Wetaskiwin (provincial electoral district)

Wetaskiwin was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1971.[1]

Wetaskiwin

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1905
District abolished	1971
First contested	1905
Last contested	1967

History

The Wetaskiwin 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 Wetaskiwin electoral district which returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1898 to 1905.[2]

Liberal candidate Anthony Rosenroll who was the incumbent in the previous Northwest Territories' Legislature since 1891 was the first member elected for the Wetaskiwin electoral district.[3]

Election results

1905 general election

1905 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Anthony Rosenroll	552	66.51%	–
	Conservative	R. W. Angus	278	33.49%	–
Total			830	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			N/A	N/A	–
	Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

The Returning Officer for the 1905 election was James Kennedy Burgess[4]

1909 general election

1909 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles H. Olin	713	59.82%	-6.69%
	Conservative	J. G. Anderson	479	40.18%	6.69%
Total			1,192	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			N/A	N/A	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		-6.69%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1913 general election

1913 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles H. Olin	780	57.35%	-2.46%
	Conservative	George B. Campbell	580	42.65%	2.46%
Total			1,360	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			N/A	N/A	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		-2.46%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1917 general election

1917 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,500	68.71%	11.36%
	Conservative	R.M. Angus	683	31.29%	-11.36%
Total			2,183	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			N/A	N/A	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		11.36%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	Evert E. Sparks	1,508	55.36%	–
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,216	44.64%	-24.07%
Total			2,724	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			3,345	81.43%	–
	United Farmers gain from Liberal		Swing		-13.35%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1926 general election

1926 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	±%
	United Farmers	Evert E. Sparks	1,274	46.16%	1,418	-9.20%
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,198	43.41%	1,266	-1.23%
	Conservative	J.F. Inglis	288	10.43%	–	–
Total			2,760	–	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			139	–	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			3,617	80.15%	-1.29%	–
	United Farmers hold		Swing		-3.98%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1926 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.

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,713	54.73%	11.32%
	United Farmers	Evert E. Sparks	1,417	45.27%	-0.89%
Total			3,130	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			1	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			4,040	77.50%	-2.65%
	Liberal gain from United Farmers		Swing		3.35%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	John A. Wingblade	2,762	58.21%	–
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,149	24.21%	-30.51%
	United Farmers	W. Stevens	506	10.66%	-34.61%
	Conservative	R. H. Inglis	187	3.94%	–
	Communist	A. E. Bolton	141	2.97%	–
Total			4,745	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			117	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			5,671	85.73%	8.23%
	Social Credit gain from Liberal		Swing		12.27%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	±%
	Social Credit	John A. Wingblade	2,480	47.19%	2,761	-11.02%
	Independent	T. S. Steedman	1,874	35.66%	2,179	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	H. G. Young	901	17.15%	–	–
Total			5,255	–	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			77	–	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,412	71.94%	-13.80%	–
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-11.23%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	John A. Wingblade	2,700	52.63%	5.44%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J. G. Baker	1,259	24.54%	7.40%
	Independent	Hugh John Montgomery	1,007	19.63%	-16.03%
	Labor–Progressive	David Graham	164	3.20%	–
Total			5,130	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			115	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,827	76.83%	4.89%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		8.28%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	John A. Wingblade	2,827	51.65%	-0.98%
	Liberal	Morley Merner	1,414	25.84%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Henry Young	1,232	22.51%	-2.03%
Total			5,473	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			215	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,507	75.77%	-1.06%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-1.14%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	John A. Wingblade	2,664	54.12%	2.47%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harry Van Dyke	1,029	20.91%	–
	Liberal	William W. Draayer	1,029	20.91%	–
	Independent Social Credit	Arnold D. Olsen	200	4.06%	–
Total			4,922	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			354	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,914	66.67%	-9.10%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		N/A
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	±%
	Social Credit	John A. Wingblade	2,695	49.17%	2,756	-4.95%
	Liberal	Ernest Oscar Larson	1,636	29.85%	1,731	8.94%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	M. Jevne	892	16.27%	942	-4.63%
	Conservative	W. C. Kimmel	258	4.71%	–	–
Total			5,481	–	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			399	–	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,135	72.28%	5.61%	–
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-6.95%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1955 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.

1959 general election

1959 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	John A. Wingblade	3,352	58.27%	9.10%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert D. Angus	1,010	17.56%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	David Pat. Garland	749	13.02%	-3.26%
	Liberal	Fred R. MacNaughton	642	11.16%	-18.69%
Total			5,753	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			14	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,231	70.06%	-2.22%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		10.69%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	Albert W. Strohschein	3333	61.11%	2.85%
	Liberal	Albert Dyberg	1298	23.80%	12.64%
	New Democratic	Leslie Pritchard	823	15.09%	2.07%
Total			5,454	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			9	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,601	63.52%	-6.55%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-1.70%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin 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	Albert W. Strohschein	2,879	45.79%	-15.32%
	Progressive Conservative	Dallas Schmidt	2,408	38.30%	–
	New Democratic	Robert P. Christensen	1,000	15.91%	0.82%
Total			6,287	–	–
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			17	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,304	100.00%	36.48%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-14.91%
Source(s) Source: "Wetaskiwin Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Wetaskiwin[5]
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	1,892	51.62%
	Yes	1,773	48.78%
Total Votes		3,665	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		9
7,650 Eligible Electors, Turnout 48.03%

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.[6]

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.[5]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Wetaskiwin was the only other city in Alberta aside from Lethbridge to vote against the proposal. The vote was nearly even with the No side winning by a slim margin. The voter turnout in the district was slightly above the province wide average of 46%.[5]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[5] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.[7] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[8]

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the Plebiscite such as Wetaskiwin 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.[9]

See also

• Alberta provincial electoral districts
• Wetaskiwin a city in Alberta, Canada.
• Wetaskiwin (electoral district), a federal electoral district from 1925 to 2015
• Wetaskiwin (N.W.T. electoral district), a territorial electoral district from 1898 to 1905

References

1. "Election results for Wetaskiwin". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 8 June 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. "Election results for Wetaskiwin, 1905". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
4. "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12. The Rocky Mountain Echo. October 30, 1905. p. 4.
5. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
6. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
7. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
8. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
9. "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