Red Deer (provincial electoral district)

Red Deer was a provincial electoral district representing the city of Red Deer, Alberta in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1986. The district was split into Red Deer North and Red Deer South in 1986.

For most of the districts history, it was a swing riding, with no party being able win with a second representative until the Progressive Conservatives in the 1970s.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

	Name	Party	Elected	Left Office	John T. Moore	Liberal	1905	1909	Edward Michener	Independent	1909	1910	Conservative	1910	1918	John Gaetz	Liberal	1918	1921
	George Wilbert Smith	United Farmers	1921	1931	William Ernest Payne	Conservative	1931	1935
	Alfred Hooke	Social Credit	1935	1940	Alfred Speakman	Independent	1940	1943
	David A. Ure	Social Credit	1943	1954	William Cameron Kirby	Conservative	1954 (elected in a by-election)	1959
	William Ure	Social Credit	1959	1971	James Foster	Progressive Conservative	1971	1979	Norman Magee	Progressive Conservative	1979	1982	Jim McPherson	Progressive Conservative	1982	1986

Election results

1905 general election

Returning Officer
Frank L. Farley

1905 Alberta general election results			Turnout Unknown
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Liberal	John T. Moore	524	48.03%	Conservative	Leonard Gaetz	479	43.90%	Independent	Alexander McKenzie	88	8.07%
Total			1,091	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			8

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election						Turnout %Turnout %
Affiliation		Candidate	1st	%	Votes	%	Count	Independent	Alfred Speakman	2,760	36.99%	2,354	42.80%	2nd	Social Credit	J.H. McCulloch	2,110	38.23%	1,368	24.78%	Independent Progressive	Alban MacLellan	971	57.20%	2nd	Eliminated 2nd
Valid Ballots			5,814	100%	3,722	100%
Exhausted Ballots					2,092	2 Counts

1943 by-election

December 18, 1943 by-election						Turnout %
Affiliation		Candidate	1st	%	Votes	%	Count	Social Credit	David Ure	2,110	38.23%	2,539	57.20%	2nd	Independent	Wilfred J. Edgar	2,042	36.99%	2,354	42.80%	2nd	Cooperative Commonwealth	E.P. Johns	1,368	24.78%	Eliminated 2nd
Valid Ballots			5,520	100%	4,839	100%
Exhausted Ballots					627	2 Counts

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Grande Prairie
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	3,565	56.88%
	No	2,703	43.12%
Total Votes		6,268	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		80
14,151 Eligible Electors, Turnout 44.86%

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.

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.

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Red Deer voted in favour of the proposal with a solid majority. Voter turnout in the district was slightly under the province wide average of 46%.

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

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.