Bonnyville (provincial electoral district)

Bonnyville was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1997.[1] The Bonnyville electoral district was created in 1952 from the northern part of the St. Paul electoral district. In 1997 the riding was renamed Bonnyville-Cold Lake, to more accurately reflect the two largest population centres in the constituency.[2]

Bonnyville

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1913
District abolished	1952
First contested	1913
Last contested	1948

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Bonnyville

Assembly	Years	Member		Party	Status
See St. Paul 1913-1952
12th	1952–1955		Laudas Joly	Social Credit	Backbench
13th	1955–1959		Jake Josvanger	Liberal	Opposition
14th	1959–1961		Karl Nordstrom	Social Credit	Backbench
	1961		Vacant
	1961–1963		Romeo Lamothe	Social Credit	Backbench
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971
17th	1971–1975		Donald Hansen	Progressive Conservative
18th	1975–1979
19th	1979–1982		Ernie Isley
20th	1982–1986				Cabinet
21st	1986–1989
22nd	1989–1993
23rd	1993–1997		Leo Vasseur	Liberal	Opposition
See Bonnyville-Cold Lake 1997-2019

The new district was won by former United Farmers MLA for St. Paul, Laudas Joly, running as a Social Credit candidate. Upon his retirement in 1955, the riding would be won by Jake Josvanger, as part of the Liberal Party's brief revival under James Harper Prowse.

Social Credit would re-take Bonnyville in 1959, but new MLA Karl Nordstrom died in office in 1961, triggering a by-election later that year. Social Credit candidate Romeo Lamothe would retain the seat, and go on to serve two full terms after that.

In Peter Lougheed's 1971 victory for the Progressive Conservatives, candidate Donald Hansen would capture Bonnyville for the new government, and serve two terms as MLA. Upon his retirement in 1979, Ernie Isley would retain the seat for the PCs and serve four terms as MLA, holding several cabinet positions under Lougheed and Don Getty.

When Ralph Klein became premier in 1992, Isley remained minister of Agriculture, but then lost his seat in the 1993 election to Liberal Leo Vasseur.

The riding was then replaced by Bonnyville-Cold Lake for the 1997 election, in which PC candidate Denis Ducharme would defeat Vasseur and re-gain the seat.

Election results

Graphical summary of results.

1950s

The 1952 and 1955 elections were done by instant-runoff voting, although a second round was not needed in the district for either.

1952 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%[3]
	Social Credit	Laudas Joly	2,497	65.94%
	Liberal	Irvin J. Baril	1,290	34.06%
Total valid votes			3,787
Rejected, spoiled and declined			215
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,935	67.43%
	Social Credit pickup new district.

1955 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jake Josvanger	2,250	51.50%	+17.44%
	Social Credit	Alfred A. Muller	1,331	30.46%	-35.48%
	Independent	L.F. Krawchuk	788	18.04%
Total valid votes			4,369
Rejected, spoiled and declined			384
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,393	74.35%	+6.92%
	Liberal gain from Social Credit		Swing		+26.46%

Alberta switched back to traditional first past the post elections in 1959, which can be seen in the dramatic drop in spoiled (incorrectly marked) ballots compared to previous elections.

1959 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Karl Nordstrom	2,465	51.66%	+21.20%
	Liberal	Jake Josvanger	1,447	30.32%	-21.18%
	Progressive Conservative	Victor Justik	860	18.02%
Total valid votes			4,772
Rejected, spoiled and declined			14
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,108	59.03%	-15.32%
	Social Credit gain from Liberal		Swing		+21.19%

1960s

Alberta provincial by-election, November 27, 1961 upon the death of Karl Nordstrom
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%[4]
	Social Credit	Romeo Lamothe	2,401	63.86%	+12.20%
	Progressive Conservative	Victor Justik	689	18.32%	+0.30%
	Liberal	C.K. Josvanger	670	17.82%	-12.50%
Total valid votes			3,760
Rejected, spoiled and declined			-
Eligible electors / Turnout			-	-
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+6.25%

1963 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Romeo Lamothe	2,222	48.02%	-15.84%
	Progressive Conservative	Victor Justik	1,091	23.58%	+5.26%
	Liberal	Albert Turcotte	1,059	22.89%	+5.07%
	New Democratic	Peter Forman	255	5.51%
Total valid votes			4,627
Rejected, spoiled and declined			11
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,267	59.10%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-5.29%

1967 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Romeo Lamothe	2,339	54.51%	+6.49%
	Progressive Conservative	Victor Justik	1,636	38.13%	+14.55%
	New Democratic	Kenneth Kerr	316	7.36%	+1.85%
Total valid votes			4,291
Rejected, spoiled and declined			31
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,599	50.26%	-8.84%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-4.03%

1970s

1971 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Donald Hansen	2,523	46.58%	+8.45%
	Social Credit	Lorne Mowers	2,355	43.47%	-11.04%
	New Democratic	Claire Gaines	539	9.95%	+2.59%
Total valid votes			5,417
Rejected, spoiled and declined			21
Eligible electors / Turnout			9,234	58.89%	+8.63%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		+9.75%

1975 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Donald Hansen	3,226	56.84%	+10.26%
	Social Credit	George Nordstrom	1,119	19.71%	-23.76%
	New Democratic	Franklin Foster	805	14.18%	+4.23%
	Liberal	Ron Pernarowski	526	9.27%
Total valid votes			5,676
Rejected, spoiled and declined			18
Eligible electors / Turnout			9,451	60.25%	+1.36%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+17.01%

1979 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Isley	3,468	49.75%	-7.09%
	New Democratic	Tom Turner	1,828	26.22%	+12.04%
	Social Credit	George Nordstrom	1,275	18.29%	-1.42%
	Independent	Donald Appleby	206	2.96%
	Liberal	Edward Stepanik	194	2.78%	-6.49%
Total valid votes			6,971
Rejected, spoiled and declined			25
Eligible electors / Turnout			11,053	63.30%	+3.05%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-9.57%

1980s

1982 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Isley	4,842	59.62%	+9.87%
	New Democratic	Tom Turner	2,547	31.36%	+5.14%
	Western Canada Concept	Eric E. Enns	732	9.02%
Total valid votes			8,121
Rejected, spoiled and declined			13
Eligible electors / Turnout			12,343	66.01%	+2.71%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+2.37%

1986 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Isley	3,630	65.42%	+5.80%
	New Democratic	Thomas J. Tucker	1,663	29.97%	-1.39%
	Western Canada Concept	Vern McCaig	256	4.61%	-4.41%
Total valid votes			5,549
Rejected, spoiled and declined			15
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,258	36.47%	-29.54%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+3.60%

1989 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Isley	3,362	50.30%	-15.12%
	Liberal	Denis Lapierre	1,769	26.47%
	New Democratic	Lori Hall	1,553	23.23%	-6.74%
Total valid votes			6,684
Rejected, spoiled and declined			13
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,127	44.27%	+7.80%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-20.80%

1993 Election

1993 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%[5]
	Liberal	Leo Vasseur	4,364	47.2%	+20.7%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Isley	4,222	45.6%	-4.7%
	New Democratic	Agathe Gaulin	666	7.2%	-16.0%
Total valid votes			9,252
Rejected, spoiled and declined			39
Eligible electors / Turnout			16,826	55.2%	+10.9%
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+12.7%

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Bonnyville[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	%
	Yes	1,716	66.05%
	No	882	33.95%
Total Votes		2,598	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		31
6,988 Eligible Electors, Turnout 37.62%

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. Bonnyville voted in favour of the proposal by an overwhelming majority. The district recorded a poor voter turnout, falling well below 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 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]

See Also

• Alberta provincial electoral districts
• Bonnyville, Alberta a town situated in east-central Alberta between Cold Lake and St. Paul.

References

1. "Election results for Bonnyville". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
2. Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (June 1996). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
3. "Abheritage.ca — Electoral results for Bonnyville". Archived from the original on 2010-12-08.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
4. "Elections Alberta: By-elections". Retrieved 2016-08-24.
5. "Summary of Results by Electoral Division, 1982-2015".
6. 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, 1958. p. 1.
10. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

• Office of the Chief Electoral Officer; Legislative Assembly Office (2006). A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. The Centennial Series. Edmonton, AB: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 0-9689217-8-7. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

External links

• Elections Alberta
• The Legislative Assembly of Alberta