Stony Plain, originally named Stonyplain, 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
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
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 1905 to 2019.
The district returned 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 ...
throughout its history, using the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
method of voting for most of its existence but
single transferable vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
from 1926 to 1957.
The district was created in 1905 when Alberta became a province. The riding in its original boundaries stretched from the west Edmonton city limits to the
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
border, but over time it was significantly reduced in size. The riding was named Stonyplain from 1905 to 1909 before being changed to Stony Plain.
History
Stony Plain was founded as Stonyplain, 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. It was renamed Stony Plain for the
1909 Alberta general election, retaining this name until its abolition. The original boundaries of the riding took it to the
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
from west
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
city limits, but over the next hundred years the riding was significantly decreased in area to a small fraction of its former size.
The
2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw the riding transfer land north of
Alberta Highway 16 to the electoral district of
Whitecourt-Ste. Anne. In the 2017 re-distribution, the riding was abolished, with the town of Stony Plain moved to
Spruce Grove-Stony Plain and the rural areas transferred to
Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and
Drayton Valley-Devon
Drayton Valley-Devon is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district was created in the 2010 boundary redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the p ...
. The area continued to be represented in the
Legislative Assembly until the
2019 election, when new riding borders took effect.
Boundary history
Electoral history
The electoral district of Stony Plain was created when the province was first formed in 1905. It was one of the longest-surviving original districts, remaining intact for every boundary redistribution until 2017.
The first election in 1905 saw a three-way battle which was handily won by Liberal candidate
John McPherson, who was reelected in 1909. He was defeated by Conservative party candidate
Conrad Weidenhammer in 1913, who chose to retire after a single term. Conservative Frederick Lundy won the tight 1917 race to hold the district. He ran again in the 1921 election, but was defeated by United Farmers candidate Willard Washburn in a landslide. Washburn held the district for two terms before retiring in 1930. The United Farmers ran candidate Donald Macleod who held the district in a tight race over Liberal candidate George Bryan.
Macleod was defeated in 1935, finishing a very distant third place to Social Credit candidate William Hayes. The seat became vacant when Hayes died on April 2, 1939,
and it would not be filled before the 1940 election. Cornelia Wood was nominated to be the Social Credit candidate, she won the district for her party in a tight race that went to ballot transfers. Wood was re-elected for three terms before being defeated by Liberal candidate John McLaughlin in 1955. McLaughlin would be defeated by Wood again in 1959. The two ran against each other twice more, with Wood coming up the winner each time.
Wood lost her nomination race to run as the Social Credit candidate again in the 1967 general election to Ralph Jespersen.
She later left the Social Credit caucus on April 24, 1967 to run as an Independent Social Credit candidate.
She would be defeated finishing a distant fourth place in a landslide by Jespersen.
Jespersen would only last a single term in office before being defeated by William Purdy in the 1971 general election. Purdy was re-elected three more times before retiring at dissolution in 1986. His replacement in the legislature was Progressive Conservative candidate Jim Heron. Heron served a term in office before being defeated by New Democrat Stan Woloshyn.
Woloshyn only stayed with the NDP caucus for a few years before crossing the floor to the Progressive Conservative caucus on February 23, 1993. He ran for re-election as a Progressive Conservative that year and won. In 1996 Premier
Ralph Klein
Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...
appointed him to the provincial cabinet. He won re-election again in 1997 and 2001 before retiring in 2004.
Fred Lindsay replaced Woloshyn in 2004 as the Progressive Conservative MLA for the riding and was re-elected in 2008. Former mayor Ken Lemke retained the riding for the PCs in the 2012 election. The last person to represent Stony Plain was
Erin Babcock
Erin Babcock (6 June 1981 – 25 April 2020) was a Canadian nurse and politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electoral district of Stony Plain.
Early life ...
, who won the riding for the
Alberta New Democratic Party
The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Demo ...
in the 2015 election. At the 2019 election, the first after the riding was abolished, Babcock ran for reelection in the new
Spruce Grove-Stony Plain riding, but lost to
Searle Turton
Searle Turton (born 23 June 1979) is a Canadian politician who is the Alberta Minister of Children and Family Services. He was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral distric ...
from the
United Conservative Party
The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...
.
Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and
Drayton Valley-Devon
Drayton Valley-Devon is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district was created in the 2010 boundary redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the p ...
, the other ridings to take in parts of the former Stony Plain riding, were also won by United Conservatives.
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
1971 general election
1975 general election
1979 general election
1982 general election
1986 general election
1989 general election
1993 general election
1997 general election
2001 general election
2004 general election
2008 general election
2012 general election
2015 general election
Senate nominee results
2004 Senate nominee election district results
''Voters had the option of selecting 4 candidates on the ballot.''
2012 Senate nominee election district results
Plebiscite results
1948 electrification plebiscite
District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation:
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 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. Stony Plain voted in favour of the proposal by a landslide majority. Voter turnout in the district was 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 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.
Student vote results
2004 student vote
On November 19, 2004 a student vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body who resided in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.
2012 student vote
2015 student vote
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 ...
*
Stony Plain, Alberta
Stony Plain is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Parkland County. It is west of Edmonton adjacent to the City of Spruce Grove and sits on Treaty 6 land.
Stony Plain is known for its many painted ...
, a town in central Alberta
References
Further reading
*
External links
Electoral Divisions Act 2003Demographics for Stony PlainRiding Map for Stony PlainStudent Vote Alberta 2004Website of the Legislative Assembly of AlbertaElections Alberta
{{Coord, 53.53, N, 114.01, W, display=title
Former provincial electoral districts of Alberta