Cardston (provincial electoral district)

Cardston was a provincial electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada. The riding was created in when Alberta first became a province in 1905.

The riding has always occupied the most southern portion of the province along the Canada / United States border. In 1993 the borders of the riding of Pincher Creek-Crowsnest shifted south into Cardston, and the riding was renamed Cardston-Chief Mountain.

The riding was named after the town of Cardston and this region is considered one of the most conservative in the province.

Boundary history

(2) Cardston 1905 Boundaries
Bordering Districts
North	East	West	South
Lethbridge	Medicine Hat	Macleod, Pincher Creek	None
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here
Legal description from An Act to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Alberta 1905.
The electoral division of Cardston, bounded as follows:– Commencing at the southern boundary of the said province of Alberta where it is intersected by the meridian between the 10th and 11th ranges, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the said meridian between the I 0th and 11 th ranges to the north boundary of the 5th township; thence westerly along the north boundary of the 5th township to the St. Mary river; thence along the St. Mary river up stream to the south boundary of the Blood Indian Reserve; thence westerly along the said south boundary of the Blood Indian Reserve to the meridian between the 27th and 28th ranges west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said meridian between the 27th and 28th ranges to the north boundary of the 2nd township; thence westerly along the north boundary of the 2nd townships to the meridian between the 29th and 30th ranges west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said meridian between the 29th and 30th ranges to the southern shore of the Waterton Lakes; thence in a westerly and southerly direction and following the southerly and eastern shores of the said Waterton Lakes; thence in a westerly and southerly direction and following the southerly and eastern shores of the said Waterton Lakes to the southern boundary of the said province of Alberta; thence easterly along the said southern boundary of the province of Alberta to the point of commencement.
Note: Original electoral boundaries

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

	Name	Party	Elected	Left Office
	John William Woolf	Liberal	1905	1912
	Martin Woolf	Liberal	1912	1921
	George Stringam	United Farmers	1921	1935
	Nathan Eldon Tanner	Social Credit	1935	1952
	Edgar Hinman	Social Credit	1952	1967
	Alvin Bullock	Social Credit	1952	1967
	Edgar Hinman	Social Credit	1971	1975
	John Thompson	Progressive Conservative	1975	1986
	Jack Ady	Progressive Conservative	1986	1993

Election results

1905 general election

1905 Alberta general election results			Turnout Unknown
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John William Woolf	480	69.57%
	Conservative	John Parrish	210	30.43%
Total			690	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			Unknown

Cardston electoral district was created in 1905 when Alberta became a province. The electoral district replaced the previous Cardston territorial electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1902 to 1905.

The 1905 election was between Liberal candidate John William Woolf and Conservative candidate John Parrish. Woolf was well known rancher and politician in the area. He had served as the district representative in the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1902 to 1905. Woolf also served briefly on the local government as a municipal councilor in the town of Cardston. Woolf won the district on election day easily defeating Parish with a landslide taking nearly 70% of the popular vote.

1967 - 1989

Party	1989	1986	1982	1979	1975	1971	1967
Liberal	Beth Wendorff 667			Paul Shaw 115
Progressive Conservatives	Jack Ady 3,483	Jack Ady 2,679	John Thompson 3,738	John Thompson 2,832	John Thompson 2,899	Larry Lang 2,392	Larry Lang 1,692
Social Credit	Adam Hauch 529	Ernest Master 989		Broyce Jacobs 2,196	Roy Spackman 1,826	Edgar Hinman 2,831	Alvin Bullock 2,120
N.D.P.	Don Ferguson 517	Cynthia Cunningham 389	Leslie Howard 250	Rosemarie Buchannan 102	Kelty Paul 115		Leslie Howard 104
Western Canada Concept			Steve Pinchak 2,309
Independent		Steve Pinchak 1,376					Robert Burt 573

1935 - 1963

Party	1963	1959	1955	1952	1948	1940	1935
Liberal	John Webster 1,035		John Webster 985	Gordon Gregson 630	Briant Stringam 944		D.O. Wight 471
Progressive Conservative		John Spencer 791
Social Credit	Edgar Hinman 2,527	Edgar Hinman 2,205	Edgar Hinman 1,813	Edgar Hinman 2,011	Nathan Eldon Tanner 1,981	Nathan Eldon Tanner 2,160	Nathan Eldon Tanner 2,027
United Farmers							George Stringam 565
NDP	Colin Holt 150
Independent						S.H. Nelson 1,808

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election results			Turnout 72.21%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Social Credit	Nathan Eldon Tanner	2,104	64.44%
	Independent	William Matson	592	18.13%
	Cooperative Commonwealth	Edward Leavitt	569	17.43%
Total			3,265	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			20

1905 - 1930

Party	1930	1926	1921	1917	1913	1912	1909
Liberal	R. Christie 825	W.H. Caldwell 598	Martin Woolf 615	Martin Woolf 972	Martin Woolf 518	Martin Woolf 671	John William Woolf 521
Conservative		J.Y. Card 480		W.G. Smith 752	C. Jensen 479	John Parrish 532	Levi Harker 386
United Farmers	George Stringam 1,364	George Stringam 1,328	George Stringam 1,340

Plebiscite results

1948 Electrification Plebiscite

District results from the first 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?
1,268     46.00%	1,488     54.00%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Cardston
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	%
	No	1,786	79.06%
	Yes	473	20.94%
Total Votes		2,259	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		13
4,296 Eligible Electors, Turnout 52.89%%

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. Cardston recorded the strongest vote in the province against the proposal, this was likely due to the strong Mormon communities in the district. The district also recorded a strong voter turnout. It was well above 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 such as Cardston 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.

External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta