Banff-Cochrane was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 2019. The Banff-Cochrane electoral district is home to the town of Banff and the popular tourist destination Banff National Park, environmental issues tend to dominate here.
The cost of living is significantly high especially in Canmore where there is a struggle to fill low wage service sector jobs, due to the high cost of living. Bears and wildlife encounters are also common in this riding, requiring extra attention to waste disposal. The area has many ski resorts and a number of ranchers and farmers make their home in the Alberta Foothills.
The riding was first created in 1940 out of the north half of the old Rocky Mountain riding, and the Cochrane riding. From 1975 to 1979 the riding was renamed Banff but was later reversed.
A previous Banff riding existed from 1905 to 1909.
History Banff was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta joining Confederation in September 1905. The district was carried over from the old Banff electoral district which returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1891 to 1905.
The riding disappeared only one election later when it was merged into the newly formed Rocky Mountain Riding.
Banff-Cochrane was created in the 1940 boundary re-distribution from the electoral districts of Cochrane and Rocky Mountain. From 1940 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982
In 1975 the riding name was changed to Banff and it was set back to Banff-Cochrane in the 1977 re-distribution.
The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw Banff-Cochrane gain the land south of Cochrane that was in the old Foothills-Rocky View electoral district.
The Banff-Cochrane electoral district was dissolved in the 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution, and portions of the district would form the newly created Banff-Kananaskis and Airdrie-Cochrane electoral districts.
Boundary history 45 Banff-Cochrane 2003 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthRocky Mountain HouseFoothills-Rocky View, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, HighwoodnoneLivingstone-Macleodriding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in Alberta goes hereLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.Starting at the intersection of the east boundary of Rge. 19 W5 and the east boundary of Banff National Park; then 1. in a generally southeasterly direction along the park boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 30; 2. east along the north boundary of the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 8 W5; 3. north along the east boundary of Rge. 8 W5 to the intersection with the right bank of the Red Deer River; 4. downstream along the right bank to the north boundary of Twp. 31; 5. east along the north boundary of the Twp. to the east boundary of Sec. 33 in Twp. 31, Rge. 6 W5; 6. south along the east boundary of Secs. 33, 28, 21 and 16 to the north boundary of Sec. 10 in the Twp.; 7. east along the north boundary of Secs. 10, 11 and 12 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 6; 8. south along the east boundary of Rge. 6 to the north boundary of Twp. 29, Rge. 6 W5; 9. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 34; 10. south along the east boundary of Secs. 34 and 27 to the north boundary of Sec. 23 in the Twp.; 11. east along the north boundary of Sec. 23 to the east boundary of Sec. 23; 12. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 24 in the Twp.; 13. east along the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 24 to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 24; 14. south along the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 24 to the north boundary of Sec. 13; 15. east along the north boundary of Sec. 13 to the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5; 16. south along the east boundary of Rge. 6 to the north boundary of Sec. 12, Twp. 27, Rge. 6 W5; 17. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 11; 18. south along the east boundary of Secs. 11 and 2 in Twp. 27 and the east boundary of Secs. 35, 26, and 23 in Twp. 26 to the west shore of the Ghost Lake Reservoir; 19. south along the west shore to the north boundary of Sec. 12 in the Twp.; 20. east along the north boundary of Sec. 12 to the southeast shore of the Ghost Lake Reservoir and the northeast boundary of the Stoney Indian Reserve No. 142, 143 and 144; 21. generally east and south along the Stoney Indian Reserve No. 142, 143 and 144 to the west town boundary of Cochrane (at the east boundary of Sec. 8 in Twp. 26, Rge. 4 W5); 22. north along the east boundary of Sec. 8 to the north boundary of Sec. 9; 23. east along the north boundary of Secs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 to the east boundary of Rge. 4 W5; 24. south along the east boundary of Rge. 4 W5 to the east town boundary of Cochrane; 25. south, west and north along the Cochrane town boundary to the east boundary of the Stoney Indian Reserve No. 142, 143 and 144; 26. westerly along the boundary of the Stoney Indian Reserve No. 142, 143 and 144 to the intersection with the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5; 27. south along the east boundary of Rge. 6 to the north boundary of Twp. 23 and the intersection with the east boundary of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve; 28. south and east along the east boundary of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve to the north boundary of Sec. 14 in Twp. 15, Rge. 3 W5 (Highway 532); 29. southwesterly along the boundary of the Cataract Creek Snow Vehicle Forest Land Use Zone described in Order In Council 998/79 to the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5; 30. south along the east boundary of Rge. 6 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 13; 31. west along the north boundary of Twp. 13 to the Alberta-British Columbia boundary; 32. northwesterly along the boundary to its intersection with the north boundary of Twp. 32; 33. northeast along a projected line to the starting point.Note: 49 Banff-Cochrane 2010 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthRimbey-Rocky Mountain House-SundreAirdrie, Chestermere-Rocky View, Livingstone-Macleod and Olds-Didsbury-Three HillsBritish Columbia boundaryLivingstone-MacleodLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.Note: Members of the Legislative Assembly for Banff-CochraneAssemblyYearsMemberPartySee Banff (N.W.T.) 1891-19051st1905–1909Charles W. FisherLiberalSee Rocky Mountain, Okotoks and Cochrane 1909-1940See Cochrane 1909–1940 and Rocky Mountain 1909–19409th1940–1944Frank LautIndependent10th1944–1946Arthur WraySocial Credit1946–1948IndependentSocial Credit11th1948–195212th1952–1955Lee LeavittSocial Credit13th1955–1959Frank GainerCoalition14th1959–196315th1963–196716th1967–1971Clarence CopithorneIndependent1971ProgressiveConservative17th1971–197519th1975–1979Frederick Kidd19th1979–1982Greg Stevens20th1982–198621st1986–198922nd1989–1993Brian Evans23rd1993–199724th1997–2001Janis Tarchuk25th2001–200426th2004–200827th2008–201228th2012–2015Ron Casey29th2015–2019Cam WestheadNew DemocraticSee Banff-Kananaskis and Airdrie-Cochrane 2019–
Electoral history The electoral district was created in the 1940 boundary redistribution primarily from the ridings of Cochrane and Rocky Mountain. The first representative to win the district was Independent candidate Frant Laut who defeated former Cochrane Social Credit incumbent William King in a hotly contested race.
Laut was defeated running for a second term in the 1944 general election by Social Credit candidate Arthur Wray. Two years into his term Wray was suspended by the Social Credit caucus on February 20, 1946, for criticizing the Alberta government after requests to the Public Works department to remove snow from Cochrane roads was ignored. The situation came to a head a year later when the Social Credit members passed a motion in the legislature to force Wray to move his desk to the opposition side of the house. His stand against cabinet won praise from his constituents in Cochrane.
The 1948 election would see a hotly contested battle as King and Laut attempt to regain their seat. Wray hung on to a second term in vote transfers. Wray would run for a third term in the 1952 election but would be defeated finishing a distant third by Social Credit candidate Lee Leavitt.
Leavitt was defeated by Frank Gainer who was one of two joint nominee's by the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties in the 1955 election. He ran with the Coalition banner and sat in the legislature with it. Gainer won re-election in a hotly contested race in 1959. Pundits at the time figured he would be chosen to lead the four opposition members of different stripes with his Coalition banner, however no one was picked. He won a third term in 1963 before retiring in 1967.
The wide open race in 1967 saw Independent candidate Clarence Copithorne defeat Social Credit candidate Roy Wilson to win the district. Copithorne joined the Progressive Conservative caucus on April 15, 1971. He stood for reelection as a Progressive Conservative a few months later winning a strong plurality. He retired from provincial politics at dissolution in 1975.
In 1975 the riding name was changed to Banff before being changed back in 1979. Progressive Conservative candidate Greg Stevens held the district for three terms before retiring in 1993. He was replaced by Brian Evans for two terms. Janis Tarchuck was elected in 2001 and served until 2012 when she was replaced by Ron Casey. Ron Casey would be defeated by NDP member Cameron Westhead in the 2015 general election.
Legislative election results 1905 The first incarnation of the Banff electoral district in Alberta was created in 1905 when Alberta was created into a province separate from the Northwest Territories. The electoral district replaced the old Banff territorial electoral district that had previously been represented in the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories from 1891 to 1905. Banff during that era was defining itself as a destination for tourists due to its natural environment. The electoral district also saw growth as mining camps were springing up forming a fertile pocket for the socialist movement. Howard Douglas would serve as Returning Officer.
The electoral district was hotly contested and the race was closely watched around the province. The electoral district had two well known candidates and political veterans. Charles Wellington Fisher the provincial Liberal candidate had been serving as a North-West Territories MLA supporting the Haultain government for the old Banff electoral district since winning a by-election on February 4, 1903. He was opposed by Conservative candidate Robert George Brett who had also been a North-West Territories MLA starting in 1888 and represented the Banff electoral district from its creation in 1891 to 1899.
Brett was a pioneer medical doctor who was heavily involved in the early history of the town of Banff having moved to the site in 1883 and founding a sanitarium.
On election night the results came back; Fisher had defeated Brett by winning a slim 58 majority of the 784 votes cast. The Conservative party was disappointed with the result as the district had been one of their best hopes to pick up.
1940
1944
1948
1952
1955
1959
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: Banff-CochraneTurnout 38.05% AffiliationCandidateVotes% votes% ballotsRankIndependentLink Byfield2,09410.83%33.29%4IndependentTom Sindlinger1,5888.21%25.24%9Michael Roth1,1305.84%17.96%7Vance Gough1,1095.74%17.62%8Gary Horan1,0415.39%16.55%10Total votes19,335100%Total ballots6,2913.07 votes per ballotRejected, spoiled and declined1,826 Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot.
Plebiscite district results