Peace River (provincial electoral district)

Peace River

Alberta electoral district
2004 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA	Debbie Jabbour New Democratic
District created	1905
First contested	1905
Last contested	2015

Peace River is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The district used single transferable vote from 1926 to 1957.

The electoral district was created in 1905 and contains the area in the most northwestern parts of Alberta, Canada along the Alberta, British Columbia and Northwest Territories border. In recent years, the district has been a Progressive Conservative stronghold, but candidates from every governing party have held this district since it was created. In 2015, the constituency elected NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour. Incorporated towns include Peace River, High Level, Manning and Rainbow Lake. Ft. Vermillion and La Crete also have significant population.

History

The electoral district was established when the province was created in 1905. The district boundaries have been revised many times over the last century but have still consisted of a vast rural swath of North West Alberta.

The 2010 boundary redistribution saw the district gain a portion of land that belongs to the Municipal District of Northern Lights that was in the old Dunvegan-Central Peace district.^[1]

Boundary history

70 Peace River 2003 Boundaries[2]
Bordering Districts
North	East	West	South
none	Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo	none	Dunvegan-Central Peace, Lesser Slave Lake
riding map goes here
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.
Starting at the northwest corner of the Province; then 1. east along the north boundary of the Province to the west boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park; 2. south, east and south along the park boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 112 at the 5th meridian; 3. east along the north boundary of Twp. 112 to the east boundary of Rge. 23 W4; 4. south along the east boundary of Rge. 23 W4 to the north boundary of Twp. 111; 5. west along the north boundary of Twp. 111 to the 5th Meridian; 6. south along the 5th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 105; 7. west along the north boundary of Twp. 105 to the east boundary of Rge. 12 W5; 8. south along the east boundary of Rge. 12 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 96; 9. west along the north boundary of Twp. 96 to the east boundary of Rge. 18 W5; 10. south along the east boundary of Rge. 18 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 79; 11. west along the north boundary of Twp. 79 to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5; 12. north along the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5 to the north boundary of Sec. 13, Twp. 80, Rge. 20 W5; 13. west along the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in Rges. 20 W5 and 21 W5 to the east boundary of Rge. 22 W5; 14. north along the east boundary of Rge. 22 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 80; 15. west along the north boundary of Twp. 80 to the right bank of the Smoky River; 16. downstream along the right bank of the Smoky River to the intersection with the right bank of the Peace River; 17. upstream along the right bank of the Peace River to the intersection with the north boundary of Twp. 82; 18. west along the north boundary of Twp. 82 to the east boundary of Rge. 23 W5; 19. north along the east boundary of Rge. 23 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 83; 20. west along the north boundary of Twp. 83 to the 6th meridian; 21. north along the 6th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 85; 22. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 2 W6; 23. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 96; 24. east along the north boundary to the 6th meridian; 25. north along the 6th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 104; 26. west along the north boundary to the west boundary of the Province; 27. north along the west boundary of the Province to the starting point.
Note:

74 Peace River 2010 Boundaries
Bordering Districts
North	East	West	South
Northwest Territories boundary	Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo and Lesser Slave Lake	British Columbia boundary	Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.
Note:

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Peace River[3]
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
1st	1905		Lucien Dubuc	Independent	Member elect
	1905–1906		Vacant
	1906–1909		Thomas Brick	Independent Liberal
2nd	1909–1913		James Cornwall	Liberal
3rd	1913–1917		Alphaeus Patterson	Conservative
4th	1917–1921		William Rae	Liberal
5th	1921		Donald Kennedy	United Farmers
	1921		Vacant
	1921–1926		Herbert Greenfield	United Farmers
6th	1926–1930	Hugh Allen
7th	1930–1935	William Bailey
8th	1935–1940		William Lampley	Social Credit
9th	1940–1944		Eld Martin	Independent
10th	1944–1948		William Gilliland	Social Credit
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1955
13th	1955–1959
14th	1959–1961
	1961		Vacant
	1961–1963		Euell Montgomery	Social Credit
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971	Robert Wiebe
17th	1971–1975		Al Adair	Progressive Conservative
18th	1975–1979
19th	1979–1982
20th	1982–1986
21st	1986–1989
22nd	1989–1993
23rd	1993–1997	Gary Friedel
24th	1997–2001
25th	2001–2004
26th	2004–2008	Frank Oberle
27th	2008–2012
28th	2012–2015
29th	2015–present		Debbie Jabbour	New Democratic

The electoral district was created in 1905 when the province was founded. The first election held that year was a two way race between Liberal candidate James Cornwall and Independent candidate Lucien Dubuc. Both were supporters of the Rutherford government.

The election results took weeks to come back. The results of the election were never released to the public and they were overturned by the cabinet due to significant irregularities and the riding was declared vacant. Dubuc who had won decided not to run again, but instead challenged the calling of a new election in court.

Dubuc failed in court and a new election was held on February 15, 1906. Thomas Brick an Independent Liberal who was encouraged to run by local farmers won with a landslide over Cornwall. Brick only held the district for a single term. He was initially going to run for a second term but dropped out during the campaign in 1909. Cornwall would being the only candidate in the race was acclaimed.

Cornwall only held the district for a single term. Near the end of the 3rd Legislative Assembly, Cornwall announced his retirement saying he was through with politics. He had been the subject of investigation in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal that rocked the Rutherford government.

The lands in the Peace River district experienced a great influx of settlers during this period. The 1913 election would be hotly contested with Conservative Alphaeus Patterson defeating future MLA William Rae and former Athabasca MLA William Bredin.

Rae would pickup the district in 1917 after Patterson retired. He would hold the district until he was defeated in 1921 by United Farmers candidate Donald Kennedy. Kennedy resigned his seat very quickly so that Premier Herbert Greenfield could have a seat in the legislature. Greenfield only represented the district for a single term. His replacement was United Farmers candidate Hugh Allen.

Allen only served for a single term retiring in 1930. The United Farmers chose William Bailey as his replacement. Bailey served from 1930 until he was defeated by Social Credit candidate William Lampley in the 1935 general election.

Lampley served until 1940 when he was defeated by Independent Eld Martin. Martin also served a single term before Social Credit candidate William Gilliland defeated him in the 1944 election.

Gilliland held the district for a number of terms. He was re-elected in 1948, 1952, 1955 and 1959. He died on October 26, 1961 leaving the seat vacant.

The by-election held that year was won by Social Credit candidate Euell Montgomery. He held the district for three terms winning re-election in 1963 before retiring in 1967. The last Social Credit member to hold the riding was Robert Wiebe elected in 1967.

The 1971 election saw Wiebe defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Al Adair. Adair held the district for six terms being re-elected in 1975, 1979, 1982, 1986 and again in 1989. The Progressive Conservative dominance over Peace River continued as candidate Gary Friedel won the district in 1993 he lasted two more terms winning in 1997 and 2001 before retiring in 2004.

In 2004, Progressive Conservative Frank Oberle was elected to represent Peace River. He was re-elected to a second term in 2008, and served as the province's Energy Minister.

In 2015, a close race saw NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour defeat Oberle by a mere 282 votes. Jabbour was subsequently also elected as Deputy Speaker of the province, and is the current representative for Peace River.

Legislature results

1905 general election

1905 Alberta general election results			Turnout Unknown
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Lucien Dubuc	?	?%
	Liberal	James Cornwall	?	?%
Total			?	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			Unknown

The first election held in 1905 in the Peace River electoral district took place on November 9, 1905 with the rest of the province.^[4]

The race was contested by James Cornwall who was a fur trader and business man well known in northern Canada. He established trading posts all over north county. Cornwall's candidacy was officially endorsed by the provincial Liberals.^[4]

The other candidate in the race was Independent Lucien Dubuc. He was a lawyer and later became a judge and was a legal pioneer in Alberta's history. Dubuc despite being independent supported the government of Premier Alexander Rutherford.^[4]

Pundits had expected Cornwall to win the district easily.^[4] The returns came back 56 days after polls had closed as returning officer George Mcleod had to travel 1,100 miles to pick up the ballot boxes before returning to Edmonton.^[5]

Dubuc was elected but the cabinet refused to recognize the results on the grounds that a proper election was never really held and returns were incomplete as polling stations were missed.^[6] A new election was called for February 15, 1906 instead.^[7] Dubuc challenged the calling of a new election in court.^[8] The case was lost when the judge ruled that the courts have no jurisdiction in dealing with matters regarding elections and that responsibility is the purview of the Legislature.^[9]

1906 by-election

February 15, 1906 by-election results[10]			Turnout Unknown		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Independent Liberal	Thomas Brick	125	79.11%	*
	Liberal	James Cornwall	33	20.89%	*
Total			158
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			Unknown	%
	Independent Liberal pickup new district				Swing N/A

The provincial cabinet which overturned the 1905 election results due to significant irregularities issued a new writ for February 15, 1906.^[7]

The candidates in the race were James Cornwall, who was the official Liberal candidate. He decided to run for office a second time. The second candidate in the race was Peace River resident, fur trader Thomas Allen Brick who was a supporter of the Rutherford government and ran as an Independent Liberal.^[11]

Brick was nominated by a large group of residents living in the town of Peace River. asked resident Thomas Allen Brick, a local farmer to run for office and represent them in Edmonton^[12] The returns were announced by returning officer George McLeod on March 5, 1906.^[13] Brick had won easily taking almost 80% of the 158 votes cast to defeat Cornwall in a landslide.^[10]

The results were certified on April 24, 1906 by the Clerk of the Executive Council in Edmonton two months after the start of the opening session of the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly thus completing the 1905 general election.^[14]

1909 general election

1909 Alberta general election results[15]
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James Cornwall	Acclaimed
Unknown Eligible Electors
	Liberal pickup from Independent Liberal

The 1909 general election in the Peace River district was scheduled to take place on July 7, 1909. The only other riding in the province that had not yet voted was the Athabasca electoral district which was scheduled to vote on July 15, 1909. This was almost five months after the rest of the province had voted.^[16]

The two candidates initially in the race was incumbent Independent Liberal Thomas Brick and Liberal James Cornwall, who had run in the district twice before. Brick decided however to drop out of the race before the nomination deadline. Cornwall was the only candidate left in the race. He was acclaimed to office on June 30, 1909.^[17]

1913 general election

1913 Alberta general election results[18]			Turnout 82.25%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Conservative	Alphaeus Patterson	475	49.53%	*
	Liberal	William Rae	437	45.57%	*
	Independent Liberal	William Bredin	47	4.90%	*
Total			959
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			1,166	%
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		N/A

The 1913 election in the Peace River electoral district took place on September 23, 1913. It was the last district to vote in the general election.^[19]

There were three candidates chosen to run in the district. This was the first election in which the provincial Conservatives nominated a candidate, they chose Alphaeus Patterson to run under their banner.^[19]

The provincial Liberals chose William Archibald Rae a pioneer barrister in the district to run under their banner. Former Member of the Legislative Assembly William Bredin decided to also run as an Independent Liberal. All three candidates were residents in the town of Grande Prairie.^[19]

The election results showed a tight race between Patterson and Rae. Patterson won less than half of the popular vote while Bredin helped split the Liberal vote enough to allow Patterson to win.^[18]

Turn out and interest in the election had gone substantially up, as a wave of settlement had happened in the constituency in recent years.^[19]

1917 general election

1917 Alberta general election results[20]			Turnout Unknown		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Liberal	William Rae	1,994	62.92%	17.35%
	Conservative	Dan Minchin	712	22.47%		-27.06%
	Independent	Harry Adair	463	14.61%
Total			3,169
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			Unknown	%
	Liberal pickup from Conservative				Swing 22.21%

1921 general election

1921 Alberta general election results[21]			Turnout 70.30%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	United Farmers	Donald Kennedy	3,291	62.68%
	Liberal	William Rae	1,336	25.45%	-37.47%
	Independent	E.S. Farr	623	11.87%
Total			5,250
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,468	%
	United Farmers gain from Liberal		Swing		50.08%

1921 by-election

December 9, 1921 by-election results[22]
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes
	United Farmers	Herbert Greenfield	Acclaimed
7,468 Eligible Electors

A series of by-elections were needed after the United Farmers government took power in 1921. The United Farmers caucus chose Herbert Greenfield as the new Premier. Unfortunately he lacked a seat in the legislature.^[23]

Incumbent United Farmers MLA, Donald MacBeth Kennedy resigned his district after only holding it for a few months to pursue a seat in the 1921 Canadian federal election. The only other seat available was Ponoka which had been made vacant by the death of United Farmers MLA Percival Baker. Of the two choices Greenfield chose to run in Peace River.^[23]

Along with this by-election and Ponoka five other ministerial by-elections to confirm cabinet ministers were called for an election day of December 9, 1921. This was set for one week after the 1921 Canadian federal election. The by-election writ was dropped on November 16, 1921.

Greenfield ran unopposed and was acclaimed at the nomination deadline held on December 2, 1921. The timing of the by-elections was deliberately chosen to coincide with the federal election to ensure that opposition candidates would be unlikely to oppose the cabinet ministers.^[23]

1926 general election

1926 Alberta general election results[24]			Turnout 70.89%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	United Farmers	Hugh Allen	2,548	54.87%
	Liberal	Joe McIsaac	1,131	24.35%	*
	Conservative	A.R. McMillan	965	20.78%	*
Total			4,644
Rejected, spoiled and declined			354
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,050	%

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election results[25]			Turnout 47.75%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	United Farmers	William Bailey	1,331	62.61%	7.74%
	Independent	C.W. Frederick	795	37.39%
Total			2,126
Rejected, spoiled and declined			116
Eligible electors / Turnout			4,695	%
	United Farmers hold		Swing		22.57%

1935 general election

1935 Alberta general election results[26]				Turnout 69.65%				1st Count Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	1st	%	2nd	3rd	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Lampley	2,269	45.75%	?	2,474	56.59%	*
	Liberal	E.L. Lamont	1,389	28.00%	?	1,898	43.41%	*
	United Farmers	William Bailey	994	20.04%			-42.57%
	Conservative	G.W. Baldwin	308	6.21%	–	–
Total			4,960	100%		4,372	100%
Exhausted Ballots			0			?
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			269
7,508 Eligible Electors
	Social Credit pickup from United Farmers						1st Count Swing 36.88%

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election results[27]			Turnout 59.99%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Independent	Eld Martin	2,253	51.59%
	Social Credit	William Lampley	2,114	48.41%	0.66%
Total			4,367
Rejected, spoiled and declined			160
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,546	%
	Independent pickup from Social Credit				Swing 26.13%

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election results[28]			Turnout 62.75%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Gilliland	2,503	54.01%	5.60%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J.W. Eastman	940	20.29%	*
	Independent	Eld Martin	806	17.39%	*	-34.20%
	Labor–Progressive	Eleanor Ashworth	385	8.31%	*
Total			4,634
Rejected, spoiled and declined			90
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,528	%
	Social Credit pickup from Independent				Swing 12.95%

1948 general election

1948 Alberta general election results[29]			Turnout 61.34%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Gilliland	3,191	62.48%	8.47%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Albert Bossert	1,087	21.29%	1.00%	*
	Liberal	J.J. Rousseau	829	16.23%	*
Total			5,107
Rejected, spoiled and declined			504
Eligible electors / Turnout			9,147	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing 4.74%

1952 general election

1952 Alberta general election results[30]			Turnout 57.86%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Gilliland	3,352	58.37%	-4.11%
	Liberal	Peter Dechant	1,214	21.14%	4.91%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Samuel Simpson	1,177	20.49%	-0.80%	*
Total			5,743
Rejected, spoiled and declined			470
Eligible electors / Turnout			10,738	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing -4.51%

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election results[31]			Turnout 63.22%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Gilliland	3,456	53.83%	-4.54%
	Liberal	Wilbur Freeland	2,184	34.02%	12.88%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Samuel Simpson	780	12.15%	-8.34%
Total			6,420
Rejected, spoiled and declined			488
Eligible electors / Turnout			10,927	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing -8.71%

1959 general election

1959 Alberta general election results[32]			Turnout 63.84%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	William Gilliland	2,864	60.88%	7.05%
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Sissons	1,190	25.30%
	Liberal	James Mann	650	13.82%	-20.20%
Total			4,704
Rejected, spoiled and declined			19
Eligible electors / Turnout			7,398	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing 16.18%

1961 by-election

October 26, 1961 by-election results[22]			Turnout 62.32%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	Euell Montgomery	2,561	63.22%	2.34%
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Sissons	765	18.88%	-6.42%
	Liberal	Wilbur Freeland	725	17.90%	4.08%
Total			4,051
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			6,500	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing 4.38%

1963 general election

1963 Alberta general election results[33]			Turnout 55.71%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	Euell Montgomery	2,782	60.42%	-2.80%
	Liberal	Victor O'Reilly	980	21.29%	3.39%
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Sissons	842	18.29%	-0.59%
Total			4,604
Rejected, spoiled and declined			8
Eligible electors / Turnout			8,272	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing -3.10%

1967 general election

1967 Alberta general election results[34]			Turnout 54.81%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Social Credit	Robert Wiebe	2,860	53.49%	-6.93%
	New Democratic	Harry Reinders	1,338	25.02%
	Independent	Edward Whitney	1,149	21.49%
Total			5,347
Rejected, spoiled and declined			Unknown
Eligible electors / Turnout			9,756	%
	Social Credit hold				Swing -15.98%

1971 general election

1971 Alberta general election results[35]			Turnout 56.75%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	3,188	50.23%
	Social Credit	Robert Wiebe	2,437	38.40%	-15.09%
	New Democratic	Hans Jorgensen	722	11.37%	-13.65%
Total			6,347
Rejected, spoiled and declined			59
Eligible electors / Turnout			11,289	%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		32.66%

1975 general election

1975 Alberta general election results[36]			Turnout 54.45%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	3,567	61.00%	10.77%
	New Democratic	John Hokanson	1,292	22.09%	10.72%
	Social Credit	Budd Dennis	897	15.34%	-23.06%
	Independent Liberal	Vera Lane	92	1.57%	*
Total			5,848
Rejected, spoiled and declined			23
Eligible electors / Turnout			10,782	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		10.75%

1979 general election

1979 Alberta general election results[37]			Turnout 52.30%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	3,901	59.80%	-1.20%
	New Democratic	Richard Collins	1,604	24.59%	2.50%
	Social Credit	Garry Gaudet	784	12.02%	-3.32%
	Liberal	Donald Freeland	234	3.59%	*
Total			6,523
Rejected, spoiled and declined			4
Eligible electors / Turnout			12,480	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-1.85%

1982 general election

1982 Alberta general election results[38]			Turnout 55.95%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	4,688	56.33%	-3.47%
	Western Canada Concept	Jim Kalman	1,657	19.91%	*
	New Democratic	Richard Collins	1,541	18.52%	-6.07%
	Independent	Joseph Kessler	225	2.70%
	Liberal	Laura Deedza	211	2.54%	-1.05%
Total			8,322
Rejected, spoiled and declined			28
Eligible electors / Turnout			14,924	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-11.69%

1986 general election

1986 Alberta general election results[39]			Turnout 41.89%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	3,775	59.95%	3.62%
	New Democratic	Adele Boucher Rymhs	2,057	32.67%	14.15%
	Representative	Joseph Kessler	291	4.62%	1.92%
	Independent	Anna Pidruchney	174	2.76%
Total			6,297
Rejected, spoiled and declined			15
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,069	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		8.89%

1989 general election

1989 Alberta general election results[40]			Turnout 41.16%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Al Adair	3,749	57.78%	-2.17%
	New Democratic	Adele Boucher Rymhs	1,613	24.86%	-7.81%
	Liberal	Erich Wahl	1,127	17.37%	*
Total			6,489
Rejected, spoiled and declined			17
Eligible electors / Turnout			15,808	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-4.99%

1993 general election

1993 Alberta general election results[41]			Turnout 49.80%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Friedel	3,156	43.38%	-14.40%
	Liberal	Elmer Cardinal	2,402	33.01%	15.64%
	New Democratic	Brian Dewar	1,192	16.38%	-8.48
	Confederation of Regions	Ed Kary	526	7.23%
Total			7,276
Rejected, spoiled and declined			24
Eligible electors / Turnout			14,660	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-15.02%

1997 general election

1997 Alberta general election results[42]			Turnout 36.80%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Friedel	3,745	61.72%	18.34%
	Liberal	Bruce MacKeen	2,323	38.28%	5.27%
Total			6,068
Rejected, spoiled and declined			46
Eligible electors / Turnout			16,613	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		11.81%

2001 general election

2001 Alberta general election results[43]			Turnout 36.42%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Friedel	3,782	64.43%	2.71%
	Liberal	Susan Calihoo	1,544	26.30%	-11.98%
	New Democratic	Steve Crocker	338	5.76%
	Alberta First	John Iftody	206	3.51%
Total			5,870
Rejected, spoiled and declined			22
Eligible electors / Turnout			16,176	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		7.35%

2004 general election

2004 Alberta general election results[44]			Turnout 30.80%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle	2,884	54.90%	-9.53%
	Liberal	Adam Bourque	1,092	20.79%	-5.51%
	New Democratic	Stephen Crocker	546	10.39%	4.63%
	Alberta Alliance	Garry Checknita	537	10.22%
	Social Credit	Patsy Lindberg	194	3.70%
Total			5,253
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			26
Eligible electors / Turnout			17,142	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-7.52%

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election results[45]			Turnout 26.70%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle	3,265	64.63%	9.73%
	New Democratic	Adele Boucher Rymhs	1,248	24.70%	17.31%
	Wildrose Alliance	George Beinert	539	10.67%	0.45%
Total			5,052
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			29
Eligible electors / Turnout			18,921	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		13.52%

2012 general election

Alberta general election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle	4,334	55.67%
	Wildrose	Alan Forsyth	2,213	28.43%
	New Democratic	Wanda Laurin	729	9.36%
	Liberal	Remi Tardif	509	6.54%
Total			7,785

2015 general election

Alberta general election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Debbie Jabbour	3,660	37.7%
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle	3,378	34.8%
	Wildrose	Nathan Steinke	1,979	20.4%
	Alberta Party	Sherry Hilton	685	7.1%
Total			9,702

Senate nominee results

2004 Senate nominee election district results

2004 Senate nominee election results: Peace River[46]					Turnout 30.77%
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	% Votes	% Ballots	Rank
	Progressive Conservative	Betty Unger	2,125	14.84%	48.57%	2
	Progressive Conservative	Bert Brown	1,957	13.67%	44.73%	1
	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Breitkreuz	1,618	11.30%	36.98%	3
	Independent	Link Byfield	1,515	10.58%	34.63%	4
	Progressive Conservative	David Usherwood	1,469	10.26%	33.58%	6
	Progressive Conservative	Jim Silye	1,280	8.94%	29.26%	5
	Alberta Alliance	Michael Roth	1,198	8.37%	27.38%	7
	Alberta Alliance	Vance Gough	1,078	7.53%	24.64%	8
	Alberta Alliance	Gary Horan	1,071	7.47%	24.48%	10
	Independent	Tom Sindlinger	1,009	7.04%	23.06%	9
Total Votes			14,320	100%
Total Ballots			4,375	3.27 Votes Per Ballot
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			899

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

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?
1,914     42.90%	2,547     57.10%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Peace River[47]
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	1,871	68.09%
	No	877	31.91%
Total Votes		2,748	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		14
10,020 Eligible Electors, Turnout 27.57%

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.^[48]

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.^[47]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Peace River overwhelmingly voted in favour of the proposal by a wide margin. Voter turnout in the district was extremely low, almost half the province wide average of 46%.^[47] This decline in turnout was attributed to heavy rains, high winds and flooding conditions in the district that kept people away from polling stations.^[48]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[47] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.^[49] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[50]

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.^[51]

Student Vote results

2004 election

Participating Schools[52]
Blue Hills Community School
Good Shepherd School
Hill Crest Community School
Manning Elementary School
Rosary School
Spirit of the North School
T.A. Norris Jr. High

On November 19, 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta Student Vote results[53]
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle	296	49.50%
	Liberal	Adam Borque	86	14.38%
	NDP	Stephen Crocker	84	14.05%
	Social Credit	Patsy Lindberg	69	11.54%
	Alberta Alliance	Garry Checknita	63	10.53%
Total			598	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			42

2012 election

2012 Alberta Student Vote results
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	100.00%		50.64%
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Oberle		18.53%
	Wildrose	Alan Forsyth		19.72%
	Liberal	Remi Tardif		11.10%
	NDP	Wanda Laurin		11.10%	Total			'	100%

References

1. "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta" (PDF). Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission. June 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
2. "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. pp. 62–63.
3. "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
4. "Attorney-General Cross Has Over Five-Hundred to the Good in Edmonton". Vol. 33 No. 110 (Manitoba Free Press). November 10, 1905. p. 1.
5. "G.T.P. May Take Pine River Pass". Vol 33 No. 202 (Manitoba Free Press). December 23, 1905. p. 12.
6. Brad Stelfox, David Leonard, and Bob Wynes. "The Arrival of Euro-Canadian Homesteaders and the Emergence of an Agricultural Sector" (PDF). DMI. pp. 7–10.
7. "Chips From The Block". Vol 1 No. 18 (The Lethbridge Herald). January 31, 1906. p. 1.
8. "Peace River Election". Vol 33 No. 202 (Manitoba Free Press). February 26, 1906. p. 10.
9. "The Peace River Case". Vol 33. No. 221 (Manitoba Free Press). March 20, 1906. p. 11.
10. "Peace River Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
11. "Local Notes". Vol 33 No. 213 (Manitoba Free Press). March 10, 1906. p. 28.
12. Hunt, Katherine (1984). Peace River remembers : Peace River, Alberta, and adjacent districts. Sir Alexander Mackenzie Historical Society. p. 69.
13. "Brick Elected in Peace River". Vol 1. No. 18 (The Lethbridge Herald). March 8, 1905. p. 1.
14. Alberta Gazette. Queens Printer. April 30, 1906. p. 2.
15. "Peace River Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
16. "To Be Contest For Both Seats" II (138). The Lethbridge Daily Herald. May 14, 1909.
17. "Cornwall Elected". Vol 36 No. 309 (Manitoba Free Press). July 1, 1909. p. 5.
18. "Peace River Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
19. "Ready For Peace River Election". Vol 41 No. 48 (Manitoba Free Press). August 30, 1913. p. 15.
20. "Peace River Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
21. "Peace River Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
22. "By-elections 1905-1973". Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
23. "Provincial By-elections On December 9". Vol XIV No. 285 (The Lethbridge Daily Herald). November 16, 1921. p. 9.
24. "Peace River Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
25. "Peace River Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
26. "Peace River Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
27. "Peace River Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
28. "Peace River Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
29. "Peace River Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
30. "Peace River Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
31. "Peace River Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
32. "Peace River Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
33. "Peace River Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
34. "Peace River Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
35. "Peace River Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
36. "Peace River Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
37. "Peace River Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
38. "Peace River Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
39. "Peace River Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
40. "Peace River Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
41. "Peace River Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
42. "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
43. "Peace River Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
44. "Peace River Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
45. The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 502–507.
46. "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
47. Alberta Gazette 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249.
48. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273 (The Lethbridge Herald). October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
49. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267 (The Lethbridge Herald). October 24, 1957. p. 1.
50. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72 (The Lethbridge Herald). March 5, 1958. p. 1.
51. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.
52. "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
53. "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-19.

External links

• Electoral Divisions Act 2003
• Demographics for Peace River
• Riding Map of Peace River
• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
• Student Vote Alberta 2004