Calgary (provincial electoral district)

Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1913, and again from 1921 to 1959.^[1] The district largely encompassed the boundaries of the city of Calgary, and was revised accordingly as the city grew.

Calgary

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1905
District abolished	1913
District re-created	1921
District re-abolished	1959
First contested	1905
Last contested	1957

Calgary history

Boundary history

Calgary 1909 boundaries[2]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Gleichen	Gleichen	Okotoks	Okotoks
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1909, An Act respecting the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
Calgary.—All that portion of the City of Calgary as incorporated lying south of the Bow River.
Note: Boundaries came into force in 1909 and lasted until the district was abolished in 1913.

Calgary 1921 boundaries[3]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Cochrane	Gleichen	Cochrane	Okotoks
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1921, An Act to Amend The Motor Vehicle Act, The Unearned Increment Tax Act, and Certain other Acts and Ordinances.
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
2. Section 2, as amended by section 1 of chapter 37 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1917: By adding thereto the following: "except the electoral districts of East Edmonton, West Edmonton and South Edmonton which shall hereafter constitute one electoral district to be called 'Edmonton' which shall return five members, and except the electoral districts of North Calgary, South Calgary and Centre Calgary which shall hereafter constitute one electoral district to be called 'Calgary' and which shall return five members, and except the electoral district of Medicine Hat which shall hereafter return two members."
Note: The electoral district was created by amalgamation of Centre Calgary, North Calgary and South Calgary in 1921. No original boundary description was created.

Calgary 1926 boundaries[4]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Cochrane	Gleichen	Cochrane	Okotoks
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1926, An Act to amend The Legislative Assembly Act.
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
Calgary.—Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29 west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly down stream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the north boundary of section 20, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 20, 21, 22, and 23, to the point of intersection of the north boundary of section 23, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian with the Bow River; thence southerly and down stream along the Bow River to the point of its intersection with the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the north-east corner of section 10, township 23, range 29 west of the 4th meridian; thence north along the east boundary of sections 15, 22, 27 and 34, township 23 range 29, west of the 4th meridian and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27, and 34, in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10 in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the point of commencement.
Note: The boundaries came into force in 1926.

Calgary 1930 boundaries[5]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Cochrane	Gleichen	Cochrane	Okotoks-High River
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1930, An Act to amend The Legislative Assembly Act.
		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
Calgary.—Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly down stream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the said meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, to the north-west corner of section 7, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and along the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence north along the east boundary of sections 15, 22, 27, and 35, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27, and 34, in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10 in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the point of commencement.
Note: The boundaries came into force in 1930.

Calgary 1939 boundaries[6]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Banff-Cochrane	Gleichen	Banff-Cochrane	Okotoks-High River
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1939, An Act to Amend The Legislative Assembly Act.
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
"Electoral Division of Calgary, the boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7 in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly downstream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, thence south along the said meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, to the north-west corner of section 7, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and along the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the north-east corner of section 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27 and 34 in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10, in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the point of commencement.
Note: The boundaries came into force in 1940.

Calgary 1950 boundaries[7]
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Banff-Cochrane	Gleichen	Banff-Cochrane	Banff-Cochrane
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1950, An Act to Amend The Legislative Assembly Act.
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here
"Electoral Division of Calgary, the boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence westerly along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence southerly along the meridian line lying between ranges 2 and 3, west of the 5th meridian, to its intersection with the left bank of the Elbow River; thence south-easterly downstream along the said left bank to its intersection with the north boundary of the north-east quarter of section 19, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence easterly along the north boundary of sections 19 to 24. township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian and sections 21 and 22, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and the east boundary of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27 and 35, township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and the east boundary of sections 3 and 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the point of commencement.
Note: The boundaries came into force in 1952.

Electoral history

The first iteration of the Calgary provincial electoral district in Alberta was created in the 1905 provincial boundary distribution. The district was known in that first election as Calgary City. Prior to 1905, when Calgary was still part of the North-West Territories, there were two districts East Calgary and West Calgary, which were split from the original Calgary North-West Territories district in 1894. Calgary district first came into existence when Calgary had a sufficiently large population to meet the requirements to elect members in the North-West Territories in 1884.^[8]

The first election in the district was held with the provincial general election of 1905. The election saw Liberal Minister of Public Works William Cushing win election against Conservative leader Richard Bennett. Cushing was named to the Rutherford prior to the election.

The number of seats in Calgary was increased to two in 1909. In that election Bennett and Cushing both won election, each elector in Calgary had two votes to vote for each seat. Bennett resigned to run for federal office and a by-election was held in 1911 to replace him.

The district was abolished and broken up into three electoral districts in 1913. The ridings were South Calgary, Centre Calgary, and North Calgary. In 1921 the Liberal government promised to bring in proportion representation. They did not and instead decided to combine the three Calgary districts and add two more seats. Voters had the option of casting up to five votes and the top five candidates were elected by plurality Block Voting). As previously under Block Voting, Calgary voters did not vote the straight party line and two Independent, two Labour and a Liberal MLA were elected.

The United Farmers of Alberta passed legislation in 1924 that changed both Edmonton and Calgary to Single Transferable Vote multi-member districts. The rest of the province had single member constituencies and used Alternative Vote, where vote transfers were conducted if the leading candidate did not have a clear majority of 50% on the first count.

The 1926 and 1930 elections saw Calgary elect all opposition candidates because the United Farmers government decided not to field any candidates there. Under Single Transferable Voting the number of spoiled ballots jumped sharply as a sizable number of electors continued marking ballots with an "X". Calgary's first STV election produced mixed representation with no party taking all the seats. The 1935 election saw Social Credit candidates sweep to power But Calgary again elected a mixture of SC and non-SC MLAs.

By the 1950s, Calgary and Edmonton had gone through significant growth. arriving at the final results in both cities would take days and was complicated in terms of counting the vote transfers. The length in terms of names on the ballots was causing long line-ups at polling stations, with electors taking as long as 15 minutes to mark their preferences. However, Calgary's ballot in 1955 held only 23 names and the voter was under no dictate to rank all the candidates on the list.

In 1957 the Social Credit government passed legislation standardizing the electoral system to First Past the Post across the province. The government passed a separate redistribution bill that divided Calgary and Edmonton into single member districts. In Calgary those districts were Calgary West, Calgary Glenmore, Calgary Bowness, Calgary North East, Calgary South East, Calgary Centre, and Calgary North. The last election held in the district, a by-election in 1957, was conducted under the first past the post method.

Party composition by date

1905–1913

Affiliation		1905	1909	1911
		Nov 9	Mar 22	Sep 21	Oct 31
	Liberal	1
	Conservative	0	1	0	1
	Vacant	0		1	0
Total		1	2

1921–1959

Affiliation		1921	1922	1923	1926	1930	1932	1933		1934	1935	1937	1940	1943	1944	1948	1952		1955	1957
		Jul 18	Nov 14	Jan 15	Jun 28	Jun 19	Oct 14	Jan 19	Nov 10	Jan 15	Aug 22	Aug 9	Mar 21	May 23	Jul 8	Aug 17	Mar 1	Aug 5	Jun 29	?	Oct 2
	Liberal	1				2			1	2	1		0			1			2
	Conservative	0			2	3	2				1
	Progressive Conservative																	1		0	1
	Social Credit										4	3	2	1	2		3	4	3
	Co-operative Commonwealth							0							1			0
	Dominion Labor	2			1
	Canadian Labor					1					0
	Independent Labor	0			1	0
	Independent	2	1	2	0			1			0	1	3		2	1	0
	Vacant	0	1	0			1	0	1	0				1	0					1	0
Total		5				6							5					6

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary[9]
Assembly		Seat 1			Seat 2			Seat 3			Seat 4			Seat 5			Seat 6
		Name		Party	Name		Party	Name		Party	Name		Party	Name		Party	Name		Party
1st	1905		William Cushing	Lib.
2nd	1909					Richard Bennett	Con.
	1911					Thomas Tweedie
See Centre Calgary, North Calgary and South Calgary 1913-1921
5th	1921		Alex Ross	Dom. Lab.		Robert Edwards	Ind.		Fred White	Dom. Lab.		Robert Marshall	Lib.		Robert Pearson	Ind.
	1923					William Davidson
6th	1926		Alexander McGillivray	Con.		George Webster	Lib.					John Irwin	Con.		Robert Parkyn	IL
7th	1930		Hugh Farthing							Can. Lab.					John Bowlen	Lib.		Harold McGill	Con.
	1933																	Norman Hindsley	Ind.
	1934					William Ross
8th	1935		Edith Gostick	SC		Ernest Manning	SC		Fred Anderson	SC								John Hugill	SC
	1937																		Ind.
	1940															Ind.
9th	1940		James Mahaffy	Ind.		William Aberhart						Andrew Davison	Ind.
	1943					Vacant
10th	1944		Rose Wilkinson	SC		Howard MacDonald	Ind.								Aylmer Liesemer	CCF
11th	1948								Fred Colborne			Hugh MacDonald	Lib.
	1952						SC
12th	1952														Paul Brecken	PC		Arthur Dixon	SC
13th	1955–1957					Arthur Smith	PC								Grant MacEwan	Lib.
	1957					Vacant
	1957–1959					Ernest Watkins	PC
See Calgary North East, Calgary South East 1959-1963, Calgary Bowness, Calgary Centre, Calgary North 1959-1971, Calgary Glenmore, Calgary West 1959-present

Election results

1905

The Calgary electoral district was created when Alberta became a province independent of the North-West Territories in 1905. Calgary had previously had two seats when it was represented in the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories. This change created controversy because Conservatives accused the Liberals of creating more seats in northern Alberta where their support and organization was stronger. The two riding's previously represented in the city were West Calgary and East Calgary.

1905 Alberta general election results[10]			Turnout unknown		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Liberal	William Cushing	1,030	42.39%	*
	Conservative	Richard Bennett	993	40.86%	*
	Labor	Alex D. Macdonald	407	16.75%	*
Total			2,430	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Records not kept
Unknown eligible electors
	Liberal pickup new district				Swing N/A
Returning Officer Ruben Askin Janes[11]

The election was a three-way contest but was primarily a two-way race. Richard Bennett the Conservative candidate and party leader was a well known lawyer and former North-West Territories MLA. William Henry Cushing the Liberal candidate had previously been a prominent Calgary municipal politician including serving as mayor. He also had a number of private enterprises in the building materials industry. Rounding out the field was labor activist and independent candidate Alex Macdonald.

The 1905 election was mired in controversy as election results see-sawed back and forth, claims of Conservative supporters being denied access to polling stations were made with supporters of Cushing having been found to run the polling stations. After the official results were released Cushing was declared the winner by 47 votes. Macdonald placed well behind in third place but still with a respectable showing taking close to 20% of the popular vote. The result in Calgary had been seen by the Conservatives as an embarrassing personal defeat for Bennett as the party got nearly shut out of office province wide. Bennett quickly resigned as leader and was replaced by Albert Robertson.

1909

About 6,000 voters cast votes in this election.

1909 Alberta general election results[12]			Turnout N/A%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	William Cushing	2,579	26.90%
	Conservative	Richard Bennett	2,423	25.27%
	Liberal	William Egbert	1,933	20.16%	*
	Conservative	Thomas Blow	1,907	19.88%	*
	Socialist	George Howell	747	7.79%	*
Total			9,589	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Records not kept
Unknown eligible electors
Returns, percentages and swing by party Affiliation Votes Percent Seats Swing   Liberal 4,512 47.06% 1 4.50%   Conservative 4,330 45.15% 1 6.72% Socialist 747 7.79% 0 *   Liberal hold Swing 5.61%   Conservative pickup new seat

The 1909 Alberta general election saw a second seat added to the Calgary electoral district. The riding was not split however. Instead the members were elected by Block Voting with electors having the right to select up to two candidates on the ballots. Voters did not cast their votes solidly for the two candidates of their preferred party so members of two different parties were elected.

The Conservatives and Liberals ran a slate of two candidates each, while the Socialists fielded one. William Cushing Minister of Public Works decided to run for a second term in office. The other Liberal candidate was prominent medical doctor William Egbert.

The Conservatives ran former party leader Richard Bennett who had previously contested the district in 1905. Thomas Blow who was also a medical doctor rounded out the slate. Bennett was unanimously acclaimed at the party nominating convention held on March 1, 1909 despite not attending. The second spot on the slate was contested between Blow and J.A. Carson. The two candidates were left over from ten nominees who either had their nomination withdrawn for various reasons or the candidates themselves or refused to let their name stand.^[13]

The Socialist Party selected George Howell to be its candidate. Howell worked as the secretary for the Calgary Trades and Labor council.^[14] Howell was a surprise choice by the Socialist nominating convention as he had not been running for the party nomination.

The results of the election showed a roughly even split between the Liberals and Conservatives, although with each voter casting up to two votes, the picture is far from clear. Each major candidate received approximately a quarter of the votes cast. But it seems voters did not vote solidly for a slate. The leading candidate of the Liberals and Conservatives took more votes than their running mates, so in the end one of each party took the seats. The Conservatives picked up one seat and the Liberal incumbent held his.

SPC candidate Howell took more votes than the Calgary Labour candidate had taken in 1905. He received support from about 12 percent of the voters. Howell's candidacy was not much of a factor, but Howell kept either of the main parties from gaining a clear majority in the popular vote.

1911 by-election

October 31, 1911 by-election results[15]			Turnout unknown		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Conservative	Thomas Tweedie	2,931	63.65%	18.50%	*
	Liberal	Thomas Skinner	1,674	36.35%	-8.80%	*
Total			4,605	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Records not kept
Unknown eligible electors
	Conservative hold				Swing N/A

1921

This election was conducted using plurality block voting. Each voter had up to five votes. If all the voters who voted for the leader in the polls, Alex Ross, the most-popular Dominion Labour man, had voted consistently for the whole DLP slate and if the DLP had run five candidates, DLP would have taken all the seats. But as voters did not place all their votes along party lines, mixed representation was produced.

The five seats offered only limited flexibility. The Liberals received just shy of enough votes to win two seats; the Conservatives far more than needed to win two. But the results, rough as they were, were relatively fair.

1921 Alberta general election results[16]			Turnout 53.82%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Personal
	Dominion Labor	Alex Ross	7,294	9.64%	*
	Independent	Robert Edwards	6,400	8.46%	*
	Dominion Labor	Fred White	6,190	8.18%	*
	Liberal	Robert Marshall	5,246	6.93%	*
	Independent	Robert Pearson	5,141	6.79%	*
	Liberal	George Webster	4,391	5.80%	*
	Liberal	Clinton Ford	4,230	5.59%	*
	Dominion Labor	Robert Parkyn	4,082	5.39%	*
	Conservative	Michael Costello	3,808	5.03%	*
	Conservative	C.F. Adams	3,332	4.40%	*
	Liberal	F. Langford	3,282	4.34%	*
	Conservative	Thomas Blow	3,090	4.08%	*
	Liberal	F.S. Selwood	2,969	3.92%	*
	Independent	Herbert Adshead	2,878	3.80%	*
	Independent Labor	Frederick Potts	2,864	3.78%	*
	Conservative	Edward Crandell	2,663	3.52%	*
	Independent Labor	Hannah Gale	2,386	3.15%	*
	Conservative	Samuel Hillocks	2,282	3.02%	*
	Socialist	Frank Williams	1,745	2.31%	*
	Independent	Alex Davidson	1,423	1.87%	*
Total votes			75,696	100%
Total ballots			17,187	4.40 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined			90
32,103 eligible electors
Returns, percentages and swing by party Affiliation Votes Percent Seats Swing   Liberal 20,118 26.58% 1 *   Dominion Labor 17,566 23.21% 2 *   Independent 15,842 20.92% 2 *   Conservative 15,175 20.05% 0 *   Independent Labor 5,250 6.93% 0 * Socialist 1,745 2.31% 0 *   Liberal pickup new seat Swing N/A%   Dominion Labor pickup two new seats   Independent Robert Pearson pick up new seat   Independent Robert Edwards pick up new seat

Note:

• Voters could cast votes for as many as five candidates.

1921 by-election

December 9, 1921 by-election results[15]			Turnout N/A%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Dominion Labor	Alex Ross	Acclaimed		*
Total			N/A	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A
32,103 eligible electors
	Dominion Labor hold				Swing N/A%

1923 by-election

Shortly after the 1923 by-election, a deputy returning officer Alexander Davidson was convicted for voting more than once during the by-election and sentenced to a year in prison and a $400 fine.^[17]

January 15, 1923 by-election results[15]			Turnout 57.95%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Independent	William Davidson	9,930	54.40%	*
	Citizens' Candidate	Clinton Ford	8,325	45.60%	*	40.01%
Total			18,255	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
31,500 eligible electors
	Independent William Davidson pickup vacant seat				Swing 36.75%

1926

In this election for the first time Calgary elected MLAs through single transferable voting. In the First Count, the five top spots were held by two Conservatives, two Liberals and Parkyn. Vote transfers elevated a DLP candidate to the top positions, while Liberal McClung did not receive many vote transfers and fell out of the top runners.

In the end, Calgary elected a balanced and mixed crop of MLAs — two Conservatives, a Liberal, a DLP-er, and an Independent-Labour man. About 80 percent of the voters saw their vote used to actually elect someone. About half the voters saw their first choice elected; the other 30 percent saw their vote used to elect someone they preferred over others, as well as seeing their first choice elected without the help of their vote.^[18]

34,287 eligible electors

1926 Alberta general election results[19]												Turnout 53.82%		1st count swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Quota (the vote threshold guaranteed to win a seat) 3,290
			1st	%	2nd*	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th*	9th	10th
	Conservative	Alexander McGillivray	5,928	30.04%	3,290									*
	Conservative	John Irwin	1,662	8.42%	3,334	3,290								*
	Liberal	George Webster	2,941	14.90%	3,144	3,158	3,191	3,523	3,290					9.10%
	Dominion Labor	Fred J. White	1,222	6.19%	1,247	1,248	1,467	1,478	1,479	1,500	2,676	2,923**		-1.99%
	Independent Labor	Robert Parkyn	2,467	12.50%	2,506	2,514	2,554	2,582	2,583	2,595	2,664	2,852**		7.11%
	Liberal	Nellie McClung	1,928	9.77%	1,971	1,975	1,980	2,191	2,193	2,363	2,433	2,622		*
	Conservative	Michael Costello	1,221	6.19%	1,817	1,827	1,838	1,864	1,903	1,924	1,946			1.16%
	Dominion Labor	Alex Ross	1,265	6.41%	1,282	1,298	1,419	1,444	1,445	1,454				-3.23%
	Liberal	Robert Marshall	626	3.17%	651	651	654							-3.76%
	Dominion Labor	John Russell	423	2.14%	435	438								*
	Independent	Frederick Potts	54	0.27%	60									-3.51%
Total			19,737	100%	19,737	19,733	19,727	19,716	19,716	19,716	19,598	18,276
Rejected, spoiled and declined 644			Distributed		2,638	56	432	643	44	233	1,336	624
			Exhausted		0	4	6	21	0	0	118	1,322
Returns, percentages and swing by party Affiliation 1st count votes 1st count percent Seats 1st count swing   Conservative 8,811 44.65% 2 24.60%   Liberal 5,496 27.84% 1 1.26%   Dominion Labor 2,910 14.74% 1 -8.47%   Independent Labor 2.467 12.50% 1 5.57%   Independent 54 0.27% 0 -54.13%   Conservative pickup two seats Swing 18.81%   Liberal hold 1 seat   Dominion Labor hold 1 seat   Independent Labor pickup 1 seat

• 2nd, 3rd, and 8th counts — transfer of surplus votes not needed by successful candidates elected in previous count. (transfers done in 3rd count not shown in above table)
  • White and Parkyn elected without quota as they were last two candidates in the running with two seats remaining to be filled.

1930

Five MLAs elected through STV

Eligible voters 43,217^[20] Turnout 56.70%

1930 Alberta general election results[21]												Turnout 56.70%		1st count swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Quota (vote threshold guaranteed to take a seat) 3495
			1st	%	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
	Conservative	John Irwin	5,520	22.61%	3,495									14.19%
	Liberal	George Webster	3,651	14.95%	3,651	3,494								-0.05%
	Canadian Labor	Fred J. White	2,585	10.59%	2,659	2,673	2,874	2,916	3,335	3,515	3,492			4.40%
	Conservative	Hugh Farthing	2,279	9.33%	2,957	2,966	2,979	2,994	3,001	3,132	3,133	3,731		*
	Liberal	John Bowlen	2,598	10.64%	2,667	2,700	2,711	2,721	2,727	2,821	2,823	2,869	3,588	*
	Conservative	Harold McGill	1,634	6.69%	2,226	2,238	2,252	2,260	2,266	2,446	2,449	3,089	3,293	*
	Independent	Robert Parkyn	1,544	6.32%	1,608	1,616	1,699	1,856	1,933	2,056	2,067	2,106	2,296	-6.18%
	Liberal	Robert Wier	1,191	4.88%	1,260	1,328	1,339	1,344	1,359	1,502	1,508	1,579		*
	Conservative	H.S. Patterson	1,007	4.12%	1,368	1,374	1,382	1,395	1,405	1,480	1,480			*
	Citizens' Candidate	A.C. MacKay	992	4.06%	1,078	1,083	1,092	1,097	1,107					*
	Canadian Labor	W.E. Turner	575	2.36%	589	590	590	590						*
	Communist	John O'Sullivan	460	1.88%	469	469	469							*
	Canadian Labor	Thomas Vickers	381	1.57%	390	391								*
Total			24,417	100%	24,417	24,417	24,376	24,162	24,122	23,941	23,941	23,855	21,093
Rejected, spoiled and declined 253			Distributed		2,025	157	350	255	550	926	23	1,394	0
43,513 eligible electors			Exhausted		0	0	41	214	40	181	0	86	2,296
Returns, percentages and swing by party Affiliation 1st count votes 1st count percent Seats 1st count swing   Conservative 10,440 42.75% 3 -1.90%   Liberal 7,440 30.47% 2 2.63%   Canadian Labor 3,541 14.52% 1 -0.22%   Independent 1,544 6.32% 0 6.05%   Citizens' Candidate 992 4.06% 0 * Communist 460 1.88% 0 *   Conservative pickup 1 new seat, hold 2 seats Swing -2.70%   Liberal pick 1 seat, hold 1 seat   Canadian Labor hold 1 seat

1933 by-election

January 19, 1933 by-election results							Turnout 69.40%		1st count swing
Affiliation		Candidate	13,919 vote threshold
			1st	%	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
	Independent	Norman Hindsley	12,532	45.03%	?	?	?	14,128	%
	Canadian Labor	Amelia Turner	10,504	37.74%	?	?	?	12,307	%
	Independent Labor	Robert Parkyn	2,003	7.20%	?	?	?		%
	Independent	A.C. McKay	1,775	6.37%	?	?			%
	United Front	John O'Sullivan	539	1.94%	?				%
	Independent	D.R. Crighton	478	1.72%					%
Total			27,831	100%				26,435
Rejected, spoiled and declined 202			Distributed
? eligible electors			Exhausted					1396

The Canadian Labor Party Alberta branch nominated candidate Amelia Turner under their banner. The Co-operative Commonwealth executive decided to support and endorse her election campaign but did not nominate her as a candidate for the organization.^[22] Norman Hindsley ran as an Independent but was endorsed and supported by the Conservative party.^[22]

1934 by-election

January 15, 1934 by-election results						Turnout 50.88%		1st count swing
Affiliation			Candidate	10,994 vote threshold
				1st	%	2nd	3rd
		Liberal	William Ross	8,665	39.41%	8,955	10,801
		Canadian Labor + Co-operative Commonwealth	Amelia Turner	8,058	36.65%	8,277	8,326
		People's Candidate	Charles Jamieson	4,168	18.96%	?
		Progressive Labor	Ernest Starr	1,096	4.98%
Total				21,987	100%		19,127
Rejected, spoiled and declined 202				Distributed
? eligible electors				Exhausted			0

Charles Jamieson was originally nominated as a Conservative candidate but left the party and changed to the People's Candidate banner midway through the election.

1935

1935 ballot transfer results			Turnout 80.39%
Affiliation		Candidate	5,885 quota
			1st	%	Votes	Count
	Social Credit	Ernest Manning	6,087	14.78%	6,087	1st
	Conservative	John Irwin	2,529	6.14%	6,092	13th
	Social Credit	Fred Anderson	5,058	12.28%	6,638	15th
	Liberal	John J. Bowlen	3,874	9.41%	8,478	17th
	Social Credit	Edith Gostick	3,787	9.19%	5,886	18th
	Social Credit	John Hugill	3,152	7.65%	4,399	18th
	Social Credit	Walter Little	2,963	7.19%	Eliminated 18th
	Liberal	Robert Wier	1,774	4.31%	Eliminated 16th
	Social Credit	Oscar Devenish	3,032	7.36%	Eliminated 14th
	Conservative	Hugh Farthing	2,090	5.07%	Eliminated 13th
	Labor	Fred J. White	1,024	2.49%	Eliminated 12th
	Liberal	George Millican	1,566	3.80%	Eliminated 11th
	Conservative	Joseph Follett	886	2.15%	Eliminated 10th
	Communist	Pat Lenihan	820	1.99%	Eliminated 9th
	Liberal	Richard Watson	786	1.91%	Eliminated 8th
	Labor	Aylmer Liesemer	449	1.09%	Eliminated 7th
	Independent	Charles Jamieson	469	1.14%	Eliminated 6th
	Conservative	James Milvain	451	1.10%	Eliminated 5th
	Independent Labor	Robert Parkyn	224	0.54%	Eliminated 4th
	Labor	William Southern	172	0.41%	Eliminated 3rd
Total			41,193	100%	18 counts

1940

Five members elected Quota 7,653

1940 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	Elected
	Independent Movement	Andrew Davison	12,465	27.15%	7,653	Y
	Social Credit	William Aberhart	12,122	26.40%	7,653	Y
	Independent	James Mahaffy	3,645	7.49%	9,449	Y
	Independent	John J. Bowlen	3,447	7.51%	7,247	Y
	Social Credit	Fred Anderson	1,939	4.22%	8,020	Y
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Fred J. White	2,846	6.20%
	Independent	Joseph Tweed Shaw	2,685	5.85%
	Social Credit	Edith Gostick	1,605	3.50%
	Independent	Norman Dingle	1,480	3.22%
	Social Credit	H.D. Tarves	1,386	3.02%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Robert Alderman	1,298	2.83%
	Independent	Harry Pryde	576	1.26%
	Independent Labor	D. V. Mitchell	251	0.55%
	Independent	J.F.M. Moodie	169	0.35%
Votes cast			46,619
Eligible electors / turnout			59,338	78.6%
Source(s) [23] Note: Five seats were awarded in the Calgary Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 7,653. There were a total of 10 ballot counts with Andrew Davison and William Aberhart elected on the first count.

1944

Five members elected

6,562 quota

(Armed Forces voters are identified separately in the First Count but are included in the un-bracketed total.)

1944 ballot transfer results			Turnout 80.39%
Affiliation		Candidate	6,562 quota
			1st (Forces*)	%	Peak Votes	Count
	Independent	Andrew Davison	7,754 (137)		7,754	1st
	Social Credit	Fred Anderson	6,655 (123)		6,655	1st
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	5,042 (103)		8,338	15th
	Independent	Howard MacDonald	2,365 (20)		6,897	17th
	CCF	Alymer Liesemer	3,560 (76)		6,077	17th
	CCF	Robert Alderman	2,088 (43)		Eliminated 17th
	Independent	John J. Bowlen	2,192 (25)		Eliminated 16th
	Social Credit	Art Larsen	1,351 (33)		Eliminated 15th
	CCF	C.W.J. Helmer	1,655 (72)		Eliminated 14th
	Independent	R.C. Carlile	1,433 (10)		Eliminated 13th
	CCF	Ken Tory	1,462 (49)		Eliminated 12th
	Social Credit	Edward Geehan	1,162 (42)		Eliminated 11th
	Labor–Progressive	Pat Lenihan	491 (25)			Eliminated 10th
	Social Credit	C.M. Baker	834 (30)		Eliminated 9th
	CCF	Herbert Wiertz	504 (4)		Eliminated 8th
	Labor–Progressive	Lionel Edwards	304 (3)			Eliminated 7th
	Labor–Progressive	Mike Daniels	258 (9)			Eliminated 6th
	Labor–Progressive	Gordon Wray	128 (5)			Eliminated 5th
	Labor–Progressive	Audrey Staples	71 (1)			Eliminated 4th
Total			39,309 (810)	100%	17 counts

Note:

• In the 1944 election, some Canadian Forces personnel voted in the Calgary district. They were given special ballots intended to track how they voted. Service vote results are only available for the 1st count. They were included in the 39,309 valid vote total for the district. Later in this election, other Armed Forces voters, who had not already voted, voted for separate representation — by electing an Army, an Air Force and a Navy representative.

1948

Five members elected 39,101 valid votes Quota 6517

v t e 1948 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	7,153	18.29%	6,528
	Social Credit	Frederick C. Colborne	3,923	10.03%	6,520
	Independent	Howard B. Macdonald	3,840	9.82%	6,339
	Labour	Peter Newton Russel Morrison	3,579	9.15%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alymer J. E. Liesemer	2,475	6.33%	5,742
	Social Credit	James Leslie Hill	2,464	6.30%	–
	Liberal	Hugh John MacDonald	1,977	5.06%	6,215
	Social Credit	R.B. Estabrook	1,751	4.48%	–
	Liberal	J. Roger Flumerfelt	1,691	4.32%	–
	Liberal	Mrs. Mary Dover	1,602	4.10%	–
	Liberal	Michael J. McCormick	1,237	3.16%	–
	Independent	M.V. Anderson	1,233	3.15%	–
	Social Credit	George M. Whicher	1,091	2.79%	–
	Liberal	Loftus Dudley Ward	949	2.43%	–
	Independent Social Credit	A.P. van Buren	737	1.88%	–
	Independent	Mrs. Edwina Milvain	578	1.48%	–
	Independent Social Credit	Art Larsen	563	1.44%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George Ellinson	539	1.38%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George R. Austin	518	1.32%	–
	Labor–Progressive	Terry Levis	516	1.32%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	W. Orr	442	1.13%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Mrs. Mary A. Hart	243	0.62%	–
Total			39,101	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			2,359	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			76,939	53.98%	-11.02%
Source(s) Source: "Calgary Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Note: Five seats were awarded in the Calgary Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 6,520.

1952

v t e 1952 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	6,796	16.31%	5,967
	Social Credit	Howard B. Macdonald	4,214	10.11%	5,957
	Social Credit	Frederick C. Colborne	3,974	9.54%	5,959
	Conservative	Paul Brecken	3,126	7.50%	6,269
	Independent Labour	Donald Fraser McIntosh	2,927	7.02%	–
	Social Credit	Thomas Glen	2,820	6.77%	–
	Liberal	Hugh John MacDonald	2,711	6.51%	5,216
	Social Credit	Arthur J. Dixon	2,677	6.42%	5,966
	Social Credit	Clifford Norman Clark	2,390	5.74%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Aylmer J. E. Liesemer	1,991	4.78%	–
	Conservative	Philip P. C. Haigh	905	2.17%	–
	Liberal	Melvin E. Shannon	857	2.06%	–
	Conservative	John James Zubick	806	1.93%	–
	Conservative	W. R. Irwin	764	1.83%	–
	Conservative	Ronald M. Helmer	670	1.61%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Robert T. Alderman	633	1.52%	–
	Liberal	Alberta Clark	563	1.35%	–
	Liberal	Collier Maberley	555	1.33%	–
	Labour	W. Longridge	527	1.26%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	George E. Ellinson	378	0.91%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	H. J. Ryan	333	0.80%	–
	Liberal	Richard Thomson	313	0.75%	–
	Liberal	J. A. Murray Green	287	0.69%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harold L. Livegant	243	0.58%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Ronald W. Stirling	213	0.51%	–
Total			41,673	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			1,694	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			91,289	47.51%	-7.47%
Source(s) Source: "Calgary Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Note: Six seats were awarded in the Calgary Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 5,953. A total of 18 counts occurred.

1955

v t e 1955 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count
	Conservative	Arthur Ryan Smith	9,745	15.59%	8,940
	Liberal	Hugh John MacDonald	7,501	12.00%	8,932
	Social Credit	Frederick C. Colborne	5,470	8.75%	8,931
	Conservative	Paul Brecken	5,034	8.06%	–
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	4,973	7.96%	8,930
	Social Credit	Arthur J. Dixon	4,566	7.31%	7,698
	Social Credit	Howard B. MacDonald	4,423	7.08%	–
	Liberal	Grant MacEwan	4,019	6.43%	8,338
	Liberal	V. A. Cooney	2,536	4.06%	–
	Social Credit	Ian F. Smith	2,290	3.66%	–
	Social Credit	C. M. Willmott	1,745	2.79%	–
	Social Credit	E. R. A. Temple	1,715	2.74%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	G. E. Ellinson	1,277	2.04%	–
	Liberal	Mary Dover	1,201	1.92%	–
	Liberal	Harold Cush	1,065	1.70%	–
	Liberal	Collier Maberley	1,025	1.64%	–
	Conservative	Roy V. Devell	927	1.48%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Herbert J. Ryan	648	1.04%	–
	Labor–Progressive	A.L. Roberts	579	0.93%	–
	Conservative	P. P. C. Haigh	577	0.92%	–
	Independent	Arthur H. Wray	471	0.75%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	K. A. Halliday	462	0.74%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Paul J. Katzalay	245	0.39%	–
Total			62,494	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			2,166	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			106,609	60.65%	+13.15%
Source(s) Source: "Calgary Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Note: Six seats were awarded in the Calgary Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 8,890. A total of 10 counts occurred.

1957 by-election

October 2, 1957 by-election results[15]			Turnout 34.37%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest Watkins	17,565	43.69%		*
	Social Credit	Samuel Helman	15,010	37.33%		*
	Labor	Frank Bodie	3,916	9.74%	*
	Liberal	Reginald McCollough	3,023	7.52%		*
	Independent	Cliff Harris	693	1.72%	*
Total			40,207	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
117,000 eligible electors
	Progressive Conservative hold				Swing ?%

The October 1957 by-election held on October 2, 1957 was the last election held in the Calgary electoral district before it was officially split in 1959. This was the first election province wide since Single Transferable Vote was implemented in 1924 that First Past the Post was put to use.^[24] The changes were implemented in 1956 in An Act Representing Members of the Legislative Assembly.^[25]

The election was called after Progressive Conservative incumbent, Arthur Ryan Smith resigned to run in the 1957 Canadian federal election.^[26]

Five candidates offered themselves in the election.^[15] Social Credit ran high-profile lawyer Samuel Helman. During the campaign Premier Ernest Manning promised to promote Helman to Attorney General as soon as he was elected to the district.^[27] The Progressive Conservatives ran lawyer Ernest Watkins, who had arrived from England in 1952. Rounding out the field was Frank Bodie who ran on a Labor banner. Liberal candidate Reginald McCollough and Independent Cliff Harris who was running in the election to protest Alberta's liquor laws in force at the time.^[27]

The election proved to be low turnout with 35% of 117,000 eligible voters casting ballots in the election. Advanced turnout was very quiet with just 148 votes being cast. Ernest Watkins won with 43% of the vote and held the seat for his party. The race turned out to be a primarily two-way race, with the other three candidates finishing well back.^[27]

Plebiscite district results

1948 electrification plebiscite

District results from the 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?
26,325     69.63%	11,478     30.37%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Calgary[28]
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	47,382	77.41%
	No	13,830	22.59%
Total votes		61,212	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		391
114,986 eligible electors, turnout 53.57%
Question B1: Should mixed drinking be allowed in beer parlours in Calgary and the surrounding areas?
Ballot choice		Votes	%
	Yes	49,669	81.12%
	No	11,561	18.88%
Total votes		61,230	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		379
114,986 eligible electors, turnout 53.58%

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.^[29]

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.^[28] Question B was slightly modified depending on which city the voters were in.^[28]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Calgary voted overwhelmingly in favour of the plebiscite posting a super majority for the yes side. The district recorded a strong voter turnout, well above the province wide average of 46%.^[28]

Calgary also voted on question B1 to decide the issue of allowing men and women to drink together within the corporate limits of Calgary. Like question A, city residents also voted for mixed drinking with a super majority. Oddly question B1 experienced a slightly higher voter turnout than question A.^[28]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[28] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding.^[30] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[31]

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.^[32]

See also

• List of Alberta provincial electoral districts
• Canadian provincial electoral districts