1959 Alberta general election

General election in Alberta, Canada September 2023 1959 Alberta general election Alberta 1957 legislative no no 1955 Alberta general election 1955 13th Alberta Legislative Assembly 1959 6 18 members 1963 Alberta general election 1963 65 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 33 seats were needed for a majority 150x150px AB Social Credit nohash Ernest Manning AB Social Credit name May 31, 1943 Strathcona East 37 seats, 46.4% 37 61 24 230,283 55.7% 9.3% 150x150px AB PC nohash Cam Kirby AB PC name 1958 Red Deer (lost re-election) 3 seats, 9.2% 3 1 2 98,730 23.9% 14.7% 150x150px AB Liberal nohash Grant MacEwan AB Liberal name November 1, 1958 Calgary-North (lost re-election) 15 seats, 31.1% 15 1 14 57,408 13.9% 17.2% CCF AB CCF nohash Floyd Albin Johnson AB CCF name 1957 ran in Denvegan (lost) 2 seats, 8.2% 2 0 2 17,899 4.3% 3.9% Premier Premier after election Ernest Manning AB Social Credit name Ernest Manning AB Social Credit name The 1959 Alberta general election was held on June 18, 1959, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ernest C. Manning, in his fifth election as party leader and provincial premier, led the Social Credit Party to its seventh consecutive term in government, with 55% of the popular vote, and all but four of the sixty five seats in the legislature. Social Credit was also helped by a split in the opposition vote: whereas in the 1955 election, opponents were largely united behind the Liberal Party, in this election the vote was divided between the Liberals and the resurgent Progressive Conservative Party under the leadership of Cam Kirby, won almost 15% of the popular vote, placing ahead of the Liberals whose leader, Grant MacEwan lost his Calgary seat. The Tories and Liberals each won only one seat in the legislature while the Alberta CCF was shut out of the legislature for the first time in seventeen years. The other two opposition seat were taken by a Coalition candidate in Banff and an Independent Social Credit-er, both with strong local support. Change in voting system Under an Act passed in 1956, Alberta's MLAs were now elected through First-past-the-post voting.The Election Act S.A. 1956 15 https://canlii.ca/t/53z36 Previous to this election, the Social Credit government had done away with the Instant-runoff voting system in use in the rural constituencies, and the Single Transferable Vote system in Edmonton and Calgary, both of which had been in place since 1924. The move was made, the government claimed, to prevent the waste of votes caused by votes being declared spoiled due to unsatisfactory ballot marking, to bring Alberta in line with the other provinces who were using the First past the post systems, and to stop what the government called a conspiracy by the opposition parties to gang up on the SC government. The cancellation of STV and AV also standardized and simplified voting results across the province. Under single transferable vote and instant-runoff voting, final results would take up to five days to count the necessary vote transfers, before the last seat in a multiple-member district, Edmonton nor Calgary, was declared filled. (Manning always knew he was elected only hours after the polls closed due to his high vote count on the First Count.) The delay was especially large in the Edmonton, which elected seven members in 1955. The 1955 election had produced a large opposition in the Legislature (large by Alberta standards anyway). Besides Liberals, Conservatives and CCF-ers electing MLAs in proportion to their numbers in the cities, the government had lost a few members in rural constituencies due to IRV, when they had received the largest portion of the vote in the constituency in the First Count (but not a majority) but were not elected to the seat due to another candidate receiving many vote transfers and eventually accumulating a majority of the vote themselves. The cancellation of IRV system in the rural districts was meant to prevent this in the future.Bob Hesketh, "The Abolition of Preferential voting in Alberta", Prairie Forum, Spring 1987 The cancellation of STV in the cities gave the government a windfall of seats as well. SC candidates captured all the seats in Edmonton and all but one in Calgary although getting only 48 per cent of the Edmonton city vote and only 54 per cent of the Calgary vote.A Report on Alberta Elections Electoral redistribution An Act was passed in 1957 that provided for the increase in the number of MLAs from 61 to 65, upon the next election.An Act to Amend The Legislative Assembly Act (2) S.A. 1957 41 https://canlii.ca/t/53tjk The following changes were made: Abolished NewNew districts Dunveganfrom part of Peace RiverAbolition of multi-member districts Calgary (six members) Calgary Bowness Calgary-Centre Calgary-Glenmore Calgary-North Calgary-North East Calgary-South East Calgary-West Edmonton (seven members) Edmonton North Edmonton-Centre Edmonton-North East Edmonton-North West Edmonton-Norwood Jasper West Strathcona Centre Strathcona East Strathcona West a Prior to this election, one or more multi-member districts had been used in each Alberta election since 1909. Alongside the change to FPTP, this increase necessitated the creation of 15 new districts, the most since 1913. The change was met by some harsh criticism at the time. The government was accused of changing the rules to help itself and for failing to consult the public, but it did not hurt the government's popularity at the polls. Results PartyParty Leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular Vote1955Elected% Change#%% Change AB Social Credit row Social Credit Ernest C. Manning64 37 61 +64.9% 230,283 55.69% +9.27% AB PC row Progressive Conservative Cam Kirby603 1 −66.7% 98,730 23.88% +14.69% AB Liberal row-name Grant MacEwan 51 15 1 −93.9% 57,408 13.88% −17.25%AB Independent row Independent Social Credit 2 1 1 - 2,393 0.58% −0.14% AB Coalition row-name Frank Gainer 1 1 1 - 2,279 0.55% −0.66% AB CCF row Co-operative Commonwealth Floyd Albin Johnson 32 2 - −100% 17,899 4.33% −3.91% AB Independent rowIndependent 2 1 - −100% 3,640 0.88% −0.25% AB Labor-Progressive row-name 4 - - - 884 0.21% −0.69%Total 216 61 65 +6.6% 413,516 100%  Source: Elections Alberta*~Welcome to Elections Alberta~ http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/welcome.html https://web.archive.org/web/20051211143622/http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/welcome.html December 11, 2005 Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Social Credit AB Social Credit 55.69 PC AB PC 23.88 Liberal AB Liberal 13.88 CCF AB CCF 4.33 Ind. Social Credit AB Social Credit 0.58 Coalition AB Coalition 0.55 Others CA Inde 1.09Seats summary #ddd 600px 410px Social Credit AB Social Credit 93.85 PC AB PC 1.54 Liberal AB Liberal 1.54 Ind. Social Credit AB Social Credit 1.54 Coalition AB Coalition 1.54 Results by riding AB Social Credit PC Liberal CCF Other |- |Acadia-Coronation||AB Social Credit background| |Marion Kelts2,45057.34% | | | |James Leland Sims1,40832.95% | |Lester A. Lindgren4049.45% | |||AB background| | |- |Alexandra||AB Social Credit background| |Anders O. Aalborg2,35459.28% | |A.H. Sweet1,24831.43% | |Hilda A. Cross3589.02% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Anders O. Aalborg |- |Athabasca||AB Social Credit background| |Antonio Aloisio2,33354.17% | |Robert Shopland70716.42% | |Richard Edward Hall1,06924.82% | | | |John Harry (Lab-Pro)1884.36% |AB background| | |- |Banff-Cochrane | |Robin W. Echlin2,20848.94% | | | | | | |AB Coalition background| |Francis Leo Gainer (Coal)2,27950.51%||AB Coalition background| |Francis Leo Gainer |- |Bonnyville||AB Social Credit background| |Karl Earnest Nordstrom2,46551.50% | |Victor E. Justik86017.97% | |Jake Josvanger1,44730.23% | | | |||AB Liberal background| |Jake Josvanger |- |Bow Valley-Empress||AB Social Credit background| |William Delday2,86356.17% | | | | | | | |Bryce C. Stringam (Ind.)221343.42% |AB Independent background| |Bryce C. Stringam |- |Bruce||AB Social Credit background| |Earl M. Hardy2,32455.11% | |Clifford G. Patterson83319.75% | |Clare L. Liden53412.66% | |Edward I. Thompson51812.28% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary Bowness||AB Social Credit background| |Charles E. Johnston6,68159.09% | |Bruce Norris3,19428.25% | |Evelyn Leew1,0189.00% | |Kay Halliday Grose3793.35% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-Centre||AB Social Credit background| |Frederick C. Colborne4,82453.69% | |Runo Carl Berglund2,64229.40% | |Gordon Arnell1,15412.84% | |Grant McHardy3493.88% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-Glenmore | |A. Ross Lawson4,68140.58%||AB PC background| |Ernest S. Watkins4,89342.42% | |Reg. Clarkson1,91616.61% | | | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-North||AB Social Credit background| |Rose Wilkinson6,65551.68% | |James David Macdonald3,38526.29% | |Grant MacEwan2,42918.86% | |Aylmer John Eggert Liesemer3742.90% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-North East||AB Social Credit background| |Albert W. Ludwig5,94564.02% | |Melvin P. Stronach1,82919.70% | |E. Kitch Elton1,06011.42% | |Jack Hampson4204.52% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-South East||AB Social Credit background| |Arthur J. Dixon5,64366.69% | |Ernest Henry Starr1,53718.16% | |Peter Petrasuk7929.36% | |George E. Ellinson4375.16% | |||AB background| | |- |Calgary-West||AB Social Credit background| |Donald S. Fleming5,06049.99% | |Roy Victor Deyell3,39233.51% | |Ted Duncan1,39713.80% | |Ken Tory2422.39% | |||AB background| | |- |Camrose||AB Social Credit background| |Chester I. Sayers3,22953.12% | |John E. Stuart1,63826.95% | |Stanley Ross Gould73212.04% | |Archie Olstad4687.70% | |||AB background| | |- |Cardston||AB Social Credit background| |Edgar W. Hinman2,20573.43% | |John A. Spencer79126.34% | | | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Edgar W. Hinman |- |Clover Bar||AB Social Credit background| |Floyd M. Baker3,39357.78% | |Andrew M. Adamson1,22520.86% | |Roy C. Marler93515.92% | |Ernest Wilfred Davies3105.28% | |||AB background| | |- |Cypress||AB Social Credit background| |Harry E. Strom3,19979.09% | |Wayne N. Anderson83120.54% | | | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Harry E. Strom |- |Didsbury||AB Social Credit background| |James Lawrence Owens3,04261.38% | |Douglas N. Munn1,35027.24% | |Walter P. Hourihan55611.22% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |James Lawrence Owens |- |Drumheller||AB Social Credit background| |Gordon Edward Taylor3,92283.84% | |Eneas A. Toshach74015.82% | | | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Gordon Edward Taylor |- |Dunvegan||AB Social Credit background| |Joseph M. Scruggs1,08038.72% | |Bennidict V. Griep66123.70% | |Steven P. Tachit64823.23% | |Floyd A. Johnson38313.73% | |||AB background| | |- |Edmonton North||AB Social Credit background| |Ethel Sylvia Wilson4,83152.92% | |John Verchomin3,35636.76% | | | |Peter Gomuwka8819.65% | |||AB background| | |- |Edmonton-Centre||AB Social Credit background| |Ambrose Holowach3,91246.53% | |Gerard Joseph Amerongen2,18525.99% | |Laurette C. Douglas1,68420.03% | |Robert Atkin5897.01% | |||AB background| | |- |Edmonton-North East||AB Social Credit background| |Lou W. Heard4,96049.52% | |Allan Welsh2,38923.85% | |Louis Marchand1,32513.23% | |Alex Goruk1,06310.61% | |William Harasym (Lab-Pro)2182.18% |AB background| | |- |Edmonton-North West||AB Social Credit background| |Edgar H. Gerhart4,82342.63% | |Ned Feehan3,24928.72% | |Harper McCrae2,07118.31% | |James (Jim) Forest1,14610.13% | |||AB background| | |- |Edmonton-Norwood||AB Social Credit background| |William Tomyn5,07154.49% | |Nestor Marchyshyn1,48215.93% | |P.W. Bill Jones1,52216.36% | |Frank G. McCoy93210.02% | |William A. Tuomi (Lab-Pro)2512.70% |AB background| | |- |Edson||AB Social Credit background| |Norman Alfred Willmore3,07456.84% | |Chris. H.R. Nielsen1,67831.03% | |Melvyn A. Parkyn63411.72% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Norman Alfred Willmore |- |Gleichen||AB Social Credit background| |George E. Bell2,26759.94% | |A. John Van Wezel75419.94% | |Carman W. Ellis75219.88% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |George E. Bell |- |Grande Prairie||AB Social Credit background| |Ira McLaughlin4,21365.43% | |David T. Williamson1,39121.60% | |Mac Perkins81612.67% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Ira McLaughlin |- |Grouard||AB Social Credit background| |Roy Ells3,72757.01% | |Paul Soulodre1,30920.02% | |Paul E. Maisonneuve1,47622.58% | | | |||AB background| | |- |Hand Hills||AB Social Credit background| |Clinton Keith French3,05265.99% | |William J. Newman1,07423.22% | |Val Gobel48910.57% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Wallace Warren Cross |- |Jasper West||AB Social Credit background| |Richard H. Jamieson5,04740.65% | |John Percy Page4,50736.30% | |Abe William Miller2,78222.41% | | | |||AB background| | |- |Lac La Biche | |Elvin J. Woynarowich1,51841.27% | |Henry T. Thompson41111.17%||AB Liberal background| |Michael Maccagno1,73447.15% | | | |||AB Liberal background| |Michael Maccagno |- |Lac Ste. Anne||AB Social Credit background| |William Patterson2,28646.53% | |L.D. Gould1,12922.98% | |John A. Mills90718.46% | |Charley Keeley58211.85% | |||AB background| | |- |Lacombe||AB Social Credit background| |Allan Russell Patrick3,08963.42% | |Denis R. Stafford1,16223.86% | | | |Robert H. Carlyle62012.73% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Allan Russell Patrick |- |Leduc | | | |Peter Wyllie1,49433.11% | | | |Andrew Simon Borys67614.98%||AB (Ind. SoCred) background| |Ronald Earl Ansley (Ind. SoCred)2,33451.73%||AB background| | |- |Lethbridge||AB Social Credit background| |John C. Landeryou7,25061.77% | |Thomas Spanos2,91724.85% | |Robery Henry Jeacock1,52512.99% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |John C. Landeryou |- |Little Bow||AB Social Credit background| |Peter Dawson2,93964.71% | |Bernard W. Tonken98921.77% | |Donald A. McNiven60313.28% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Peter Dawson |- |Macleod||AB Social Credit background| |James Hartley3,73172.12% | |Leo E. Toone94918.35% | |Dennis Arthur Mouser4759.18% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |James Hartley |- |Medicine Hat||AB Social Credit background| |Elizabeth G. Robinson5,60464.87% | |John H. Cocks1,78020.60% | |Norma DeMan5976.91% | |John D. Rogers4955.73% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Elizabeth G. Robinson |- |Okotoks-High River||AB Social Credit background| |Ernest G. Hansell2,64251.42% | |James S. McLeod1,06920.81% | | | | | |Ross Laird Ellis (Ind.)1,42727.77% |AB Liberal-Conservative background| |Ross Laird Ellis |- |Olds||AB Social Credit background| |Roderick Angus Macleod3,42466.29% | |Bruce Hanson1,72833.46% | | | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Roderick Angus Macleod |- |Peace River||AB Social Credit background| |William F. Gilliland2,86460.64% | |Harold C. Sissons1,19025.20% | |James Mann65013.76% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |William F. Gilliland |- |Pembina||AB Social Credit background| |Robin D. Jorgenson3,43661.50% | |Frie Bredo1,70830.57% | |Gustav Wahl4167.45% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Robin D. Jorgenson |- |Pincher Creek-Crowsnest||AB Social Credit background| |William A. Kovach3,14566.89% | |Alex Grant1,13324.10% | |C. Boyden4108.72% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |William A. Kovach |- |Ponoka||AB Social Credit background| |Glen F. Johnston2,40649.88% | |Ivor E. Davies1,52931.70% | |Erwin E. Schultz86017.83% | | | |||AB background| | |- |Red Deer||AB Social Credit background| |William Kenneth Ure6,69163.61% | |William J. Cameron "Cam" Kirby3,79736.10% | | | | | |||AB background| | |- |Redwater||AB Social Credit background| |John Dubetz2,09249.05% | |Martha P. Bielish90121.13% | |Alfred Macyk1,26229.59% | | | |||AB background| | |- |Rocky Mountain House||AB Social Credit background| |Alfred J. Hooke3,23574.45% | | | |Tom Bert66015.19% | |Raymond E. Schmidt43710.06% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Alfred J. Hooke |- |Sedgewick||AB Social Credit background| |Jack C. Hillman2,80562.75% | |Kenneth M. Geddes79617.81% | |Mildred G. Redman54112.10% | |Arthur C. Bunney3197.14% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Jack C. Hillman |- |Spirit River||AB Social Credit background| |Adolph O. Fimrite3,01063.68% | |Charles J. Stojan1,05922.40% | | | |James W. Graham59312.54% | |C.J. Lampert (Ind. SoCred)581.23%||AB Social Credit background| |Adolph O. Fimrite |- |St. Albert||AB Social Credit background| |Keith Everitt2,15736.28% | |Stanley M. Walker1,18719.96% | |Arthur J. Soetaert2,08235.02% | |Earl Toane4737.95% | |||AB background| | |- |St. Paul||AB Social Credit background| |Raymond Reierson3,41268.38% | |Gordon Shave53410.70% | |J. Van Brabant1,03420.72% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Raymond Reierson |- |Stettler||AB Social Credit background| |Galen C. Norris3,15060.71% | |Gordon Taylor99119.10% | |Henry Kroeger72113.89% | |Alice Ness2975.72% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Galen C. Norris |- |Stony Plain||AB Social Credit background| |Cornelia R. Wood2,88046.25% | |Robert K. Clarkson1,22719.70% | |John Harold McLaughlin2,09133.58% | | | |||AB Liberal background| |John Harold McLaughlin |- |Strathcona Centre||AB Social Credit background| |Joseph Donovan Ross4,56453.81% | |Pat Walsh2,22626.25% | |Leslie M. Lyons1,21514.33% | |Keith Wright4224.98% | |||AB background| | |- |Strathcona East||AB Social Credit background| |Ernest C. Manning7,33749.62% | |James E. Simpson3,81225.78% | |George Johnson2,61017.65% | |Hugh Smith9996.76% | |||AB background| | |- |Strathcona West||AB Social Credit background| |Randolph H. McKinnon3,63941.63% | |Eric M. Duggan2,68330.69% | |Frank J. Edwards1,98222.67% | |H. Douglas Trace4234.84% | |||AB background| | |- |Taber||AB Social Credit background| |Roy S. Lee3,67877.64% | |Leslie P. Cluff1,03721.89% | | | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Roy S. Lee |- |Vegreville||AB Social Credit background| |Alex W. Gordey2,24847.63% | |Joseph M. Melnychuk53111.25% | |John Koshuta67614.32% | |Stanley N. Ruzycki1,25326.55% | |||AB background| | |- |Vermilion||AB Social Credit background| |Ashley H. Cooper2,20449.35% | |D.J. Frunchak79917.89% | |Russell James Whitson1,22427.41% | | | |John P. Hocaluk (Lab-Pro)2275.08% |AB background| | |- |Wainwright||AB Social Credit background| |Henry A. Ruste3,11164.76% | |Donald Mills83117.30% | |Henry D. Frizzell57211.91% | |John Wesley Connelly2745.70% | |||AB Social Credit background| |Henry A. Ruste |- |Warner||AB Social Credit background| |Leonard C. Halmrast2,43072.52% | | | |Mark R. Stringam91527.31% | | | |||AB Social Credit background| |Leonard C. Halmrast |- |Wetaskiwin||AB Social Credit background| |John A. Wingblade3,35258.12% | |Robert D. Angus1,01017.51% | |Fred R. MacNaughton64211.13% | |David Pat. Garland74912.99% | |||AB background| | |- |Willingdon||AB Social Credit background| |Nicholas A. Melnyk2,42163.13% | |Alex Hushlak99125.84% | | | |Nick W. Svekla39210.22% | |||AB background| | |- |} See also List of Alberta political parties References Category:1959 elections in Canada 1959 Category:June 1959 in Canada General election