Ponoka (provincial electoral district)

Ponoka was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Alberta represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1986.

History

The electoral district was created during the creation of the province and used from the 1905 Alberta general election. The district was redrawn frequently over the years but had remained largely a thin slice in central Alberta. The district was re-distributed in the 1986 Alberta general election and became Ponoka-Rimbey.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

	Name	Party	Elected	Left Office
	John R. McLeod	Liberal	1905	1909
	William A. Campbell	Liberal	1909	1917
	Charles Cunningham	Conservative	1917	1921
	Percival Baker	United Farmers	1921	1921
	vacant		1921	1921
	John Edward Brownlee	United Farmers	1921	1935
	Edith Rogers	Social Credit	1935	1940
	Percy McKelvey	Independent	1940	1944
	Ora Moore	Social Credit	1944	1952
	Glen Johnston	Social Credit	1952	1967
	Neville Roper	Social Credit	1967	1971
	Don McCrimmon	Progressive Conservative	1971	1982
	Halvar Jonson	Progressive Conservative	1982	1986

Partial election results

1905 Alberta general election results[1]			Turnout Unknown
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John R. McLeod	375	58.59%
	Conservative	John A. Jackson	265	41.41%
Total			640	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			Unknown
Returning Officer[2]			William Alexander Campbell

Alberta provincial by-election, 1921
Party		Candidate	Votes
	United Farmers	John Edward Brownlee	Acclaimed
Source: Mardon 107

Alberta general election, 1926
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	United Farmers	John Edward Brownlee	1,357	62.9%
	Liberal	Marcus Crandell	453	21.0%
	Conservative	Arthur Beaumont	347	16.1%
Source: Mardon 107

Alberta general election, 1930
Party		Candidate	Votes
	United Farmers	John Edward Brownlee	Acclaimed
Source: Mardon 107

Alberta general election, 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Social Credit	Edith Rogers	2,295	59.3%
	United Farmers	John Edward Brownlee	879	22.7%
	Liberal	Robert McLaren	696	18.0%
Turnout				84.8%
Source: "Election results for Ponoka, 1935". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-09-23.

Alberta general election, 1940
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%
	Independent	Percy McKelvey	1,920	43.62%	2,234	52.21%
	Social Credit	Edith Rogers	1,907	43.32%	2,045	47.79%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	C. A. Johnson	575	13.06%
Turnout				74.7%
Source: "Election results for Ponoka, 1940". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-09-23.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Ponoka[3]
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	1,500	53.96%
	Yes	1,280	46.04%
Total Votes		2,780	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		53
6,317 Eligible Electors, Turnout 44.88%

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.^[4]

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.^[3]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Ponoka voted against the proposal by a comfortable margin. The voter turnout in the district was just slightly below the province wide average of 46%.^[3]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[3] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.^[5] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[6]

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the Plebiscite such as Ponoka 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.^[7]

References

1. "Ponoka Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
2. "Territories Elections Ordinance; Province of Alberta". Vol VI No. 12 (The Rocky Mountain Echo). October 30, 1905. p. 4.
3. Alberta Gazette 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249.
4. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273 (The Lethbridge Herald). October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
5. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267 (The Lethbridge Herald). October 24, 1957. p. 1.
6. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72 (The Lethbridge Herald). March 5, 1968. p. 1.
7. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

External links

• The Legislative Assembly of Alberta