Willingdon (electoral district)

Last updated

Willingdon
Flag of Alberta.svg Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1940
District abolished1967
First contested 1940
Last contested 1963

Willingdon was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1963. [1]

Contents

History

Willingdon was created in 1940 when Victoria and Whitford were split between this district and Redwater and Vegreville

The riding expanded south in 1963 when Vegreville merged with Bruce, to form Vegreville-Bruce. Due to the expanded boundaries the riding name was changed to Willingdon-Two Hills.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Willingdon
AssemblyYearsMemberParty
See Victoria electoral district from 1905-1940
and Whitford electoral district from 1913-1940
9th  1940–1944   William Tomyn Social Credit
10th  1944–1948
11th  1948–1952
12th  1952–1955   Nick W. Dushenski Co-operative Commonwealth
13th  1955–1959
14th  1959–1963   Nicholas A. Melnyk Social Credit
See Willingdon-Two Hills electoral district from 1963-1971

Election results

1940

1940 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit William Tomyn 2,32961.11%
Co-operative Commonwealth T. Tomashavsky96825.40%
Independent M. N. Grekol51413.49%
Total3,811
Rejected, spoiled and declined165
Eligible electors / turnout6,17264.42%
Social Credit pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1944

1944 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes
1st count
%Votes
final count
±%
Social Credit William Tomyn 1,77144.30%1,844-16.82%
Co-operative Commonwealth L. L. Kostash1,32833.22%1,4487.82%
Labor–Progressive William A. Yusep89922.49%
Total3,998
Rejected, spoiled and declinedN/A
Eligible electors / turnout5,86768.14%3.72%
Social Credit hold Swing -12.32%
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1944 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.

1948

1948 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit William Tomyn 2,11153.15%8.85%
Co-operative Commonwealth Nick W. Dushenski 1,86146.85%13.64%
Total3,972
Rejected, spoiled and declined121
Eligible electors / turnout5,63872.60%4.45%
Social Credit hold Swing -2.39%
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1952

1952 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes
1st count
%Votes
final count
±%
Co-operative Commonwealth Nick W. Dushenski 1,76042.55%2,026-4.30%
Social Credit William Tomyn 1,71641.49%1,812-11.66%
Liberal John J. Fedun66015.96%
Total4,136
Rejected, spoiled and declined201
Eligible electors / turnout5,77675.09%2.49%
Co-operative Commonwealth gain from Social Credit Swing -2.62%
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1952 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.

1955

1955 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes
1st count
%Votes
final count
±%
Co-operative Commonwealth Nick W. Dushenski 1,72942.53%2,108-0.02%
Social Credit Nicholas A. Melnyk 1,58038.87%1,701-2.62%
Liberal Nick Shandro75618.60%2.64%
Total4,065
Rejected, spoiled and declined203
Eligible electors / turnout5,65475.49%0.40%
Co-operative Commonwealth hold Swing 1.30%
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon 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

1959 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Social Credit Nicholas A. Melnyk 2,42163.64%24.78%
Progressive Conservative Alex Hushlak99126.05%
Co-operative Commonwealth Nick W. Svekla39210.30%-32.23%
Total3,804
Rejected, spoiled and declined31
Eligible electors / turnout5,11175.03%-0.45%
Social Credit gain from Co-operative Commonwealth Swing 16.96%
Source(s)
Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1948 electrification plebiscite

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

Option AOption 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?
1,069     28.42%2,716     71.76%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Willingdon [2]
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%
Yes1,40076.63%
No42723.37%
Total votes1,827100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined19
5,979 eligible electors, turnout 30.88%

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. [3]

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. [2]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Willingdon voted in favour of the proposal with one of the largest percentages in the province. Voter turnout in the district was one of the worst in the province, barely topping 30%, significantly below the province wide average of 46%. [2]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. [2] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding. [4] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act. [5]

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. [6]

See also

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References

  1. "Election results for Willingdon". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
  3. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
  4. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
  5. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
  6. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

53°49′N112°07′W / 53.82°N 112.12°W / 53.82; -112.12