Rocky Mountain House (electoral district)

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Rocky Mountain House
Alberta electoral district
File:Whereisrockymountainhouse.png
2004 boundaries
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created 1940
District abolished 2012
First contested 1940
Last contested 2008

Rocky Mountain House was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district was one of 83 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting since 1959. Prior to that Single Transferable Vote was in use but no election went to a second count.

The district which was located in central western rural Alberta was created from parts of four electoral districts in the 1940 boundary redistribution. It is named after the town of Rocky Mountain House.

The district was favorable to electing Progressive Conservative candidates since 1971. It was only held by four representatives.

The district was replaced in the 2010 Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution with Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre.

Rocky Mountain House history

Boundary history

Members of the Legislative Assembly
for Rocky Mountain House[2]
See Edson 1913-1940, Innisfail 1905-1940,
Red Deer 1905-1940 and Lacombe 1905-1940
Assembly Years Member Party
9th 1940–1944 Alfred Hooke Social Credit
10th 1944–1948
11th 1948–1952
12th 1952–1955
13th 1955–1959
14th 1959–1963
15th 1963–1967
16th 1967–1971
17th 1971–1975 Helen Hunley Progressive Conservative
18th 1975–1979
19th 1979–1982 John Campbell
20th 1982–1986
21st 1986–1989
22nd 1989–1993 Ty Lund
23rd 1993–1997
24th 1997–2001
25th 2001–2004
26th 2004–2008
27th 2008–present

Electoral history

The electoral district of Rocky Mountain House was created from parts of four different districts in the 1940 boundary re-distribution. The first election held that year saw Social Credit incumbent Alfred Hooke switch from the Red Deer provincial electoral district. He won his second term in office easily defeating two other candidates on the first ballot.

Hooke would be appointed to the first of his many cabinet portfolios as Provincial Secretary by Premier Ernest Manning in 1943. He would run for a third term and his first with ministerial advantage in the 1944 general election winning a larger majority. In 1945 Hooke also became the Minister of Economic Affairs.

The 1948 general election saw Hooke win his fourth straight term in office and third in the district, with a landslide over Co-operative Commonwealth candidate Ray Schmidt. Hooke won re-election five more times in 1952, 1955, 1959, 1963 and 1967.

Pundits had been predicting that Hooke would be defeated in the 1967 general election after a rift grew in the Social Credit party when national Social Credit leader Robert Thompson nominated an independent candidate to run against Hooke. He won the election easily. Hooke served in cabinet until 1968 when Harry Strom became Premier. He was not invited back to cabinet and retired at dissolution of the assembly in 1971.

The second representative in the district was elected in the 1971 general election. Progressive Conservative candidate Helen Hunley defeated Social Credit Harvey Staudinger to pick up the seat for her party. She was appointed to the first cabinet of Premier Peter Lougheed after the election. Hunley was re-elected in the 1975 defeating Staudinger for the second time with a larger victory. She remained in cabinet and retired from the legislature at dissolution in 1979. Hunley would be appointed remained in politics as she was appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1985.

Hunley was replaced in the legislature by Progressive Conservative candidate John Campbell in the 1979 general election. He won election twice more in 1982 and 1986 with large majorities.

The last representative in the district is Progressive Conservative MLA Ty Lund. Lund won the seat in the 1989 election for the first time with a landslide margin to hold the seat for his party. He was re-elected with a bigger majority in the 1993 election. Premier Ralph Klein appointed Lund to cabinet for the first time on September 15, 1994 as Minister of Environment.

He was re-elected four more times in 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2008. He kept serving various cabinet portfolio's until Premier Ed Stelmach took office in 2006.

The riding is notable for the electoral performances of Social Credit candidate Lavern Ahlstrom, who would later lead the party. Despite the party's minor status in recent times, Ahlstrom consistently polled well above his party's average in the elections he contested.

Election results

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election results[3] Turnout 69.37% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 2,477 52.26% *
     Independent Tom Sigurdson 1,496 31.56% *
     Co-operative Commonwealth Gus Maki 767 16.18% *
Total 4,740 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 224
7,156 Eligible Electors
Social Credit gain Swing N/A

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election results[4] Turnout 67.28% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 2,936 63.44% 11.18%
     Co-operative Commonwealth George Morrison 1,302 28.13% 11.95% *
     Farmer-Labor Victor Johanson 390 8.43% *
Total 4,628 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 71
6,984 Eligible Electors
     Social Credit hold Swing 11.57%

1948 general election

1948 Alberta general election results[5] Turnout 63.39% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 3,582 72.41% 8.97%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Ray Schmidt 1,365 27.59% -0.54% *
Total 4,947 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 255
8,207 Eligible Electors
     Social Credit hold Swing 4.76%

1952 general election

1952 Alberta general election results[6] Turnout 56.28% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 2,886 71.24% -1.17%
     Co-operative Commonwealth Hubert Smith 1,165 28.76% 1.17% *
Total 4,051 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 213
7,577 Eligible Electors
     Social Credit hold Swing -1.17%

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election results[7] Turnout 68.64% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 2,829 63.63% -7.61%
     Liberal Cloyde Stauffer 1,200 26.99% *
     Co-operative Commonwealth Bert Rear 417 9.38% -19.38% *
Total 4,446
Rejected, spoiled and declined 207
Eligible electors / Turnout 6,779  %
     Social Credit hold Swing -17.30%

1959 general election

1959 Alberta general election results[8] Turnout 66.61% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit Alfred Hooke 3,235 74.68% 11.05%
     Liberal Tom Bert 660 15.23% -11.76% *
     Co-operative Commonwealth Ray Schmidt 437 10.09% 0.71% *
Total 4,332
Rejected, spoiled and declined 13
Eligible electors / Turnout 6,523  %
     Social Credit hold Swing 11.41%

1963 general election

1963 Alberta general election results[9] Turnout 60.05% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit         Alfred Hooke 3,175 72.74% -1.94%
     NDP Robert Carlyle 599 13.72% 3.63% *
     Liberal Ellis Bowen 591 13.54% -1.69% *
Total 4,365
Rejected, spoiled and declined 25
Eligible electors / Turnout 7,311  %
     Social Credit hold Swing -2.79%

1967 general election

1967 Alberta general election results[10] Turnout 65.88% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Social Credit             Alfred Hooke 2,538 53.59% -19.15%
     Independent William Sinclair 1,406 29.69% *
     NDP Gilbert Farthing 792 16.72% 3.00% *
Total 4,736
Rejected, spoiled and declined 34
Eligible electors / Turnout 7,241  %
     Social Credit hold Swing -24.42%

1971 general election

1971 Alberta general election results[11] Turnout 67.71% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Helen Hunley 3,014 49.06% *
     Social Credit Harvey Staudinger 2,472 40.24% -13.35% *
     NDP David Elliot 657 10.70% -6.02% *
Total 6,143
Rejected, spoiled and declined 36
Eligible electors / Turnout 9,126  %
     Progressive Conservative pickup from Social Credit Swing 31.21%

1975 general election

1975 Alberta general election results[12] Turnout 69.91% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Helen Hunley 4,119 66.10% 17.04%
     Social Credit Harvey Staudinger 1,537 24.66% -15.58%
     NDP Morris Jenson 576 9.24% -1.46% *
Total 6,232
Rejected, spoiled and declined 14
Eligible electors / Turnout 8,935  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing 16.31%

1979 general election

1979 Alberta general election results[13] Turnout 64.82% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative John Campbell 4,080 53.10% -13.00% *
     Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 2,628 34.21% 9.55% *
     NDP John Younie 871 11.34% 2.10% *
     Liberal Roger Hamilton 104 1.35% *
Total 7,683
Rejected, spoiled and declined 14
Eligible electors / Turnout 11,880  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing -11.28%

1982 general election

1982 Alberta general election results[14] Turnout 73.39% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative John Campbell 6,443 66.08% 12.98%
Western Canada Concept Art Carritt 2,116 21.70% *
     NDP Dolly Brown 1,191 12.22% 0.88% *
Total 9,750
Rejected, spoiled and declined 13
Eligible electors / Turnout 13,303  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing 17.34%

1986 general election

1986 Alberta general election results[15] Turnout 52.90% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative John Campbell 3,844 53.31% -12.77%
     NDP Dolly Brown 1,266 17.56% 5.34%
Representative Laverne Ahlstrom 1,042 14.45%
     Liberal Bob Paston 622 8.63%
Confederation of Regions Art Carritt 436 6.05%
Total 7,210
Rejected, spoiled and declined 17
Eligible electors / Turnout 13,662  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing -9.06%

1989 general election

1989 Alberta general election results[16] Turnout 53.67% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 4,329 59.46% 6.15% *
     NDP Dolly Brown 1,727 23.72% 6.16%
     Liberal Bob Paston 1,224 16.82% 8.19%
Total 7,280
Rejected, spoiled and declined 90
Eligible electors / Turnout 13,733  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing 6.16%

1993 general election

1993 Alberta general election results[17] Turnout 61.90% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 5,192 55.79% -3.67%
     Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 2,330 25.03% *
     Liberal Roxanne Prior 1,181 12.69% -4.13% *
     NDP Drew Ludington 604 6.49% -17.23% *
Total 9,307
Rejected, spoiled and declined 16
Eligible electors / Turnout 15,062  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing -14.35%

1997 general election

1997 Alberta general election results[18] Turnout 55.55% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 5,610 54.81% -0.98%
     Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 3,264 31.89% 6.86%
     Liberal Roxanne Prior 880 8.60% -4.09%
     NDP Christine McMeckan 481 4.70% -1.79% *
Total 10,235
Rejected, spoiled and declined 22
Eligible electors / Turnout 18,464  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing -3.92%

2001 general election

2001 Alberta general election results[19] Turnout 55.60% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 7,820 70.43% 15.62%
     Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 1,705 15.35% -14.84%
     Liberal Wijnand Horemans 1,171 10.55% 1.95% *
     NDP Doug Mac Angus 408 3.67% -1.03% *
Total 11,104
Rejected, spoiled and declined 45
Eligible electors / Turnout 20,051  %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing 15.23%

2004 general election

Alberta general election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ∆%
Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 5,773 56.33% −14.10%
Liberal Susan Scott 1,266 12.35% 1.80%
Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 1,265 12.34% −3.01%
Alberta Alliance Ed Wilhite 807 7.87%
Separation Bruce Hutton 503 4.91%
Green Jennifer Isaac 335 3.27%
New Democratic Anthony Jones 300 2.93% −0.74%
Total 10,249
Rejected, spoiled and declined 60
Eligible electors / Turnout 20,051 47.76%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing −7.95%
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2004 Senate nominee election district results

2004 Senate nominee election results: Rocky Mountain House[20] Turnout 47.26%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Votes % Ballots Rank
     Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 4,255 15.59% 48.00% 1
     Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 3,961 14.51% 44.69% 2
     Independent Link Byfield 2,996 10.97% 33.80% 4
     Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 2,881 10.55% 32.50% 3
     Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 2,748 10.07% 31.00% 5
     Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 2,461 9.02% 27.76% 6
Alberta Alliance Michael Roth 2,409 8.82% 27.18% 7
Alberta Alliance Vance Gough 2,082 7.63% 23.49% 8
Alberta Alliance Gary Horan 2,063 7.56% 23.27% 10
     Independent Tom Sindlinger 1,444 5.28% 16.29% 9
Total Votes 27,300 100%
Total Ballots 8,864 3.08 Votes Per Ballot
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 1,337

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

2008 general election

Alberta general election, 2008
Party Candidate Votes % ∆%
Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 6,188 62.30% 5.97%
Alberta Alliance Fanie van Heerden 1,156 11.64% 3.77%
Liberal Norm McDougall 849 8.55% −3.80%
Green Jennifer Ripley 699 7.04% 3.77%
Social Credit Wilf Tricker 643 6.47% −5.87%
New Democratic Jorge Souza 279 2.81% −0.81%
Separation Bruce Hutton 119 1.20% −3.71%
Total 9,933
Rejected, spoiled and declined 47
Eligible electors / Turnout 24,569 40.62%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 4.87%
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Plebiscite results

1948 Electrification Plebiscite

District results from the first province-wide plebiscite on electricity regulation.

Option A Option B
Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies? Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission?
2,210     45.63% 2,633     54.37%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Rocky Mountain House[21]
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 1,286 52.58%
No 1,160 47.42%
Total Votes 2,446 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 7
5,950 Eligible Electors, Turnout 41.23%

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.[22]

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.[21]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Rocky Mountain House voted in favour of the proposal by a narrow majority. Voter turnout in the district was very low, falling well under the province wide average of 46%.[21] This decline in turnout was attributed to heavy rains, high winds and flooding conditions in the district that kept people away from polling stations.[22]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[21] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.[23] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[24]

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.[25]

2004 Student Vote

Participating Schools[26]
Ecole Rocky Elementary
Sunchild First Nation School

On November 19, 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta Student Vote results[27]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Progressive Conservative Ty Lund 21 51.22%
     Liberal Susan Scott 9 21.95%
Green Jennifer Isaac 4 9.75%
     Social Credit Lavern Ahlstrom 2 4.88%
     NDP Anthony Jones 2 4.88%
Alberta Alliance Ed Wilhite 2 4.88%
Separation Bruce Hutton 1 2.44%
Total 41 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 5

References

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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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