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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Taber (provincial Electoral District)

Taber was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 1963.

History

The Taber electoral district was formed prior to the 1913 Alberta general election from the south-eastern portion of the Lethbridge District.

The Taber electoral district would be abolished prior to the 1963 Alberta general election, and the territory would be split between the Taber-Warner and Little Bow electoral districts.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Taber
Assembly Years Member Party
See Lethbridge District from 1909-1913
3rd  1913–1917     Archibald J. McLean Liberal
4th  1917–1921
5th  1921–1926     Lawrence Peterson United Farmers
6th  1926–1930
7th  1930–1935     James Hanson Social Credit
8th  1935–1940 Roy S. Lee
9th  1940–1944
10th  1944–1948
11th  1948–1952
12th  1952–1955
13th  1955–1959
14th  1959–1963
See Taber-Warner electoral district from 1963-1997
and Little Bow electoral district from 1963-2019

Election results

1913

1913 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Archibald J. McLean 1,231 68.16%
Conservative William Carlos Ives 341 18.88%
Socialist Thomas E. Smith 234 12.96%
Total 1,806
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout 3,341 54.06%
Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1917

1917 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Archibald J. McLean 1,804 63.75% -4.42%
Conservative Thomas O. King 1,026 36.25% 17.37%
Total 2,830
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout 4,965 57.00% 2.94%
Liberal hold Swing -10.89%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1921

1921 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers Lawrence Peterson 2,309 53.70%
Liberal Archibald J. McLean 1,991 46.30% -17.44%
Total 4,300
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout 5,638 76.27% 19.27%
United Farmers gain from Liberal Swing -10.05%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1926

1926 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers Lawrence Peterson 1,929 60.49% 6.79%
Liberal J. J. Horrigan 709 22.23% -24.07%
Conservative J. H. Prowse 551 17.28%
Total 3,189
Rejected, spoiled and declined 173
Eligible electors / turnout 5,138 65.43% -10.83%
United Farmers hold Swing 15.43%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1930

1930 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Farmers John J. MacLellan 1,848 54.93% -5.55%
Independent J. E. Evanson 1,516 45.07%
Total 3,364
Rejected, spoiled and declined 122
Eligible electors / turnout 4,829 72.19% 6.75%
United Farmers hold Swing -14.19%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1935

1935 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit James Hanson 2,879 67.30%
United Farmers John J. MacLellan 757 17.70% -37.24%
Liberal B. L. Cooke 642 15.01%
Total 4,278
Rejected, spoiled and declined 176
Eligible electors / turnout 5,589 79.69% 7.50%
Social Credit gain from United Farmers Swing 19.87%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1940

1940 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 1,879 48.96% 1,998 -18.34%
Independent J. L. Nelson 1,383 36.03% 1,618
Co-operative Commonwealth W. W. Scott 576 15.01%
Total 3,838
Rejected, spoiled and declined 204
Eligible electors / turnout 5,050 80.04% 0.35%
Social Credit hold Swing -18.34%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes.
As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality.

1944

1944 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 2,490 69.51% 20.56%
Co-operative Commonwealth Leo Hinds 679 18.96% 3.95%
Liberal E. N. Davidson 413 11.53%
Total 3,582
Rejected, spoiled and declined 130
Eligible electors / turnout 5,028 73.83% -6.21%
Social Credit hold Swing 18.82%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1948

1948 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 2,559 72.64% 3.12%
Co-operative Commonwealth Guy F. Harris 501 14.22% -4.74%
Liberal Richard L. Higgins 463 13.14% 1.61%
Total 3,523
Rejected, spoiled and declined 442
Eligible electors / turnout 6,333 62.61% -11.22%
Social Credit hold Swing 3.93%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1952

1952 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 2,809 79.67% 7.03%
Liberal Harold Wood 717 20.33% 7.19%
Total 3,526
Rejected, spoiled and declined 279
Eligible electors / turnout 6,566 57.95% -4.66%
Social Credit hold Swing 0.46%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955

1955 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 2,788 61.02% -18.65%
Liberal Fred M. Pritchard 1,186 25.96% 5.62%
Independent Social Credit Ben Platt 595 13.02%
Total 4,569
Rejected, spoiled and declined 238
Eligible electors / turnout 7,070 67.99% 10.04%
Social Credit hold Swing -12.13%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1959

1959 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Roy S. Lee 3,678 78.01% 16.99%
Progressive Conservative Leslie P. Cluff 1,037 21.99%
Total 4,715
Rejected, spoiled and declined 22
Eligible electors / turnout 7,518 63.01% -4.98%
Social Credit hold Swing 10.48%
Source(s)
Source: "Taber Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Taber
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the
sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Ballot choice Votes %
No 1,923 67.14%
Yes 941 32.86%
Total votes 2,864 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 35
6,627 eligible electors, turnout 43.75%

On October 30, 1957 a stand alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. 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. Taber strongly voted against the proposal. The voter turnout in the district was light, and fell below 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 such as Taber 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Election results for Taber". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. ^ Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
  3. ^ "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
  4. ^ "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
  5. ^ "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
  6. ^ "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

49°46′N 112°09′W / 49.77°N 112.15°W / 49.77; -112.15