the Parti Québécois Experience,” in Carty, R. Kenneth et al., eds., Leaders and Parties in Canadian Politics: Experiences of the Provinces (Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992), 174–202Google Scholar; Peter Woolstencroft, “Tories Kick Machine to Bits: Leadership Selection and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party,” in Ibid., 203–25; Adamson, Agar et al., “Pressing the Right Button: The Nova Scotia Liberals and Tele-Democracy,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Ottawa, 1993Google Scholar; Preyra, Leonard, “The 1992 Nova Scotia Liberal Leadership Convention,” Canadian Parliamentary Review 16, 4 (1993–1994), 2–11Google Scholar; Stewart, David K., “Electing the Premier: An Examination of the 1992 Alberta Progressive Conservative Leadership Election,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Calgary, 1994Google Scholar; and Blake, Donald E. and Carty, R. Kenneth, “Televoting for the Leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party: The Leadership Contest of 1993,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association, Calgary, 1994.Google Scholar

4 Except where otherwise noted, information concerning direct election processes is drawn from party leadership rules, news accounts and information provided by party officials.

5 The second PQ direct election resulted in the acclamation of Jacques Parizeau, thus the tables and analysis herein examine 13 contests. For results of each of these contests see Courtney, John C., Do Conventions Matter? Choosing National Party Leaders in Canada (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995) 368–70Google Scholar. Courtney does not provide the results of the December 31, 1994 BC Reform Party contest which were: Jack Weisgerber, 1,387; Ron Gamble, 350; Wilf Hanni, 279; Terri Milne, 250; and Joe Leong, 110.

6 In 1984, the PQ consistently trailed the Liberals in published opinion polls. In 1991, the Alberta PCs were losing ground in published opinion polls and trailing in some. See “Liberals Jump to 69%, PQ Sinks to 23%: Poll,” Montreal Gazette, June 9, 1984, A1; and “Leading by Default: Decore's Reform-Minded Grits Pull Ahead of Competition,” Alberta Report (Edmonton), December 2, 1991, 6–7.

7 See, for example, “Members Can Vote for Leader Over Phone,” Sun (Vancouver), March 6, 1993, G3, reporting that BC Liberal Party President Sully, Floyd said, “party officials hope the new process will swell its membership and its financial coffers”; “Tories Pick Leader New Way,” Calgary Herald, April 7, 1991Google Scholar, A4, reporting that Ralph Klein supported the move to direct election because it will “bring more people into the party”; and “Eight-Seat Grit Haul Seen,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 15, 1993, B1, reporting that Manitoba Liberal Party President Tim Ryan stated, “Instead of just 800 delegates deciding who will be the next Liberal leader, about 15,000 members will vote.”

8 See, for example, letter to author from Nova Scotia Liberal Association Executive Director Anna Redmond, April 5, 1995, including in a list of reasons motivating the party's switch to direct election it “gives all members an opportunity to voice their vote”; Alberta Liberal party's Proposal for Amendment to ALP Constitution, recommending that the existing leadership process “needs to be opened up and made more generally accessible”; “Weisgerber Acclaimed Socred Head,” Sun (Vancouver), March 9, 1992, B1, quoting interim leader Weisgerber as saying, “One step towards democratization would be allowing all party members to vote on the next party leader through a universal ballot”; Latouche: “It seemed a natural thing to do and fitted perfectly with the ideology of absolute democracy so dear to the PQ” (“Universal Democracy,” 180); and Woolstencroft: “The party's president, Tom Long; the party's House Leader, Michael Harris; and Dennis Timbrell, a leadership candidate in the two previous conventions, spoke fervently in favour of ‘letting the people decide’” (“Tories Kick Machine to Bits,” 213).

9 Some parties, however, such as the Ontario and Nova Scotia Liberals, made the move away from the traditional delegate-convention method after some candidates had begun organizing their leadership bids without creating significant conflict among the candidates.

10 The vote in favour of continuing with the delegate convention was 298 for and 255 opposed. Prospective leadership candidates Taylor and Mitchell voted against the delegate convention and Decore and Chumir voted to continue using it.

11 See, for example, “Tories Pick Leader New Way,” A4, reporting that “former Solicitor General Roy Farran urged delegates to reject the direct vote, saying the party will lose the excitement generated by a leadership convention.”

12 In the 1993 Manitoba Liberal leadership contest there were no ridings in which more than 100 votes were cast.

13 For example, if leadership candidate X receives 50 per cent of the vote in a riding, then 50 per cent of that riding's delegates are chosen from those delegate candidates pledged to X. The actual identity of the delegates is determined by the second vote for delegate candidates. Since each riding is allowed 16 convention delegates, the 8 delegate candidates pledged to X with the most votes would receive delegate status.

14 While most parties drop only the candidate receiving the fewest votes on the preceding ballot, some ensure that no more than two ballots are necessary by either limiting the second ballot to the top two finishers on the first ballot (Nova Scotia Liberals), or by using a preferential vote on the second ballot (Alberta Liberals).

15 For instance, the Ontario Liberals, without a central membership list, estimated party membership at between 25,000 and 35,000 at the outset of their leadership contest (see “Ontario Liberals Endorse Voting Limits,” The Globe and Mail [Toronto], May 27, 1991, A6). However, by voting day the party was claiming a membership of only 18,006. It is unlikely that membership decreased during the course of the campaign.

16 Blake and Carty, “Televoting for the Leader,” 12; and Latouche, “Universal Democracy,” 182.

17 The actual number is slightly higher, reflecting those who participated in the first ballot of the Alberta PC and Nova Scotia Liberal races but not the second ballot. While it is impossible to determine how many voters fit this category, the number is likely small as the number of total votes increased significantly from the first to second ballot in Alberta and by one in Nova Scotia.

18 The BC Social Credit participation rate of 5 per cent in their 1994 mail-in leadership vote is excluded from this discussion. This number is misleading, as many of those who the party considered members had already deserted the party.

19 The PQ and BC Reform did not hold prior leadership conventions. The 10 conventions studied thus represent the last traditional delegate-style leadership convention held by the other 10 parties.

20 See R. K. Carty and Peter James, “Changing the Rules of the Game: Do Conventions and Caucuses Choose Different Leaders,” in Carty et al., eds., Leaders and Parties, 19, for a discussion of different career paths of provincial leaders selected by caucus and by convention.

21 See, for example, “Caucus Support Is Leaning Heavily towards Johnson,” Montreal Gazette, July 16, 1985, A4, reporting that Pierre-Marc Johnson was endorsed by 24 caucus members while his nearest rival, Bernard Landry, had support of three caucus members; Walkom, Thomas, “It's the Mike Versus Dianne Show,” The Toronto Star, April 28, 1990Google Scholar, D4, reporting that Harris, Mike led 5–4 in caucus endorsements; “Savage Announces Leadership Bid,” The Herald-Chronicle (Halifax), April 11, 1992Google Scholar, A3, reporting that Savage, John was endorsed by six MLAs at his campaign kick-off; “Anti Klein Forces Swell,” Calgary Herald, December 1, 1992Google Scholar, A1, reporting that Klein, Ralph was endorsed by more than half of the Tory caucus; “The Bland Leading the Bland,” Alberta Report (Edmonton), September 12, 1994, 10Google Scholar, reporting that Grant Mitchell and Adam Germain each had ten caucus endorsements compared with one each for Sine Chadi and Dickson, Gary and none for Sidlinger, Tom; “Weisgerber Hopes to Lead Reform,” Sun (Vancouver), June 25, 1994Google Scholar, A5, reporting that Weis-Gerber, Jack enjoyed the support of all four members of the Reform caucus; “Boyd Has Some High Profile Support” The Leader Post (Regina), November 19, 1994Google Scholar, A4, reporting that “Bill Boyd can count on most of his caucus mates' support in today's Conservative Leadership vote”; “Campbell Will Go for Liberal Job,” Sun (Vancouver), April 30, 1993, A3, reporting that Campbell, Gordon had “support from as many as a dozen Liberal MLAs”; and “Two More MPPs Join Liberal Leadership Race,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), November 15, 1991Google Scholar, A8, reporting that Lyn McLeod began the race with the support of 12 MPPs.

22 See note 13, and Malcolmson, Patrick, “Two Cheers for the Leadership Convention,” Policy Options 13 (1992), 24–25.Google Scholar

23 For example, the PQ held ten regional all-candidates meetings, the Ontario PCs six, the Alberta Liberals nine, the Alberta PCs seven, the Nova Scotia Liberals ten, the Ontario Liberals thirteen and the Saskatchewan PCs eight.

24 To supplement the impressionistic evidence in support of this proposition, a case study was done of newspaper coverage of the 1985 and 1992 Alberta PC leadership races. In both instances, the party was in power at the time of the selection and in both cases the newly chosen leader won the subsequent general election. In an effort to gauge the degree of media coverage for these two contests the number of stories concerning each in the Calgary Herald was totalled. The 10 weeks prior to the selection date were used as the comparative time frame. Overall, the 1985 delegate-convention race received more coverage than did the 1992 direct election. In 1985, 176 stories were written compared with 146 on the 1992 direct election.

25 See, for example, “4 Riding Protests Lodged in Tory Leadership Race,” The Toronto Star, November 8, 1984, A10; “Charges Hurled at Ontario Tory Delegates Meeting,” The Toronto Star, November 21, 1984, A7; “Dirty Tricks Muddy Alberta Race,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 23, 1985, A3; and “Alberta P.C. Race Fought in the Gutter,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 3, 1985, A7.

26 Winnipeg Free Press, June 6, 1993, A9.

27 Walkom, Thomas, The Toronto Star, May 13, 1990Google Scholar, A1.

28 Calgary Herald, November 21, 1992, A7.

29 Alberta Report (Edmonton), September 12, 1994, 10.

30 Woolstencroft, “Tories Kick Machine to Bits,” 214; and Latouche, “Universal Democracy,” 184.

31 See, for example, Seidle, F. Leslie, “The Angry Citizenry: Examining Representation and Responsiveness in Government,” Policy Options 4 (1994), 75–80.Google Scholar

32 See note 8.

33 Stewart, “Electing the Premier,” 6, n.17.

34 Carty and Blake, “Televoting for the Leader,” 14.

35 Stewart, “Electing the Premier,” 6.

36 Adamson et al., “Pushing the Right Button,” 12.

37 Stewart, “Electing the Premier,” 6.

38 Adamson et al., “Pushing the Right Button,” 12.

39 Carty and Blake, “Televoting for the Leader,” 14.

40 See “Dial-a-vote Has Graham Reconsidering Intention to Seek Liberal Leadership,” The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), March 31, 1992, A4.

41 Stewart, “Electing the Premier,” 5.

42 Adamson et al., “Pushing the Right Button,” 15–16.

43 Discussion, Roundtable, “Reforming the Leadership Convention Process,” Canadian Parliamentary Review 16, 3 (1993), 6Google Scholar. The $45 fee was charged to those who both voted in the leadership contest and attended the concurrent party convention.

44 Mansbridge, Jane J., Beyond Adversary Democracy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).Google Scholar

45 Blake and Carty, “Televoting for the Leader,” 5.

46 See, for example, Courtney, “Leadership Conventions,” 96.

47 See “Crash and Burn,” Alberta Report (Edmonton), November 28, 1994, 6–10.

48 Woolstencroft, “Tories Kick Machine to Bits,” 215.

49 Stewart, “Electing the Premier,” 12; and Hunziker, M., “Leadership Selection: The 1985 Alberta Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention” (unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Calgary, 1986), 116.Google Scholar

50 Ontario Liberal Party, Report of the Leadership Procedures Review Committee, March 20, 1991, 7.Google Scholar

51 This process is similar to the “deliberative poll” advocated in Fishkin, James, Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991).Google Scholar

52 Courtney, John C., The Selection of National Party Leaders in Canada (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1973), 221.Google Scholar

53 It must be acknowledged, however, that some parties using tele-voting have witnessed their leadership contests degenerate into something approaching chaos—namely, the Alberta and Nova Scotia Liberals. Presumably, these difficulties can be avoided in the future as the technological glitches are worked out.

54 Courtney, “Leadership Conventions,” 94.

55 See The Liberal Party of Canada Constitution article 17(8)(9); Reform Party of Canada Constitution section 6(a)(b); and The New Constitution of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada section 11.4.6. The federal New Democrats used a hybrid system of direct membership vote and a delegate convention to choose their current leader. This method cannot be considered direct election as the membership vote was not binding on the convention delegates who ultimately chose the party leader virtually unencumbered by the result of the membership vote.

56 Courtney, Do Conventions Matter? 5.