Medicine Hat was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1971, and again from 1979 to 2019. The electoral district was named after the city of Medicine Hat.
History The electoral district of Medicine Hat has existed in two iterations. The Medicine Hat electoral district was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election after Alberta became a province in September 1905. The district was carried over from the old Medicine Hat electoral district which had returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1888 to 1905. The former member for the Northwest Territories seat, William Finlay was elected in the 1st Alberta general election. Upon the electoral district's formation, it covered a large portion of rural southeast Alberta. The district shrunk until it became an urban only riding containing the City of Medicine Hat.
In 1921 Medicine Hat was given a second MLA. In 1921 The Medicine Hat MLAs were elected using plurality block voting. In 1926 STV was used to elect Medicine Hat MLAs. From 1930 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982
The district was abolished in the 1971 electoral district re-distribution to become part of Medicine Hat-Redcliff, which was abolished in 1979 and once again became the Medicine Hat electoral district.
Under the 2004 Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution, the constituency covered the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive. The rest of the city and surrounding area was part of the Cypress-Medicine Hat constituency.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw minor changes made to align the riding with new boundaries of Medicine Hat.
The Medicine Hat electoral district was dissolved in the 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution, and portions of the district would incorporate the Brooks-Medicine Hat to the North, and Cypress-Medicine Hat to the South for the 2019 Alberta general election.
Boundary history (1) Medicine Hat 1905 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthLacombe and VermilionSaskatchewan boundaryCardson, Gleichen, Innisfail, Lethbridge, Red Deer and RosebudMontana boundaryriding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in Alberta goes hereLegal description from An Act to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Alberta 1905.The electoral division of Medicine Hat, bounded as follows:– Commencing at the intersection of the eastern boundary of the said province of Alberta by the north boundary of the 38th township; thence westerly along the north boundary of the 38th townships to the meridian between the 10th and 11th ranges, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the meridian between the 10th and 11th ranges to the southern boundary of the said province of Alberta; thence easterly along the said southern boundary of the province of Alberta to the southeast corner thereof; thence northerly along the eastern boundary of the said province of Alberta to the point of commencement.Note: Original electoral boundaries
68 Medicine Hat 2003 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthCypress-Medicine HatLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.Starting at the intersection of the west Medicine Hat city boundary with the north Medicine Hat city boundary; then 1. generally east and southeast along the city boundary to the northeasterly extension of Carry Drive; 2. southwest along the extension and Carry Drive and its southwesterly extension to the Trans Canada highway; 3. northwest along the Trans Canada highway to the left bank of the South Saskatchewan River; 4. west along the left bank to the west Medicine Hat city boundary; 5. generally north, east and north to the starting point.Note:
72 Medicine Hat 2010 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthCypress-Medicine HatLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.Note:
Representation history Members of the Legislative Assembly for Medicine HatAssemblyYearsMemberPartySee Medicine Hat (N.W.T.) 1888–19051st1905–1909William FinlayLiberal2nd1909–19101910Vacant1910–1913Charles MitchellLiberal3rd1913–1917Nelson SpencerConservative4th1917–19215th1921William JohnstonDominionLaborPerren BakerUFA1921Vacant1921–1925Perren BakerUFA1925Vacant1925–1926CharlesPingleLiberal6th1926–1928J.J. HendricksConservative1928Vacant1928–1930Hector LangLiberal7th1930–19358th1935–1940John RobinsonSocial Credit9th1940–194410th1944–194811th1948–195212th1952–19531953Vacant1953–1955Elizabeth RobinsonSocial Credit13th1955–195914th1959–19601960–1961Vacant1961–1963Harry LeinweberSocial Credit15th1963–196716th1967–1971See Medicine Hat-Redcliff 1971-197919th1979–1982Jim HorsmanProgressiveConservative20th1982–198621st1986–198922nd1989–199323rd1993–1997Rob Renner24th1997–200125th2001–200426th2004–200827th2008–201228th2012–2014Blake PedersenWildrose2014–2015ProgressiveConservative29th2015–2019Bob WannerNew DemocraticSee Cypress-Medicine Hat and Brooks-Medicine Hat 2019– The provincial electoral district of Medicine Hat has a long history that goes back to 1888 under the old Medicine Hat, North-West Territories electoral district. The district was carried over when the province of Alberta was created in 1905.
The first election in 1905 saw former North-West Territories Assembly member William Finlay win the district in a hotly contested race. Finlay was re-elected in 1909 and resigned in 1910 so cabinet minister Charles Mitchell could have a seat in the Legislature.
Mitchell held the district for one term before being defeated by Conservative Nelson Spencer in the 1913 election. Spencer's win was considered an upset. Spencer was automatically re-elected under Chapter 38 of the Elections Act in 1917 for serving in the Canadian Army during World War I. He retired from the Legislature in 1921 and moved to British Columbia.
The Liberal government passed a law in 1921 that turned Medicine Hat into a two-member district. The seats were won in the 1921 general election by United Farmer of Alberta candidate Perren Baker and Dominion Labour Party candidate William Johnston. Baker was confirmed to a cabinet post by acclamation in a ministerial by-election on December 9, 1921.
Johnson died in 1925, vacating his seat. The subsequent by-election saw former Speaker of the Legislature Charles Pingle win the district for the Liberal party, defeating a Liberal and a Conservative.
The district also returned two members in 1926. This time they were elected through Single transferable voting. Baker moved to the Cypress electoral district. Pingle stood for re-election. Liberal Pingle and Conservative J.J. Hendricks were elected in this election. This was the first — and only — election held in this district using STV.
Before the next general election the vote district was re-drawn smaller and only given one member and the method of election was changed to Instant-runoff voting. From 1930 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.
Pingle died in 1928, forcing a by-election. Liberal candidate Hector Lang retained the seat for the party. He was re-elected in 1930 and was defeated, when he ran for a third term in 1935, by Social Credit candidate John Robinson.
Robinson held the district for five terms, being re-elected in 1940, 1944, 1948, and 1952. He was appointed Minister of Industries and Labour by Premier Ernest Manning in 1948 and held that post until his death in 1953.
The by-election in 1953 saw John Robinson's wife Elizabeth Robinson retain the seat for Social Credit. The by-election used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA. Elizabeth Robinson held the district for three terms before her death in 1961.
The last by-election held in the district in 1961 saw Harry Leinweber become the third member of Social Credit to win the district seat. He was re-elected in 1963 and 1967 before retiring in 1971.
Medicine Hat was redistributed to include the town of Redcliff in 1971 boundary redistribution. The new riding was called Medicine Hat-Redcliff. The electoral district of Medicine Hat was re-created in 1979 containing just the city of Medicine Hat.
The first election in the new Medicine Hat district saw former Medicine Hat-Redcliff incumbent Jim Horsman won the district in a landslide winning a 10,000 vote margin over the second place candidate. He would improve on that victory winning his biggest margin in the 1982 general election finishing almost 12,000 votes ahead of second place. He was also re-elected in 1986 and 1989 before retiring in 1993.
Rob Renner was elected as a Progressive Conservative candidate for the first time in the 1993 general election. He was re-elected in 1997, 2001, 2004, and 2008.
Blake Pedersen was elected as a Wildrose candidate in 2012. On December 17, 2014, he was one of nine Wildrose MLAs who crossed the floor to join the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus."9 Wildrose MLAs, including Danielle Smith, cross to Alberta Tories". CBC News, December 17, 2014.
Bob Wanner was elected as a New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in 2015.
Legislature election results
1905
1909
1910 by-election
1913
1917
1921
1921 by-election
Due to laws existing in the Legislative Assembly Act a series of ministerial by-elections were needed to confirm members appointed to the Greenfield government. Seven by-elections in total were called for an election day of December 9, 1921. This was set for one week after the 1921 Canadian federal election.
The by-election writ was dropped on November 16, 1921, United Farmers incumbent Perren Baker who had been appointed as Minister of Education ran unopposed and was acclaimed at the nomination deadline held on December 2, 1921. The timing of the by-elections was deliberately chosen to coincide with the federal election to ensure that opposition candidates would be unlikely to oppose the cabinet ministers.
1925 by-election This by-election was conducted using instant-runoff voting. September 29, 1925 by-election resultsTurnout 74.56%Swing compared to 1921AffiliationCandidate1st%2nd%PartyLiberalCharles Pingle1,64041.48%1,91455.17%5.89%Farmer-LaborWilliam McCombs1,30232.94%1,55544.83%-31.47%1ConservativeJoseph Hendrick1,01125.58%*Total3,953100%3,469100%Exhausted Ballots0484Rejected, spoiled and declinedUnknown5,302 eligible electorsLiberal pickup from Dominion LaborSwing compared to 1921 18.68% William McCombs was a candidate jointly nominated by the United Farmers of Alberta and the Dominion Labor Party. The party percent change is reflected from the combined party percentages in the 1921 general election.
1926 Two Members elected through STV. Pingle and Hendricks both elected.
1928 by-election May 1, 1928 by-election resultsTurnout 66.05%1st Count SwingAffiliationCandidate1st%2nd3rd4th%PartyPersonalLiberalHector Lang1,35539.90%1,4051,6031,60459.12%-4.18%*ConservativeJoseph Hendrick94127.71%9861,1061,10940.88% -8.11%Dominion LaborWilliam McCombs81023.85%8443.74%*IndependentB.J. Bott290 8.54%*Total3,396100%3,2352,7092,713100%Exhausted Ballots0161529-4Rejected, spoiled and declined1065,302 eligible electorsLiberal hold1st Count Swing -6.15%
1930
1935
1940
1944
1948
1952
1953 by-election December 21, 1953 by-election resultsTurnout 28.44%SwingAffiliationCandidateVotes%PartyPersonalSocial CreditElizabeth Robinson2,46276.89%2.19%*Co-operative CommonwealthE.W. Horne74023.11%*Total3,202100%Rejected, spoiled and declined20011,964 Eligible ElectorsSocial Credit holdSwing 12.65%
1955
1959
1961 by-election
1963
1967
1979
1982
1986
1989
1993
1997
2001
2004
2008
2012
2015
Senate nominee election results
2004