Leduc was a
provincial 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 ...
in
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, 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 sin ...
from 1905 to 1971 and again from 1993 to 2004.
History
Leduc was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the
1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta joining
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in September 1905. The electoral district was named for the
City of Leduc in central Alberta.
Leduc was dissolved in the 1971 electoral district re-distribution to form the
Wetaskiwin-Leduc and
Drayton Valley
Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), approximately southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast oil fields. The town is located between the North Sas ...
electoral districts. Leduc would be recreated in the 1993 electoral district re-distribution from
Wetaskiwin-Leduc and
Camrose electoral districts.
Leduc would once again be dissolved in the
2003 electoral boundary re-distribution and become
Leduc-Beaumont-Devon
Leduc-Beaumont-Devon was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2012.
The district and its antece ...
.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)
Ronald E. Ansley despite becoming increasingly unhappy with the
Social Credit government over implementation of Douglas
monetary reform
Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system.
Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals:
* A return t ...
s ran for re-election in the
1948 Alberta general election. He was returned to office for his fourth term easily defeating the two other candidates.
Shortly after the election the Social Credit voted to exclude
Albert Bourcier
Albert Vital Bourcier (August 25, 1901 – February 8, 1982) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1952, sitting with the Social Credit caucus in governme ...
from the Social Credit caucus and expelled some other Douglasite Social Creditors from the party through a motion passed at the 1948 Social Credit Annual General Meeting. Ansley who was a member of the group was not expelled and openly opposed the expulsions.
The Social Credit League formally asked the government in 1949 to expel all members of caucus including Ansley who held membership in the Douglas Social Credit Council.
In 1951 he openly led a revolt that defeated the ''Mineral Taxation Act'' 29 to 15 in a recorded division on third reading.
He was expelled from caucus on June 16, 1952 after attending a nomination convention asking Bourcier to run as an Independent Social Credit candidate.
The Leduc Social Credit Constituency Association nominated Ansley as their candidate with a clause in the motion to endorse stating that he would be supported regardless of what banner he runs under.
After being unable to run as a straight Social Credit candidate, Ansley stood for re-election as an Independent Social Credit candidate. He won a hotly contested race on the second ballot defeating two other candidates to return to his fifth term in office.
Ansley ran for a sixth term in office in the
1955 Alberta general election
The 1955 Alberta general election was held on June 29, 1955, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Despite losing almost 10% of the popular vote (compared to its 1952 proportion of the vote) and 30% of its seats in the legislat ...
. The race five way race was very closely contested. Ansely ended up holding on to his seat by winning in the fourth vote count.
Ansley ran for a seventh term in the
1959 Alberta general election. He held his seat easily defeating two other candidates as no official Social Credit candidate ran against him.
Ansley ran for an eighth term in office in the
1963 Alberta general election. He was defeated by Social Credit candidate
James Douglas Henderson
James Douglas Henderson (January 2, 1927 – June 29, 2020) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1963 to 1975, first as a member of the Social Credit Party and later as an independent. He ...
finishing a distant third place in a field of six candidates.
Election results
1905 general election
1909 general election
1913 general election
1917 general election
1921 general election
1926 general election
1930 general election
1935 general election
1940 general election
1944 general election
1948 general election
1952 general election
1955 general election
1959 general election
1963 general election
1967 general election
1993 general election
1997 general election
2001 general election
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
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 ...
. 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 woman were 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. Leduc voted in favour of the proposal by a near landslide majority. Voter turnout in the district was abysmal, falling well under 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 considered 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 that wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.
See also
*
List of Alberta provincial electoral districts
Alberta provincial electoral districts are currently single member ridings that each elect one member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. There are 87 districts fixed in law in Alberta.
History
The original twenty five districts were drawn u ...
*
Leduc, Alberta
Leduc ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.
History
Leduc was established in 1891, when Robert Telford, a settler, who had bough ...
, a city in central Alberta
References
Further reading
*
External links
Elections AlbertaThe Legislative Assembly of Alberta
{{coord missing, Alberta
1905 establishments in Alberta
Former provincial electoral districts of Alberta