St. Paul (provincial electoral district)

St. Paul was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It was mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 1993.

Boundary history

When created in 1913, the riding contained all the farmland north of the North Saskatchewan River and east of Lac La Biche. In 1952 the riding was split in half, creating the riding of Bonnyville and leaving St. Paul with approximately the same boundaries as the County of St. Paul No. 19 until abolished in 1993.

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for St. Paul
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Pakan 1909 - 1913
3rd	1913 - 1917		Prosper-Edmond Lessard	Liberal
4th	1917 - 1921		Prosper-Edmond Lessard	Liberal
5th	1921 - 1926		Laudas Joly	United Farmers
6th	1926 - 1930		Laudas Joly	United Farmers
7th	1930 - 1935		Joseph Dechene	Liberal
8th	1935 - 1940		Joseph Beaudry	Social Credit
9th	1940 - 1944
10th	1944 - 1948
11th	1948 - 1952
12th	1952 - 1955	Raymond Reierson
13th	1955 - 1959
14th	1959 - 1963
15th	1963 - 1967
16th	1967 - 1971
17th	1971 - 1975		Mick Fluker	Progressive Conservative
18th	1975 - 1979		Mick Fluker
19th	1979 - 1982	Charles Anderson
20th	1982 - 1986	John Drobot
21st	1986 - 1989
22nd	1989 - 1993
See Lac La Biche-St. Paul 1993 - 2012

The first MLA for St. Paul was Prosper-Edmond Lessard, who had already served one term as MLA for the short-lived Pakan district with the government Liberals. In 1921, with the fall of the Liberal government, he was defeated by Laudas Joly of the United Farmers of Alberta.

After two terms, Joly was defeated by Liberal Joseph Miville Dechene. He served one term as MLA before the Social Credit sweep in 1935. The party would hold St. Paul for all 36 years they formed government, with Joseph Beaudry serving for four terms and Raymond Reierson serving for five.

In 1971, the Progressive Conservatives came to power, and Mick Fluker captured St. Paul for the new government. He retired after two terms. Charles Anderson kept the riding for the PC's in the 1979 election, and retired after only one term.

PC John Drobot served as MLA for the next three terms until the riding was abolished in 1993. He did not run in the new riding of Lac La Biche-St. Paul, which was captured by the Liberals.

Election results

1910s

Alberta general election, 1913
Party		Candidate	Votes	%^[1]
	Liberal	Prosper-Edmond Lessard	441	55.75%
	Conservative	L. Garneau	350	44.25%
Total valid votes			791
Electors / Turnout			942	83.97%
	Liberal pickup new district.

Alberta general election, 1917
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Prosper-Edmond Lessard	1,077	66.65%	+10.9%
	Conservative	James Brady	539	33.35%	-10.9%
Total valid votes			1,616
Electors / Turnout			1,946	83.04%	-0.93%
	Liberal hold		Swing		+10.9%

1920s

Alberta general election, 1921
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	United Farmers	Laudas Joly	1,378	58.34%
	Liberal	Prosper-Edmond Lessard	984	41.66%	-24.99%
Total valid votes			2,362
	United Farmers gain from Liberal		Swing		+41.67%

In 1926, Alberta began to use the instant-runoff system to elect MLAs in rural districts.

Alberta general election, 1926
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	United Farmers	Laudas Joly	1,453	67.24%	+8.90%
	Liberal	H. Montambeault	603	27.90%	-13.76%
	Independent	E. McPheeters	105	4.86%
Total valid votes			2,161
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			151
Electors / Turnout			3,252	71.09%
	United Farmers hold		Swing		+11.33%

1930s

Alberta general election, 1930
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Joseph Miville Dechene	1,653	50.27%	+22.37%
	United Farmers	Laudas Joly	1,635	49.73%	-17.51%
Total valid votes			3,288
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			149
Electors / Turnout			4,776	71.96%	+0.87%
	Liberal gain from United Farmers		Swing		+19.94%

Alberta general election, 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,567	46.88%
	Liberal	Joseph Miville Dechene	1,963	35.85%	-14.42%
	United Farmers	Laudas Joly	946	17.27%	-32.46%
Second round
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,679	53.12%	+6.24%
	Liberal	Joseph Miville Dechene	2,364	46.88%	+11.03%
	No second preference		433
Total valid votes			5,476
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			180
Electors / Turnout			6,876	82.26%	+10.30%
	Social Credit gain from Liberal		Swing		+30.65%

Second-round swing reflects increase in vote share from the first round. Overall swing is calculated from first preferences.

1940s

Alberta general election, 1940
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,270	48.38%	+1.50%
	Independent	J. Binette	1,609	34.29%	-1.56%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	C. Milaney	813	17.33%
Second round
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,421	57.56%	+9.18%
	Independent	J. Binette	1,785	42.44%	+8.15%
	No second preference		486
Total valid votes			4,692
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			241
Electors / Turnout			7,023	70.24%	-12.02%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+1.53%

First-round swing is calculated from first preferences in the 1935 election. The independent vote share is compared to the Liberal share in 1935. See Unity Coalition.

Alberta general election, 1944
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	1,851	44.87%	-3.51%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J. Beauregard	1,503	36.43%	+19.10%
	Labor–Progressive	Daniel Gamache	771	18.69%
Second round
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	1,949	55.10%	+10.23%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J. Beauregard	1,588	44.90%	+8.47
	No second preference		588
Total valid votes			4,125
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			254
Electors / Turnout			6,875	63.69%	-6.55%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-11.31%

Alberta general election, 1948
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,197	42.89%	-1.98%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Michael Grekul	1,510	29.47%	-6.96%
	Liberal	Irvin Baril	1,416	27.64%
Second round
	Social Credit	Joseph Beaudry	2,980	65.29%	+22.40%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Michael Grekul	1,584	34.71%	+5.07%
	No second preference		559
Total valid votes			5,123
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			454
Electors / Turnout			7,607	73.31%	+9.62%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+2.49%

1950s

St. Paul was split for the 1952 election, with the northeastern half of the riding becoming the district of Bonnyville. Former St. Paul MLA Laudas Joly became its first representative.

Alberta general election, 1952
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	2,581	53.59%	+10.70%
	Liberal	Laval J. Fortier	2,235	46.41%	+18.77%
Total valid votes			4,816
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			214
Electors / Turnout			7,071	71.14%	-2.17%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-4.04%

Alberta general election, 1955
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	2,761	52.84%	-0.75%
	Liberal	J.R. Sweeney	2,049	39.22%	-7.19%
	Labor–Progressive	Don Gamache	415	7.94%
Total valid votes			5,225
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			288
Electors / Turnout			7,218	76.37%	+5.23%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+3.22%

Alberta reverted to traditional first past the post elections beginning in 1959. This can be seen in the dramatic drop in spoiled (incorrectly marked) ballots compared to previous elections.

Alberta general election, 1959
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	3,412	68.51%	15.67%
	Liberal	J. Van Brabant	1,034	20.76%	-18.46%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Shave	534	10.72%
Total valid votes			4,980
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			10
Electors / Turnout			6,682	74.68%	-1.69%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+17.07%

1960s

Alberta general election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	2,889	61.05%	-7.46%
	Liberal	Rene P. Foisy	1,363	28.80%	+8.04%
	New Democratic	H.B. Hodgins	265	5.60%
	Communist	Don Gamache	215	4.54%
Total valid votes			4,732
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			12
Electors / Turnout			7,027	67.51%	-7.17%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		+7.75%

Alberta general election, 1967
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	2,275	44.41%	-16.64%
	Liberal	Armand Lamothe	1,489	29.07%	+0.27%
	New Democratic	Pierre M. Vallee	788	15.38%	+9.78%
	Independent PC	Leroy P. Christensen	571	11.15%
Total valid votes			5,123
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			14
Electors / Turnout			7,512	68.38%	+0.87%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-8.46%

1970s

Alberta general election, 1971
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Mick Fluker	2,661	45.81%	+34.66%
	Social Credit	Raymond Reierson	2,041	35.14%	-9.27%
	New Democratic	Laurence J. Dubois	898	15.46%	+0.08%
	Liberal	Lawrence P. Coutu	209	3.60%	-25.47%
Total valid votes			5,809
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			11
Electors / Turnout			7,720	75.39%	+7.01%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		+21.97%

Alberta general election, 1975
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Mick Fluker	2,912	57.27%	+11.46%
	Social Credit	John Hull	848	16.68%	-18.46%
	New Democratic	Pierre Vallee	764	15.02%	-0.44%
	Liberal	Roland Genereux	561	11.03%	+7.43%
Total valid votes			5,085
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			19
Electors / Turnout			7,899	64.62%	-10.77%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+14.96%

Alberta general election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Charles Anderson	3,173	46.47%	-10.80%
	New Democratic	Laurent Dubois	2,854	41.80%	+26.78%
	Social Credit	John Hull	582	8.52%	-8.16%
	Liberal	Orest Boyko	219	3.21%	-7.82%
Total valid votes			6,828
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			31
Electors / Turnout			9,452	72.57%	+7.95
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-18.79%

1980s

Alberta general election, 1982
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	John Drobot	4,269	56.26%	+9.79%
	New Democratic	Laurent Dubois	2,872	37.85%	-3.95%
	Western Canada Concept	Iris Bourne	447	5.89%
Total valid votes			7,588
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			39
Electors / Turnout			10,194	74.82%	+2.25%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+6.87%

Alberta general election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	John Drobot	3,018	47.98%	-8.28%
	New Democratic	Martin Naundorf	1,429	22.72%	-15.13%
	Representative	Roland Rocque	1,380	21.94%
	Liberal	George Michaud	463	7.36%
Total valid votes			6,290
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			21
Electors / Turnout			10,760	58.65%	-16.17%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+3.43%

Alberta general election, 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	John Drobot	2,931	46.09%	-1.89%
	Liberal	Paul Langevin	2,304	36.23%	+28.87%
	New Democratic	Victor Chrapko	1,124	17.68%	-5.04%
Total valid votes			6,359
Declined, spoiled, and rejected			19
Electors / Turnout			10,437	61.11%	+2.46%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-15.38%

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: St. Paul^[2]
Ballot Choice		Votes	%
	Yes	1,321	58.40%
	No	941	41.60%
Total Votes		2,262	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined		18
6,080 Eligible Electors, Turnout 37.50%

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.^[3]

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.^[2]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. St. Paul voted in favour of the proposal by a solid majority. Voter turnout in the district was abysmal falling well under the province wide average of 46%.^[2]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[2] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.^[4] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[5]

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.^[6]

References

↑ "Abheritage.ca — St. Paul results".
1 2 3 4 Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2,247–2,249.
↑ "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
↑ "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
↑ "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1958. p. 1.
↑ "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

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