query: office_contested canadian federal election
supports: John William Michael Bliss, (born January 18, 1941) is a Canadian historian and award-winning author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he has written several important medical biographies, including of Sir William Osler. Bliss is also a frequent commentator on political events and issues. He is a member of the Order of Canada. The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or federal viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists only as per long-established convention (originating in Canada's former colonial power, the United Kingdom) that stipulates the monarch's representative, the governor general, must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. Canadian prime ministers are styled as "The Right Honourable", a privilege maintained for life. Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854  June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911, to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office. After retiring from public life, he served as the chancellor of Queen's University. His portrait appears on Canadian $100 notes produced since 1976 but in late 2016 the government announced Borden's image would be removed during the next redesign. The 1917 Canadian federal election ( sometimes referred to as the khaki election ) was held on December 17 , 1917 , to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Canada . Described by historian Michael Bliss as the `` most bitter election in Canadian history '' , it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription ( see Conscription Crisis of 1917 ) . The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden 's Unionist government elected with a strong majority , and the largest percent share of the popular vote for a single party in Canadian history . The previous election had been held in 1911 , and was won by Borden 's Conservatives . Under the elections law , Canada should have had an election in 1916 . However citing the emergency of the First World War , the government postponed the election , largely in hope that a coalition government could be formed , as was the case in Britain . Sir Wilfrid Laurier , head of the Liberal Party of Canada , refused to join the coalition over the issue of conscription . Conscription was strongly opposed in the Liberal heartland of Quebec . Laurier worried that agreeing to Borden 's coalition offer would cause that province to abandon the Liberals , and perhaps Canada as well . Borden proceeded to form a `` Unionist '' government , and the Liberal Party split over the issue . Many English Canadian Liberal MPs and provincial Liberal parties in English Canada supported the new Unionist government . To ensure victory for conscription , Borden introduced two laws to skew the voting towards the government . The first of these , the Wartime Elections Act , disenfranchised conscientious objectors and Canadian citizens who were born in enemy countries who had arrived after 1902 . The law also gave female relatives of servicemen the vote . Thus , the 1917 election was the first federal election in which some women were allowed to vote . The other new law was the Military Voters Act that allowed soldiers serving abroad to choose which riding their vote would be counted in , or to allow the party for which they voted to select the riding the vote would be counted in . This allowed government officials to guide the strongly pro-conscription soldiers into voting in those ridings where the government felt they would be most useful . Servicemen were given a ballot with the simple choice of `` Government '' or `` Opposition . '' Soon after these measures were passed , Borden convinced a faction of Liberals ( using the name Liberal - Unionists ) along with Gideon Decker Robertson who was described as a `` Labour '' Senator ( but was unaffiliated with any Labour Party ) to join with them , forming the Unionist government in October 1917 . He then dissolved parliament to seek a mandate in the election which pitted `` Government '' candidates , running as the Unionist Party , against the anti-Conscription faction of the Liberal Party which ran under the name Laurier Liberals . The divisive debate ended with the country divided on linguistic lines . The Liberals won 82 seats , 62 of which were in Quebec , with many other seats won in provinces like Manitoba , New Brunswick , and Ontario in ridings with significant francophone populations . The Unionists won 153 seats . The three Unionist won seats in Quebec were all in mainly anglophone ridings . This fact led to the Francœur Motion in January 1918 .
candidates: member prime minister prime minister of canada
answer: prime minister of canada