 Albertaelectoral district | |
|---|---|
| Defunct provincial electoral district | |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of Alberta |
| District created | 1930 |
| District abolished | 1971 |
| First contested | 1930 |
| Last contested | 1967 |
Okotoks-High River was aprovincialelectoral district inAlberta,Canada, mandated to return a singlemember to theLegislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1971.[1]
| Okotoks-High River | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | |
| Riding created fromHigh River,Okotoks andRocky Mountain | ||||
| 7th | 1930–1935 | George Hoadley | United Farmers | |
| 8th | 1935–1935 | William Morrison | Social Credit | |
| 1935–1940 | William Aberhart | |||
| 9th | 1940–1944 | John T. Broomfield | Independent | |
| 10th | 1944–1948 | Ivan Casey | Social Credit | |
| 11th | 1948–1952 | |||
| 12th | 1952–1955 | |||
| 13th | 1955–1959 | Ross Laird Ellis | Liberal–Conservative | |
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Ernest George Hansell | Social Credit | |
| 15th | 1963–1967 | Edward P. Benoit | ||
| 16th | 1967–1971 | |||
| Riding dissolved intoHighwood | ||||
The Okotoks—High River electoral district was formed prior to the1930 Alberta general election from theOkotoks electoral district, northern portion of theHigh River electoral district, and a small portion of theRocky Mountain electoral district. The electoral district was named after theTown of Okotoks andTown of High River.
The Okotoks-High River electoral district would be abolished in the 1971 electoral boundary re-distribution, and merge with the northern portion of thePincher Creek-Crowsnest electoral district to form theHighwood electoral district.
The first member of the Legislative Assembly elected in the Okotoks-High River electoral district wasUnited Farmers of Alberta representativeGeorge Hoadley, who had previously held the former Okotoks electoral district through its entire history from 1909 to 1930. Hoadly would soundly defeat hisLiberal opponent and former Mayor from 1928-1929 Malcolm MacGougan.[2][3]
Hoadley would fail to hold the seat in the1935 Alberta general election, falling to Social Credit candidateWilliam Morrison.[4] Morrison would defeat two other candidates, Liberal A. S. Dick and future Mayor of Okotoks andConservative Victor E. Hessell.[2] Morrison would only represent the district for a couple of weeks before resigning to provide a seat for newly confirmed party leader andPremierWilliam Aberhart.[5] Aberhart had convinced Morrison to resign so that he could take the seat and provide cabinet representation to southern Alberta to quell complaints about the lack of ministers for the region.[6] Morrison's resignation occurred before the newly elected Legislative Assembly had its first sitting. Aberhart would only represent the district for one sitting, choosing to contest the1940 Alberta general election in theCalgary electoral district.
| 1930 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Farmers | George Hoadley | 2,834 | 62.95% | – | ||||
| Liberal | Malcolm MacGougan | 1,668 | 37.05% | – | ||||
| Total | 4,502 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 238 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,499 | 72.93% | – | |||||
| United Farmerspickup new district. | ||||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1935 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | William Morrison | 3,062 | 55.78% | – | ||||
| United Farmers | George Hoadley | 1,005 | 18.31% | -44.64% | ||||
| Liberal | A. S. Dick | 970 | 17.67% | -19.38% | ||||
| Conservative | Victor E. Hessell | 452 | 8.23% | – | ||||
| Total | 5,489 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 165 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,590 | 85.80% | 12.86% | |||||
| Social Creditgain fromUnited Farmers | Swing | 5.79% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| Alberta provincial by-election, November 4, 1935 Upon the resignation ofWilliam Morrison to provide a seat for thePremier | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | William Aberhart | Acclaimed | – | – | ||||
| Total | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | – | |||||
| Social Credithold | Swing | N/A | ||||||
Source(s) | ||||||||
| 1940 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Independent | John T. Broomfield | 4,352 | 57.80% | – | ||||
| Social Credit | Ivan Casey | 3,178 | 42.20% | -13.58% | ||||
| Total | 7,530 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 268 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 9,681 | 80.55% | -5.25% | |||||
| Independentgain fromSocial Credit | Swing | -10.94% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1944 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | ±% | |||
| Social Credit | Ivan Casey | 2,932 | 44.61% | 3,425 | 2.41% | |||
| Independent | John T. Broomfield | 2,196 | 33.41% | 2,347 | -24.38% | |||
| Co-operative Commonwealth | J. A. Jeffery | 1,444 | 21.97% | – | – | |||
| Total | 6,572 | – | – | – | ||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 107 | – | – | – | ||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 9,854 | 67.78% | -12.77% | – | ||||
| Social Creditgain fromIndependent | Swing | -2.20% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 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. | ||||||||
| 1948 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Ivan Casey | 3,077 | 63.34% | 18.73% | ||||
| Liberal | Percy C. Dougherty | 1,291 | 26.57% | – | ||||
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Ellis W. Oviatt | 490 | 10.09% | -11.89% | ||||
| Total | 4,858 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 1,105 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 9,538 | 62.52% | -5.26% | |||||
| Social Credithold | Swing | 12.78% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1952 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Ivan Casey | 3,077 | 70.44% | 7.11% | ||||
| Liberal | Harold Sears | 1,291 | 29.56% | 2.98% | ||||
| Total | 4,368 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 277 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 7,171 | 64.77% | 2.26% | |||||
| Social Credithold | Swing | 2.06% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1955 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal–Conservative | Ross Laird Ellis | 2,607 | 51.23% | – | ||||
| Social Credit | Ivan Casey | 2,482 | 48.77% | -21.67% | ||||
| Total | 5,089 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 178 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,815 | 77.29% | 12.51% | |||||
| Liberal–Conservativegain fromSocial Credit | Swing | -19.22% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1959 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Ernest George Hansell | 2,642 | 51.42% | 2.65% | ||||
| Independent | Ross Laird Ellis | 1,427 | 27.77% | -33.46% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | James S. McLeod | 1,069 | 20.81% | – | ||||
| Total | 5,138 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,939 | 74.05% | -3.24% | |||||
| Social Creditgain from Liberal–Conservative | Swing | 10.60% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1963 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Edward P. Benoit | 2,361 | 52.70% | 1.28% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Samuel Brown | 1,585 | 35.38% | 14.57% | ||||
| Liberal | Robert E. G. Armstrong | 448 | 10.00% | – | ||||
| New Democratic | Bill Steemson | 86 | 1.92% | – | ||||
| Total | 4,480 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 13 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,842 | 65.67% | -8.38% | |||||
| Social Credithold | Swing | -3.16% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1967 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Edward P. Benoit | 2,289 | 48.85% | -3.85% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Thomas E. Hughes | 2,097 | 44.75% | 9.37% | ||||
| New Democratic | Georgina M. Smith | 212 | 4.52% | 2.60% | ||||
| Liberal | Ron A. Baker | 88 | 1.88% | -9.12% | ||||
| Total | 4,686 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 34 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 6,607 | 71.44% | 5.77% | |||||
| Social Credithold | Swing | -6.61% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Okotoks-High River Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 21, 2020. | ||||||||
| 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 | 2,088 | 62.18% | |
| No | 1,270 | 37.82% | |
| Total votes | 3,358 | 100% | |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 33 | ||
| 6,602 eligible electors, turnout 51.36% | |||
On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts inAlberta. 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.[8]
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 women should be allowed to drink together in establishments.[7]
Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Okotoks-High River voted in favour of the proposal by a wide margin. Voter turnout in the district was well above the province wide average of 46%.[7]
Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[7] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding.[9] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely newLiquor Act.[10]
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 who wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.[11]
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