Cardston (provincial electoral district)

Cardston was a provincial electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada. The riding was created in when Alberta first became a province in 1905.

The riding has always occupied the most southern portion of the province along the Canada / United States border. In 1993 the borders of the riding of Pincher Creek-Crowsnest shifted south into Cardston, and the riding was renamed Cardston-Chief Mountain.

The riding was named after the town of Cardston and this region is considered one of the most conservative in the province.

Boundary history

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

  Name Party Elected Left Office
     John William Woolf Liberal 1905 1912
     Martin Woolf Liberal 1912 1921
  George Stringam United Farmers 1921 1935
  Nathan Eldon Tanner Social Credit 1935 1952
  Edgar Hinman Social Credit 1952 1967
  Alvin Bullock Social Credit 1952 1967
  Edgar Hinman Social Credit 1971 1975
     John Thompson Progressive Conservative 1975 1986
     Jack Ady Progressive Conservative 1986 1993

Election results

1905 general election

1905 Alberta general election results[2] Turnout Unknown
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Liberal John William Woolf 480 69.57%
     Conservative John Parrish 210 30.43%
Total 690 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined Unknown

Cardston electoral district was created in 1905 when Alberta became a province. The electoral district replaced the previous Cardston territorial electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1902 to 1905.[3]

The 1905 election was between Liberal candidate John William Woolf and Conservative candidate John Parrish. Woolf was well known rancher and politician in the area. He had served as the district representative in the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1902 to 1905.[3] Woolf also served briefly on the local government as a municipal councilor in the town of Cardston.[4] Woolf won the district on election day easily defeating Parish with a landslide taking nearly 70% of the popular vote.[2]

1967 - 1989

Party 1989 1986 1982 1979 1975 1971 1967
Liberal Beth Wendorff
667
Paul Shaw
115
Progressive Conservatives Jack Ady
3,483
Jack Ady
2,679
John Thompson
3,738
John Thompson
2,832
John Thompson
2,899
Larry Lang
2,392
Larry Lang
1,692
Social Credit Adam Hauch
529
Ernest Master
989
Broyce Jacobs
2,196
Roy Spackman
1,826
Edgar Hinman
2,831
Alvin Bullock
2,120
N.D.P. Don Ferguson
517
Cynthia Cunningham
389
Leslie Howard
250
Rosemarie Buchannan
102
Kelty Paul
115
Leslie Howard
104
Western Canada Concept Steve Pinchak
2,309
Independent Steve Pinchak
1,376
Robert Burt
573

1935 - 1963

Party 1963 1959 1955 1952 1948 1940 1935
Liberal John Webster
1,035
John Webster
985
Gordon Gregson
630
Briant Stringam
944
D.O. Wight
471
Progressive Conservative John Spencer
791
Social Credit Edgar Hinman
2,527
Edgar Hinman
2,205
Edgar Hinman
1,813
Edgar Hinman
2,011
Nathan Eldon Tanner
1,981
Nathan Eldon Tanner
2,160
Nathan Eldon Tanner
2,027
United Farmers George Stringam
565
NDP Colin Holt
150
Independent S.H. Nelson
1,808

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election results[5] Turnout 72.21%
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Social Credit Nathan Eldon Tanner 2,104 64.44%
     Independent William Matson 592 18.13%
     Cooperative Commonwealth Edward Leavitt 569 17.43%
Total 3,265 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 20

1905 - 1930

Party 1930 1926 1921 1917 1913 1912 1909
Liberal R. Christie
825
W.H. Caldwell
598
Martin Woolf
615
Martin Woolf
972
Martin Woolf
518
Martin Woolf
671
John William Woolf
521
Conservative J.Y. Card
480
W.G. Smith
752
C. Jensen
479
John Parrish
532
Levi Harker
386
United Farmers George Stringam
1,364
George Stringam
1,328
George Stringam
1,340

Plebiscite results

1948 Electrification Plebiscite

District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation.

Option A Option B
Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies? Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission?
1,268     46.00% 1,488     54.00%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Cardston[6]
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the
sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Ballot Choice Votes %
No 1,786 79.06%
Yes 473 20.94%
Total Votes 2,259 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 13
4,296 Eligible Electors, Turnout 52.89%%

On October 30, 1957 a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the Legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.[7]

The plebiscite was conducted in two parts. Question A asked in all districts, asked the voters if the sale of liquor should be expanded in Alberta, while Question B asked in a handful of districts within the corporate limits of Calgary and Edmonton asked if men and woman were allowed to drink together in establishments.[6]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Cardston recorded the strongest vote in the province against the proposal, this was likely due to the strong Mormon communities in the district. The district also recorded a strong voter turnout. It was well above the province wide average of 46%.[6]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[6] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.[8] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[9]

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the Plebiscite such as Cardston were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones, business owners that wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.[10]

References

  1. "The Alberta Act". Government of Canada. July 20, 1905. p. 8. |chapter= ignored (help)
  2. 1 2 "Cardston Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  3. 1 2 "History of the Northwest Territories Legislature 1876-1905" (PDF). Saskatchewan Archives. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  4. Shaw, Keith. Chief mountain country : a history of Cardston and district. Cardston and District Historical Society. p. 86.
  5. "Cardston Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249.
  7. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
  8. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
  9. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
  10. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

External links

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