West Yellowhead is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 current riding's mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.
The district was created in the 1986 boundary redistribution from most of the old Edson electoral district. It is primarily rural and exists in north-western Alberta. The largest communities in the constituency are Edson, Hinton and Jasper.
The district in its early history was a swing riding changing party hands often. Recently support has gone to electing candidates from the Progressive Conservatives who have held the district with sizable majorities since 1997. The current representative is New Democrat Eric Rosendahl who was first elected in the 2015 provincial election.
History
The electoral district was created in the 1985 boundary redistribution from the old electoral district of Edson. Since it was created the district has remained almost unchanged. The 2010 boundary redistribution did not change the riding from 2003.[1]
Boundary history
81 West Yellowhead 2003 Boundaries[2] |
Bordering Districts |
North |
East |
West |
South |
Grande Prairie-Smoky and Grande Prairie-Wapiti |
Drayton Valley-Calmar and Whitecourt-Ste. Anne |
British Columbia boundary |
Rocky Mountain House |
riding map goes here |
|
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act. |
Starting at the intersection of the west boundary of the Province and the north boundary of Twp. 58; then 1. east along the north boundary to the left bank of the Smoky River; 2. downstream along the left bank to its most westerly intersection with the north boundary of Twp. 62; 3. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 25 W5; 4. south along the east boundary to the right bank of the Berland River; 5. downstream along the right bank of the Berland River to the right bank of the Athabasca River; 6. downstream along the right bank of the Athabasca River to the east boundary of Rge. 19 W5; 7. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 58; 8. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 18 W5; 9. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 57; 10. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 16 W5; 11. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 47; 12. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 15 W5; 13. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 44; 14. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 19 W5; 15. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 43; 16. west along the north boundary to the right bank of the Brazeau River; 17. upstream along the right bank to the Jasper National Park boundary; 18. in a generally southwesterly direction along the park boundary to the Alberta-British Columbia boundary; 19. in a generally northwesterly direction along the boundary to the starting point. |
Note: |
Electoral history
The electoral district was created in the 1986 general election. The first election held that year saw a tight race between incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Ian Reid who had previously represented the Edson electoral district and New Democrat candidate Phil Oakes. Reid barely hung onto win to pick up the new district for his party.
The 1989 election would see Reid defeated by New Democrat candidate Jerry Doyle in another close race. Doyle would only last a single term in office as he was defeated by Liberal candidate Duco Van Binsbergen in the 1993 general election.
The Progressive Conservatives would regain the seat in the 1997 general election as candidate Ivan Strang defeated Van Binsbergen. Strang was re-elected in the 2001 election with a solid majority. He won a third term in the 2004 general election taking less than half the popular vote but winning a comfortable plurality over the opposition candidates which polled an evenly dived vote. He would retire from office in 2008.
Progressive Conservative Robin Campbell was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. Campbell lost to Eric Rosendahl of the New Democratic Party when the NDP were voted into government on May 4, 2015. [4]
Legislature results
1986 general election
1989 general election
1993 general election
1997 general election
2001 general election
2004 general election
2008 general election
2012 general election
2015 general election
Senate nominee results
2004 Senate nominee election district results
2004 Senate nominee election results: West Yellowhead[11] |
Turnout 46.49% |
Affiliation |
Candidate |
Votes |
% Votes |
% Ballots |
Rank |
|
Progressive Conservative | Cliff Breitkreuz | 4,004 | 20.24% | 59.57% | 3 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Betty Unger | 2,758 | 13.94% | 41.03% | 2 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Bert Brown | 2,125 | 10.74% | 31.61% | 1 |
|
Independent |
Link Byfield |
2,025 |
10.23% |
30.13% |
4 |
|
Progressive Conservative | David Usherwood | 1,628 | 8.23% | 24.22% | 6 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Michael Roth |
1,540 |
7.78% |
22.91% |
7 |
|
Progressive Conservative | Jim Silye | 1,506 | 7.61% | 22.40% | 5 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Gary Horan |
1,434 |
7.25% |
21.33% |
10 |
|
Alberta Alliance |
Vance Gough |
1,415 |
7.15% |
21.05% |
8 |
|
Independent |
Tom Sindlinger |
1,352 |
6.83% |
20.11% |
9 |
Total Votes |
19,787 |
100% |
Total Ballots |
6,722 |
2.94 Votes Per Ballot |
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined |
1,510 |
Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot
Student Vote results
2004 election
Participating Schools[12] |
Crescent Valley School |
Ecole Mountain View School |
Gerard Redmond Community Catholic School |
Harry Collinge High School |
Holy Redeemer Catholic Jr/Sr High School |
Parkland Composite High School |
Pine Grove Middle School |
Yellowhead Koinonia Christian School |
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.
2012 election
References
- 1 2 "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta" (PDF). Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission. June 2010. p. 22. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ↑ "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. p. 74.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/elections/alberta-votes/alberta-election-2015-results-ndp-wave-sweeps-across-province-in-historic-win-1.3062605
- ↑ "West Yellowhead results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
- ↑ "West Yellowhead results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
- ↑ "West Yellowhead results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
- ↑ "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ↑ "West Yellowhead Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ↑ "West Yellowhead Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ↑ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ↑ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- ↑ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
- ↑ "West Yellowhead". Student Vote Canada. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
External links