Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1913, and again from 1921 to 1959. The district largely encompassed the boundaries of the city of Calgary, and was revised accordingly as the city grew.
Calgary history
Boundary history Calgary 1909 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthGleichenGleichenOkotoksOkotoksLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1909, An Act respecting the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.riding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes hereCalgary.—All that portion of the City of Calgary as incorporated lying south of the Bow River.Note: Boundaries came into force in 1909 and lasted until the district was abolished in 1913.
Calgary 1921 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthCochraneGleichenCochrane OkotoksLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1921, An Act to Amend The Motor Vehicle Act, The Unearned Increment Tax Act, and Certain other Acts and Ordinances.riding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here2. Section 2, as amended by section 1 of chapter 37 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1917: By adding thereto the following: "except the electoral districts of East Edmonton, West Edmonton and South Edmonton which shall hereafter constitute one electoral district to be called 'Edmonton' which shall return five members, and except the electoral districts of North Calgary, South Calgary and Centre Calgary which shall hereafter constitute one electoral district to be called 'Calgary' and which shall return five members, and except the electoral district of Medicine Hat which shall hereafter return two members."Note: The electoral district was created by amalgamation of Centre Calgary, North Calgary and South Calgary in 1921. No original boundary description was created. Calgary 1926 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthCochraneGleichenCochrane OkotoksLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1926, An Act to amend The Legislative Assembly Act.riding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes hereCalgary.—Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29 west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly down stream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the north boundary of section 20, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 20, 21, 22, and 23, to the point of intersection of the north boundary of section 23, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian with the Bow River; thence southerly and down stream along the Bow River to the point of its intersection with the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the north-east corner of section 10, township 23, range 29 west of the 4th meridian; thence north along the east boundary of sections 15, 22, 27 and 34, township 23 range 29, west of the 4th meridian and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27, and 34, in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10 in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the point of commencement.Note: The boundaries came into force in 1926. Calgary 1930 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthCochraneGleichenCochrane Okotoks-High RiverLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1930, An Act to amend The Legislative Assembly Act.map in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes hereCalgary.—Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly down stream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the said meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, to the north-west corner of section 7, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and along the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence north along the east boundary of sections 15, 22, 27, and 35, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27, and 34, in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10 in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the point of commencement.Note: The boundaries came into force in 1930.
Calgary 1939 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthBanff-CochraneGleichenBanff-CochraneOkotoks-High RiverLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1939, An Act to Amend The Legislative Assembly Act.riding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here"Electoral Division of Calgary, the boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence west along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7 in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence south along the meridian line between ranges 2, and 3, west of the 5th meridian to its intersection with the Elbow River; thence south-easterly downstream along the Elbow River to the point of its intersection with the meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, thence south along the said meridian line between ranges 1 and 2, west of the 5th meridian, to the north-west corner of section 7, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence east along the north boundary of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and along the north boundary of sections 9 and 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the north-east corner of section 10, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27 and 34 in township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, and of sections 3 and 10, in township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian, to the point of commencement. Note: The boundaries came into force in 1940. Calgary 1950 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthBanff-CochraneGleichenBanff-CochraneBanff-CochraneLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 1950, An Act to Amend The Legislative Assembly Act.riding map goes heremap in relation to other districts in rural Alberta goes here"Electoral Division of Calgary, the boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of section 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian; thence westerly along the north boundary of sections 10 and 9, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 1, west of the 5th meridian, and of sections 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7, in township 25, range 2, west of the 5th meridian; thence southerly along the meridian line lying between ranges 2 and 3, west of the 5th meridian, to its intersection with the left bank of the Elbow River; thence south-easterly downstream along the said left bank to its intersection with the north boundary of the north-east quarter of section 19, township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian; thence easterly along the north boundary of sections 19 to 24. township 23, range 1, west of the 5th meridian and sections 21 and 22, township 23, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and the east boundary of sections 3, 10, 15, 22, 27 and 35, township 24, range 29, west of the 4th meridian and the east boundary of sections 3 and 10, township 25, range 29, west of the 4th meridian to the point of commencement.Note: The boundaries came into force in 1952.
Electoral history The first iteration of the Calgary provincial electoral district in Alberta was created in the 1905 provincial boundary distribution. The district was known in that first election as Calgary City. Prior to 1905, when Calgary was still part of the North-West Territories, there were two districts East Calgary and West Calgary, which were split from the original Calgary North-West Territories district in 1894. Calgary district first came into existence when Calgary had a sufficiently large population to meet the requirements to elect members in the North-West Territories in 1884.
The first election in the district was held with the provincial general election of 1905. The election saw Liberal Minister of Public Works William Cushing win election against Conservative leader Richard Bennett. Cushing was named to the Rutherford prior to the election.
The number of seats in Calgary was increased to two in 1909. In that election Bennett and Cushing both won election, each elector in Calgary had two votes to vote for each seat. Bennett resigned to run for federal office and a by-election was held in 1911 to replace him.
The district was abolished and broken up into three electoral districts in 1913. The ridings were South Calgary, Centre Calgary, and North Calgary. In 1921 the Liberal government promised to bring in proportion representation. They did not and instead decided to combine the three Calgary districts and add two more seats. Voters had the option of casting up to five votes and the top five candidates were elected by plurality Block Voting). As previously under Block Voting, Calgary voters did not vote the straight party line and two Independent, two Labour and a Liberal MLA were elected.
The United Farmers of Alberta passed legislation in 1924 that changed both Edmonton and Calgary to Single Transferable Vote multi-member districts. The rest of the province had single member constituencies and used Alternative Vote, where vote transfers were conducted if the leading candidate did not have a clear majority of 50% on the first count.
The 1926 and 1930 elections saw Calgary elect all opposition candidates because the United Farmers government decided not to field any candidates there. Under Single Transferable Voting the number of spoiled ballots jumped sharply as a sizable number of electors continued marking ballots with an "X". Calgary's first STV election produced mixed representation with no party taking all the seats. The 1935 election saw Social Credit candidates sweep to power But Calgary again elected a mixture of SC and non-SC MLAs.
By the 1950s, Calgary and Edmonton had gone through significant growth. arriving at the final results in both cities would take days and was complicated in terms of counting the vote transfers. The length in terms of names on the ballots was causing long line-ups at polling stations, with electors taking as long as 15 minutes to mark their preferences. However, Calgary's ballot in 1955 held only 23 names and the voter was under no dictate to rank all the candidates on the list.