| Edmonton-Centre | |
| Province: | Alberta |
| Prov-Status: | defunct |
| Prov-Created: | 1957 |
| Prov-Abolished: | 2019 |
| Prov-Election-First: | 1959 |
| Prov-Election-Last: | 2015 |
Edmonton-Centre formerly styled Edmonton Centre from 1959 to 1971 was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1959 to 2019.[1]
The electoral district of Edmonton-Centre was created in the 1957 boundary redistribution that saw the ridings of Edmonton and Calgary broken up into single member electoral districts when the province reintroduced first past the post.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution kept the riding mostly the same as 2003 except for a realignment on the eastern boundary where it was pushed back to 104 Street instead of completely running along 97 Street like it did before the change.[2]
| 28 Edmonton-Centre 2003 boundaries[3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bordering districts | ||||
| North | East | West | South | |
| Edmonton-Calder | Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, Edmonton-Gold Bar | Edmonton-Glenora | Edmonton-Riverview, Edmonton-Strathcona | |
| riding map goes here | map in relation to other districts in Alberta goes here | |||
| Legal description from Electoral Divisions Act . S.A. . 2003 . E-4.1 . http://canlii.ca/t/53m7s . | ||||
| Starting at the intersection of 111 Avenue with the northerly extension of 121 Street; then 1. east along 111 Avenue to 97 Street; 2. southeast along 97 Street and its extension to the right bank of the North Saskatchewan River; 3. in a south westerly direction along the right bank to Groat Road Bridge; 4. northeast across Groat Road Bridge to Victoria Park Road; 5. northeasterly along Victoria Park Road to the southerly extension of 124 Street; 6. north along the extension and 124 Street to Stony Plain Road; 7. southeast along Stony Plain Road to 121 Street; 8. north along 121 Street and its northerly extension to the starting point. | ||||
| Note: | ||||
| 31 Edmonton-Centre 2010 boundaries | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bordering districts | ||||
| North | East | West | South | |
| Edmonton-Calder | Edmonton-Gold Bar and Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood | Edmonton-Glenora | Edmonton-Riverview and Edmonton-Strathcona | |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act. | ||||
| Note: | ||||
| Members of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Centre | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | ||
| See Edmonton 1921-1959 | |||||
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Ambrose Holowach | Social Credit | ||
| 15th | 1963–1967 | ||||
| 16th | 1967–1971 | ||||
| 17th | 1971–1975 | Gordon Miniely | Progressive Conservative | ||
| 18th | 1975–1979 | ||||
| 19th | 1979–1982 | Mary LeMessurier | |||
| 20th | 1982–1986 | ||||
| 21st | 1986–1989 | William Roberts | New Democrat | ||
| 22nd | 1989–1993 | ||||
| 23rd | 1993–1997 | Michael Henry | Liberal | ||
| 24th | 1997–2001 | Laurie Blakeman | |||
| 25th | 2001–2004 | ||||
| 26th | 2004–2008 | ||||
| 27th | 2008–2012 | ||||
| 28th | 2012–2015 | ||||
| 29th | 2015–2019 | David Shepherd | New Democrat | ||
| See Edmonton-City Centre after 2019 | |||||
Over the years, candidates from four different parties have been elected in the district without being able to return after being defeated. From 1959 to 1986 the riding returned MLA's sitting with governing parties in Alberta while the later years past 1986 MLA's have been returned from the official opposition.
The first elected MLA was Social Credit candidate Ambrose Holowach who had previously served as a Member of Parliament sitting with the federal wing of Social Credit from 1953 to 1958. Holowach was re-elected twice more and served a ministerial portfolio as Provincial Secretary in the governments of Ernest Manning and Harry Strom from 1962 to 1971.
The 1971 election would bring great change to the province and to Edmonton-Centre. Holowach did not run for re-election and the riding was won by Progressive Conservative candidate Gordon Miniely. His party would form government for the first time that year and Miniely would serve in the Peter Lougheed cabinet until he retired from office after his second term in 1979.
Mary LeMessurier would be the third elected representative of the riding. First elected in 1979 she would also be appointed to cabinet like her two predecessors before her. She served as Minister of Culture in the Lougheed government and kept her portfolio briefly after Don Getty became Premier in 1985. She would run for re-election in 1986 but face a stunning defeat by NDP candidate William Roberts.
The NDP party would form the official opposition after electing a record size caucus in 1986. Roberts held his office for two terms before retiring in 1993. That election saw the NDP vote collapse in the district and across the province with NDP candidate Kay Hurtig finishing third place.
After the NDP defeat from opposition in 1993 and the surge of the Liberal party under Laurence Decore the district became a Liberal stronghold, with Michael Henry becoming the first MLA for his party. Henry did not run a second term in office in the 1997 election. The new Liberal candidate was Laurie Blakeman who held the district with a reduced majority.
In the 2015 Alberta General Election NDP Candidate David Shepherd was elected with 54% of the vote.
| 2004 Senate nominee election results Edmonton-Centre[4] | Turnout 48.64% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % votes | % ballots | Rank | Independent | Link Byfield | 3,211 | 15.15% | 42.92% | 4 | Independent | Tom Sindlinger | 2,520 | 11.89% | 33.69% | 9 | Michael Roth | 1,759 | 8.30% | 23.51% | 7 | Vance Gough | 1,515 | 7.15% | 20.25% | 8 | Gary Horan | 1,502 | 7.09% | 20.08% | 10 | |
| Total votes | 21,192 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total ballots | 7,481 | 2.83 votes per ballot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 3,395 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Participating schools[5] | |
|---|---|
| Centre High School | |
| Oliver School | |
| Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts |
| 2004 Alberta student vote results[6] | |||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | NDP | Mary Elizabeth Archer | 218 | 37.65% | Liberal | Laurie Blakeman | 152 | 26.25% | David Parker | 103 | 17.79% | |
| Total | 579 | 100% | |||||||||||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 Alberta student vote results | ||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | Liberal | Laurie Blakeman | % | NDP | Nadine Bailey | % | |||
| Total | 100% | |||||||||||