Grouard was a

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

mandated to return a single member to the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

from 1913 to 1971.

History

Boundary history

Grouard was created from the southwest quarter of

Athabasca Athabasca (also Athabaska) is an anglicized version of the Cree name for Lake Athabasca in Canada, āthap-āsk-ā-w (pronounced ), meaning "grass or reeds here and there". Most places named Athabasca are found in Alberta, Canada. Athabasca may a ...

in 1913, centred on the small community of

Grouard Grouard, also known as Grouard Mission, is a hamlet in northern Alberta within Big Lakes County. It was previously an incorporated municipality between 1909 and 1944. Grouard is located north of Highway 2, approximately northeast of Grande ...

. Its main population centres soon became

High Prairie High Prairie is a town in northern Alberta, Canada within Big Lakes County. It is located at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 749, approximately northeast of Valleyview and west of Slave Lake. History Describes the nature of the su ...

and

Falher Falher (, ) is a town in the Peace Country area of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Municipal District of Smoky River No. 130, along Highway 49. Falher is one of the earliest agricultural communities in the Peace River Country and is notabl ...

, containing a number of

Franco-Albertan Franco-Albertans (french: Franco-Albertains) are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Alberta. Franco-Albertans may also refer to residents of Alberta with French Canadian ancestry, although publications from the government of Albert ...

communities. Its boundaries saw minor adjustments throughout its history, but it retained a similar size and shape until abolished in 1971, with the northeast parts going to

Lesser Slave Lake Lesser Slave Lake (french: Petit lac des Esclaves)—known traditionally as "Beaver Lake" (ᐊᒥᐢᐠ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amisk sâkâhikan in the Plains Cree language, and T’saat’ine migeh in Dene Zhatıé) or "Beaver people were over the ...

and the southwest parts becoming

Smoky River The Smoky River is a river in western Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the Peace River. The descriptive name refers to the presence of "smouldering beds of coal in the riverbank" noted by the Cree Indians. It drains an area of . Fro ...

Representation history

Grouard was one of the friendliest ridings for the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

, and in its 58-year history, never once voted out an incumbent MLA. Incumbent

MLA

Jean Côté Jean Léon Côté (May 26, 1867 – September 23, 1924) was a prominent French-Canadian politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1909 until 1923 sitting with the provincial Liberal Party in both government a ...

decided to run in the new riding of Grouard when it was created in 1913, easily defeating his Conservative challenger. He won re-election twice, and was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on the advice of Prime Minister

Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

in 1923, vacating his seat. The resulting by-election was won handily by another Liberal, Leonidas Giroux. He was re-elected three times, defending his seat even in 1935, which saw every other seat in rural Alberta swept up by the nascent Social Credit Party of

William Aberhart William Aberhart (December 30, 1878 – May 23, 1943), also known as "Bible Bill" for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh premier of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1943. He was the founder and first leader o ...

. However, Giroux died in office the following year. The by-election in fall 1936 was again won by a Liberal,

Joseph Tremblay Joseph Harry René Tremblay (September 21, 1899 – November 26, 1990) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1944, sitting as a Liberal member from the constitu ...

, who narrowly defeated his Social Credit rival. Tremblay won a razor-thin re-election in 1940, one of only two Liberal candidates across the province in that election, and decided to retire when the legislature was dissolved. The Liberals did not field a single candidate in 1944. With Social Credit candidate

William Fallow William Allen Fallow (October 7, 1883 – May 3, 1948) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the ...

finally capturing Grouard for the government, this ended the longest streak for any party in Alberta's tumultuous early politics. Fallow also died in office in 1948, but no by-election was held, as a general election took place that year. Social Credit won the riding for a second time, with John Wood gaining a comfortable victory on the second count. He resigned his post before the term finished, necessitating another by-election in 1951. Liberal Joseph Desfosses narrowly won the riding back for his party, serving with the revived opposition party until he chose to retire in 1959. Grouard's final MLA was Roy Ells, who sat with the governing Social Credit for three terms until the riding was abolished in 1971.

Election results

1910s

Following the convention at the time, Côté stood in a by-election upon being named to cabinet. However, since no other candidates contested it, he was

acclaimed An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

1920s

1930s

1940s

, - !colspan=6, Second Count , - , , colspan=2, No second preference , align=548 ''First-count swing is calculated from the 1936 by-election, while second-count swing reflects increase in vote share from the first count.'' , - !colspan=6, Second Count , - , , colspan=2, No second preference , align=958

1950s

, - !colspan=6, Second Count , - , , colspan=2, No second preference , align=580 , - !colspan=6, Second Count , - , , colspan=2, No second preference , align=284

1960s

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in

. 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. 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 women should be allowed to drink together in establishments. Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Grouard voted in favour of the proposal with a landslide majority. Voter turnout in the district was the lowest in the province, at half the province wide average of 46%. Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding. However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new ''Liquor Act''. Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the plebiscite were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones. Business owners who wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.

References

External links

Elections AlbertaThe Legislative Assembly of Alberta
{{coord missing, Alberta Former provincial electoral districts of Alberta