Rocky Mountain (provincial electoral district)
Defunct provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rocky Mountain was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1909 to 1940.[1]
 Alberta electoral district | |
|---|---|
| Defunct provincial electoral district | |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of Alberta |
| District created | 1909 |
| District abolished | 1935 |
| First contested | 1909 |
| Last contested | 1935 |
The Rocky Mountain district is not to be confused with the Rocky Mountain House district, which was formed in 1940, north of the former Rocky Mountain district.
History
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)
| Members of the Legislative Assembly for Rocky Mountain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | |
| See Rosebud electoral district from 1905-1909 | ||||
| 2nd | 1909–1913 | Charles M. O'Brien | Socialist Party of Canada | |
| 3rd | 1913–1917 | Robert E. Campbell | Conservative | |
| 4th | 1917–1921 | |||
| 5th | 1921–1926 | Philip Martin Christophers | Dominion Labor | |
| 6th | 1926–1930 | |||
| 7th | 1930–1935 | George Edward Cruickshank | Independent | |
| 8th | 1935–1940 | Ernest O. Duke | Social Credit | |
| See Banff-Cochrane electoral district from 1940-1975, Okotoks-High River electoral district from 1940-1971 and Pincher Creek-Crowsnest electoral district from 1940-1993 |
||||
In 1909 Rocky Mountain was formed from the western edge of Rosebud in the north part of the riding, the entire riding of Banff, the western half of High River and Macleod. As well as the north part of Pincher Creek. In 1940, the north part of the riding merged with Cochrane to form Banff-Cochrane. Okotoks-High River expanded to fill the central portion of the riding and Pincher Creek expanded to fill the south end of the riding and became Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. The riding took in part of the length of the Rocky Mountains along the Alberta–British Columbia border.
After the Alberta Legislature passed an Act in 1909 increasing the number of seats from 25 to 41 and setting the boundaries of the Rocky Mountain district[2] the Frank Paper described the Rocky Mountain constituency as a "monstrous gerrymander" that benefited labour interests.[3] For the 1909 election, an effort was made to have one candidate represent both the Liberal and Conservative parties, but eventually each party nominated a separate candidate.[4] Henry Edward Lyon was nominated for the Conservatives, while John Angus McDonald was nominated for the Liberals.[5]
O'Brien won in 1909 with less than half the votes. He was more popular when he ran for re-election in 1913, but in that election he faced only one candidate and lost.[6]
From 1924 to 1940, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.[7]
Election results
1909
| 1909 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Socialist | Charles M. O'Brien | 555 | 37.83% | – | ||||
| Independent Liberal | John Angus Macdonald | 520 | 35.45% | – | ||||
| Conservative | Henry Edward Lyon | 392 | 26.72% | – | ||||
| Total | 1,467 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Socialist pickup new district. | ||||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.[8] | ||||||||
1913
| 1913 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Robert E. Campbell | 1,099 | 41.74% | 15.02% | ||||
| Socialist | Charles M. O'Brien | 1,018 | 38.66% | 0.83% | ||||
| Liberal | William B. Powell | 516 | 19.60% | – | ||||
| Total | 2,633 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Conservative gain from Socialist | Swing | 0.35% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
1917
| 1917 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Robert E. Campbell | Acclaimed | – | – | ||||
| Total | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | – | |||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | N/A | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. One of eleven Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta acclaimed under The Elections Act Section 38, which stipulated that any member of the 3rd Alberta Legislative Assembly would be guaranteed re-election, with no contest held, if the member joined for wartime service in the First World War. An Act amending The Election Act respecting Members of the Legislative Assembly on Active Service., SA 1917, c. 38 | ||||||||
1921
| 1921 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Dominion Labor | Philip Martin Christophers | 1,304 | 40.02% | – | ||||
| Liberal | A. Morrison | 1,143 | 35.08% | – | ||||
| United Farmers | W. Sharpe | 811 | 24.89% | – | ||||
| Total | 3,258 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Dominion Labor gain from Conservative | Swing | N/A | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
From 1924 to 1940, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.[9]
1926
| 1926 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Dominion Labor | Philip Martin Christophers | 1,765 | 52.66% | 12.63% | ||||
| Conservative | John Kerr | 801 | 23.90% | – | ||||
| Liberal | A.M. Densmore | 786 | 23.45% | -11.63% | ||||
| Total | 3,352 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 349 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | N/A | – | – | |||||
| Dominion Labor hold | Swing | 11.91% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
1930
| 1930 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Independent | George Edward Cruickshank | 1,604 | 50.02% | – | ||||
| Dominion Labor | Joseph Stobbs | 820 | 25.57% | -27.09% | ||||
| Independent | R. Sudworth | 783 | 24.42% | – | ||||
| Total | 3,207 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 280 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | 5,242 | 66.52% | 1.79% | |||||
| Independent gain from Dominion Labor | Swing | -2.16% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||
1935
| 1935 Alberta general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Social Credit | Ernest O. Duke | 2,996 | 54.49% | – | ||||
| Communist | H. Murphy | 1,080 | 19.64% | – | ||||
| Liberal | D.J. MacNeil | 1,033 | 18.79% | – | ||||
| Independent | George Edward Cruickshank | 389 | 7.08% | -42.60% | ||||
| Total | 5,498 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 148 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | 6,888 | 81.97% | 15.45% | |||||
| Social Credit gain from Independent | Swing | 5.20% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "Rocky Mountain Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. | ||||||||