The 1988 Canadian federal election was held on November 21, 1988, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 34th Parliament of Canada following the dissolution of the House on October 1. It was an election largely fought on a single issue, the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA); the Progressive Conservative Party campaigned in favour of it, whereas the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) campaigned against it.
The incumbent Progressive Conservative Party, led by Brian Mulroney, was reelected with a second majority government, although based on less than half the votes cast. Mulroney was the party's first leader since John A. Macdonald to win a second consecutive majority government. Additionally, this election was the last election in which the Progressive Conservatives would poll over 40 percent of the vote, as this would not recur until 2025, under the banner of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Liberal Party experienced a recovery after its 1984 wipeout, more than doubling its seat count. The New Democratic Party won its largest number of seats up to the time (they would beat the 1988 record in 2011). The election was the last won by the Progressive Conservatives, the last until 2011 in which a right-of-centre party formed a majority government, and the last where a right-of-centre party won the most seats in Quebec during a federal election. It was also the last election in Canadian history in which only three parties would be elected to Parliament. With Mulroney winning a majority, the agreement was passed into law, even though a majority of the voters had voted for parties opposing free trade.
Background
Brian Mulroney led the Progressive Conservative Party to a landslide majority government victory in the 1984 federal election. In subsequent years, scandals and patronage damaged his polling numbers. However, in his fourth year in office in 1988, his popularity began to recover; a poll a few days before the election call showed the Progressive Conservatives ahead of the Liberal Party and New Democratic Party.
The Liberal Party led by John Turner suffered a heavy defeat in the 1984 election. Despite this, Turner stayed on as leader and was preparing to campaign for the second election. However, the Liberal Party was in financial and political disarray; by 1986 the party was heavily in debt. Turner's office experienced significant staff turnover, and some former aides were willing to recount stories of the office's disfunction to the press, resulting in one journalist referring to Turner's leadership as a "reign of error". Some pundits believed the Liberals would permanently drop to third place.
Campaign
The Liberals had some early struggles, notably during one day in Montreal where three different costs were given for the proposed Liberal daycare program. When asked by reporters about the incident, Turner's chief of staff responded using vulgar language.