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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Edmonton-Meadowlark

Edmonton Meadowlark 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 1971 to 2019.

The electoral district located on the western edge of Edmonton was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution from the old electoral districts of Edmonton Jasper Place and Edmonton West.

The district has switched support between Progressive Conservative and Liberal candidates with regular frequency since it was created, a trend broken by the election of the New Democrat MLA Jon Carson in the 2015 general election.

History

The electoral district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution from the old electoral districts of Edmonton Jasper Place and Edmonton West. The 1993 redistribution would see the district go through a significant redrawing as most of the riding which was south of Whitemud Drive would be moved into the new district of Edmonton-McClung. The riding remained a rectangle shape between Whitemud and Stony Plain road with little changes made in 1996 and 2003.

The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution would see a significant change as the riding was extended well beyond Stony Plain road up to Yellowhead Trail into land that was once in Edmonton-Calder and Edmonton-Glenora.

Boundary history

Electoral history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Meadowlark
Assembly Years Member Party
See: Edmonton Jasper Place and Edmonton West 1963–1971
17th 1971–1975 Gerard Amerongen Progressive Conservative
18th 1975–1979
19th 1979–1982
20th 1982–1986
21st 1986–1989 Grant Mitchell Liberal
22nd 1989–1993
23rd 1993–1997 Karen Leibovici
24th 1997–2001
25th 2001–2004 Bob Maskell Progressive Conservative
26th 2004–2008 Maurice Tougas Liberal
27th 2008–2010 Raj Sherman Progressive Conservative
2010–2011 Independent
2011 Independent Liberal
2011–2012 Liberal
28th 2012–2015
29th 2015–2019 Jon Carson New Democratic
See: Edmonton-West Henday and Edmonton-McClung 2019–

The electoral district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution. The election held that year saw Progressive Conservative candidate Gerard Amerongen pickup the new district for his party. He was successful after running as a candidate in various districts since the 1950s. Amerongen was elected as Speaker of the Assembly when it met for its first session after the election in 1972.

Amerongen won re-election with increasing majorities three more times in the 1975, 1979 and 1982 general elections. He ran for a fifth term in the 1986 general election but was defeated in a shocking upset by Liberal candidate Grant Mitchell. This was only the second time in Alberta history that the Speaker of the legislature had been defeated.

Mitchell was re-elected to his second term with a large majority in the 1989 general election. He ran for re-election in the Edmonton-McClung after redistricting created the new district out of most of the old land that covered Meadowlark. The new boundaries of Meadowlark returned Liberal candidate Karen Leibovici who won her first term with a substantial majority to hold the seat for her party.

Leibovici won her second term (in a closely contested race in the 1997 general election) defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Laurie Pushor. In the 2001 general election she was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate, Bob Maskell, who won by 600 votes to pick up the district.

Maskell would only stay for a single term in office as he was defeated by Maurice Tougas in the 2004 general election. Tougas did not stand for re-election in 2008 due to frustrations with being an opposition MLA, and Progressive Conservative candidate Raj Sherman picked up the open district.

Sherman was removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus after making unsubstantiated allegations against the Alberta Government regarding abuses against staff working under Alberta Health Services. He at first sat as an Independent on November 22, 2010 than on March 15, 2011 he began caucusing with the Liberal caucus as an Independent. He was elected as leader of the provincial Liberals on September 10, 2011 and became a full member of the Liberal caucus two days later. He was re-elected in the 2012 provincial election and decided to retire from politics in 2015.

Like the rest of the city, Edmonton-Meadowlark swung hard to the NDP in that election, with Jon Carson easily capturing the seat. The riding was abolished for the 2019 election, replaced by Edmonton-West Henday.

Legislative election results

1971

1971 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Gerard Amerongen 6,371 56.66%
Social Credit Alexander Romaniuk 3,839 34.14%
New Democratic Alan J. Idiens 1,035 9.20%
Total 11,245
Rejected, spoiled and declined 28
Eligible electors / turnout 15,944 70.70%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975

1975 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Gerard Amerongen 6,715 67.75% 11.09%
New Democratic Harvey Tilden 1,406 14.18% 4.98%
Social Credit Russ Forsythe 1,093 11.03% -23.11%
Liberal Vic Yanda 698 7.04%
Total 9,912
Rejected, spoiled and declined 13
Eligible electors / turnout 19,714 50.34% -20.36%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 15.52%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1979

1979 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Gerard Amerongen 7,075 60.15% -7.59%
New Democratic Jim Bell 2,098 17.84% 3.65%
Social Credit Russ Forsythe 1,237 10.52% -0.51%
Liberal Ron Charko 904 7.69% 0.64%
Independent C.A. Doug Ringrose 448 3.81%
Total 11,762
Rejected, spoiled and declined 36
Eligible electors / turnout 23,118 51.03% 0.69%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -5.62%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1982

1982 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Gerard Amerongen 10,817 58.59% -1.56%
New Democratic Robert Henderson 4,590 24.86% 7.02%
Western Canada Concept Ai (Bud) Wilson 1,511 8.18%
Liberal N.A. Chaudhary 776 4.20% -3.48%
Independent Wm. (Bill) Dickson 423 2.29%
Social Credit Andy H. Groenink 345 1.87% -8.65%
Total 18,462
Rejected, spoiled and declined 46
Eligible electors / turnout 29,252 63.27% 12.24%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -4.29%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1986

1986 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Grant Mitchell 4,913 42.59% 38.39%
Progressive Conservative Gerard Amerongen 4,222 36.60% -21.99%
New Democratic Muriel Stanley-Venne 2,135 18.51% -6.35%
Representative R. (Bob) Genis-Bell 176 1.53%
Western Canada Concept Norm Kyle 90 0.78% -7.40%
Total 11,536
Rejected, spoiled and declined 14
Eligible electors / turnout 23,485 49.18% -14.09%
Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -13.87%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1989

1989 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Grant Mitchell 7,877 55.76% 13.17%
Progressive Conservative Joan Majeski 4,421 31.29% -5.30%
New Democratic William A. (Bill) Mullen 1,829 12.95% -5.56%
Total 14,127
Rejected, spoiled and declined 25
Eligible electors / turnout 25,251 56.05% 6.86%
Liberal hold Swing 9.24%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1993

1993 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Karen Leibovici 7,215 56.51% 0.75%
Progressive Conservative Laurie Pushor 3,978 31.16% -0.14%
New Democratic William (Bill) Mullen 1,111 8.70% -4.25%
Social Credit Norm Case 354 2.77%
Natural Law Margo Cochlan 110 0.86%
Total 12,768
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 25
Eligible electors / turnout 22,094 57.90% 1.86%
Liberal hold Swing 0.44%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1997

1997 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Karen Leibovici 6,047 50.22% -6.28%
Progressive Conservative Laurie Pushor 4,672 38.80% 7.65%
New Democratic Terri McNally 831 6.90% -1.80%
Social Credit Aaron Hinman 435 3.61% 0.84%
Natural Law Geoff Toane 55 0.46% -0.40%
Total 12,040
Rejected, spoiled and declined 27
Eligible electors / turnout 21,488 56.16% -1.75%
Liberal hold Swing -6.97%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2001

2001 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Bob Maskell 6,108 48.62% 9.82%
Liberal Karen Leibovici 5,674 45.17% -5.06%
New Democratic Mike Hudema 636 5.06% -1.84%
Independent Peggy Morton 144 1.15%
Total 12,562
Rejected, spoiled and declined 31
Eligible electors / turnout 22,491 55.99% -0.17%
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing -3.98%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2004

2004 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Maurice Tougas 4,435 41.26% -3.90%
Progressive Conservative Bob Maskell 4,242 39.47% -9.16%
New Democratic Lance Burns 1,306 12.15% 7.09%
Alberta Alliance Aaron Campbell 446 4.15%
Greens Amanda Doyle 243 2.26%
Independent Peggy Morton 76 0.71% -0.44%
Total 10,748
Rejected, spoiled and declined 51
Eligible electors / turnout 23,845 45.29% -10.70%
Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -0.83%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Meadowlark Official Results 2004 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2008

2008 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Raj Sherman 6,174 54.83% 15.36%
Liberal Debbie Cavaliere 3,423 30.40% -10.86%
New Democratic Pascal Ryffel 1,010 8.97% -3.18%
Green Amanda Doyle 347 3.08% 0.82%
Wildrose Richard Guyon 306 2.72%
Total 11,260
Rejected, spoiled and declined 38
Eligible electors / turnout 28,602 39.50% -5.79%
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing 11.32%
Source(s)

2012

2012 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Raj Sherman 5,149 35.48 +5.08
Progressive Conservative Bob Maskell 5,031 34.67 -20.16
Wildrose Rick Newcombe 2,977 20.52 +17.80
New Democratic Bridget Stirling 1,092 7.53 -1.44
Alberta Party Neil Mather 262 1.81
Total 14,511
Rejected, spoiled and declined 82
Eligible electors / turnout 27,506 53.05% 13.55%
Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -11.81%
Source(s)

2015

2015 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Jon Carson 9,796 56.96% 49.43%
Progressive Conservative Katherine O'Neill 3,924 22.82% -11.85%
Wildrose Amber Maze 1,972 11.47% -9.05%
Liberal Dan Bildhauer 1,507 8.76% -26.72%
Total 17,199
Rejected, spoiled and declined 57
Eligible electors / turnout 31,865 54.15% 1.10%
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing 16.66%
Source(s)

Senate nominee election results

2004

2004 Senate nominee election results: Edmonton-Meadowlark Turnout 45.36%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % votes % ballots Rank
Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 4,528 17.12% 51.41% 2
Independent Link Byfield 3,161 11.95% 35.89% 4
Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 3,100 11.72% 35.20% 1
Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 2,929 11.07% 33.25% 3
Alberta Alliance Michael Roth 2,285 8.64% 25.94% 7
Independent Tom Sindlinger 2,173 8.21% 24.67% 9
Alberta Alliance Gary Horan 2,114 7.99% 24.00% 10
Alberta Alliance Vance Gough 2,107 7.96% 23.92% 8
Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 2,104 7.95% 23.89% 6
Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 1,955 7.39% 22.20% 5
Total votes 26,456 100%
Total ballots 8,808 3.00 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined 2,008

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

2012

Student vote results

2004

Participating schools
Aldergrove Elementary
Aurora Charter School
Centennial Elementary
St Thomas More School
H.E. Beriault School
St. Francis Xavier School

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 that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta student vote results
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
  Liberal Maurice Tougas 363 33.24%
Progressive Conservative Bob Maskell 330 30.22%
  NDP Lance Burns 214 19.60%
Green Amanda Doyle 131 12.00%
Alberta Alliance Aaron Campbell 38 3.48%
  Independent Peggy Morton 16 1.46%
Total 1,092 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 31

2012

2012 Alberta student vote results
Affiliation Candidate
Progressive Conservative Bob Maskell
Wildrose Rick Newcombe
  Liberal Raj Sherman
  NDP Bridget Stirling
Total 100%

See also

References

  1. ^ "Election results for Edmonton-Meadowlark". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. ^ The Election Act, RSA 1970, c. C-117
  3. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (June 2010). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  4. ^ Electoral Divisions Act, S.A. 2003, c. E-4.1
  5. ^ "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  6. ^ Tougas, Maurice (May 1, 2009). "Why I Left Politics: Ostracized. Ignored. Irrelevant. Welcome to life as an opposition MLA". albertaviews.ca. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  7. ^ "Raj Sherman quits as Alberta Liberal leader, won't seek third term as MLA". Edmonton Journal. January 26, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Alberta Election 2015: NDP's Jon Carson wins Edmonton-Meadowlark". Global News. May 5, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  9. ^ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  10. ^ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
  11. ^ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2008.

Further reading

53°32′N 113°39′W / 53.54°N 113.65°W / 53.54; -113.65