The 1883 Manitoba general election was held on January 23, 1883, to elect 31 members to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Incumbent premier John Norquay and his allies won re-election.[1] This was the first partisan election in Manitoba, though the political parties were still unofficial. Norquay himself was officially independent, but he aligned with the Conservative Party, and his MLAs were considered to be the province's de facto Conservative Party. Norquay was opposed by the Liberals, led by Thomas Greenway, who had previously founded the Provincial Rights Party before merging with the Liberals.
Background
One of the main issues in the election was the CPR monopoly of railways in Manitoba. Business leaders and farmers wanted increased competition to lower costs, but Canadian prime minister John A. Macdonald refused to allow competition with the CPR. Thomas Greenway and the Liberals blamed Norquay for this, arguing that as a political ally of the Conservative prime minister, Norquay agreed to the CPR monopoly in exchange for federal financial aid to the province. Norquay hoped to break the monopoly too, but was uncertain about whether constructing railways was legally in provincial jurisdiction, and was wary of ruining relations with the federal government.[2]
