1993 Progressive Party of Canada leadership election

The 1993 Progressive Party of Canada leadership election was a leadership election held to elect a leader for the Progressive Party of Canada. The election was conducted by in-person voting and was the first leadership election in Canada to try out internet voting, though little took the opportunity to do so as little had access to the internet at the time. The amount of money by all three candidates combined was $1,272,890, making it the most expensive election for the Progressive Party of Canada at the time.

John Mason
John Mason is a Member of Parliament from northeastern Pennsylvania.

Candidacy announced: N/A.

Date registered with Elections Canada: N/A.

Campaign website: MasonForLeader.ca

Campaign slogan: N/A.

Campaign slogan (French): N/A.

Kari Labossière
Kari Labossière is a French-Canadian politician who has been a Member of Parliament for Quebec since 1988. She was born on April 30th, 1958 in Trois-Rivières to a first-generation immigrant mother from France and her father, Robert Labossière who was born in raised in Quebec and was a Member of Parliament for the province from 1954-1968. Labossière graduated from McGill University with double degrees in Political Science and Law and Society in 1981 and ran an unsuccessful federal campaign in 1984 before managing to break through in the election after.

Candidacy announced: June 1994.

Date registered with Elections Canada: July 1994

Campaign website: Labossière4PM.ca

Campaign slogan: "Progress For You."

Campaign slogan (French): "Des progrès pour vous."

Mathieu Tremblay
Mathieu Tremblay is a French-Canadian politician, who was born on January 18th, 1956 in Lac-Saint-Joseph in a lower-middle-class family, and graduated from the Trois-Rivieres University in 1978. He was elected as a Councillor for the St-Raymond City Council in 1982 and served 2 terms in total. Tremblay also worked as a wildlife conservationist from 1978 to 1982 and 1988 to 1993 and then successfully entered federal politics by running for a seat in the House of Commons in 1993.

Candidacy announced: April 1994.

Date registered with Elections Canada: April 1994.

Campaign website: TeamTremblay.ca

Campaign slogan: "Building a better Canada together."

Campaign slogan (French): "Bâtir ensemble un Canada meilleur."

Results
The results were released on January 1st, 1993 on a live broadcast on CBC News, with John Mason winning convincingly with 64% of the vote, with Kari Labossière and Mathieu Tremblay in a distant second and third, with controversies surrounding who had come second due to theories of whoever came in second would be the vice leader and/or party whip.

Labossière and Tremblay conceded defeat, as Mason claimed victory early on, despite not all of the votes being counted at the time. Mason ended up winning Alaska, Northern Territory, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, while Labossière won British Columbia, Oregon, Amherst, Superior, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, as Tremblay won Labrador, Saint-Croix, New England, the British Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Quebec, though there were controversies surrounding Tremblay's narrow victory in Quebec.

Timeline
January 1st, 1993, 12:00 PM EST — Polls close across the country in all provinces and territories.

January 1st, 1993, 12:05 PM EST — Tremblay takes a massive early lead with votes coming in from Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier in Quebec.

January 1st, 1993, 12:15 PM EST — Mason begins to close the gap with votes coming in from Scranton and Pittsburgh.

January 1st, 1993, 12:20 PM EST — Labossière takes the lead with the first results coming in from Victoria in British Columbia.

January 1st, 1993, 12:25 PM EST — Mason is the confirmed winner in his home province of Pennsylvania, with Mason taking the lead.

January 1st, 1993, 12:45 PM EST — Mason is the declared winner of the race after winning New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

January 1st, 1993, 1:00 PM EST — Mason's declared victory is retracted as Tremblay catches up with victories in the British Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and a convincing lead in Labrador and Saint-Croix.

January 1st, 1993, 1:05 PM EST — Tremblay wins Quebec after extremely large victories in Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, and Jonquière.

January 1st, 1993, 2:00 PM EST — Labossière starts to make gains in Quebec with leads in Outremont and Laurier–Sainte-Marie, and a victory in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.

January 1st, 1993, 2:30 PM EST — Mason wins Alaska, Northern Territory, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Columbia, and Maryland, while Labossière wins British Columbia, Oregon, and Amherst, as Tremblay wins Labrador and Saint-Croix.

January 1st, 1993, 3:00 PM EST — Tremblay's victory in Quebec is retracted after victories in Outremont and Laurier–Sainte-Marie by Labossière.

January 1st, 1993, 7:55 PM EST — Mason's victories in Alaska, Northern Territory, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Idaho, Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut are confirmed, with CBC News projecting Mason as the winner of the leadership election, who had 56% of the vote at 7:55 PM EST.

January 1st, 1993, 8:00 PM EST — Tremblay concedes.

January 1st, 1993, 8:10 PM EST — Labossière concedes.

January 1st, 1993, 8:25 PM EST — Labossière takes the lead in Quebec after convincing leads in the Montreal regions, with Tremblay leading in less populated areas in Quebec that are more rural.

January 1st, 1993, 8:35 PM EST — Labossière is the confirmed winner in British Columbia, Oregon, Amherst, Superior, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

January 1st, 1993, 11:40 PM EST — Labossière is the confirmed winner in Quebec with 84% of polls reporting in Quebec.

January 2nd, 1993, 4:30 AM EST — Tremblay is confirmed the winner in all of his previous provinces that he was confirmed to win or was leading in, including Labrador, Saint-Croix, New England, the British Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, and Montserrat, with the only province not confirmed being Quebec.

January 2nd, 1993, 5:00 AM EST — Tremblay wins in Quebec, with Labossière's victory in Quebec being retracted with 96% of polls reporting.

January 2nd, 1993, 6:00 AM EST — The difference between Labossière and Tremblay in the battle for second place and the potential to become the vice leader and/or party whip is 12 votes, with the advantage to Tremblay.

January 2nd, 1993, 12:30 PM EST — Tremblay is the confirmed winner in Quebec, winning with 100% of polls reporting in Quebec by a margin of 104 votes.

January 2nd, 1993, 1:55 PM EST — Labossière appeals to Elections Canada for a recount in Quebec.

January 2nd, 1993, 2:30 PM EST — Elections Canada accepts Labossière's recount request, as Tremblay appeals to Elections Canada for a nationwide recount to see who came in second place.

January 8th, 1993, 3:05 PM EST — Tremblay is the confirmed winner in Quebec with an increased margin of victory of 486 votes.

January 26th, 1993, 1:00 PM EST — Labossière is confirmed in second place by a margin of 2 votes, as Tremblay concedes to Labossière.

February 1st, 1993, 9:00 AM EST — Elections Canada confirms the election results.