Gleichen was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1963.

History

Gleichen was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta becoming a province in September 1905.

From 1906 to 1913, two Riley brothers, of the Conservative party, took turns with two McArthur brothers (candidates for the Liberal party) in representing Gleichen in the Alberta Legislature. Ezra Riley represented the Gleichen district from 1906 (by-election) to 1910, then resigned but ran in the subsequent by-election, losing to Archibald J. McArthur. After the death of Archibald McArthur, H.W.H. Riley ran as a Conservative Party candidate against Liberal candidate John Peter McArthur, brother to the late Archibald McArthur. The October 31, 1911 by-election became known as the brothers by-election, as each candidate was a brother of a former Gleichen MLA. Riley won the by-election and served Gleichen until the 1913 election, when he ran in the Bow Valley district and was defeated by George Lane of the Liberal party.

From 1924 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.

The electoral district was merged with Drumheller prior to the 1963 Alberta general election to form the short lived Drumheller-Gleichen electoral district.

The district was named after the town of Gleichen, Alberta.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Election results

1905

1906 by-election

1909

1910 by-election

1911 by-election

1913

1917

1921

1926

1930

1935

1940

1944

1948

1952

1955

1959

Plebiscite results

1948 electrification plebiscite

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

{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse"

|- bgcolor="darkgray"

!|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?

|-

!|2,007     56.04%

!|1,574     43.96%

|-

!colspan="2"|Province wide result: Option A passed.

|}

1957 liquor plebiscite

{| class="wikitable" align=right

|colspan=4 align=center|1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Gleichen

|-

!colspan=4|Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the<br /> sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?

|-

!colspan=2|Ballot choice

!Votes

!%

|-

|bgcolor=green|

|Yes

|1,440

|61.02%

|-

|bgcolor=red|

|No

|920

|38.98%

|-

|align=right colspan=2|Total votes

|2,360

|100%

|-

|align=right colspan=2|Rejected, spoiled and declined

|colspan=2|13

|-

!colspan=4|4,885 eligible electors, turnout 48.58%

|-

!colspan=4|Question B1: Should mixed drinking be allowed<br />in beer parlours in Calgary and the surrounding areas?

|-

!colspan=2|Ballot choice

!Votes

!%

|-

|bgcolor=green|

|Yes

|5

|100.00%

|-

|bgcolor=red|

|No

|0

|0.00%

|-

|align=right colspan=2|Total votes

|5

|100%

|-

|align=right colspan=2|Rejected, spoiled and declined

|colspan=2|0

|-

!colspan=4|19 eligible electors, turnout 26.32%

|}

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 woman were allowed to drink together in establishments. 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 were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones, business owners that wanted a licence had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a licence.

By-election reasons

  • December 7, 1906—Appointment of Mr. Charles Stuart to the Judicial Bench.
  • October 3, 1910—Resignation Ezra Riley in protest against leadership of his party.
  • October 31, 1911—Death of Mr. Archibald J. McArthur.

See also

  • List of Alberta provincial electoral districts
  • Canadian provincial electoral districts

References

Further reading

  • Elections Alberta
  • The Legislative Assembly of Alberta