Victoria (Alberta provincial electoral district)

Victoria was one of the original 25 provincial electoral districts in Alberta, named for Fort Victoria on the North Saskatchewan River. It was mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by the first past the post method until 1917, and by instant-runoff voting from 1926 until it was abolished in 1940.[1]

Victoria
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1905
District abolished1940
First contested1905
Last contested1935

History
Members of the Legislative Assembly for Victoria
Assembly Years Member Party
See Victoria (N.W.T.) 1894-1905
1st 1905–1909 Francis Walker Liberal
2nd 1909–1913
3rd 1913–1917
4th 1917–1921
5th 1921–1926 William Fedun United Farmers
6th 1926–1930 Rudolph Hennig
7th 1930 Peter Miskew
1930–1935 Liberal
8th 1935–1940 Samuel Calvert Social Credit
See Willingdon and Vegreville 1940-1959

Boundary history

The Victoria electoral district was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta joining Confederation in September 1905. The district was carried over from the old Victoria electoral district which returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1894 to 1905.[2] The old electoral district had covered the part of the District of Alberta directly north and east of Edmonton. The new province moved Victoria's boundary further east to the Fourth Meridian, to reflect the change in Alberta's shape, while the northwest part of Victoria became the new district of Sturgeon.

Jack Shera the incumbent from the Northwest Territories Legislature who was first elected in 1898 Northwest Territories general election was defeated in the 1905 general election by Liberal Francis A. Walker.[3]

In 1909, the area north of the North Saskatchewan River was split off to create the Pakan district, named for the town at Fort Victoria. This greatly reduced Victoria's size and moved its namesake outside of its boundaries. It covered approximately the same area as the present-day Lamont County, along with Fort Saskatchewan.

Victoria disappeared in 1940 when it was merged with Whitford to create Willingdon.

Representation history

Victoria's first MLA was Francis A. Walker, defeating incumbent N.W.T. MLA Jack Shera. He served as a backbencher with the Liberal government for all four terms it was in power. In 1917, he was returned to the Legislature by acclamation because the province declared all active servicemen in World War I re-elected.

However, in 1921 William Fedun, a Ukrainian immigrant, narrowly defeated Walker to capture Victoria for the upstart United Farmers of Alberta, which formed government after the election. He chose to retire after one term.

UFA candidate Rudolph Hennig again narrowly won Victoria in 1926 on the second count, despite another strong challenge from Walker. He served one term but did not win the UFA nomination in the next election.

1930 saw the closest election yet in Victoria, with UFA candidate Peter Miskew defeating his Liberal opponent by less than 100 votes. However, Miskew would almost immediately cross the floor to the Liberal opposition.

When the United Farmers were swept out of power in 1935, Social Credit candidate Samuel Calvert, another WWI veteran, easily captured Victoria for his party. After his first term, Victoria was abolished in time for the 1940 election, and Calvert chose to retire from politics.

Election results

1900s
1905 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%[4]
LiberalFrancis A. Walker94969.88%
ConservativeJohn W. Shera40930.12%
Total valid votes 1,358
Rejected, spoiled and declined —
Registered electors / Turnout — —
Liberal pickup new district.

The returning officer for the 1905 election in Victoria was Albert Ernest Archer.[5]

In 1909, no candidates stood against Francis Walker, and he was declared acclaimed.

1909 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalFrancis A. Walker (acclaimed)———
Total valid votes —
Rejected, spoiled and declined —
Registered electors / Turnout — — —
Liberal hold Swing —

1910s
1913 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%[4]
LiberalFrancis A. Walker77362.49%-7.39%
ConservativeR.A. Bennett26821.67%-8.45%
IndependentM. Gowda19615.84%
Total valid votes 1,237
Rejected, spoiled and declined —
Registered electors / Turnout 1,66474.34% —
Liberal hold Swing +0.53%

1913 swing is calculated from the 1905 election.

In 1917, because Walker was an active serviceman in World War I, he was automatically re-elected by acclamation for a second time.

1917 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalFrancis A. Walker (acclaimed)———
Total valid votes —
Rejected, spoiled and declined —
Registered electors / Turnout — — —
Liberal hold Swing —

1920s
1921 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%[4]
United FarmersWilliam Fedun1,40152.10%
LiberalFrancis A. Walker1,28847.90%-14.59%
Total valid votes 2,689
Rejected, spoiled and declined —
Registered electors / Turnout 2,98390.14% +15.80%
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing +33.35%

1921 swing is calculated from the 1913 election.

For the 1926 election, the UFA government introduced alternative vote in rural constituencies. Since no candidate won a majority in the first round, second preferences were included.

1926 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%[4]
United FarmersRudolph Hennig1,40445.33%-6.77%
LiberalFrancis A. Walker1,18538.26%-9.64%
Independent LiberalWilliam Pylypow32210.40%
Independent FarmerG.H. Moisey963.10%
ConservativeWilliam Pullishij902.91%
Final count
United FarmersRudolph Hennig1,47654.28%+8.95%
LiberalFrancis A. Walker1,24345.72%+7.46%
No preference 378
Total valid votes 3,097
Rejected, spoiled and declined 143
Registered electors / Turnout 4,69169.07% -21.07%
United Farmers hold Swing +1.44%

Final count swing represents vote share increase from the initial count. Overall swing is calculated from the initial count.

1930s
1930 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%[4]
United FarmersPeter Miskew1,58850.30%+4.97%
LiberalS.W. Bahlay1,52248.21%+9.95%
IndependentE. Olendy471.49%
Total valid votes 3,157
Rejected, spoiled and declined 176
Registered electors / Turnout 4,32677.05% +7.98%
United Farmers hold Swing -2.49%
1935 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%[4]
Social CreditSamuel Calvert2,04555.48%
LiberalC.F. Connolly1,18132.04%-16.17%
United FarmersFred Strashok3198.65%-41.65%
ConservativeV. Kupchenko1413.83%
Total valid votes 3,686
Rejected, spoiled and declined 110
Registered electors / Turnout 4,87877.81% +0.76%
Social Credit gain from Liberal Swing +35.83%

Also see
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References
  1. "Election results for Victoria". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  2. "North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876-1905" (PDF). Saskatchewan Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  3. "Results for Victoria". Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
  4. "Results for Victoria". Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
  5. "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12. The Rocky Mountain Echo. October 30, 1905. p. 4.

Further reading

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