Calgary-West Explained

Calgary-West
Province:Alberta
Prov-Rep:Mike Ellis
Prov-Rep-Party:UCP
Prov-Status:active
Prov-Created:1957
Prov-Election-First:1959
Prov-Election-Last:2023

Calgary-West (formerly styled Calgary West from 1957 to 1971) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.

The electoral riding of Calgary West is one of the two original Calgary ridings of the seven that has survived from the 1959 Redistribution of the Calgary riding. The other riding is Calgary-Glenmore.

This riding covers the central west portion of Calgary and contains the neighbourhoods of Cougar Ridge, Coach Hill, Strathcona, Signal Hill, Discovery Ridge, Springbank Hill, Strathcona, Aspen Woods, West Springs, Springhaven, Montreaux, Spring Hill, Richmond Hill, Wentworth, Patterson, Glamorgan, Glenbrook and Christie Park.

History

The electoral district was first created in 1957 and used in 1959 as part of the original boundary redistribution for Calgary after the Social Credit government decided to return to the first past the post method of voting.

The 2010 boundary redistribution saw significant changes to the riding. It lost all land east of Sarcee Trail to Calgary-Currie and all land north of Bow Trail to Calgary-Bow.

Boundary history

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary-West
AssemblyYearsMemberParty
See Calgary electoral district from 1921–1959
14th1959–1963Donald FlemingSocial Credit
15th1963–1967
16th1967–1971Peter LougheedProgressive Conservative
17th1971–1975
18th1975–1979
19th1979–1982
20th1982–1986
1986Vacant
21st1986–1989Elaine McCoyProgressive Conservative
22nd1989–1993
23rd1993–1997Danny Dalla-LongaLiberal
24th1997–2001Karen KryczkaProgressive Conservative
25th2001–2004
26th2004–2008Ron Liepert
27th2008–2012
28th2012–2014Ken Hughes
2014Vacant
2014–2015Mike EllisProgressive Conservative
29th2015–2017
2017–2019United Conservative
30th2019–2023
31st2023–

The electoral district was first contested in the 1959 general election, and returned Social Credit candidate Donald Fleming. He won just over half of the popular vote in the new seat to pick it up for his party. Fleming faced a stiff challenge running in his second term in the 1963 election from Progressive Conservative leader Milt Harradence. Although Fleming won, he tallied under half the popular vote and only held off Harradence by just over a thousand votes.

The 1967 election would see Calgary West swing to the Progressive Conservatives. Fleming was defeated by Harradence's successor as PC leader, Peter Lougheed, who won the seat with a near landslide majority. He would go on to become Leader of the Opposition after he and five other candidates were elected.

Lougheed ran for his second term in the 1971 general election and won easily. His party would go on to form government in the province for the first time ever, and Lougheed became Premier. Lougheed would easily hold the district for the next three terms winning landslide majorities. He won his highest popular vote in the riding for the 1982 election as well as the highest number of seats in Alberta's history. Lougheed retired as Premier in 1985 and vacated Calgary-West on February 28, 1986.

The electoral district remained vacant for about two months until the 1986 general election which occurred in May of that year. The third representative for the riding was Progressive Conservative candidate Elaine McCoy who held the district losing almost half of the popular vote that Lougheed had won in 1982. She was appointed to the cabinet under Lougheed's successor, Don Getty.

McCoy won re-election in the 1989 election with a reduced majority. In 1992 she ran for leadership of the Progressive Conservative Association after Getty retired. She failed in her bid for leader losing to Ralph Klein. She did not run for a third term in 1993 and retired from the Legislature.

The 1993 election would see Calgary-West won by Liberal candidate Danny Dalla-Longa who won with a strong door knocking campaign over Progressive Conservative candidate Ron Leigh who had served as an Alderman on Calgary City Council. Dalla-Longa would only serve a single term in office retiring in 1997.

After Dalla-Longa retired the riding returned to the Progressive Conservative party selecting candidate Karen Kryczka in the 1997 election. She would be re-elected in 2001 winning a higher raw popular vote than Lougheed won in 1982. Kryczka retired at dissolution in 2004.

The most recent member of the legislature was Ron Liepert who won his first term in the 2004 election. He would be appointed to the cabinet in 2006 under the government of Ed Stelmach. He won his second term in office in 2008 with a larger majority.

Legislative election results

2023

Senate nominee election results

2004

2004 Senate nominee election results

Calgary-West[3]

Turnout 43.63%
AffiliationCandidateVotes% votes% ballotsRankIndependentLink Byfield3,1769.42%28.74%4IndependentTom Sindlinger2,3066.84%20.87%9Vance Gough1,9545.79%17.68%8Michael Roth1,7825.28%16.13%7Gary Horan1,6034.73%14.51%10
Total votes33,733100%
Total ballots11,0513.05 votes per ballot'
Rejected, spoiled and declined2,795
Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

2012

Student vote results

2004

Participating schools[4]
Calgary Academy
Brentwood Elementary
Glenbrook School
Menno Simons Christian School
Webber Academy
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[5]
AffiliationCandidateVotes%James Kohut9827.37%LiberalDerek Smith5214.53%NDPChantelle Dubois277.54%
Total358100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined31

2012

2012 Alberta student vote results
AffiliationCandidateVotes%LiberalWilson Mccutchan%NDPMary Nokleby%
Total100%

External links

51.03°N -114.19°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Statutes of the Province of Alberta. E‑4.1. Government of Alberta. 2003. 15.
  2. Web site: Bill 28 Electoral Divisions Act. Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 2010.
  3. Web site: Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results . Elections Alberta . March 1, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090704143923/http://www.elections.ab.ca/Public%20Website/files/Reports/SN_snetabulation.pdf . July 4, 2009 .
  4. Web site: School by School results . Student Vote Canada . 2008-04-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071005211819/http://www.studentvote.ca/admin/election/Schools.htm . October 5, 2007 .
  5. Web site: Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates . Student Vote Canada . 2008-04-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071006095842/http://www.studentvote.ca/admin/election/Candidate.htm . October 6, 2007 .