Cypress (former Alberta provincial electoral district)

Cypress was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1926 to 1986.[1]

Cypress

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1926
District abolished	1986
First contested	1926
Last contested	1982

History

The Cypress electoral district was formed prior to the 1926 Alberta general election when the Medicine Hat electoral district was split, with the territory surrounding the City of Medicine Hat being retained in the Medicine Hat district and the remaining territory south of the City to the United States border forming the new Cypress district.

The Cypress electoral district would be abolished prior to the 1986 Alberta general election, with a small portion in the south-east becoming part of Taber-Warner and the remaining portions becoming the Cypress-Redcliff electoral district.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Cypress
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Medicine Hat electoral district from 1905-1926
6th	1926–1930		Perren E. Baker	United Farmers
7th	1930–1935
8th	1935–1940		August W. Flamme	Social Credit
9th	1940–1944		Fay D. Jackson	Independent
10th	1944–1948		Edith B. Thurston	Social Credit
11th	1948–1952		James M. Underdahl
12th	1952–1955
13th	1955–1959		Harry E. Strom
14th	1959–1963
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971
17th	1971–1975
18th	1975–1979		Alan W. Hyland	Progressive Conservative
19th	1979–1982
20th	1982–1986
See Cypress-Redcliff electoral district from 1986-1993 and Taber-Warner electoral district from 1986-1997

Election results

1926 general election

1926 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers	Perren E. Baker	1,220	57.12%	–
	Liberal	H. H. Foster	741	34.69%	–
	Conservative	S. Ervine	175	8.19%	–
Total			2,136	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			129	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			3,072	73.73%	–
	United Farmers pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1930 general election

1930 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers	Perren E. Baker	1,315	55.37%	-1.75%
	Liberal	Robert C. Black	1,060	44.63%	9.94%
Total			2,375	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			110	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			3,238	76.74%	3.01%
	United Farmers hold		Swing		-5.84%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1935 general election

1935 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	August W. Flamme	1,689	54.05%	–
	Liberal	Robert C. Black	798	25.54%	-19.10%
	United Farmers	Perren E. Baker	587	18.78%	-36.58%
	Independent	J. H. Duncan	51	1.63%	–
Total			3,125	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			121	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			3,909	83.04%	6.29%
	Social Credit gain from United Farmers		Swing		8.89%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1940 general election

1940 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Fay D. Jackson	2,065	55.33%	–
	Social Credit	August W. Flamme	1,667	44.67%	-9.38%
Total			3,732	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			108	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,102	75.26%	-7.77%
	Independent gain from Social Credit		Swing		-8.92%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1944 general election

1944 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Edith B. Thurston	1,747	51.01%	6.34%
	Independent	Charles M. Moore	973	28.41%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	T. A. Reynar	705	20.58%	–
Total			3,425	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			108	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			4,723	74.80%	-0.46%
	Social Credit gain from Independent		Swing		5.97%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1948 general election

1948 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	James M. Underdahl	1,723	57.88%	6.87%
	Liberal	Francis J. Halpin	844	28.35%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	William George McFall	410	13.77%	-6.81%
Total			2,977	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			123	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			4,476	69.26%	-5.55%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		3.46%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1952 general election

1952 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	James M. Underdahl	2,240	68.13%	10.25%
	Liberal	Bernhard J. Evenson	1,048	31.87%	3.52%
Total			3,288	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			166	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,645	61.19%	-8.07%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		3.36%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955 general election

1955 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Harry E. Strom	2,668	68.89%	0.76%
	Liberal	John Flaig	1,205	31.11%	-0.76%
Total			3,873	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			167	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,632	71.73%	10.55%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		0.76%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1959 general election

1959 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Harry E. Strom	3,199	79.38%	10.49%
	Progressive Conservative	Wayne N. Anderson	831	20.62%	–
Total			4,030	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			15	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,711	70.83%	-0.90%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		10.49%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1963 general election

1963 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Harry E. Strom	3,030	77.87%	-1.51%
	Liberal	Alvin H. Reiman	861	22.13%	–
Total			3,891	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			8	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,912	65.95%	-4.88%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-1.51%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1967 general election

1967 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Harry E. Strom	2,577	77.02%	-0.85%
	New Democratic	William G. McFall	769	22.98%	–
Total			3,346	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			16	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,558	60.49%	-5.46%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-0.85%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1971 general election

1971 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Harry E. Strom	2,777	60.26%	-16.75%
	Progressive Conservative	Dave Berntson	1,635	35.48%	–
	New Democratic	Tony de Souza	196	4.25%	-18.73%
Total			4,608	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			9	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,860	78.79%	18.30%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-14.63%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975 general election

1975 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Alan W. Hyland	2,065	53.32%	17.84%
	Social Credit	Barry Berhart	1,447	37.36%	-22.90%
	New Democratic	Allen Eng	202	5.22%	0.96%
	Independent	Margaret Dragland	159	4.11%	–
Total			3,873	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			8	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,741	67.60%	-11.19%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Social Credit		Swing		-4.41%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1979 general election

1979 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Alan W. Hyland	3,353	57.00%	3.69%
	Social Credit	Vern Beck	1,907	32.42%	-4.94%
	New Democratic	Clarence Smith	499	8.48%	3.27%
	Liberal	Carl Pattison	123	2.09%	–
Total			5,882	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			11	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			8,767	67.22%	-0.38%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		4.31%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1982 general election

1982 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Alan W. Hyland	4,170	64.38%	7.38%
	Independent	Orville Reber	1,080	16.67%	–
	New Democratic	Rudolf Schempp	637	9.83%	1.35%
	Western Canada Concept	Gifford Woodcock	590	9.11%	–
Total			6,477	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			11	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			9,278	69.93%	2.71%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		11.56%
Source(s) Source: "Cypress Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Cypress[2]
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	%
	No	1,339	55.13%
	Yes	1,090	44.87%
Total votes		2,429	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		18
5,361 eligible electors, turnout 46.64%

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.[3]

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.[2]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Cypress voted against the proposal by a close margin. The voter turnout in the district was almost equal to the province wide average of 46%.[2]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.[2] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding.[4] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.[5]

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the plebiscite such as Cypress 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.[6]

See also

• Alberta provincial electoral districts

References

1. "Election results for Cypress". abheritage.ca. Wayback Machine: Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
2. Alberta Gazette. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
3. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
4. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
5. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
6. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

• Office of the Chief Electoral Officer; Legislative Assembly Office (2006). A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. The Centennial Series. Edmonton, AB: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 0-9689217-8-7. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

External links

• Elections Alberta
• The Legislative Assembly of Alberta