| Election Name: | 1971 Alberta general election |
| Country: | Alberta |
| Type: | legislative |
| Party Colour: | no |
| Party Name: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1967 Alberta general election |
| Previous Year: | 1967 |
| Next Election: | 1975 Alberta general election |
| Next Year: | 1975 |
| Seats For Election: | 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 38 seats were needed for a majority |
| Image1: | Peter Lougheed - Premier of Alberta - 1983.jpg |
| Leader1: | Peter Lougheed |
| Leader Since1: | 1965 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Calgary-West |
| Last Election1: | 6 seats, 26.0% |
| Seats Before1: | 10 |
| Seats1: | 49 |
| Seat Change1: | 39 |
| Popular Vote1: | 296,934 |
| Percentage1: | 46.4% |
| Swing1: | 20.4% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Premier | |
| Before Election: | Harry Strom |
| Posttitle: | Premier after election |
| After Election: | Peter Lougheed |
| Previous Mps: | 16th Alberta Legislative Assembly |
| Elected Mps: | members |
| Leader2: | Harry Strom |
| Leader Since2: | December 12, 1968 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Cypress |
| Last Election2: | 55 seats, 44.6% |
| Seats Before2: | 55 |
| Seats2: | 25 |
| Seat Change2: | 30 |
| Popular Vote2: | 262,953 |
| Percentage2: | 41.1% |
| Swing2: | 3.5% |
| Leader3: | Grant Notley |
| Leader Since3: | 1968 |
| Leaders Seat3: | ran in Spirit River-Fairview |
| Last Election3: | 0 seats, 16.0% |
| Seats Before3: | 0 |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 73,038 |
| Percentage3: | 11.4% |
| Swing3: | 4.6% |
The 1971 Alberta general election was the seventeenth general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on August 30, 1971, to elect seventy-five members of the Alberta Legislature to form the 17th Alberta Legislative Assembly.
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta led by Peter Lougheed won 49 of 75 seats with 46.4 per cent of the popular vote in the new legislature to form a majority government. Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives defeated the incumbent Social Credit Party led by Premier Harry Strom who won 25 seats with 41.1 per cent of the popular vote.
The 1971 election ushered in the Progressive Conservative dynasty in Alberta, which continuously held a majority government for 44 years from 1971 to 2015. The election also marked the end of the Social Credit dynasty which had continuously held a majority government for 36 years from 1935 to 1971.
See main article: article and 1967 Alberta general election. In the May 1967 election, Progressive Conservative leader Peter Lougheed and his supporters worked tirelessly to convince candidates to run in all 65 constituencies, however, the Progressive Conservatives were only able to nominate 47 candidates, two more than the Liberal Party with 45, but less than a full slate put forward by the Social Credit Party and the New Democratic Party.
Lougheed was subsequently elected to the legislature in Calgary-West garnering 62 per cent of the vote, and the Progressive Conservatives captured 26 per cent of the vote province-wide with five other successful candidates. With six elected MLAs, Lougheed became Leader of the Opposition. The group of elected Conservatives known as the "original six" included Calgary MLAs Len Werry, and David Russell; Edmonton area MLAs Lou Hyndman and Don Getty, and the party's only rural candidate and former federal Member of Parliament Hugh Horner. The Edmonton Journal remarked positively on Lougheed's success following the 1967 election, stating Albertans had a responsible and credible alternative as opposition.
Ernest C. Manning had resigned as Social Credit leader and premier in 1968 after 25 years in office, a year after leading the Socreds to their ninth consecutive majority government. His successor, Harry E. Strom, had been unable to revive a government increasingly seen as tired, complacent and old-fashioned. The Socreds had been in government for almost two generations, having won their first victory more than a decade before oil was found in a big way in Alberta.
Though the legislature's mandate from the 1967 election was not due to expire until May 1972, five years after it started, convention in Canadian politics is for legislatures to be dissolved every four years or less. Accordingly, Strom resolved to call an election in 1971, sometime between May and September. He briefly considered a spring campaign, in the hopes that the planting season would have farmers feeling optimistic and therefore inclined to support the incumbent government. However, after concluding that farmers would not react well to going to the polls in the middle of planting or harvest season, Strom finally settled on August 30.
The Progressive Conservatives, on the other hand, had significant momentum going into the 1971 election. Lougheed's Progressive Conservative caucus further grew from the "Original Six" with the election of Robert Dowling in the October 1969 Edson by-election, Bill Dickie a long-time friend of Lougheed crossing the floor from the Liberals to join his caucus in November 1969, and Banff-Cochrane independent representative Clarence Copithorne joining the party in April 1971. This growth saw the popular Lougheed-led Progressive Conservatives enter the August 1971 election with 10 incumbents.
A campaign committee was assembled, and recommended a budget of $580,000. The party recruited star candidates, including Calgary alderman George Ho Lem and former Calgary Stampeder star Don Luzzi (Edmonton alderman and future mayor Cec Purves was defeated in his bid to win the Social Credit nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona from Strathcona Centre incumbent Joseph Donovan Ross), but was handicapped in these efforts by Strom's unwillingness to offer cabinet posts or other incentives to potential new candidates. Strom's lack of personal charisma was also a liability: tellingly, of the large budget recommended by the central committee, only $72,000 was recommended for use on television advertising, where Strom did not shine. The party tried to revitalize the Premier's image through publicity movies, though efforts were mixed. In one, which was pulled after a single showing, Strom appeared scowling in his living room, urging Albertans to lower their expectations of government. Another, produced by Tommy Banks and showing Strom in a variety of settings talking about the province's changing face, was more successful.
The campaign did not give Social Credit partisans much reason for optimism. Strom did not draw the crowds that Progressive Conservative opposition leader Peter Lougheed did, although an August 25 rally in Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium featuring speeches by Strom and Manning was full. After criticizing the Conservatives' medicare platform, which promised free medicare to Albertans older than 65, as spendthrift, Strom announced Social Credit's barely cheaper alternative: medicare to Albertans older than 65 for one dollar per month. The Edmonton Journal, which had earlier published a poll showing that a plurality of Edmontonians intended to vote Progressive Conservative, endorsed Lougheed for Premier.
The Progressive Conservative Party had been preparing for an election to be called since mid-1970. The party developed slogans and branding which was one of the first instances in Alberta where political printing and branding was centrally controlled, with individual constituencies unable to develop their own materials. This centralization was intended to reinforce the party's key messages and ensure repetition in the eyes of voters. An advertising budget of $120,000 was set to provide $80,000 for television advertisements and the rest of other materials for constituencies across the province. Lougheed's focus on television contrasted Social Credit's use of radio for the less gregarious Strom. Lougheed's team was careful with messaging, stressing the idea of the Progressive Conservative providing an "alternative" rather than "opposition". Lougheed developed a 40-day schedule that brought him to each constituency to "meet and greet" with potential voters.
The 16th Legislature was prorogued on April 27, 1971, and dissolved three months later on July 22 with an election day set on August 30, 1971.
A number of electoral districts were redistributed following 1970 amendments to The Elections Act,[1] which were informed by the 1968 Report of the Alberta Committee on Redistribution Procedure written by the Special Committee on Redistribution chaired by Social Credit member Frederick C. Colborne.[2] The number of members elected to the legislature was increased from 65 to 75,
Amendments to the Age of Majority Act lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years.
The collapse of the other opposition parties made the Progressive Conservatives the only credible challenger to the Social Credit. The Progressive Conservatives took 46 per cent of the popular vote and won 49 of the 75 seats in the legislature, enough for a strong majority government. This would be the first of twelve consecutive victories for the PCs; they would remain in government without interruption until their defeat in 2015, making them the longest serving political dynasty in Canadian history.[3] The 1971 election is considered a classic example of a political realignment.
Social Credit garnered a record number of votes in this election compared to previous elections, which had been plagued by low turn-outs. However, the Progressive Conservatives converted this slim lead into a large lead in seats due to their success in the province's two largest cities: Edmonton, where the Progressive Conservatives won every seat, and Calgary, where they took all but five.
While many of the Social Credit losses came by small margins, those losses were enough to cost the party almost half of its caucus. Strom resigned as Social Credit leader a few months after the defeat. Election night saw Social Credit defeated, taking 25 seats to the Progressive Conservative's 49. Though Social Credit's share of the vote had only slipped slightly, losing five points, Lougheed benefited from a substantial reduction in the New Democrats' vote and a near-collapse of the Liberals'. The party was also decimated in the province's two largest cities, losing all of its seats in Edmonton and all but five in Calgary. Strom conceded defeat in Edmonton and returned home to Medicine Hat. The defeat sent Social Credit into headlong decline. Its membership in the Assembly shrank over the next ten years and disappeared altogether by 1982.
The Liberal Party was shut out of the legislature. One Liberal, Bill Dickie, had crossed the floor to the PCs. Another, William Switzer, died in 1969. The remaining Liberal, Michael Maccagno, resigned to run, unsuccessfully as it turned out, for the federal Parliament.
Alberta New Democratic Party leader Grant Notley was the only one in his party to win election. He sat as the only New Democrat in the legislature until 1982. His daughter Rachel would lead the NDP to victory over the Progressive Conservatives in 2015, ending its 44 years in office.
| Party | Party leader |
| Seats | Popular vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Dissol. | Elected | +/- | % | % Change | Progressive Conservative | Peter Lougheed | 75 | 6 | 10 | 49 | +43 | 296,934 | 46.40% | +20.40% | Social Credit | Harry E. Strom | 75 | 55 | 55 | 25 | −30 | 262,953 | 41.10% | −3.50% | New Democrats | Grant Notley | 70 | - | - | 1 | +1 | 73,038 | 11.42% | −4.56% | Bob Russell | 20 | 3 | - | - | −3 | 6,475 | 1.01% | −9.80% | Independent | 3 | 1 | - | - | −1 | 462 | 0.07% | −1.31% | ||
| Total | 243 | 65 | 65 | 75 | +10 | 639,862 | 100% | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Elections Alberta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daylight saving time plebiscite | |
| Do you favour province-wide daylight saving time? | |
| Location: | Alberta |
| Yes: | 386,846 |
| No: | 242,431 |
| Total: | 629,277 |
Alberta voters participated in a province-wide plebiscite on the question of whether or not to endorse a proposal to adopt daylight saving time (summer time). The proposal was endorsed by voters with a wide margin of 61.37 per cent in approval.
In 1948, the Government of Alberta formally set the province's time zone with the passage of The Daylight Saving Time Act,[4] which mandated the entire province observe Mountain Standard Time, and prevented any municipality from observing daylight saving time or any other time zone. The legislation came after Calgary (1946 and 1947), and Edmonton (1946) held municipal plebiscites that approved the move to daylight saving time.
Alberta's urban municipalities were largely in favour of daylight saving time and pressured the provincial government to hold a provincial plebiscite or permit municipalities to observe daylight saving time.[5] The effort in the legislature was spearheaded by Liberal MLA and Calgary Alderman Bill Dickie, who in March 1964 brought forward a motion to permit municipalities to hold plebiscites on the issue; the motion was defeated by the Social Credit government. At the time, Social Credit MLA William Patterson described daylight saving time as "that fandangled thing", and Minister Allen Russell Patrick stated municipal daylight saving time would be difficult for tourists to understand.[6]
In February 1966, the Social Credit government finally gave in to the calls for a provincial plebiscite on daylight saving time, approving a motion submitted by Bill Dickie.[7] The government responded on March 29, 1966, with Minister Alfred Hooke introducing An Act to amend The Daylight Saving Time Act (Bill 75) which amended the Daylight Saving Time Act[8] to permit the government to hold a plebiscite on the issue. Alberta voters were asked the question "Do you favour Province-wide Daylight Saving Time?", during the 1967 Alberta general election. A narrow majority of 51.25 per cent of voters rejected daylight saving time. Most of the opposition was located in rural areas, while strong support for daylight saving time was seen in the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat.
By 1967, each province besides Alberta and Saskatchewan had adopted daylight saving time. Many Alberta businesses provided for modified summer hours to coordinate with other provinces with daylight saving time, including the Alberta Stock Exchange which started at 7 a.m. to align with exchanges in Toronto and Montreal. Air Canada released a statement expressing the difficulty of distributing flight schedules with flights in Alberta.[9]
After 25 years as Premier, Social Credit leader Ernest Manning stepped down on December 12, 1968, and his successor Harry Strom was sworn in as Premier. Only a few months later in April 1969, Strom announced Albertans would once again be asked to vote on daylight saving time in conjunction with the next scheduled provincial general election. During the announcement, Strom stated he was neutral on the topic and did not have a preference one way or another.[10]
Once again Calgary residents and businessmen Bill Creighton and David Matthews led a campaign for daylight saving times, just as they did in 1967, arguing the benefits of an additional hour of late sunlight for sports.[11] Creighton learned from the successful and well-funded "no" campaign in 1967 led by the Alberta Council for Standard Time and Calgary lawyer and drive-in movie operator R. H. Barron. Creighton and Matthews formed the "Yes for Daylight Saving Society" to advocate during the leadup to the 1971 plebiscite, mirroring the organized approach of the "no" campaign in 1967.[12] [13] The Edmonton chapter had a $1,000 budget for advertising and even crowned a "Miss Daylight Saving Time", who made appearances throughout Edmonton.[13] The arguments made for daylight saving time were similar to 1967, more amateur sport time, saving 150 hours of electricity each summer and aligning Alberta with the eight other provinces that observed daylight saving time.[13]
The primary opposition to daylight saving time was described by members of the "Yes for Daylight Saving Society" as farmers, housewives and drive-in movie operators. In the 1967 campaign, the Alberta Council for Standard Time was able to raise $30,000 for advertisements, but was much less vocal during the 1971 campaign. Unifarm, an agricultural organization opposed daylight saving time, but was not willing to spend significantly on a campaign.[14]
The 1971 plebiscite on daylight saving time resulted in an overwhelming majority of the Alberta population approving the transition. A statement from Unifarm, a farmer representative organization which opposed daylight saving time admitted that the organization anticipated the proposal would pass, but also downplayed the consequences for farmers.[15] The new Progressive Conservative government highlighted the change to observe daylight saving in the Speech from the Throne in early March 1972,[16] and Attorney-General Merv Leitch announced on March 14, 1972, that Alberta will officially observe daylight saving time, with the start date set for April 30, 1972, and lasting until October 29, 1972.[17]
| Do you favour province-wide daylight saving time? | |||
| For | Against | ||
| 386,846 61.47% | 242,431 38.53% | ||
|-|Calgary-Bow||||Roy Wilson
5,539
47.84%||Bill Wearmouth
4,563
39.41%||||Fred Spooner
1,407
12.15%|||||||-|Calgary-Buffalo||Don Luzzi
5,238
42.31%||||Ronald H. Ghitter
5,705
46.09%||||Jane Ann Summers
1,364
11.02%|||||||-|Calgary-Currie||Frederick C. Colborne
4,679
43.43%||||Fred H. Peacock
5,255
48.78%||||Margaret I. Jackson
791
7.34%|||||||-|Calgary-Egmont||Pat O'Byrne
5,503
40.94%||||Merv Leitch
6,791
50.52%||||Ron Stuart
1,060
7.89%|||||||-|Calgary-Elbow||L.A. Thorssen
4,480
41.63%||||David J. Russell
5,547
51.54%||||Dolores LeDrew
688
6.39%|||||||-|Calgary-Foothills||Jay Salmon
5,885
39.30%||||Len F. Werry
7,693
51.38%||||James Staples
1,370
9.15%|||||||-|Calgary-Glenmore||Raymond A. Kingsmith
5,122
37.21%||||William Daniel Dickie
7,658
55.64%||||George C. McGuire
806
5.86%||||||William Daniel Dickie|-|Calgary-McCall||||George Ho Lem
5,116
43.70%||John Kushner
4,187
35.76%||Natalie Chapman
151
1.29%||Ted Takacs
1,984
16.95%|||||||-|Calgary-McKnight||Jim Richards
5,368
41.60%||||Calvin E. Lee
6,134
47.54%||Philip T. Keuber
246
1.91%||Walter H. Siewert
1,097
8.50%|||||||-|Calgary-Millican||||Arthur J. Dixon
4,539
48.74%||Norman Kwong
2,973
31.93%||Carole Walter
153
1.64%||Clarence Lacombe
1,543
16.57%|||||||-|Calgary-Mountain View||||Albert W. Ludwig
4,990
51.11%||George Swales
3,533
36.19%||||E.C. Baldwin
1,149
11.77%|||||||-|Calgary-North Hill||Robert A. Simpson
4,900
42.88%||||Roy Alexander Farran
4,961
43.41%||||Barry Pashak
1,341
11.74%||Carl L. Riech (Ind.)
121
1.06%|||||-|Calgary-West||Charles Grey
4,319
33.68%||||Peter Lougheed
7,049
54.96%||Brian Stevenson
333
2.60%||Joe Yanchula
1,066
8.31%||||||Peter Lougheed|}
|-|Edmonton-Avonmore||Joe G. Radstaak
3,681
39.87%||||Horst A. Schmid
3,913
42.39%||John Kloster
257
2.78%||Bill McLean
1,303
14.11%|||||||-|Edmonton-Belmont||Werner G. Schmidt
4,052
33.42%||||Albert Edward Hohol
6,018
49.63%||||Gordon S.B. Wright
1,960
16.16%|||||||-|Edmonton-Beverly||Lou W. Heard
3,050
28.95%||||Bill W. Diachuk
4,471
42.44%||John Lambert
185
1.76%||Barrie Chivers
2,769
26.28%|||||||-|Edmonton-Calder||Edgar H. Gerhart
3,653
32.03%||||Tom Chambers
5,931
52.01%||||Bill Glass
1,772
15.54%|||||||-|Edmonton-Centre||Gerry Mulhall
2,622
28.91%||||Gordon Miniely
5,281
58.23%||Leonard Stahl
197
2.17%||Linda Gaboury
931
10.27%||||||Ambrose Holowach|-|Edmonton-Glenora||Lou Letourneau
4,001
31.09%||||Lou Hyndman
7,661
59.53%||Sol Estrin
322
2.50%||Mary Lou Pocklington
848
6.59%|||||||-|Edmonton-Gold Bar||William F. Young
3,778
35.31%||||William Yurko
5,789
54.10%||||Tom Hennessey
1,082
10.11%|||||||-|Edmonton-Highlands||Ambrose Holowach
2,748
38.05%||||David T. King
2,848
39.43%||Gerald Lorente
154
2.13%||Leroy Pearch
1,368
18.94%|||||||-|Edmonton-Jasper Place||John B. Ludwig
3,789
33.72%||||Leslie Gordon Young
5,758
51.25%||Edwin Robert Daniels
241
2.15%||Kenneth Joseph Kerr
1,402
12.48%||||||John William Horan|-|Edmonton-Kingsway||Ethel Sylvia Wilson
3,535
30.92%||||Kenneth R.H. Paproski
6,316
55.25%||Roderick Woodcock
199
1.74%||Paulette Atterbury
1,290
11.28%|||||||-|Edmonton-Meadowlark||Alexander Romaniuk
3,839
34.05%||||Gerard Joseph Amerongen
6,371
56.52%||||Alan J. Idiens
1,035
9.18%|||||||-|Edmonton-Norwood||Irene Domecki
3,618
35.80%||||Catherine Chichak
4,334
42.89%||||Sam Lee
1,954
19.34%||||||William Tomyn|-|Edmonton-Ottewell||Ronald Penner
4,188
32.73%||||John G. Ashton
7,009
54.77%||||Donald Haythorne
1,314
10.27%|||||||-|Edmonton-Parkallen||Gordon V. Rasmussen
3,875
35.84%||||Neil S. Crawford
5,300
49.02%||Vic Yanda
221
2.04%||Hart Horn
1,311
12.13%|||||||-|Edmonton-Strathcona||Joseph Donovan Ross
2,973
32.55%||||Julian Koziak
4,541
49.72%||||Timothy Christian
1,574
17.23%|||||||-|Edmonton-Whitemud||Donald Murray Hamilton
4,690
33.06%||||Donald Ross Getty
8,201
57.81%||James N. Tanner
235
1.66%||Joseph Mercredi
936
6.60%|||||||-|}
|-|Athabasca||Allan Gerlach
2,585
36.76%||||Frank Appleby
3,261
46.37%||||Peter E. Opryshko
1,136
16.15%||||||Antonio Aloisio|-|Banff-Cochrane||Slim Martin
2,647
37.52%||||Clarence Copithorne
3,801
53.88%||||Beverly Coulter
420
5.95%||||||Clarence Copithorne|-|Barrhead||Simon Tuininga
1,651
29.10%||||Hugh F. Horner
3,360
59.23%||||Herman Burke
643
11.33%|||||||-|Bonnyville||Lorne Mowers
2,355
43.31%||||Donald Hansen
2,523
46.40%||||Claire Gaines
539
9.91%||||||Romeo B. Lamothe|-|Bow Valley||||Fred T. Mandeville
3,584
67.66%||Don Murray
1,674
31.60%|||||||||||-|Camrose||Laurence Rhierson
3,965
41.52%||||Gordon Stromberg
4,552
47.67%||||Keith Boulter
988
10.35%||||||Chester I. Sayers|-|Cardston||||Edgar W. Hinman
2,831
53.56%||Larry L. Lang
2,392
45.25%||||||||||Alvin F. Bullock|-|Clover Bar||||Walt A. Buck
4,041
48.86%||J. Devereux
3,468
41.93%||||A. Karvonen
736
8.90%||||||Walt A. Buck|-|Cypress||||Harry E. Strom
2,777
60.15%||Dave Berntson
1,635
35.41%||||Tony de Souza
196
4.25%||||||Harry E. Strom|-|Drayton Valley||Thomas Johnson
1,304
26.62%||||Rudolph Zander
2,603
53.14%||||Alvin Harmacy
963
19.66%|||||||-|Drumheller||||Gordon Edward Taylor
5,044
63.56%||Wayne Ohlhauser
2,285
28.79%||||Dick Hehr
547
6.89%|||||||-|Edson||Rollie Mohr
1,947
28.58%||||Robert W. Dowling
3,900
57.24%||||Walter Seewitz
749
10.99%||||||Robert W. Dowling|-|Grande Prairie||William Bowes
4,104
38.42%||||Winston Backus
4,553
42.63%||||Arthur Macklin
1,992
18.65%||||||Ira McLaughlin|-|Hanna-Oyen||||Clinton Keith French
2,231
45.58%||John Edward Butler
2,216
45.27%||||Gordon Snell
414
8.46%|||||||-|Highwood||||Edward P. Benoit
2,941
47.82%||Eldon C. Couey
2,789
45.35%||||D. Larry McKillop
389
6.33%|||||||-|Innisfail||William Kenneth Ure
2,915
46.95%||||Clifford L. Doan
3,235
52.10%|||||||||||-|Lac La Biche-McMurray||||Dan Bouvier
2,679
52.97%||Elmer Roy
1,927
38.10%||||Kenneth B. Orchard
414
8.19%|||||||-|Lacombe||Ivan Stonehocker
2,582
42.02%||||John William Cookson
3,094
50.36%||||Ragnar Johanson
452
7.36%||||||Allan Russell Patrick|-|Lesser Slave Lake||||Dennis Barton
1,830
40.98%||Garth Roberts
1,434
32.11%||Stan Daniels
246
5.51%||Marie Carlson
670
15.00%||Allan Crawford (Ind.)
231
5.17%|||||-|Lethbridge-East||||John V. Anderson
5,341
50.27%||Richard Barton
4,374
41.17%||||Douglas Poile
805
7.58%|||||||-|Lethbridge-West||||Richard David Gruenwald
4,169
54.39%||R.J. Gray
2,751
35.89%||||Klaas Buijert
670
8.74%|||||||-|Little Bow||||Raymond Albert Speaker
3,400
58.42%||John C. Green
2,114
36.32%||||Edward H. Rodney
295
5.07%||||||Raymond Albert Speaker|-|Lloydminster||Campbell A. Hancock
2,585
42.95%||||James Edgar Miller
2,774
46.09%||||Lloyd Robertson
635
10.55%|||||||-|Macleod||||Leighton E. Buckwell
3,399
50.67%||Danny Le Grandeur
2,808
41.86%||||Sid J. Cornish
470
7.01%||||||Leighton E. Buckwell|-|Medicine Hat-Redcliff||||William Wyse
6,447
48.68%||James Horsman
4,140
31.26%||Theodore Anhorn
462
3.49%||Frank Armstrong
2,128
16.07%|||||||-|Olds-Didsbury||||Robert Curtis Clark
4,346
59.36%||Rudolf Pedersen
2,578
35.21%||||William C. McCutcheon
366
5.00%||||||Robert Curtis Clark|-|Peace River||Robert H. Wiebe
2,437
38.04%||||Al (Boomer) Adair
3,188
49.77%||||Hans Jorgensen
722
11.27%||||||Robert H. Wiebe|-|Pincher Creek-Crowsnest||||Charles Duncan Drain
2,379
42.82%||Morgan Johnson
1,791
32.24%||||Clarence W. Smith
1,355
24.39%||||||Charles Duncan Drain|-|Ponoka||Neville S. Roper
2,695
43.69%||||Donald J. McCrimmon
2,712
43.96%||Bernice Luce
142
2.30%||Ed Nelson
598
9.69%||||||Neville S. Roper|-|Red Deer||Fulton Rollings
3,627
34.79%||||James L. Foster
4,994
47.90%||Len Patterson
761
7.30%||Ethel Taylor
1,022
9.80%||||||William Kenneth Ure|-|Redwater-Andrew||Michael Senych
2,271
34.67%||||George Topolnisky
3,277
50.02%||||Norman T. Flach
968
14.78%|||||||-|Rocky Mountain House||Harvey Staudinger
2,472
40.01%||||Helen Hunley
3,014
48.78%||||David Elliot
657
10.63%||||||Alfred J. Hooke|-|Sedgewick-Coronation||||Ralph A. Sorenson
2,272
47.51%||Herb Losness
2,005
41.93%||||Ron Chalmers
489
10.23%||||||Jack C. Hillman|-|Smoky River||Bernard Lamoureux
1,604
26.88%||||Marvin Moore
2,254
37.77%||||Victor Tardif
2,074
34.76%|||||||-|Spirit River-Fairview||Adolph O. Fimrite
2,246
35.99%||Don Moore
1,439
23.06%||||||Grant W. Notley
2,400
38.46%||Michael Zuk (Ind.)
110
1.76%|||||-|St. Albert||Keith Everitt
3,592
33.36%||||William Ernest Jamison
4,623
42.94%||Robert A. Russell
1,660
15.42%||Elsie McMillan
878
8.15%||||||Keith Everitt|-|St. Paul||Raymond Reierson
2,041
35.07%||||Mick Fluker
2,661
45.72%||Lawrence P. Coutu
209
3.59%||Laurent (Jeff) Dubois
898
15.43%||||||Raymond Reierson|-|Stettler||Galen C. Norris
2,631
47.10%||||Jack G. Robertson
2,925
52.36%||||||||||Galen C. Norris|-|Stony Plain||Ralph A. Jespersen
2,788
40.12%||||William Frederick Purdy
3,348
48.17%||||Michael Crowson
770
11.08%||||||Ralph A. Jespersen|-|Taber-Warner||||Douglas Miller
4,077
54.48%||Robert Bogle
3,367
45.00%||||||||||Douglas Miller|-|Three Hills||Raymond Ratzlaff
2,970
47.93%||||Allan Warrack
2,978
48.06%||||K. Robert Friesen
220
3.55%||||||Raymond Ratzlaff|-|Vegreville||Alex W. Gordey
2,191
32.05%||||John S. Batiuk
3,042
44.49%||||W.B. Welsh
1,537
22.48%|||||||-|Vermilion-Viking||||Ashley H. Cooper
2,420
46.68%||Tom Newcomb
2,232
43.06%||||Harry E. Yaremchuk
507
9.78%|||||||-|Wainwright||||Henry A. Ruste
3,311
63.04%||Clifford Silas Smallwood
1,366
26.01%||||Gary Luciow
547
10.42%||||||Henry A. Ruste|-|Wetaskiwin-Leduc||||James D. Henderson
5,334
47.25%||Emanuel Pyrcz
4,590
40.66%||||Lionel Udenberg
1,336
11.83%|||||||-|Whitecourt||Clyde Feero
2,125
33.76%||||Peter Trynchy
3,096
49.19%||Arthur Yates
101
1.60%||Robert Price
929
14.76%|||||||-|}