Red Deer (federal electoral district)

According to the 2021 Canadian census^[2]

Languages: 85.7% English, 3.6% Tagalog, 1.7% Spanish, 1.6% French,

Religions: 50.7% Christian (20.0% Catholic, 4.8% United Church, 2.5% Anglican, 2.1% Lutheran, 1.0% Pentecostal, 20.2% Other), 45.0% No religion, 1.9% Muslim

Median income: $43,200 (2020)

Average income: $56,050 (2020)

Panethnic groups in Red Deer (2021)

Panethnic group	2021
	Pop.	%
European[a]	85,360	76.36%
Southeast Asian[b]	9,115	8.15%
Indigenous	7,295	6.53%
South Asian	2,405	2.15%
African	2,000	1.79%
Latin American	1,815	1.62%
East Asian[c]	1,730	1.55%
Middle Eastern[d]	1,140	1.02%
Other/multiracial[e]	930	0.83%
Total responses	111,785	97.23%
Total population	114,975	100%
Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Demographics based on 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries.

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

This riding was created in 1907 from Calgary and Strathcona ridings. At the time this was a vast riding taking in much of Central Alberta between the two major cities of Calgary and Edmonton. The only major urban centre was Red Deer, then a small town of only 1,500 people.

Once an overwhelmingly rural constituency, it has been consistently reduced in geographic size over the years due to the growth of the City of Red Deer. In 2003, about 20% of the district was transferred to the Wetaskiwin riding.

Like most of Alberta, Red Deer elected a Liberal MP from 1908 to 1921, then a UFA MP from 1921 to 1935, then a Social Credit MP from 1935 to 1958.

Like most other Alberta ridings outside Calgary and Edmonton, the major right-wing party of the day usually won here by blowout margins. A centre-left candidate last cleared 20 percent of the vote in 1968, and from 1979 onward centre-left candidates seldom got 15 percent of the vote.

The riding was split almost in half for the 2015 election. The southern portion, including downtown, became Red Deer—Mountain View, while the northern portion was merged with Wetaskiwin to form Red Deer—Lacombe.^[3]

The riding was reinstated by the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution, reuniting the city of Red Deer and combining it with rural areas to its southeast.^[4][5]

This riding elected the following members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Red Deer Riding created from Calgary and Strathcona
11th	1908–1911		Michael Clark	Liberal
12th	1911–1917
13th	1917–1920			Government (Unionist)
	1920–1921			Progressive
14th	1921–1925		Alfred Speakman	United Farmers
15th	1925–1926
16th	1926–1930
17th	1930–1935
18th	1935–1940		Eric Joseph Poole	Social Credit
19th	1940–1945		Frederick Davis Shaw
20th	1945–1949
21st	1949–1953
22nd	1953–1957
23rd	1957–1958
24th	1958–1962		Harris George Rogers	Progressive Conservative
25th	1962–1963		Robert N. Thompson	Social Credit
26th	1963–1965
27th	1965–1968
28th	1968–1972			Progressive Conservative
29th	1972–1974		Gordon Towers
30th	1974–1979
31st	1979–1980
32nd	1980–1984
33rd	1984–1988
34th	1988–1993		Douglas Fee
35th	1993–1997		Bob Mills	Reform
36th	1997–2000
	2000–2000			Alliance
37th	2000–2003
	2003–2004			Conservative
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011		Earl Dreeshen
41st	2011–2015
Riding dissolved into Red Deer—Lacombe and Red Deer—Mountain View
Riding re-created from Red Deer—Lacombe and Red Deer—Mountain View
45th	2025–present		Burton Bailey	Conservative

v t e 2025 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Burton Bailey	44,239	71.55	+11.04	$77,587.96
	Liberal	Ayaz Bangash	13,564	21.94	+13.77	$7,726.80
	New Democratic	Elias Assefa	2,375	3.84	–13.51	none listed
	People's	Kyla Courte	813	1.32	–9.98	$5,472.62
	Green	Ashley MacDonald	618	1.00	–	none listed
	Christian Heritage	Brandon Pringle	219	0.35	–	$979.25
Total valid votes/expense limit			61,828	99.50	–	$133,825.57
Total rejected ballots			309	0.50	–
Turnout			62,137	70.29
Eligible voters			88,407
	Conservative hold		Swing		–
Source: Elections Canada[6][7]

2021 federal election redistributed results[8]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	32,606	60.51
	New Democratic	9,352	17.35
	People's	6,084	11.29
	Liberal	4,401	8.17
	Others	1,445	2.68

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Earl Dreeshen	37,959	75.93	+2.69	$59,628.19
	New Democratic	Stuart Somerville	7,566	15.13	+4.03	$1.00
	Green	Mason Connor Woodruff Sisson	2,551	5.10	–4.24	none listed
	Liberal	Andrew Lineker	1,918	3.84	–2.48	$3,679.66
Total valid votes/expense limit			49,994	99.76	–	$96,859.24
Total rejected ballots			119	0.24	–0.02
Turnout			50,113	53.47	+3.60
Eligible voters			93,723
	Conservative hold		Swing		+3.36
Source: Elections Canada[9][10]

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Earl Dreeshen	33,226	73.24	–2.51	$47,630.94
	New Democratic	Stuart Somerville	5,040	11.11	+1.17	$1,743.98
	Green	Evan Bedford	4,239	9.34	+4.18	none listed
	Liberal	Garfield Marks	2,863	6.31	–2.84	$7,449.51
Total valid votes/expense limit			45,368	99.74	–	$92,847.66
Total rejected ballots			118	0.26	+0.04
Turnout			45,486	49.87	–8.86
Eligible voters			91,201
	Conservative hold		Swing		–1.84
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Mills	38,375	75.75	+0.94	$58,250.95
	New Democratic	Kelly Bickford	5,034	9.94	+2.12	$3,014.52
	Liberal	Luke Kurata	4,636	9.15	–2.67	$12,006.14
	Green	Tanner Wade Waldo	2,618	5.17	+0.39	$116.32
Total valid votes/expense limit			50,663	99.78	–	$83,829.96
Total rejected ballots			113	0.22	–0.04
Turnout			50,776	58.73	+1.00
Eligible voters			86,457
	Conservative hold		Swing		+1.81
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bob Mills	33,510	74.80	–7.77	$52,781.89
	Liberal	Luke Kurata	5,294	11.82	–1.00	$25,622.31
	New Democratic	Jeff Sloychuk	3,500	7.81	+3.20	$4,239.32
	Green	Garfield Marks	2,142	4.78	–	$1,231.26
	Canadian Action	Teena Cormack	353	0.79	–	$6.75
Total valid votes/expense limit			44,799	99.74	–	$77,026.06
Total rejected ballots			117	0.26	+0.04
Turnout			44,916	57.73	–2.67
Eligible voters			77,804
	Conservative hold		Swing		–
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Alliance	Bob Mills	36,940	72.61	+4.24	$59,079
	Liberal	Walter Kubanek	6,522	12.82	+1.39	$16,550
	Progressive Conservative	Doug Wagstaff	5,064	9.95	–5.73	$5,125
	New Democratic	Linda Roth	2,346	4.61	+0.65	$1,773
Total valid votes			50,872	99.78
Total rejected ballots			113	0.22	+0.06
Turnout			50,985	60.40	+2.96
Eligible voters			84,409
	Alliance hold		Swing		–
Source: Elections Canada[17][18]

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Reform	Bob Mills	28,622	68.38	+3.56	$66,815
	Progressive Conservative	Morris Flewwelling	6,566	15.69	–0.59	$44,412
	Liberal	Dobie Yiu-Chung To	4,785	11.43	–2.02	$13,071
	New Democratic	Janet Walter	1,660	3.97	+1.30	$3,066
	Natural Law	Ken Arnold	227	0.54	–0.06	none listed
Total valid votes			41,860	99.84
Total rejected ballots			69	0.16	–0.07
Turnout			41,929	57.44	–7.66
Eligible voters			73,001
	Reform hold		Swing		+2.08
Source: Elections Canada[19][20]

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Bob Mills	31,876	64.82	+43.77
	Progressive Conservative	Douglas Fee	8,006	16.28	–36.98
	Liberal	Dobie Yiu-Chung To	6,614	13.45	+3.34
	New Democratic	Karen Mc Laren	1,313	2.67	–9.92
	National	Joan Hepburn	1,074	2.18	–
	Natural Law	Ken Arnold	297	0.60	–
Total valid votes			49,180	99.77
Total rejected ballots			112	0.23	+0.03
Turnout			49,292	65.10	–7.74
Eligible voters			75,715
	Reform gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+40.37
Source: Elections Canada[21][22][23]

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Douglas Fee	24,187	53.26	–22.17
	Reform	Michael Roth	9,560	21.05	–
	New Democratic	Gail Garbutt	5,717	12.59	+3.18
	Liberal	Edna C. Allwright	4,593	10.11	+0.72
	Christian Heritage	Jim Swan	1,237	2.72	–
	Confederation of Regions	Wilfred M. Tricker	121	0.27	–4.25
Total valid votes			45,415	99.80
Total rejected ballots			91	0.20	+0.00
Turnout			45,506	72.84	+2.09
Eligible voters			62,470
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		–
Source: Elections Canada[24][25][26]

1984 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	41,695	75.43	+0.68
	New Democratic	Clarence Lacombe	5,201	9.41	+1.54
	Liberal	Dennis Moffat	5,195	9.40	–5.15
	Confederation of Regions	Roger Langrick	2,494	4.51	–
	Social Credit	James Keegstra	691	1.25	–1.58
Total valid votes			55,276	99.80
Total rejected ballots			111	0.20	–0.04
Turnout			55,387	70.75	+7.07
Eligible voters			78,283
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+1.11
Source: Elections Canada[27][28][29]

1980 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	31,758	74.75	–0.09
	Liberal	Dennis Moffat	6,180	14.55	+0.27
	New Democratic	Ethel Taylor	3,345	7.87	+1.44
	Social Credit	Cecil J. Speirs	1,203	2.83	–1.62
Total valid votes			42,486	99.76
Total rejected ballots			104	0.24	+0.02
Turnout			42,590	63.68	–5.78
Eligible voters			66,877
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		–0.18
Source: Elections Canada[30][31][32]

1979 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	33,226	74.84	+8.14
	Liberal	Dennis Moffat	6,338	14.28	–2.65
	New Democratic	John Younie	2,856	6.43	–1.93
	Social Credit	Cecil J. Speirs	1,974	4.45	–3.56
Total valid votes			44,394	99.78
Total rejected ballots			96	0.22	–0.02
Turnout			44,490	69.46	–0.02
Eligible voters			64,053
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+5.39
Source: Elections Canada[33][34][35]

1974 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	22,251	66.71	+5.45
	Liberal	Dennis Moffat	5,645	16.92	+0.07
	New Democratic	Ethel Taylor	2,791	8.37	–2.90
	Social Credit	James Keegstra	2,670	8.00	–2.62
Total valid votes			33,357	99.76
Total rejected ballots			81	0.24	–0.37
Turnout			33,438	69.48	–6.43
Eligible voters			48,123
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+2.76
Source: Library of Parliament[36][37]

1972 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	20,943	61.26	–0.96
	Liberal	Dennis Moffat	5,762	16.85	–12.78
	New Democratic	Bill Finn	3,852	11.27	+3.12
	Social Credit	James Keegstra	3,631	10.62	–
Total valid votes			34,188	99.39
Total rejected ballots			209	0.61	+0.03
Turnout			34,397	75.91	+0.02
Eligible voters			45,311
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+6.87
Source: Library of Parliament[38][39]

1968 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Robert N. Thompson	17,930	62.21	+22.43
	Liberal	Douglas M. Irwin	8,541	29.64	+21.67
	New Democratic	Peter G. Anderson	2,349	8.15	+3.05
Total valid votes			28,820	99.42
Total rejected ballots			168	0.58	+0.18
Turnout			28,988	75.89	–0.52
Eligible voters			38,198
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		+22.05
Source: Library of Parliament[40][41]

1965 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Robert N. Thompson	12,383	47.15	+2.22
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	10,448	39.78	–1.34
	Liberal	Max De Hamel	2,093	7.97	–2.00
	New Democratic	Hazel Eva Braithwaite	1,340	5.10	+1.11
Total valid votes			26,264	99.60
Total rejected ballots			106	0.40	+0.11
Turnout			26,370	76.41	–4.69
Eligible voters			34,511
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+1.78
Source: Library of Parliament[42][43]

1963 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Robert N. Thompson	12,182	44.93	–6.11
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Towers	11,149	41.12	+3.41
	Liberal	Max De Hamel	2,702	9.97	+3.48
	New Democratic	Paul A. Jenson	1,082	3.99	–0.78
Total valid votes			27,115	99.71
Total rejected ballots			79	0.29	–0.24
Turnout			27,194	81.10	+3.97
Eligible voters			33,530
	Social Credit hold		Swing		–4.76
Source: Library of Parliament[44][45]

1962 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Robert N. Thompson	12,645	51.04	+17.64
	Progressive Conservative	Harris George Rogers	9,343	37.71	–16.81
	Liberal	Knut E. Magnusson	1,608	6.49	–0.75
	New Democratic	Paul A. Jenson	1,181	4.77	–0.08
Total valid votes			24,777	99.47
Total rejected ballots			132	0.53	+0.11
Turnout			24,909	77.13	+2.65
Eligible voters			32,295
	Social Credit gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+17.22
Source: Library of Parliament[46][47]

1958 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Harris George Rogers	11,569	54.51	+24.90
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	7,087	33.40	–14.25
	Liberal	Sadie A. Shrader	1,537	7.24	–10.13
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Robert H. Carlyle	1,029	4.85	–0.52
Total valid votes			21,222	99.58
Total rejected ballots			89	0.42	–0.29
Turnout			21,311	74.48	+2.24
Eligible voters			28,614
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		+19.57
Source: Library of Parliament[48][49]

1957 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	9,519	47.64	–4.74
	Progressive Conservative	Harris George Rogers	5,918	29.62	+20.84
	Liberal	Wilfred James Edgar	3,471	17.37	–12.87
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alexander Sandy Manson	1,073	5.37	–1.40
Total valid votes			19,981	99.29
Total rejected ballots			143	0.71	+0.12
Turnout			20,124	72.24	+8.98
Eligible voters			27,857
	Social Credit hold		Swing		–8.81
Source: Library of Parliament[50][51]

1953 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	8,792	52.38	–2.13
	Liberal	Archie Boyce	5,076	30.24	+11.62
	Progressive Conservative	John A.R. Choate	1,474	8.78	–9.24
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Hubert M. Smith	1,136	6.77	–2.07
	Labor–Progressive	Rose Sarman	306	1.82	–
Total valid votes			16,784	99.41
Total rejected ballots			99	0.59	–0.08
Turnout			16,883	63.26	–5.34
Eligible voters			26,688
	Social Credit hold		Swing		–6.88
Source: Library of Parliament[52][53]

1949 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	10,549	54.51	+8.03
	Liberal	Albert Bliss McGorman	3,604	18.62	+4.30
	Progressive Conservative	Harry Lloyd Taggart	3,488	18.03	–1.51
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Cyril M. Ironside	1,710	8.84	–7.19
Total valid votes			19,351	99.33
Total rejected ballots			131	0.67	–0.39
Turnout			19,482	68.60	–5.08
Eligible voters			28,399
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+4.77
Source: Library of Parliament[54][55]

1945 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	8,653	46.48	+9.71
	Progressive Conservative	Harry Lloyd Taggart	3,636	19.53	+1.79
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alban MacLellan	2,984	16.03	–2.22
	Liberal	Claude J. Davidson	2,666	14.32	–12.91
	Labor–Progressive	William Lund	677	3.64	–
Total valid votes			18,616	98.94
Total rejected ballots			200	1.06	+0.25
Turnout			18,816	73.68	+15.16
Eligible voters			25,537
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+5.75
Source: Library of Parliament[56][57]

1940 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Frederick Davis Shaw	5,583	36.77	–22.79
	Liberal	Absalom Clark Bury	4,134	27.23	+13.20
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Peter Newton Russell Morrison	2,771	18.25	+4.27
	National Government	Arthur A. Stonhouse	2,694	17.75	+5.32
Total valid votes			15,182	99.19
Total rejected ballots			124	0.81	–0.04
Turnout			15,306	58.52	–2.32
Eligible voters			26,155
	Social Credit hold		Swing		–18.00
Source: Library of Parliament[58][59]

1935 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Eric Joseph Poole	7,901	59.56	–
	Liberal	George Clark	1,861	14.03	–28.19
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alfred Speakman	1,855	13.98	–43.75
	Conservative	Arthur Hiram Stewart	1,648	12.42	–
Total valid votes			13,265	99.15
Total rejected ballots			114	0.85	+0.17
Turnout			13,379	60.84	+0.89
Eligible voters			21,989
	Social Credit gain from United Farmers of Alberta		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[60][61]

1930 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers of Alberta	Alfred Speakman	6,256	57.78	–14.48
	Liberal	William John Botterill	4,571	42.22	–
Total valid votes			10,827	99.32
Total rejected ballots			74	0.68	+0.37
Turnout			10,901	59.95	+13.80
Eligible voters			18,182
	United Farmers of Alberta hold		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[62][63]

1926 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers of Alberta	Alfred Speakman	5,603	72.26	+26.10
	Conservative	Joseph George La France	2,151	27.74	+3.42
Total valid votes			7,754	99.69
Total rejected ballots			24	0.31	+0.08
Turnout			7,778	46.15	–4.35
Eligible voters			16,854
	United Farmers of Alberta hold		Swing		+14.76
Source: Library of Parliament[64][65]

1925 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers of Alberta	Alfred Speakman	3,851	46.16	–22.94
	Liberal	Thomas McKercher	2,462	29.51	+15.46
	Conservative	Joseph George La France	2,029	24.32	+7.48
Total valid votes			8,342	99.77
Total rejected ballots			19	0.23	+0.23
Turnout			8,361	50.50	–17.20
Eligible voters			16,558
	United Farmers of Alberta hold		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[66][67]

1921 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers of Alberta	Alfred Speakman	10,849	69.10	–
	Conservative	John Frederick Day	2,644	16.84	–41.15
	Liberal	William Wallace Burns McInnes	2,207	14.06	–21.41
Total valid votes			15,700	100.00
Total rejected ballots			–
Turnout			15,700	67.70	–23.16
Eligible voters			23,190
	United Farmers of Alberta gain from Government (Unionist)		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[68][69]

1917 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Government (Unionist)	Michael Clark	6,213	57.99	–5.36
	Opposition	William Puffer	3,800	35.47	–
	Labour	Joseph Robert Knight	701	6.54	–
Total valid votes			10,714	100.00
Total rejected ballots			–
Turnout			10,714	90.86	+29.49
Eligible voters			11,792
	Government (Unionist) gain from Liberal		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[70][71]

1911 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Clark	6,711	63.35	+11.41
	Conservative	Alexander McGillivray	3,882	36.65	–11.41
Total valid votes			10,593	100.00
Total rejected ballots			–
Turnout			10,593	61.37	–
Eligible voters			17,261
	Liberal hold		Swing		+11.41
Source: Library of Parliament[72][73]

1908 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Clark	3,481	51.94	–
	Conservative	George F. Root	3,221	48.06	–
Total valid votes			6,702	100.00
Total rejected ballots			–
Turnout			6,702	–
Eligible voters
	Liberal notional gain		Swing		–
Source: Library of Parliament[74][75]

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada