Smoky River (electoral district)

Smoky River was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 1971 to 1993.[1]

Smoky River
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1971
District abolished1993
First contested1971
Last contested1989

History

edit

Boundary history

edit

The riding was created from the western part of Grouard and the eastern part of Grande Prairie in 1971. It included the communities of Valleyview and Falher. The Smoky River, which it was named after, formed most of its western boundary.

For the 1986 election, the western boundary of Smoky River was extended westward to the city limits of Grande Prairie, now including the communities of Sexsmith and Clairmont. It was abolished in 1993, with most of the riding (including Valleyview and Sexsmith) becoming part of Grande Prairie-Smoky and the northern part (including Falher) going to Dunvegan.

Representation history

edit
Members of the Legislative Assembly for Smoky River
AssemblyYearsMemberParty
See Grande Prairie 1930-1971 and Grouard 1913-1971
17th1971–1975Marvin MooreProgressive Conservative
18th1975–1979
19th1979–1982
20th1982–1986
21st1986–1989
22nd1989–1993Walter Paszkowski
See Grande Prairie-Smoky after 1993 and Dunvegan 1993-2004

Smoky River was held by the Progressive Conservatives for the duration of its existence, and for all but one term, by Marvin Moore. Narrowly elected over his NDP rival when the district was created in 1971, he received consistent support thereafter. He served in several cabinet positions under Peter Lougheed and Don Getty.

When Moore decided to retire, the district was won by PC Walter Paszkowski in 1989. Smoky River was abolished at the end of his first term, but he would go on to serve as MLA for its successor riding, Grande Prairie-Smoky, and serve in the cabinet of Ralph Klein.

Election results

edit

1970s

edit
1971 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Progressive ConservativeMarvin Moore2,25438.00%
New DemocraticVictor Tardif2,07434.96%
Social CreditBernard Lamoureux1,60427.04%
Total valid votes[2]5,932
Rejected, spoiled and declined35
Electors / Turnout7,68277.68%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
1975 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeMarvin Moore3,44660.56%+22.56%
New DemocraticVictor Tardif1,77831.25%-3.71%
Social CreditAlbert Omundson3476.10%-20.94%
LiberalJohn Hinks1192.09%
Total valid votes5,690
Rejected, spoiled and declined21
Electors / Turnout7,60675.09% -2.59%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing+13.14%
1979 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeMarvin Moore3,03251.89%-8.67%
New DemocraticAnne Hemmingway1,74329.83%-1.42%
Social CreditBernard Lamoureux85414.62%+8.52%
LiberalStephen Marchand2144.12%+2.03%
Total valid votes5,843
Rejected, spoiled and declined5
Electors / Turnout8,56368.29% -11.20%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing-3.63%

1980s

edit
1982 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeMarvin Moore3,95058.06%+6.17%
New DemocraticAnne Hemmingway1,53722.59%-7.24%
Western Canada ConceptAndrew Blum1,31619.34%
Total valid votes6,803
Rejected, spoiled and declined32
Electors / Turnout8,89576.84% +8.55%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing+6.71%
1986 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeMarvin Moore4,79364.91%+6.85%
New DemocraticMartin Cree1,54620.94%-1.65%
RepresentativeConrad LeBlanc77310.47%
LiberalColin Nash2723.68%
Total valid votes7,384
Rejected, spoiled and declined26
Electors / Turnout12,29160.29% -16.55%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing+4.25%
1989 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeWalter Paszkowski3,57550.88%-14.03%
New DemocraticBill Termeer1,72124.49%+3.55%
LiberalDuane Dutka1,39819.90%+16.22%
Social CreditRoy Housworth3324.73%
Total valid votes7,026
Rejected, spoiled and declined8
Electors / Turnout12,16957.80% -2.49%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing-8.79%

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Election results for Smoky River". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Alberta's Political History: Smoky River Results". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Further reading

edit
edit