Lac La Biche (provincial electoral district)

Lac La Biche was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It was mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1971. It replaced the riding of Beaver River and received the north-east parts of Athabasca, including the town of McMurray. It was replaced in 1971 by Lac La Biche-McMurray with minor boundary changes.

Representation History

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Lac La Biche

Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Beaver River 1913-1952 and Athabasca 1905-1952
12th	1952–1955		Harry Lobay	Social Credit
13th	1955–1959		Michael Maccagno	Liberal
14th	1959–1963
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1968
	1968		Vacant
	1968–1971		Damase Bouvier	Social Credit
See Lac La Biche-McMurray 1971-1986

The district's first MLA was one-term member for the abolished riding of Beaver River, Harry Lobay, who sat with the Social Credit caucus in government. He was defeated in the 1952 election by Liberal Michael Maccagno.

Maccagno defended the riding in three successive elections, and was party leader between 1964 and 1968. He resigned his seat in that year, triggering a by-election which was won by Social Credit candidate Dan Bouvier.

Election results

1950s

Alberta general election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%[1]
	Social Credit	Harry Lobay	1,832	50.55%
	Liberal	William Hamilton	1,792	49.45%
Total valid votes			3,624
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			184
Electors / Turnout			5,561	68.48%
	Social Credit pickup new district.

Alberta general election, 1955
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Michael Maccagno	1,931	50.83%	+1.38%
	Social Credit	Harry Lobay	1,868	49.17%	-1.38%
Total valid votes			3,799
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			98
Electors / Turnout			5,263	74.05%	+5.57%
	Liberal gain from Social Credit		Swing		+1.38%

For the 1959 election, rural districts were elected by the first past the post method instead of the previous instant runoff voting. No second round had ever been needed in Lac La Biche, but this change can be seen in the dramatic drop in spoiled (incorrectly marked) ballots.

Alberta general election, 1959
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Michael Maccagno	1,734	47.34%	-3.49%
	Social Credit	Elwin Woynarowich	1,518	41.44%	-7.73%
	Progressive Conservative	Henry Thompson	411	11.22%
Total valid votes			3,663
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			15
Electors / Turnout			5,263	69.88%	-4.17%
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.12%

1960s

Alberta general election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Michael Maccagno	1,809	44.22%	-3.12%
	Social Credit	Elwin Woynarowich	1,479	36.15%	-5.29%
	New Democratic	Henry Tomaschuk	297	7.26%
	Progressive Conservative	Henry Thompson	260	6.36%	-4.86%
	Independent Social Credit	Rudolph Michetti	246	60.1%
Total valid votes			4,091
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			5
Electors / Turnout			5,235	78.24%	+8.36%
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.09%

Alberta general election, 1967
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Michael Maccagno	2,212	48.27%	+4.05%
	Social Credit	Harry Lobay	1,613	35.20%	-0.95%
	New Democratic	Fred Ustina	758	16.54%	+9.28%
Total valid votes			4,583
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			130*
Electors / Turnout			7,165	63.96%	-14.28%
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.50%

Alberta provincial by-election, August 20, 1968 upon the resignation of Michael Maccagno
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%[2]
	Social Credit	Damase Bouvier	2,765	56.87%	+21.67%
	Progressive Conservative	J. Bergeron	1,238	25.46%
	Liberal	W.C. Childs	653	13.43%	-34.84%
	New Democratic	R. Stuart	206	4.24%	-12.30%
Total valid votes			4,862
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			-
Electors / Turnout			-	-	-
	Social Credit gain from Liberal		Swing		-1.90%

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Lac La Biche[3]
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	%
	Yes	1,059	66.15%
	No	542	33.85%
Total Votes		1,601	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		9
4,678 Eligible Electors, Turnout 34.42%

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.^[4]

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.^[3]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Lac La Biche voted in favour of the proposal with a near landslide majority. Voter turnout in the district was poor, as it fell significantly below the province wide average of 46%.^[3]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[3] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.^[5] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[6]

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.^[7]

References

1. "Heritage Community Foundation: Election results for Lac La Biche". Retrieved 2016-08-24.
2. "Elections Alberta: By-elections". Retrieved 2016-08-24.
3. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249.
4. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
5. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
6. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
7. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.