Stony Plain (named Stonyplain until 1909) was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, between 1905 and 2019. The district returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta throughout its history, using the first past the post method of voting for most of its existence but single transferable vote from 1926 to 1957. The district was created in 1905 when Alberta became a province. The riding in its original boundaries stretched from the west Edmonton city limits to the British Columbia border, but over time it was significantly reduced in size.
History Stony Plain was founded as Stonyplain, one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta joining Confederation in September 1905. It was renamed Stony Plain for the 1909 Alberta general election, retaining this name until its abolition. The original boundaries of the riding took it to the British Columbia from west Edmonton city limits, but over the next hundred years the riding was significantly decreased in area to a small fraction of its former size.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw the riding transfer land north of Highway 16 to the electoral district of Whitecourt-Ste. Anne. In the 2017 re-distribution, the riding was abolished, with the town of Stony Plain moved to Spruce Grove-Stony Plain and the rural areas transferred to Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and Drayton Valley-Devon. The area continued to be represented in the Legislative Assembly until the 2019 election, when new riding borders took effect.
Boundary history 77 Stony Plain 2003 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthSpruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert, Whitecourt-Ste. AnneEdmonton-Calder, Edmonton-Meadowlark, Edmonton-McClung, Edmonton-Whitemud, Leduc-Beaumont-DevonWhitecourt-Ste. AnneDrayton Valley-Calmarriding map goes hereLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions ActStarting at the intersection of the right bank of the Pembina River and the north boundary of Twp. 54; then 1. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 33 in Twp. 54, Rge. 6 W5; 2. south along the east boundary of Secs. 33, 28, 21, 16, 9 and 4 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 33 and 28 in Twp. 53, Rge. 6 W5 to the north shore of Isle Lake; 3. in a generally northeasterly direction along the north shore to the north boundary of Twp. 53; 4. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 32 in Twp. 53, Rge. 5 W5; 5. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 28 in the Twp.; 6. east along the north boundary of ecs. 28, 27, 26 and 25 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 30, 29, 28, 27, 26 and 25 in Twp. 53, Rges. 4 and 3 W5 and the north boundary of Secs. 30 and 29 in Twp. 53, Rge. 2 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 29; 7. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 21 in the Twp.; 8. east along the north boundary of Secs. 21, 22, 23 and 24 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Sec. 19 in Twp. 53, Rge. 1 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 30 in the Twp.; 9. north along the east boundary of Secs. 30 and 31 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 6 and 7 in Twp. 54, Rge. 1 W5 to the north boundary of Sec. 8 in the Twp.; 10. east along the north boundary of Secs. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Sec. 12 in Twp. 54, Rge. 28 W4 and the north boundary of Secs. 7, 8 and 9 in Twp. 54, Rge. 27 W4 to the east boundary of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 11. south along the east boundary of Secs. 9 and 4 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 33, 28, 21, 16 and 9 in Twp. 53, Rge. 27 W4 to the north Spruce Grove city boundary; 12. westerly, southerly, easterly and north along the city boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 52; 13. east along the north boundary to the west Edmonton city boundary; 14. southerly and easterly along the city boundary to the right bank of the North Saskatchewan River; 15. upstream along the right bank to the east boundary of Sec. 21, Twp. 50, Rge. 6 W5; 16. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 21; 17. west along the north boundary of Secs. 21 and 20 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Sec. 30 in the Twp.; 18. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 30; 19. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 7 W5; 20. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 50; 21. west along the north boundary to the right bank of the Pembina River; 22. downstream along the right bank of the Pembina River to the starting point.Note:
81 Stony Plain 2010 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthSpruce Grove-St. Albert and Whitecourt-Ste. AnneEdmonton-Meadowlark and Edmonton-South WestWhitecourt-Ste. AnneDrayton Valley-Devon and Leduc-BeaumontLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions ActNote: Members of the Legislative Assembly for Stony PlainAssemblyYearsMemberParty1st1905–1909John McPhersonLiberal2nd1909–19133rd1913–1917Conrad WeidenhammerConservative4th1917–1921Frederick Lundy5th1921–1926Willard WashburnUnited Farmers6th1926–19307th1930–1935Donald Macleod8th1935–1939William HayesSocial Credit1939–1940Vacant9th1940–1944Cornelia WoodSocial Credit10th1944–194811th1948–195212th1952–195513th1955–1959John McLaughlinLiberal14th1959–1963Cornelia WoodSocial Credit15th1963–19671967Independent16th1967–1971Ralph JespersenSocial Credit17th1971–1975William PurdyProgressiveConservative18th1975–197919th1979–198220th1982–198621st1986–1989Jim Heron22nd1989–1993Stan WoloshynNew Democrat1993ProgressiveConservative23rd1993–199724th1997–200125th2001–200426th2004–2008Fred Lindsay27th2008–201228th2012–2015Ken Lemke29th2015–2019Erin BabcockNew DemocratSee Spruce Grove-Stony Plain, Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland, and Drayton Valley-Devon 2019–
Electoral history The electoral district of Stony Plain was created when the province was first formed in 1905. It was one of the longest-surviving original districts, remaining intact for every boundary redistribution until 2017.
The first election in 1905 saw a three-way battle which was handily won by Liberal candidate John McPherson, who was reelected in 1909. He was defeated by Conservative candidate Conrad Weidenhammer in 1913, who chose to retire after a single term. Conservative Frederick Lundy won the tight 1917 race to hold the district. He ran again in the 1921 election, but was defeated by United Farmers candidate Willard Washburn in a landslide. Washburn held the district for two terms before retiring in 1930. The United Farmers ran candidate Donald Macleod who held the district in a tight race over Liberal candidate George Bryan.
Macleod was defeated in 1935, finishing a distant third place to Social Credit candidate William Hayes. The seat became vacant when Hayes died on April 2, 1939, and it would not be filled before the 1940 election. Cornelia Wood was nominated to be the Social Credit candidate, who won the district for her party in a tight race that went to ballot transfers. Wood was re-elected for three terms before being defeated by Liberal candidate John McLaughlin in 1955. McLaughlin would be defeated by Wood, who returned to the seat in 1959. The two ran against each other twice more, with Wood coming up the winner each time.
Wood lost her nomination race to run as the Social Credit candidate again in the 1967 general election to Ralph Jespersen. She later left the Social Credit caucus on April 24, 1967, to run as an Independent Social Credit candidate. She would be defeated finishing a distant fourth place in a landslide by Jespersen.
Jespersen would only last a single term in office before being defeated by William Purdy in the 1971 general election. Purdy was re-elected three more times before retiring at dissolution in 1986. His replacement in the legislature was Progressive Conservative candidate Jim Heron, who served one term before being defeated by New Democrat Stan Woloshyn.
Woloshyn only stayed with the NDP caucus for a few years before crossing the floor to the Progressive Conservative caucus on February 23, 1993. He ran for re-election as a Progressive Conservative that year and won. In 1996 Premier Ralph Klein appointed him to the provincial cabinet. He won re-election again in 1997 and 2001 before retiring in 2004.
Fred Lindsay replaced Woloshyn in 2004 as the Progressive Conservative MLA for the riding and was re-elected in 2008. Former mayor Ken Lemke retained the riding for the PCs in the 2012 election. The last person to represent Stony Plain was Erin Babcock, who won the riding for the Alberta New Democratic Party in the 2015 election. At the 2019 election, the first after the riding was abolished, Babcock ran for reelection in the new Spruce Grove-Stony Plain riding, but lost to Searle Turton from the United Conservative Party. Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland and Drayton Valley-Devon, the other ridings to take in parts of the former Stony Plain riding, were also won by United Conservatives.
Legislative election results
1905
1909
1913
1917
1921
1926 This election conducted using instant-runoff voting
On the 2nd Count, McKinley was eliminated. Still no candidate had a majority of votes. On the 3rd Count, Oatway was eliminated. Washburn had picked up about 200 votes from the eliminated candidates while Lundy had picked up only 70. so their ranking in popularity did not change. In the 3rd Count, with only two candidates remaining, Washburn had 938 votes; Lundy had 485 votes. Washburn thus had a majority of votes and was declared elected.A Century of Democracy, Centennial Series, p. 98-99
1930 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1935 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1940 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1944 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1948 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1952 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1955 This election conducted using Instant-runoff voting
1959 This election (and all later ones) conducted using First-past-the-post voting
1963
1967
1971
1975
1979
1982
1986
1989
1993
1997
2001
2004
2008
2012
2015
Senate nominee election results
2004 2004 Senate nominee election results: Stony PlainTurnout 48.33% AffiliationCandidateVotes% votes% ballotsRankIndependentLink Byfield3,78311.53%34.94%4Michael Roth2,9789.08%27.51%7Gary Horan2,6908.20%24.85%10Vance Gough2,5917.90%23.93%8IndependentTom Sindlinger2,1736.62%20.07%9Total votes32,807100%Total ballots10,8273.03 votes per ballotRejected, spoiled and declined1,779Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot.
Plebiscite results
1948 electrification plebiscite District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation: Option AOption BAre you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies?Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission?1,360 35.88%2,430 64.12%Province wide result: Option A passed.
1957 liquor plebiscite 1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Stony PlainQuestion A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?Ballot choiceVotes%Yes2,37272.01%No92227.99%Total votes2,864100%Rejected, spoiled and declined388,663 eligible electors, turnout 38.64% On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.