Drumheller (provincial electoral district)

Drumheller was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1963 and again from 1971 to 1997.[1]

Drumheller

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1930
District abolished	1963
District re-created	1971
District re-abolished	1997
First contested	1930
Last contested	1993

History

The electoral district was created during the 1930 Alberta general election from the north section of the Bow Valley provincial electoral district and the southwest section of the Hand Hills provincial electoral district. In the 1963 Alberta general election it was merged with the Gleichen riding to form the short lived Drumheller-Gleichen district.

After redistribution again in the 1971 Alberta general election the Gliechen portion was dropped to expand Little Bow and the riding was once again Drumheller. The riding remained until redistribution in the 1997 Alberta general election when Drumheller and neighboring Chinook merged to form Drumheller-Chinook.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Drumheller
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Bow Valley electoral district from 1913-1930 and Hand Hills electoral district from 1913-1930
7th	1930–1935		Fred Moyer	Independent
8th	1935–1940		Herbert Ingrey	Social Credit
9th	1940–1944		Gordon E. Taylor
10th	1944–1948
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1955
13th	1955–1959
14th	1959–1963
See Drumheller-Gleichen electoral district from 1963-1971
17th	1971–1975		Gordon E. Taylor	Independent Social Credit
18th	1975–1979
19th	1979–1982		Lewis (Mickey) Clark	Progressive Conservative
20th	1982–1986
21st	1986–1989		Stanley Schumacher
22nd	1989–1993
23rd	1993–1997
See Drumheller-Chinook electoral district from 1997-2004

Election results

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First Count
	Independent	Fred C. Moyer	922	34.17%	–
	Labor	Arch. F. Key	866	32.10%	–
	Independent	D. A. Macaulay	722	26.76%	–
	Independent	John O'Sullivan	188	6.97%	–
Total			2,698	–	–
Ballot Transfer Results
	Independent	Fred C. Moyer	1,113	51.79%	–
	Labor	Arch. F. Key	1,036	48.21%	–
Total			2,149	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			167	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			3,554	80.61%	–
	Independent pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality

1935 general election

1935 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Herbert Ingrey	2,158	59.63%	–
	Independent	Fred C. Moyer	778	21.50%	-12.67%
	Communist	M. Clarke	342	9.45%	–
	Liberal	D. McDonald	341	9.42%	–
Total			3,619	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			125	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			4,433	84.46%	3.85%
	Social Credit gain from Independent		Swing		-18.03%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First Count
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	2,043	47.36%	-12.27%
	Independent	Fred C. Moyer	1,530	35.47%	13.97%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	W. G. Southern	741	17.18%	–
Total			4,314	–	–
Ballot Transfer Results
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	2,330	57.53%	–
	Independent	Fred C. Moyer	1,720	42.47%	–
Total			4,050	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			238	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,705	79.74%	-13.12%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-19.07%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	2,243	61.84%	14.48%
	Labor–Progressive	Thomas Mackie	713	19.66%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alfred Thryso	671	18.50%	0.69%
Total			3,627	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			70	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			4,725	78.24%	-1.50%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		N/A%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1948 general election

1948 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	2,982	72.57%	10.73%
	United Labour	Wm. M. "Bill" Price	856	20.83%	–
	Liberal	Wm. Henry Guterson	271	6.60%	–
Total			4,109	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			320	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,800	76.36%	-1.88%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		4.78%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1952 general election

1952 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	3,458	91.82%	19.25%
	Labor–Progressive	Arthur l. Roberts	308	8.18%	–
Total			3,766	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			286	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,531	62.04%	-14.32%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		15.95%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	3,224	73.24%	-18.58%
	Liberal	J. A. Barclay	995	22.60%	–
	Labor–Progressive	A. Lezanski	183	4.16%	-4.02%
Total			4,402	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			35	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,583	67.40%	5.36%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-16.50%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1959 general election

1959 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	3,922	84.13%	10.89%
	Progressive Conservative	Eneas A. Toshach	740	15.87%	–
Total			4,662	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			16	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,635	83.02%	15.62%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		15.62%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1971 general election

1971 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	5,044	64.04%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Whyne Ohlhauser	2,285	29.01%	–
	New Democratic	Dick Hehr	547	6.95%	–
Total			7,876	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			60	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			10,991	72.20%	–
	Independent Social Credit pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975 general election

1975 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Social Credit	Gordon E. Taylor	4,428	60.20%	-3.84%
	Progressive Conservative	Whyne Ohlhauser	2,678	36.41%	7.40%
	New Democratic	Larry Schowalter	249	3.39%	-3.56%
Total			7,355	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			25	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			10,742	68.70%	-3.50%
	Independent Social Credit hold		Swing		-5.62%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1979 general election

1979 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Lewis (Mickey) Clark	5,585	54.97%	18.56%
	Independent	Vern Hoff	1,927	18.97%	–
	Social Credit	Ken Taylor	1,913	18.83%	–
	New Democratic	Ray Garrett	526	5.18%	1.79%
	Liberal	Charles J. Dirk	209	2.06%	–
Total			10,160	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			14,892	68.22%	-0.48%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Independent Social Credit		Swing		6.11%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1982 general election

1982 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Lewis (Mickey) Clark	8,148	68.46%	13.49%
	Western Canada Concept	Vern Hoff	2,630	22.10%	–
	New Democratic	Gerry Hamilton	1,124	9.44%	4.27%
Total			11,902	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			56	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			17,017	70.27%	2.05%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		5.18%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1986 general election

1986 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Stanley Schumacher	4,906	61.07%	-7.39%
	Representative	Norman A. Stanger	1,729	21.52%	–
	New Democratic	Sid Holt	1,154	14.37%	4.92%
	Independent	Peter Hope	244	3.04%	–
Total			8,033	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			14	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,026	53.55%	-16.72%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-3.41%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1989 general election

1989 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Stanley Schumacher	5,049	59.35%	-1.72%
	Liberal	Roger Nelson	1,800	21.16%	–
	New Democratic	Sid Holt	1,658	19.49%	5.12%
Total			8,507	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			40	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,236	56.10%	2.54%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-0.68%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1993 general election

1993 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Stanley Schumacher	7,421	62.92%	3.57%
	Liberal	Roger Nelson	2,457	20.83%	-0.33%
	New Democratic	Steve Osborne	1,463	12.40%	-7.09%
	Confederation of Regions	David McAndrews	454	3.85%	–
Total			11,795	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			29	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			17,779	66.51%	10.41%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		1.95%
Source(s) Source: "Drumheller Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Drumheller[2]
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	1,597	62.70%
	No	950	37.30%
Total Votes		2,547	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		14
5,377 Eligible Electors, Turnout 47.63%

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.[3]

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.[2]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Drumheller voted in favour of the proposal by a solid margin. Voter turnout in the district was almost even with the province wide average of 46%.[2]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[2] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.[4] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[5]

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.[6]

Also see

• Alberta provincial electoral districts

References

1. "Election results for Drumheller". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
2. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
3. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
4. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
5. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
6. "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