Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district)

Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Canada electoral district Medicine Hat was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1971, and again from 1979 to 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The electoral district was named after the city of Medicine Hat.

History

The electoral district of Medicine Hat has existed in two iterations. The Medicine Hat electoral district was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election after Alberta became a province in September 1905. The district was carried over from the old Medicine Hat electoral district which had returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1888 to 1905.<ref name="oldresults">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The former member for the Northwest Territories seat, William Finlay was elected in the 1st Alberta general election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Upon the electoral district's formation, it covered a large portion of rural southeast Alberta. The district shrunk until it became an urban only riding containing the City of Medicine Hat.

In 1921 Medicine Hat was given a second MLA. In 1921 The Medicine Hat MLAs were elected using plurality block voting. In 1926 STV was used to elect Medicine Hat MLAs. From 1930 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.<ref name="auto">A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982</ref>

The district was abolished in the 1971 electoral district re-distribution to become part of Medicine Hat-Redcliff, which was abolished in 1979 and once again became the Medicine Hat electoral district.

Under the 2004 Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution, the constituency covered the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive. The rest of the city and surrounding area was part of the Cypress-Medicine Hat constituency.<ref name="2003boundarychanges">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw minor changes made to align the riding with new boundaries of Medicine Hat.<ref name="2010boundarychanges">Template:Cite book</ref>

The Medicine Hat electoral district was dissolved in the 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution, and portions of the district would incorporate the Brooks-Medicine Hat to the North, and Cypress-Medicine Hat to the South for the 2019 Alberta general election.<ref name="2017boundarychanges">Template:Cite book</ref>

Boundary history

(1) Medicine Hat 1905 boundaries<ref name="1905bound">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Lacombe and Vermilion	Saskatchewan boundary	Cardson, Gleichen, Innisfail, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Rosebud	Montana boundary
riding map goes here		map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here
Legal description from An Act to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Alberta 1905.
The electoral division of Medicine Hat, bounded as follows:– Commencing at the intersection of the eastern boundary of the said province of Alberta by the north boundary of the 38th township; thence westerly along the north boundary of the 38th townships to the meridian between the 10th and 11th ranges, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the meridian between the 10th and 11th ranges to the southern boundary of the said province of Alberta; thence easterly along the said southern boundary of the province of Alberta to the southeast corner thereof; thence northerly along the eastern boundary of the said province of Alberta to the point of commencement.
Note: Original electoral boundaries

68 Medicine Hat 2003 boundaries<ref name="2003bound">Template:Cite canlaw</ref>
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Cypress-Medicine Hat
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.
Starting at the intersection of the west Medicine Hat city boundary with the north Medicine Hat city boundary; then 1. generally east and southeast along the city boundary to the northeasterly extension of Carry Drive; 2. southwest along the extension and Carry Drive and its southwesterly extension to the Trans Canada highway; 3. northwest along the Trans Canada highway to the left bank of the South Saskatchewan River; 4. west along the left bank to the west Medicine Hat city boundary; 5. generally north, east and north to the starting point.
Note:

72 Medicine Hat 2010 boundaries
Bordering districts
North	East	West	South
Cypress-Medicine Hat
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.
Note:

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Medicine Hat<ref name="memberslist">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation								CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Assembly	Years	Member				Party
See Medicine Hat (N.W.T.) 1888–1905
1st	1905–1909	rowspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	William Finlay			Liberal
2nd	1909–1910
	1910		Vacant
	1910–1913	Template:Canadian party colour|	Charles Mitchell			Liberal
3rd	1913–1917	rowspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Nelson Spencer			Conservative
4th	1917–1921
5th	1921	rowspan=3 Template:Canadian party colour|	William Johnston	Dominion Labor	Template:Canadian party colour|	Perren Baker	UFA
	1921				Vacant
	1921–1925	rowspan=3 Template:Canadian party colour|			Perren Baker	UFA
	1925		Vacant
	1925–1926	rowspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Charles Pingle	Liberal
6th	1926–1928	rowspan=3 Template:Canadian party colour|			J.J. Hendricks	Conservative
	1928		Vacant
	1928–1930	rowspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Hector Lang	Liberal
7th	1930–1935
8th	1935–1940	rowspan=5 Template:Canadian party colour|	John Robinson			Social Credit
9th	1940–1944
10th	1944–1948
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1953
	1953		Vacant
	1953–1955	rowspan=3 Template:Canadian party colour|	Elizabeth Robinson			Social Credit
13th	1955–1959
14th	1959–1960
	1960–1961		Vacant
	1961–1963	rowspan=3 Template:Canadian party colour|	Harry Leinweber			Social Credit
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971
See Medicine Hat-Redcliff 1971-1979
19th	1979–1982	rowspan=9 Template:Canadian party colour|	Jim Horsman			Progressive Conservative
20th	1982–1986
21st	1986–1989
22nd	1989–1993
23rd	1993–1997	Rob Renner
24th	1997–2001
25th	2001–2004
26th	2004–2008
27th	2008–2012
28th	2012–2014	Template:Canadian party colour|	Blake Pedersen			Wildrose
	2014–2015	Template:Canadian party colour|				Progressive Conservative
29th	2015–2019	Template:Canadian party colour|	Bob Wanner			New Democratic
See Cypress-Medicine Hat and Brooks-Medicine Hat 2019–

The provincial electoral district of Medicine Hat has a long history that goes back to 1888 under the old Medicine Hat, North-West Territories electoral district. The district was carried over when the province of Alberta was created in 1905.

The first election in 1905 saw former North-West Territories Assembly member William Finlay win the district in a hotly contested race. Finlay was re-elected in 1909 and resigned in 1910 so cabinet minister Charles Mitchell could have a seat in the Legislature.

Mitchell held the district for one term before being defeated by Conservative Nelson Spencer in the 1913 election. Spencer's win was considered an upset. Spencer was automatically re-elected under Chapter 38 of the Elections Act in 1917 for serving in the Canadian Army during World War I. He retired from the Legislature in 1921 and moved to British Columbia.

The Liberal government passed a law in 1921 that turned Medicine Hat into a two-member district. The seats were won in the 1921 general election by United Farmer of Alberta candidate Perren Baker and Dominion Labour Party candidate William Johnston. Baker was confirmed to a cabinet post by acclamation in a ministerial by-election on December 9, 1921.

Johnson died in 1925, vacating his seat. The subsequent by-election saw former Speaker of the Legislature Charles Pingle win the district for the Liberal party, defeating a Liberal and a Conservative.

The district also returned two members in 1926. This time they were elected through Single transferable voting. Baker moved to the Cypress electoral district. Pingle stood for re-election. Liberal Pingle and Conservative J.J. Hendricks were elected in this election. This was the first — and only — election held in this district using STV.

Before the next general election the vote district was re-drawn smaller and only given one member and the method of election was changed to Instant-runoff voting. From 1930 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.<ref name="auto"/>

Pingle died in 1928, forcing a by-election. Liberal candidate Hector Lang retained the seat for the party. He was re-elected in 1930 and was defeated, when he ran for a third term in 1935, by Social Credit candidate John Robinson.

Robinson held the district for five terms, being re-elected in 1940, 1944, 1948, and 1952. He was appointed Minister of Industries and Labour by Premier Ernest Manning in 1948 and held that post until his death in 1953.

The by-election in 1953 saw John Robinson's wife Elizabeth Robinson retain the seat for Social Credit. The by-election used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.<ref name="auto"/> Elizabeth Robinson held the district for three terms before her death in 1961.

The last by-election held in the district in 1961 saw Harry Leinweber become the third member of Social Credit to win the district seat. He was re-elected in 1963 and 1967 before retiring in 1971.

Medicine Hat was redistributed to include the town of Redcliff in 1971 boundary redistribution. The new riding was called Medicine Hat-Redcliff. The electoral district of Medicine Hat was re-created in 1979 containing just the city of Medicine Hat.

The first election in the new Medicine Hat district saw former Medicine Hat-Redcliff incumbent Jim Horsman won the district in a landslide winning a 10,000 vote margin over the second place candidate. He would improve on that victory winning his biggest margin in the 1982 general election finishing almost 12,000 votes ahead of second place. He was also re-elected in 1986 and 1989 before retiring in 1993.

Rob Renner was elected as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the first time in the 1993 general election. He was re-elected in 1997, 2001, 2004, and 2008.

Blake Pedersen was elected as a Wildrose candidate in 2012. On December 17, 2014, he was one of nine Wildrose MLAs who crossed the floor to join the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus.<ref>"9 Wildrose MLAs, including Danielle Smith, cross to Alberta Tories". CBC News, December 17, 2014.</ref>

Bob Wanner was elected as a New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Legislature election results

1921 by-election

Template:Alberta provincial by-election, December 9, 1921/Medicine Hat Due to laws existing in the Legislative Assembly Act a series of ministerial by-elections were needed to confirm members appointed to the Greenfield government. Seven by-elections in total were called for an election day of December 9, 1921. This was set for one week after the 1921 Canadian federal election.<ref name="writdrop21by">Template:Cite news</ref>

The by-election writ was dropped on November 16, 1921, United Farmers incumbent Perren Baker who had been appointed as Minister of Education ran unopposed and was acclaimed at the nomination deadline held on December 2, 1921. The timing of the by-elections was deliberately chosen to coincide with the federal election to ensure that opposition candidates would be unlikely to oppose the cabinet ministers.<ref name="writdrop21by"/>

1925 by-election

September 29, 1925 by-election results<ref name="1925 official">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="25adjust">Template:Cite news</ref>				Turnout 74.56%				1st Count Swing
		Affiliation	Candidate	1st	%	2nd	%	Party	Personal
colspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal	Charles Pingle	1,640	41.48%	1,914	55.17%	5.89%	*
Template:Canadian party colour|	Template:Canadian party colour|	Farmer-Labor	William McCombs	1,302	32.94%	1,555	44.83%	-31.47%1	*
colspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Conservative	Joseph Hendrick	1,011	25.58%			*
Total				3,953	100%	3,469	100%
Exhausted Ballots				0		484
Rejected, spoiled and declined				Unknown
5,302 eligible electors
colspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour|	Liberal pickup from Dominion Labor					1st Count Swing 18.68%

1. William McCombs was a candidate jointly nominated by the United Farmers of Alberta and the Dominion Labor Party. The party percent change is reflected from the combined party percentages in the 1921 general election.

1926

Two Members elected through STV. Pingle and Hendricks both elected.

1928 by-election

May 1, 1928 by-election results<ref name="1928 official">Template:Cite news</ref>			Turnout 66.05%						1st Count Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	1st	%	2nd	3rd	4th	%	Party	Personal	Liberal	Hector Lang	1,355	39.90%	1,405	1,603	1,604	59.12%	-4.18%	*	Conservative	Joseph Hendrick	941	27.71%	986	1,106	1,109	40.88%	-8.11%		Dominion Labor	William McCombs	810	23.85%	844				3.74%	*	Independent	B.J. Bott	290	8.54%					*
Total			3,396	100%	3,235	2,709	2,713	100%
Exhausted Ballots			0		161	529	-4
Rejected, spoiled and declined			106
5,302 eligible electors											Liberal hold							1st Count Swing -6.15%

1953 by-election

December 21, 1953 by-election results<ref name="1910 official">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation			CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Turnout 28.44%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal	Social Credit	Elizabeth Robinson	2,462	76.89%	2.19%	*	Co-operative Commonwealth	E.W. Horne	740	23.11%	*
Total			3,202	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			200
11,964 Eligible Electors<ref name="robwin53">Template:Cite news</ref>							Social Credit hold				Swing 12.65%

Senate nominee election results

2004

2004 Senate nominee election results: Medicine Hat<ref name="senresults2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation					CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Turnout 41.25%
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	% votes	% ballots	Rank	Progressive Conservative	Betty Unger	3,427	15.30%	43.92%	2	Progressive Conservative	Bert Brown	3,420	15.27%	43.84%	1	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Breitkreuz	2,256	10.07%	28.92%	3	Progressive Conservative	David Usherwood	2,245	10.02%	28.78%	6	Independent	Link Byfield	2,230	9.96%	28.58%	4	Progressive Conservative	Jim Silye	2,215	9.89%	28.39%	5	Alberta Alliance	Michael Roth	1,972	8.80%	25.28%	7	Alberta Alliance	Vance Gough	1,780	7.95%	22.82%	8	Alberta Alliance	Gary Horan	1,607	7.17%	20.60%	10	Independent	Tom Sindlinger	1,249	5.57%	16.01%	9
Total votes			22,401	100%
Total ballots			7,802	2.87 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined			2,819

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

Plebiscite results

1948 electrification lebiscite

District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation.

Option A	Option B
Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies?	Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission?
5,168     81.03%	1,214     18.97%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Medicine Hat<ref name="57pleb">Template:Cite book</ref>
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	2,728	50.04%
	No	2,724	49.96%
Total votes		5,452	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		98
12,586 eligible electors, turnout 44.10%

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.<ref name="vote">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="57pleb"/>

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Medicine Hat just barely voted in favour of the proposal with the difference between Yes and No being four votes. Voter turnout in the district was slightly below the province wide average of 46%.<ref name="57pleb"/>

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.<ref name="57pleb"/> The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding.<ref name="binding">Template:Cite news</ref> However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.<ref name="aftermath">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="57liqact">Template:Cite book</ref>

Student vote results

2004

citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Crescent Heights High School
Crestwood Elementary School
McCoy High School
Medicine Hat High School
River Heights Elementary
Southview 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<ref name="stu2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation					CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	586	42.71%	Liberal	Karen Charlton	361	26.31%	NDP	Diana Arnott	209	15.23%	Alberta Alliance	Scott Cowan	109	7.94%	Social Credit	Jonathan Lorentzen	107	7.81%
Total			1,372	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			25

See also

• List of Alberta provincial electoral districts
• Canadian provincial electoral districts
• Medicine Hat (federal electoral district), a federal electoral district since 1908

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Elections Alberta
• The Legislative Assembly of Alberta