St. Paul (provincial electoral district)

Last updated

St. Paul
Flag of Alberta.svg Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1913
District abolished1993
First contested 1913
Last contested 1989

St. Paul was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 1993. [1]

Contents

Boundary history

When created in 1913, the riding contained all the farmland north of the North Saskatchewan River and east of Lac La Biche, corresponding approximately to the current Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul riding. In 1952 the riding was split in half, creating the riding of Bonnyville and leaving St. Paul with approximately the same boundaries as the County of St. Paul No. 19 until abolished in 1993.

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for St. Paul
AssemblyYearsMemberParty
See Pakan 1909–1913
3rd 1913–1917 Prosper-Edmond
Lessard
Liberal
4th 1917–1921
5th 1921–1926 Laudas Joly United Farmers
6th 1926–1930
7th 1930–1935 Joseph Dechene Liberal
8th 1935–1940 Joseph Beaudry Social Credit
9th 1940–1944
10th 1944–1948
11th 1948–1952
12th 1952–1955 Raymond Reierson
13th 1955–1959
14th 1959–1963
15th 1963–1967
16th 1967–1971
17th 1971–1975 Mick Fluker Progressive
Conservative
18th 1975–1979
19th 1979–1982 Charles Anderson
20th 1982–1986 John Drobot
21st 1986–1989
22nd 1989–1993
See Lac La Biche-St. Paul 1993–2012

The first MLA for St. Paul was Prosper-Edmond Lessard, who had already served one term as MLA for the short-lived Pakan district with the government Liberals. In 1921, with the fall of the Liberal government, he was defeated by Laudas Joly of the United Farmers of Alberta.

After two terms, Joly was defeated by Liberal Joseph Miville Dechene. He served one term as MLA before the Social Credit sweep in 1935. The party would hold St. Paul for all 36 years they formed government, with Joseph Beaudry serving for four terms and Raymond Reierson serving for five.

In 1971, the Progressive Conservatives came to power, and Mick Fluker captured St. Paul for the new government. He retired after two terms. Charles Anderson kept the riding for the PC's in the 1979 election, and retired after only one term.

PC John Drobot served as MLA for the next three terms until the riding was abolished in 1993. He did not run in the new riding of Lac La Biche-St. Paul, which was captured by the Liberals.

Election results

1910s

1913 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes% [2]
Liberal Prosper-Edmond Lessard 44155.75%
Conservative L. Garneau35044.25%
Total valid votes791
Electors / Turnout94283.97%
Liberal pickup new district.
1917 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Prosper-Edmond Lessard 1,07766.65%+10.9%
Conservative James Brady53933.35%-10.9%
Total valid votes1,616
Electors / Turnout1,94683.04% -0.93%
Liberal hold Swing +10.9%

1920s

1921 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
United Farmers Laudas Joly 1,37858.34%
Liberal Prosper-Edmond Lessard 98441.66%-24.99%
Total valid votes2,362
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing +41.67%

In 1926, Alberta began to use the instant-runoff system to elect MLAs in rural districts.

1926 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
United Farmers Laudas Joly 1,45367.24%+8.90%
Liberal H. Montambeault60327.90%-13.76%
Independent E. McPheeters1054.86%
Total valid votes2,161
Rejected, spoiled and declined151
Electors / Turnout3,25271.09%
United Farmers hold Swing +11.33%

1930s

1930 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Joseph Miville Dechene 1,65350.27%+22.37%
United Farmers Laudas Joly 1,63549.73%-17.51%
Total valid votes3,288
Rejected, spoiled and declined149
Electors / Turnout4,77671.96% +0.87%
Liberal gain from United Farmers Swing +19.94%
1935 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry 2,56746.88%
Liberal Joseph Miville Dechene 1,96335.85%-14.42%
United Farmers Laudas Joly 94617.27%-32.46%
Second round
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry2,67953.12%+6.24%
Liberal Joseph Miville Dechene2,36446.88%+11.03%
 Neither433
Total valid votes5,476
Rejected, spoiled and declined180
Electors / Turnout6,87682.26% +10.30%
Social Credit gain from Liberal Swing +30.65%

Second-round swing reflects increase in vote share from the first round. Overall swing is calculated from first preferences.

1940s

1940 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry 2,27048.38%+1.50%
Independent J. Binette1,60934.29%-1.56%
Co-operative Commonwealth C. Milaney81317.33%
Second round
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry2,42157.56%+9.18%
Independent J. Binette1,78542.44%+8.15%
 Neither486
Total valid votes4,692
Rejected, spoiled and declined241
Electors / Turnout7,02370.24% -12.02%
Social Credit hold Swing +1.53%

First-round swing is calculated from first preferences in the 1935 election. The independent vote share is compared to the Liberal share in 1935. See Unity Coalition.

1944 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry 1,85144.87%-3.51%
Co-operative Commonwealth J. Beauregard1,50336.43%+19.10%
Labor–Progressive Daniel Gamache77118.69%
Second round
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry1,94955.10%+10.23%
Co-operative Commonwealth J. Beauregard1,58844.90%+8.47
 Neither588
Total valid votes4,125
Rejected, spoiled and declined254
Electors / Turnout6,87563.69% -6.55%
Social Credit hold Swing -11.31%
1948 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry 2,19742.89%-1.98%
Co-operative Commonwealth Michael Grekul1,51029.47%-6.96%
Liberal Irvin Baril1,41627.64%
Second round
Social Credit Joseph Beaudry2,98065.29%+22.40%
Co-operative Commonwealth Michael Grekul1,58434.71%+5.07%
 Neither559
Total valid votes5,123
Rejected, spoiled and declined454
Electors / Turnout7,60773.31% +9.62%
Social Credit hold Swing +2.49%

1950s

St. Paul was split for the 1952 election, with the northeastern half of the riding becoming the district of Bonnyville. Former St. Paul MLA Laudas Joly became its first representative.

1952 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 2,58153.59%+10.70%
Liberal Laval J. Fortier2,23546.41%+18.77%
Total valid votes4,816
Rejected, spoiled and declined214
Electors / Turnout7,07171.14% -2.17%
Social Credit hold Swing -4.04%
1955 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 2,76152.84%-0.75%
Liberal J.R. Sweeney2,04939.22%-7.19%
Labor–Progressive Don Gamache4157.94%
Total valid votes5,225
Rejected, spoiled and declined288
Electors / Turnout7,21876.37% +5.23%
Social Credit hold Swing +3.22%

Alberta reverted to traditional first past the post elections beginning in 1959. This can be seen in the dramatic drop in spoiled (incorrectly marked) ballots compared to previous elections.

1959 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 3,41268.51%15.67%
Liberal J. Van Brabant1,03420.76%-18.46%
Progressive Conservative Gordon Shave53410.72%
Total valid votes4,980
Rejected, spoiled and declined10
Electors / Turnout6,68274.68% -1.69%
Social Credit hold Swing +17.07%

1960s

1963 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 2,88961.05%-7.46%
Liberal Rene P. Foisy1,36328.80%+8.04%
New Democratic H.B. Hodgins2655.60%
Communist Don Gamache2154.54%
Total valid votes4,732
Rejected, spoiled and declined12
Electors / Turnout7,02767.51% -7.17%
Social Credit hold Swing +7.75%
1967 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 2,27544.41%-16.64%
Liberal Armand Lamothe1,48929.07%+0.27%
New Democratic Pierre M. Vallee78815.38%+9.78%
Independent PCLeroy P. Christensen57111.15%
Total valid votes5,123
Rejected, spoiled and declined14
Electors / Turnout7,51268.38% +0.87%
Social Credit hold Swing -8.46%

1970s

1971 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Mick Fluker 2,66145.81%+34.66%
Social Credit Raymond Reierson 2,04135.14%-9.27%
New Democratic Laurence J. Dubois89815.46%+0.08%
Liberal Lawrence P. Coutu2093.60%-25.47%
Total valid votes5,809
Rejected, spoiled and declined11
Electors / Turnout7,72075.39% +7.01%
Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit Swing +21.97%
1975 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Mick Fluker 2,91257.27%+11.46%
Social Credit John Hull84816.68%-18.46%
New Democratic Pierre Vallee76415.02%-0.44%
Liberal Roland Genereux56111.03%+7.43%
Total valid votes5,085
Rejected, spoiled and declined19
Electors / Turnout7,89964.62% -10.77%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +14.96%
1979 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative Charles Anderson 3,17346.47%-10.80%
New Democratic Laurent Dubois2,85441.80%+26.78%
Social Credit John Hull5828.52%-8.16%
Liberal Orest Boyko2193.21%-7.82%
Total valid votes6,828
Rejected, spoiled and declined31
Electors / Turnout9,45272.57% +7.95
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -18.79%

1980s

1982 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative John Drobot 4,26956.26%+9.79%
New Democratic Laurent Dubois2,87237.85%-3.95%
Western Canada Concept Iris Bourne4475.89%
Total valid votes7,588
Rejected, spoiled and declined39
Electors / Turnout10,19474.82% +2.25%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +6.87%
1986 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative John Drobot 3,01847.98%-8.28%
New Democratic Martin Naundorf1,42922.72%-15.13%
Representative Roland Rocque1,38021.94%
Liberal George Michaud4637.36%
Total valid votes6,290
Rejected, spoiled and declined21
Electors / Turnout10,76058.65% -16.17%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +3.43%
1989 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive Conservative John Drobot 2,93146.09%-1.89%
Liberal Paul Langevin 2,30436.23%+28.87%
New Democratic Victor Chrapko1,12417.68%-5.04%
Total valid votes6,359
Rejected, spoiled and declined19
Electors / Turnout10,43761.11% +2.46%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -15.38%

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: St. Paul [3]
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the
sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Ballot choiceVotes%
Yes1,32158.40%
No94141.60%
Total votes2,262100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined18
6,080 eligible electors, turnout 37.50%

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. [4]

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. [3]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. St. Paul voted in favour of the proposal by a solid majority. Voter turnout in the district was abysmal falling well under the province wide average of 46%. [3]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. [3] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding. [5] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act. [6]

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. [7]

See also

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References

  1. "Election results for St. Paul". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. "Abheritage.ca — St. Paul results". Archived from the original on December 8, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
  4. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
  5. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
  6. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
  7. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

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