| Spirit River | |
| Province: | Alberta |
| Prov-Status: | defunct |
| Prov-Created: | 1940 |
| Prov-Abolished: | 1971 |
| Prov-Election-First: | 1940 |
| Prov-Election-Last: | 1967 |
Spirit River was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1971.[1]
Spirit River was created out of the northern half of the Grande Prairie district for the 1940 election. It contained the towns of Spirit River and Rycroft, and the Peace River formed its northern boundary. It saw no major boundary changes until it was replaced by Spirit River-Fairview, Grande Prairie and Smoky River in 1971.
| Members of the Legislative Assembly for Spirit River | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | ||
| See Grande Prairie 1930-1940 | |||||
| 9th | 1940 - 1944 | Henry DeBolt | Social Credit | ||
| 10th | 1944 - 1948 | ||||
| 11th | 1948 - 1952 | ||||
| 12th | 1952 - 1955 | Adolph Fimrite | |||
| 13th | 1955 - 1959 | ||||
| 14th | 1959 - 1963 | ||||
| 15th | 1963 - 1967 | ||||
| 16th | 1967 - 1971 | ||||
| See Spirit River-Fairview 1971-1986, Grande Prairie 1971-1993, and Smoky River 1971-1993 | |||||
Fimrite, who won on the second count in 1952, defended the seat until it was abolished in 1971. The last election in this district saw a surge in support for the New Democrats, foreshadowing party leader Grant Notley's 1971 victory over Fimrite in Spirit River-Fairview, which absorbed most of Spirit River.
|-!colspan=6|Second count|-||colspan=2|No second preference|align=right|266|}Final count swing reflects increase in vote share from the first count.
|}
|}
|-!colspan=6|Final count|-||colspan=2|No second/third preference|align=right|912|}
|}In 1959, Alberta abandoned instant runoff voting in rural districts, instead electing MLAs by the first past the post method. This change is evident in the dramatic drop in spoiled (incorrectly marked) ballots.|}
|}
|}
| 1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Spirit River[3] | ||||
| 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 | % | ||
| bgcolor=green | Yes | 762 | 53.81% | |
| bgcolor=red | No | 654 | 46.19% | |
| align=right colspan=2 | Total votes | 1,416 | 100% | |
| align=right colspan=2 | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 29 | ||
| 6,160 eligible electors, turnout 23.46% | ||||
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 women should be allowed to drink together in establishments.[3]
Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts, while Question B passed in all five districts. Spirit River voted in favour of the proposal, but the No side also polled a close vote. Voter turnout in the district was the lowest in the province, falling to half of the province wide average of 46%.[3]
Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[3] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding.[5] However, the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[6]
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 who wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.[7]