Beaver River (provincial electoral district)

Beaver River is a former Alberta provincial electoral district centred on the town of Lac La Biche, mandated to elect a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. It was created in 1913 from the western half of Pakan, and abolished in 1952 when it and the northern parts of Athabasca were replaced by Lac La Biche.

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Beaver River
Assembly Years Member Party
See Pakan 1909-1913
3rd 1913–1917 Wilfrid Gariépy Liberal
4th 1917–1921
5th 1921–1926 Joseph Dechêne
6th 1926–1930 John Delisle United Farmers
7th 1930–1935 Henry Dakin Liberal
8th 1935–1940 Lucien Maynard Social Credit
9th 1940–1944
10th 1944–1948
11th 1948–1952 Harry Lobay
See Lac La Biche 1952-1971

Beaver River's first MLA was Liberal Wilfrid Gariépy, a Quebec-born settler whose residency would be the subject of controversy toward the end of his second term. He did not run for a third, choosing instead to return to Trois-Rivières. Liberal Joseph Dechêne won the riding in 1921, but would go on to defeat in 1926. He later became MLA for neighbouring St. Paul.

John Delisle picked Beaver River up for the United Farmers of Alberta, serving only one term. In the 1930 election, a judicial recount declared him narrowly defeated by Liberal Henry Dakin, who would also serve only one term.

In the 1935 Social Credit sweep, Lucien Maynard won Beaver River by a landslide. He easily won re-election twice more, retiring for the 1948 election.

Social Credit kept the riding, with Harry Lobay narrowly beating his Liberal challenger and serving out the riding's last term. It was replaced in 1952, but Lobay would go on to serve another term as MLA for the new riding of Lac La Biche.

Election results

1910s

Alberta general election, 1913
Party Candidate Votes%[1]
LiberalWilfrid Gariépy 457 61.67%
ConservativeAmbrose Grey 284 38.33%
Total valid votes 741
Rejected, spoiled, and declined -
Electors / Turnout 1,02672.22%
Liberal pickup new district.

Following contemporary convention, when Gariépy was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Municipal Affairs, he stood in a by-election. Since no candidates chose to oppose him, however, he was acclaimed.

Alberta provincial by-election, December 15, 1913
upon appointment as Minister of Municipal Affairs
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalWilfrid Gariépy Acclaimed
Total valid votes 0
  Liberal hold
Alberta general election, 1917
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
LiberalWilfrid Gariépy 1,134 64.07% +2.40%
ConservativeAmbrose Grey 636 35.93 -2.40%
Total valid votes 1,770
Rejected, spoiled, and declined -
Electors / Turnout 2,68965.82% -6.40%
Liberal hold Swing +2.40%

1920s

Alberta general election, 1921
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
LiberalJoseph Dechêne 1,560 62.33% -1.74%
United FarmersH. Montambeault 943 37.67%
Total valid votes 2,503
Rejected, spoiled, and declined -
Electors / Turnout 3,51071.31% +5.49%
Liberal hold Swing -19.71%
Alberta general election, 1926
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
United FarmersJohn Delisle 1,168 54.15% +16.48%
LiberalJoseph Dechêne 989 45.85% -16.48%
Total valid votes 2,157
Rejected, spoiled, and declined -
Electors / Turnout 3,37064.01% -7.30%
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing +16.48%

1930s

Alberta general election, 1930
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
United FarmersJohn Delisle 1,028 48.13% -6.02%
LiberalHenry Dakin 1,021 47.80% +1.95%
IndependentLuc Lebel 87 4.07%
Total valid votes 2,136
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 119
Electors / Turnout 3,43165.72% +1.71%
Liberal gain from United Farmers Swing +4.07%

Totals and swing for 1930 are based on the initial count; a judicial recount sided in favour of Dakin.

Alberta general election, 1935
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Social CreditLucien Maynard 1,751 53.96%
LiberalHenry Dakin 775 23.88% -23.92%
United FarmersJohn Delisle 572 17.63% -30.50%
ConservativeWalter Allen 147 4.53%
Total valid votes 3,245
Rejected, spoiled, and declined -
Electors / Turnout 4,85766.81% +1.09%
Social Credit gain from Liberal Swing +38.94%

1940s

Alberta general election, 1940
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Social CreditLucien Maynard 2,555 57.06% +3.10%
Independent LiberalA. Crowther 1,136 25.37% +1.49%
Co-operative CommonwealthJohn Hannochko 669 14.93%
Independent FarmerJ. Bibby 118 2.64% -14.99%
Total valid votes 4,478
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 201
Electors / Turnout 6,64670.40% +3.59%
Social Credit hold Swing +0.81%
Alberta general election, 1944
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Social CreditLucien Maynard 2,747 60.57% +3.51%
Co-operative CommonwealthJohn Hannochko 1,403 30.94% +16.01%
Labor–ProgressiveStanley Dumka 385 8.49%
Total valid votes 4,535
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 159
Electors / Turnout 6,75769.47% -0.93
Social Credit hold Swing -12.50%
Alberta general election, 1948
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Social CreditHarry Lobay 1,992 41.05% -19.52%
LiberalCecil Belleville 1,579 32.54%
Co-operative CommonwealthJohn Hannochko 1,282 26.42% -4.52%
Second round
Social CreditHarry Lobay 2,117 55.49% +14.44%
LiberalCecil Belleville 1,698 44.51% +11.97%
No second preference 1,038
Total valid votes 4,853
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 265
Electors / Turnout 7,42368.95% -0.52%
Social Credit hold Swing -26.03%

Overall swing is based on first count. Second-round swing reflects increase in vote share from the first count.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.