Wetaskiwin (provincial electoral district)

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

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]

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]

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)[]

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Wetaskiwin
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
1st	1905–1909		Anthony Rosenroll	Liberal
2nd	1909–1913		Charles H. Olin
3rd	1913–1914		Charles H. Olin
3rd	1914–1917		Hugh John Montgomery
4th	1917–1921		Hugh John Montgomery
5th	1921–1926		Evert E. Sparks	United Farmers
6th	1926–1930		Evert E. Sparks	United Farmers
7th	1930–1935		Hugh John Montgomery	Liberal
8th	1935–1940		John A. Wingblade	Social Credit
9th	1940–1944
10th	1944–1948
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1955
13th	1955–1959
14th	1959–1963
15th	1963–1967		Albert W. Strohschein
16th	1967–1971		Albert W. Strohschein

Election results[]

1905 general election[]

1905 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Anthony Rosenroll	552	66.51%	–
	Conservative	Robert MacLachlan 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[]

Liberal Charles H. Olin defeated Conservative James George Anderson in the 1909 election. Anderson previously contested the 1908 Canadian federal election in the Strathcona district as an Independent.^[5]

1909 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles H. Olin	713	59.82%	-6.69%
	Conservative	James George 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.

1914 by-election[]

v t Alberta provincial by-election, November 17, 1914 Upon the death of Charles H. Olin on October 4, 1914
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	990	66.94%	9.59%
	Conservative	F. B. Watson	489	33.06%	-9.59%
Total			1,479	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			N/A	N/A	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		9.59%
Source(s) "By-elections". elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 24, 2020.

1917 general election[]

1917 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh John Montgomery	1,500	68.71%	11.36%
	Conservative	Robert MacLachlan 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			9,129	68.87%	–
	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[]

Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Wetaskiwin^[6]
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.^[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. 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%.^[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 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.^[10]

References[]

^ "Election results for Wetaskiwin". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^ "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.
^ "Election results for Wetaskiwin, 1905". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
^ "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12. The Rocky Mountain Echo. October 30, 1905. p. 4.
^ "Wetaskiwin Conservatives Convention". The Edmonton Bulletin. March 10, 1909. p. 7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
^ "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
^ "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
^ "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
^ "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

External links[]

[1] "Election results for Wetaskiwin". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

[oldresults-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.

[ro1-4] "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12. The Rocky Mountain Echo. October 30, 1905. p. 4.

[5] "Wetaskiwin Conservatives Convention". The Edmonton Bulletin. March 10, 1909. p. 7.

[57pleb-6] Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.

[vote-7] "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.

[binding-8] "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.

[aftermath-9] "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.

[57liqact-10] "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

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v t Former Alberta provincial electoral districts
North	Athabasca Athabasca-Lac La Biche Athabasca-Redwater Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater Athabasca-Wabasca Barrhead Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock Barrhead-Westlock Beaver River Bonnyville Bonnyville-Cold Lake Clearwater Dunvegan Dunvegan-Central Peace Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley Edson Fort McMurray Fort McMurray-Conklin Grande Prairie-Smoky Grouard Lac La Biche Lac La Biche-McMurray Lac La Biche-St. Paul Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills Pakan Pembina Redwater Redwater-Andrew Smoky River Spirit River Spirit River-Fairview Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert St. Paul Sturgeon Victoria Westlock-Sturgeon Whitecourt Whitecourt-Ste. Anne Whitford
Edmonton	Edmonton Edmonton-Avonmore Edmonton-Belmont Edmonton-Beverly Edmonton-Beverly-Belmont Edmonton-Calder Edmonton-Centre Edmonton East Edmonton-Glengarry Edmonton-Highlands Edmonton-Highlands-Beverly Edmonton-Jasper Place Edmonton-Kingsway Edmonton-Mayfield Edmonton-Meadowlark Edmonton-Mill Creek Edmonton North Edmonton North East Edmonton-Norwood Edmonton-Ottewell Edmonton-Parkallen Edmonton-Roper Edmonton-Sherwood Park Edmonton West Jasper West Strathcona Strathcona Centre Strathcona East Strathcona South Strathcona West
Central	Acadia Acadia-Coronation Alexandra Battle River-Wainwright Bruce Chinook Clover Bar Clover Bar-Fort Saskatchewan Didsbury Drayton Valley Drayton Valley-Calmar Drumheller Drumheller-Chinook Drumheller-Gleichen Gleichen Hand Hills Hand Hills-Acadia Hanna-Oyen Innisfail Lac Ste. Anne Lacombe Lacombe-Stettler Leduc Leduc-Beaumont-Devon Lloydminster Olds Olds-Didsbury Ponoka Ponoka-Rimbey Red Deer Ribstone Rocky Mountain House Sedgewick Sedgewick-Coronation Spruce Grove-St. Albert Stettler Stony Plain Three Hills Three Hills-Airdrie Vegreville Vegreville-Bruce Vegreville-Viking Vermilion Vermilion-Lloydminster Vermilion-Viking Wainwright Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin-Camrose Wetaskiwin-Leduc Willingdon Willingdon-Two Hills
Calgary	Calgary Calgary Bowness Calgary Centre Calgary-Egmont Calgary-Forest Lawn Calgary-Fort Calgary-Hawkwood Calgary-Mackay Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill Calgary-McKnight Calgary-Millican Calgary-Montrose Calgary-North Hill Calgary-Nose Creek Calgary-Nose Hill Calgary Queens Park Calgary South Calgary Victoria Park Centre Calgary North Calgary South Calgary
South	Airdrie Airdrie-Chestermere Airdrie-Rocky View Banff Banff-Cochrane Bow Valley Bow Valley-Empress Cardston Cardston-Chief Mountain Cardston-Taber-Warner Chestermere-Rocky View Claresholm Cochrane Coronation Cypress Cypress-Redcliff Empress Foothills-Rocky View High River Lethbridge Lethbridge City Lethbridge District Little Bow Macleod Medicine Hat Medicine Hat-Redcliff Nanton Nanton-Claresholm Okotoks Okotoks-High River Pincher Creek Pincher Creek-Crowsnest Pincher Creek-Macleod Redcliff Rocky Mountain Rosebud Strathmore-Brooks Taber Warner

v t Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 2019 Next
By-elections	27th Alberta Legislature (2008–2012) 28th Legislature (2012–2015) 29th Legislature (2015–2019)
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012 2021
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2017 2021
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971 2021
See also: Elections in Canada