Alberta liquor plebiscite, 1957

The 1957 Alberta Liquor Plebiscite was a province-wide plebiscite conducted in Alberta, Canada and it was held on October 30, 1957. Unlike the other three plebiscites held in Alberta, the 1957 vote was not held in conjunction with a provincial election. At the time, the Alberta Liquor Control Board operated only a few stores from which liquor could be legally purchased. The plebiscite asked voters in every district if they were in favour of adding extra ALCB outlets.

Background

The province of Alberta decided to hold a plebiscite after divisive debate in the legislature on the need to deal with demands to loosen regulatory restrictions to liquor that had been in place since the prohibition era.

The vote to hold a plebiscite had carried on a recorded division by a single vote after much debate. ^[1]

In addition to the liquor controversy growing in the province, there was another testing of citizens' sentiment on an issue. The government decided to hold a plebiscite among egg producers on whether or not to establish a compulsory egg marketing board. That plebiscite was originally to be held in June 1957, but Leonard Halmrast, the Minister of Agriculture, decided to hold it in conjunction with the liquor plebiscite so that the sentiment of Egg producers could be tested at the same time as voters for the liquor plebiscite, to save costs. ^[2] That decision later led to controversy when numerous producers were missed after the plan was defeated in a close vote. ^[3] A second vote among egg producers in summer 1958 brought in a 'Yes" result. ^[4]

Question B

In Calgary, and Edmonton, as well as the parts of Gleichen, Banff-Cochrane and Clover Bar, that were within the Calgary and Edmonton city limits, a second question was put on the ballot asking if "mixed drinking" should be permitted in beer parlours. Men and women had not been allowed to drink together in Albertan bars since 1928, four years after Prohibition has been repealed.

Results and impact

The province-wide question on new liquor store locations saw mixed results across the province: the more conservative rural areas voted overwhelmingly against, and urban areas voted overwhelmingly for. After the votes were counted, the "for" side won the plebiscite by a wide margin. The second question regarding mixed drinking in the major cities passed with an almost 4 to 1 margin. This was the second province-wide plebiscite in Alberta's history, and cost the province $355,309.62 to run.

The Alberta government abolished gender-based segregation of bars in the rest of the province (without an additional plebiscite) in 1967.

Plebiscite results

October 30, 1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results [5]
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Totals		For	%	Against	%	Total Votes	For/Against	Rejected	Eligible	Turn Out
		171,786	63.92%	96,963	36.08%	268,749	For 33/17	2,528	580,893	46.70%
Question B1: Should mixed drinking be allowed in beer parlours in Calgary and the surrounding areas? Question B2: Should mixed drinking be allowed in beer parlours in Edmonton and the surrounding areas?
Totals		For	%	Against	%	Total Votes	For/Against	Rejected	Eligible	Turn Out
B1 Total		49,789	81.13%	11,578	18.87%	61,367	For 3/0	379	115,247	53.58%
B2 Total		49,721	76.09%	15,625	23.91%	65,346	For 2/0	657	129,599	50.93%
B Combined		99,510	78.53%	27,203	21.47%	126,713	For 5/0	1,036	244,846	52.18%
Results Breakdown by District
District Name		For	%	Against	%	Total Votes	For/Against	Rejected	Eligible	Turn Out
Acadia-Coronation	A	1,526	53.92%	1,304	46.08%	2,830	For	48	5,404	53.26%
Alexandra	A	908	46.60%	1,083	54.40%	1,991	Against	20	5,963	33.73%
Athabasca	A	1,161	64.11%	650	35.89%	1,811	For	62	5,774	32.44%
Banff-Cochrane	A	2,324	78.33%	643	21.67%	2,967	For	37	6,237	48.16%
	B1	115	87.12%	17	12.88%	132	For	0	242	54.55%
Bonnyville	A	1,716	66.05%	882	33.95%	2,598	For	31	6,988	37.62%
Bow Valley-Empress	A	1,818	54.86%	1,496	45.14%	3,314	For	11	6,341	52.44%
Bruce	A	980	36.69%	1,691	63.31%	2,671	Against	21	6,108	44.07%
Calgary	A	47,382	77.41%	13,830	22.59%	61,212	For	391	114,986	53.57%
	B1	49,669	81.12%	11,561	18.88%	61,230	For	379	114,986	53.58%
Camrose	A	1,378	32.84%	2,818	67.16%	4,196	Against	12	7,721	54.50%
Cardston	A	473	20.94%	1,786	79.06%	2,259	Against	13	4,296	52.89%
Clover Bar	A	3,035	67.87%	1,437	32.13%	4,472	For	75	9,655	47.10%
	B2	1,076	88.78%	136	11.22%	1,212	For	35	2,320	53.75%
Cypress	A	1,090	44.87%	1,339	55.13%	2,429	Against	18	5,361	46.64%
Didsbury	A	1,356	40.88%	1,961	59.12%	3,317	Against	34	6,535	51.28%
Drumheller	A	1,597	62.70%	950	37.30%	2,547	For	14	5,377	47.63%
Edmonton	A	46,219	71.98%	17,994	28.02%	64,213	For	620	127,279	50.94%
	B2	48,645	75.85%	15,485	24.15%	64,134	For	622	127,279	50.88%
Edson	A	2,222	82.08%	485	17.92%	2,707	For	17	7,823	34.82%
Gleichen	A	1,440	61.02%	920	38.98%	2,360	For	13	4,885	48.58%
	B1	5	100.00%	0	0.00%	5	For	0	19	26.32%
Grande Prairie	A	1,462	58.57%	1,034	41.43%	2,496	For	9	8,907	28.12%
Grouard	A	1,388	69.99%	595	30.01%	1,983	For	48	8,426	24.10%
Hand Hills	A	1,669	57.87%	1,215	42.13%	2,884	For	19	5,504	52.74%
Lac La Biche	A	1,059	66.15%	542	33.85%	1,601	For	9	4,678	34.42%
Lac Ste. Anne	A	1,507	70.16%	641	29.84%	2,148	For	54	6,482	33.97%
Lacombe	A	1,205	37.47%	2,011	62.53%	3,216	Against	52	6,302	51.86%
Leduc	A	1,701	62.95%	1,001	37.05%	2,702	For	10	6,996	38.77%
Lethbridge	A	4,012	49.34%	4,119	50.66%	8,131	Against	66	15,974	51.32%
Little Bow	A	1,584	51.50%	1,492	48.50%	3,076	For	1	5,715	53.84%
Macleod	A	1,892	49.78%	1,909	50.22%	3,801	Against	46	7,476	51.46%
Medicine Hat	A	2,728	50.04%	2,724	49.96%	5,452	For	98	12,586	44.10%
Okotoks-High River	A	2,088	62.18%	1,270	37.82%	3,358	For	33	6,602	51.36%
Olds	A	1,164	38.24%	1,880	61.76%	3,044	Against	32	7,332	41.95%
Peace River	A	1,871	68.09%	877	31.91%	2,748	For	14	10,020	27.57%
Pembina	A	1,375	52.12%	1,263	47.88%	2,638	For	75	7,240	37.47%
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	A	1,656	65.87%	858	34.13%	2,514	For	9	6,009	41.99%
Ponoka	A	1,280	46.04%	1,500	53.96%	2,780	Against	53	6,317	44.88%
Red Deer	A	3,565	56.88%	2,703	43.12%	6,268	For	80	14,151	44.86%
Redwater	A	1,589	76.28%	494	23.72%	2,083	For	17	5,838	35.97%
Rocky Mountain House	A	1,286	52.58%	1,160	47.42%	2,446	For	7	5,950	41.23%
Sedgewick	A	1,362	44.39%	1,706	55.61%	3,068	Against	9	5,921	51.97%
Spirit River	A	762	53.81%	654	46.19%	1,416	For	29	6,160	23.46%
St. Albert	A	2,546	70.27%	1,077	29.73%	3,623	For	92	8,184	45.39%
St. Paul	A	1,321	58.40%	941	41.60%	2,262	For	18	6,080	37.50%
Stettler	A	1,765	49.82%	1,785	50.28%	3,550	Against	9	6,743	52.78%
Stony Plain	A	2,372	72.01%	922	27.99%	3,294	For	38	8,663	38.64%
Taber	A	941	32.86%	1,923	67.14%	2,864	Against	35	6,627	43.75%
Vegreville	A	1,187	56.04%	931	43.96%	2,118	For	32	5,795	37.10%
Vermilion	A	1,258	53.92%	1,075	46.08%	2,333	For	15	5,758	40.79%
Wainwright	A	1,631	49.35%	1,674	50.65%	3,305	Against	33	6,897	48.40%
Warner	A	762	35.26%	1,399	64.74%	2,161	Against	21	5,197	41.99%
Wetaskiwin	A	1,773	48.78%	1,892	51.62%	3,665	Against	9	7,650	48.03%
Willingdon	A	1,400	76.63%	427	23.37%	1,827	For	19	5,979	30.88%

References

1. "A Plebiscite". Vol L No 88. The Lethbridge Herald. March 25, 1957. p. 4. 
2. "No Plebiscite on Egg Plan This Month". Vol L No 145. The Lethbridge Herald. June 1, 1957. p. 8. 
3. "New Vote Asked Following Defeat of Egg Plebiscite". Vol LI No 3. The Lethbridge Herald. December 13, 1957. p. 8. 
4. Didsbury pioneer, October 2, 1958
5. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249. 

External links

• Speakers' Comments Alberta Legislative Assembly Hansard March 20, 2006