Red Deer (provincial electoral district)

Red Deer was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1986.[1]

Red Deer

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1905
District abolished	1986
First contested	1905
Last contested	1982

The district was split into Red Deer North and Red Deer South in 1986.

History

Although an antecedent Red Deer district had existed in the Northwest Territories that covered much of central Alberta, it was split into Innisfail and Lacombe for the 1902 general election. Upon Alberta upon Alberta joining Confederation in September 1905, a smaller Red Deer district was created between Lacombe and Innisfail.

For most of the district's history, it was a swing riding, with no party being able win with a second representative until the Progressive Conservatives in the 1970s.

In the 1980s the city grew too large to be contained within a single electoral district, and Red Deer was split into Red Deer North and Red Deer South.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

MLAs for Red Deer

Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Innisfail and Lacombe 1902-1905
1st	1905–1909		John Moore	Liberal
2nd	1909–1910		Edward Michener	Independent
	1910–1913			Conservative
3rd	1913–1917
4th	1917–1918
	1918		Vacant
	1918–1921		John Gaetz	Liberal
5th	1921–1926		George Smith	United Farmers
6th	1926–1930
7th	1930–1931
	1931		Vacant
	1931–1935		William Payne	Conservative
8th	1935–1940		Alfred Hooke	Social Credit
9th	1940–1943		Alfred Speakman	Unity Movement
	1943		Vacant
	1943–1944		David Ure	Social Credit
10th	1944–1948
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1953
	1953–1954		Vacant
	1954–1955		Cam Kirby	Conservative
13th	1955–1959
	1959			Progressive Conservative
14th	1959–1963		William Ure	Social Credit
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971
17th	1971–1975		James Foster	Progressive Conservative
18th	1975–1979
19th	1979–1982		Norman Magee
20th	1982–1986		Jim McPherson
See Red Deer North and Red Deer South 1986–present

Red Deer elected Liberal candidate John Moore as its first MLA in 1905 over the town's founder, Leonard Gaetz. However, he was defeated in 1909 by independent candidate Edward Michener.

Michener crossed the floor to the Conservative Party in 1910, becoming party leader and Leader of the Opposition. As party leader, he presided over a revival in Conservative fortunes in the 1913 election, but after losing to the Liberals again in 1917 he stepped down as leader. Prime Minister Robert Borden appointed him to the Senate in 1918, vacating the seat for Red Deer.

The ensuing by-election saw Leonard Gaetz' son John Gaetz, running for the Liberals unlike his father, triumph over the Conservative candidate. He served the rest of the term but was also defeated in the following election by United Farmers candidate and former mayor of Red Deer George Smith.

Smith defended the seat in the 1926 and 1930 elections despite strong challenges from Gaetz and Conservative candidate William Ernest Payne. However, Smith died suddenly in 1931, again vacating the seat. Payne was able to capture Red Deer for the Conservatives in the resulting by-election.

The 1935 election saw "Bible Bill" Aberhart's Social Credit sweep into power unexpectedly, with Alfred Hooke defeating Payne in Red Deer. After one term, Hooke chose to run in the new Rocky Mountain House district. He won the seat and stayed on as MLA until Social Credit's eventual defeat in 1971, serving in various cabinet positions.

However, the Red Deer seat was left open in 1940. Former Red Deer MP Alfred Speakman was jointly endorsed by the Liberals and Conservatives in what became known as the Independent Citizen's Association, officially running as an independent on the ballot, and managed to defeat the new Social Credit candidate to win the seat. He became the fifth member for Red Deer to serve only one term upon his death in 1943.

Social Credit candidate David Ure won the seat back for the government in a by-election in late 1943. He served three terms as MLA and Agriculture Minister until he, too, was killed in office by a traffic accident in 1953.

Conservative Cam Kirby picked the seat up in a 1954 by-election (defeating David Ure's younger brother, William Ure), and was re-elected in 1955. Despite winning the leadership of the newly-renamed Progressive Conservatives, however, Kirby lost to William Ure in 1959.

The younger Ure served as Red Deer MLA for three terms. Due to a boundary redistribution in 1971, he ran for re-election in Innisfail, but Social Credit lost both seats as the Progressive Conservatives swept to power. James Foster became MLA for Red Deer with the new government, and served two terms.

When he retired in 1979, Norman Magee defended the seat for the PCs, becoming the first Red Deer MLA from the same political party as his predecessor. Magee retired after one term and Jim McPherson served the final term for Red Deer before it was split in two in 1986. The new districts, Red Deer North and Red Deer South, continued to elect PC candidates until 2015, when both were won by the New Democrats.

Election results

1905 general election

The Returning Officer was Frank L. Farley.[2]

1905 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Thomas Moore	524	48.03%	–
	Conservative	Leonard Gaetz	479	43.90%	–
	Independent	Alexander D. McKenzie	88	8.07%	–
Total			1,091	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			1,091	N/A	–
	Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1909 general election

1909 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Michener	657	51.29%	7.38%
	Liberal	John Thomas Moore	494	38.56%	-9.47%
	Independent	O. McLure	130	10.15%	2.08%
Total			1,281	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			1,728	74.13%	-25.87%
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		4.30%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1913 general election

1913 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Michener	869	46.92%	-4.37%
	Liberal	Robert B. Welliver	786	42.44%	3.88%
	Independent	George Patton	197	10.64%	0.49%
Total			1,852	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			2,497	74.17%	0.04%
	Conservative hold		Swing		-4.12%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1917 general election

1917 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Michener	1,295	45.68%	-1.24%
	Liberal	Robert B. Welliver	1,272	44.87%	2.43%
	Independent	George Paton	268	9.45%	-1.18%
Total			2,835	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			0	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing		-1.84%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1921 general election

1921 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers	George Wilbert Smith	2,192	70.69%	–
	Liberal	John J. Gaetz	909	29.31%	-15.55%
Total			3,101	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			4,793	64.70%
	United Farmers gain from Conservative		Swing		20.28%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1926 general election

1926 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First Count
	United Farmers	George Wilbert Smith	1450	42.65%	-28.04%
	Conservative	William Ernest Payne	1329	39.09%	–
	Liberal	John J. Gaetz	621	18.26%	-11.05%
Total			3400	–	–
Ballot Transfer Results
	United Farmers	George Wilbert Smith	1,641	51.85%	–
	Conservative	William Ernest Payne	1,524	48.15%	–
Total			3,165	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			141	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5021	70.52%	5.83%
	United Farmers hold		Swing		-18.91%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers	George Wilbert Smith	2,144	51.05%	-43.12%
	Conservative	William Ernest Payne	2,056	48.95%	-37.96%
Total			4,200	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			120	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,654	76.41%	-54.34%
	United Farmers hold		Swing		-0.77%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1935 general election

1935 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Alfred J. Hooke	3,565	60.65%	–
	Liberal	M. H. W. Fizzell	788	13.41%	–
	Independent	Edgar G. Johns	622	10.58%	–
	Conservative	William Ernest Payne	612	10.41%	-38.54%
	Communist	G. H. Palmer	291	4.95%	–
Total			5,878	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			159	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,049	85.64%	9.24%
	Social Credit gain from United Farmers		Swing		22.57%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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
	Independent	Alfred Speakman	2,760	47.47%	36.89%
	Social Credit	J. H. McCulloch	2,083	35.83%	-24.82%
	Independent Progressive	Alban E. MacLellan	971	16.70%	–
Total			5,814	–	–
Ballot Transfer Results
	Independent	Alfred Speakman	3,142	57.42%	–
	Social Credit	J. H. McCulloch	2,330	42.58%	–
Total			5,472	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			181	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			7718	77.68%	-7.97%
	Independent gain from Social Credit		Swing		-17.80%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1943 by-election

December 18, 1943 by-election[3]						Turnout %
Affiliation		Candidate	1st	%	Votes	%	Count
	Social Credit	David Ure	2,110	38.23%	2,539	57.20%	2nd
	Independent	Wilfred J. Edgar	2,042	36.99%	2,354	42.80%	2nd
	Cooperative Commonwealth	E.P. Johns	1,368	24.78%	Eliminated 2nd
Valid Ballots			5,520	100%	4,839	100%
Exhausted Ballots					627	2 Counts

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	David A. Ure	3,012	51.58%	15.75%
	Independent	Wilfred J. Edgar	1,545	26.46%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	D. C. Dandell	1,282	21.96%	–
Total			5,839	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			109	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,139	73.08%	-4.60%
	Social Credit gain from Independent		Swing		12.56%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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	David A. Ure	4,771	81.51%	29.93%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Auburn C. Pye	1,082	18.49%	-3.47%
Total			5,853	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,794	86.15%	13.07%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		18.95%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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	David A. Ure	4,907	76.64%	-4.88%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Aubrun C. Pye	1,496	23.36%	4.88%
Total			6,403	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			303	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			11,407	58.79%	-27.36%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-4.88%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First Count
	Conservative	Cam Kirby	4,381	47.68%	–
	Social Credit	William K. Ure	4,170	45.39%	-31.25%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Auburn C. Pye	637	6.93%	-16.43%
Total			9,188	–	–
Ballot Transfer Results
	Conservative	Cam Kirby	4,786	52.76%	–
	Social Credit	William K. Ure	4,286	47.24%	–
Total			7,072	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			449	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			13723	70.23%	11.44%
	Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		-25.49%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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	William K. Ure	6,691	63.80%	18.41%
	Progressive Conservative	Cam Kirby	3,797	36.20%	–
Total			10,488	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			31	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,660	67.17%	-3.05%
	Social Credit gain from Conservative		Swing		12.65%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1963 general election

1963 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	William K. Ure	6,016	57.88%	-5.92%
	Progressive Conservative	Walter M. Ogilvie	3,323	31.97%	-4.23%
	Liberal	Denis Yunker	609	5.86%	–
	New Democratic	Herman H. Dorin	446	4.29%	–
Total			10,394	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			55	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			18,625	56.10%	-11.07%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-0.84%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1967 general election

1967 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	William K. Ure	6,166	46.61%	-11.27%
	Progressive Conservative	James L. Foster	4,628	34.98%	3.01%
	New Democratic	Ethel Taylor	1,799	13.60%	7.74%
	Liberal	Len Patterson	636	4.81%	-5.34%
Total			13,229	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			55	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			19,677	67.51%	11.41%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-7.14%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1971 general election

1971 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James L. Foster	4,994	48.00%	13.02%
	Social Credit	Fulton Rollings	3,627	34.86%	-11.75%
	New Democratic	Ethel Taylor	1,022	9.82%	-3.78%
	Liberal	Len Patterson	761	7.31%	2.51%
Total			10,404	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			21	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			14,688	70.98%	3.47%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		0.76%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975 general election

1975 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	James L. Foster	6,566	65.86%	17.86%
	Social Credit	Cecil Spiers	1,538	15.43%	-19.44%
	New Democratic	Ken McMillan	1,317	13.21%	3.39%
	Liberal	Herb Fielding	549	5.51%	-1.81%
Total			9,970	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			18	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			16,996	58.77%	-12.21%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		18.65%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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	Norman F. Magee	5,727	43.22%	-22.64%
	Social Credit	Bob Mills	5,406	40.79%	25.37%
	New Democratic	Ken McMillan	1,861	14.04%	0.83%
	Liberal	Hubert Bouten	258	1.95%	-3.56%
Total			13,252	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			23,640	56.06%	-2.71%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-24.00%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer 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	Jim McPherson	10,659	54.84%	11.62%
	Independent	Bob Mills	5,396	27.76%	–
	New Democratic	Kendall Dunford	1,915	9.85%	-4.19%
	Western Canada Concept	Wynne Richard Hanson	1,468	7.55%	–
Total			19,438	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			49	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			30,560	63.77%	7.71%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		12.33%
Source(s) Source: "Red Deer Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Grande Prairie[4]
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	3,565	56.88%
	No	2,703	43.12%
Total Votes		6,268	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		80
14,151 Eligible Electors, Turnout 44.86%

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.[5]

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.[4]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Red Deer voted in favour of the proposal with a solid majority. Voter turnout in the district was slightly under the province wide average of 46%.[4]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[4] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.[6] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[7]

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.[8]

See also

• Alberta provincial electoral districts
• Red Deer, Alberta a city in central Alberta

References

1. "Election results for Red Deer". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
2. "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12. The Rocky Mountain Echo. October 30, 1905. p. 4.
3. "Social Credit Wins in Red Deer By-election". Vol. XLII No. 51. Red Deer Advocate. December 22, 1943. p. 1.
4. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
5. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
6. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
7. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
8. "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