Vintage Toronto Ads: Watching the Election

It's election day—do you know which media outlet you'll be glued to tonight to discover the results? Among the options for Golden Horseshoe voters on election night in November 1965 were a national network (CBC) and a local independent (CHCH in Hamilton). Both touted the latest in news-gathering technology, with the inevitable period nod to the magic of IBM technology.

The 1965 federal election did little to change the makeup of the House of Commons, as Lester Pearson's Liberals won a second straight minority government. The Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and NDP added a handful of seats apiece at the expense of the Social Credit party, whose split into national and Quebec wings (Ralliement des créditistes) resulted in a combined loss of 10 seats. Despite having lost to Pearson for a second time in a row, Progressive Conservative leader John Diefenbaker ignored calls to resign, which set into motion a "Dump Dief" campaign that led to his defeat at a party leadership convention two years later.

Making their debut at the ballot box that year were Pierre Elliott Trudeau (one of the Liberals' "Three Wise Men" star candidates in Quebec along with Jean Marchand and Gérard Pelletier—all three won their seats) and the Rhinoceros Party, who were disappointed that party leader Cornelius I was not allowed to run due to his status as a zoo animal.

Source: The Globe and Mail, November 8, 1965