Edmonton-Castle Downs

Edmonton-Castle Downs is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

Edmonton-Castle Downs

Alberta electoral district
Edmonton-Castle Downs within the City of Edmonton, 2017 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA	Nicole Goehring New Democratic
District created	1996
First contested	1997
Last contested	2019

The district was created in 1997 boundary redistribution when Edmonton-Roper merged with the north half of Edmonton-Mayfield. The riding has swung between Liberal and Progressive Conservative control since it was created, before returning an NDP MLA in 2015. The 2004 election was very controversial, with near even support for both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative candidates. The outcome was decided in the third recount, which resulted in Thomas Lukaszuk winning the riding by 3 votes.

Neighborhoods in this riding include: Baturyn, Caernarvon, Carlisle, Beaumaris, Lorelei, Dunluce, Klarvatten, Rapperswill, Chambery & Elsinore.

The riding was last contested in the 2015 election, during which the NDP challenger, Nicole Goehring, defeated Lukaszuk by 7,507 votes.

History

The electoral district was created in the 1996 boundary redistribution from parts of Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper. The 2010 boundary redistribution saw some big changes to the riding with all land west of 127 street ceded to Edmonton-Calder and the eastern boundary that existed at 97 Street between the Edmonton city limits and 167 Avenue moved east to 82 Street in land that was part of Edmonton-Decore.

Boundary history

27 Edmonton-Calder 2003 Boundaries[1]
Bordering Districts
North	East	West	South
Athabasca-Redwater	St. Albert	Edmonton-Decore	Edmonton-Calder
riding map goes here
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.
Starting at the intersection of 142 Street with the north Edmonton city boundary; then 1. east along the north city boundary to 97 Street; 2. south along 97 Street to 153 Avenue; 3. west along 153 Avenue to 113A Street (Castle Downs Road); 4. south along 113A Street to 137 Avenue; 5. west along 137 Avenue to the north city boundary at 184 Street; 6. north, northeast and north along the west Edmonton city boundary to the starting point.
Note:

30 Edmonton-Castle Downs 2010 Boundaries
Bordering Districts
North	East	West	South
Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater	Edmonton-Decore	Edmonton-Calder	Edmonton-Calder
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.
Note:

Electoral history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Castle Downs[2]
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Edmonton-Mayfield 1993-1997 and Edmonton-Roper 1993-1997
24th	1997–1999		Pamela Paul-Zobaric	Liberal
	1999–2001			Independent
25th	2001–2004		Thomas Lukaszuk	Progressive Conservative
26th	2004–2005		Chris Kibermanis (member-elect)	Liberal
	2005–2008		Thomas Lukaszuk	Progressive Conservative
27th	2008–2015
29th	2015–2019		Nicole Goehring	New Democrat
30th	2019-

The electoral district was created in the 1997 boundary redistribution. The first election held in 1997 saw Liberal candidate Pamela Paul-Zobaric elected. She won a very closely contested race, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Ihor Broda and two other candidates by just over 100 votes. She left the Liberal caucus over rights issues for women on November 15, 1999 to sit as an Independent. She did not run again in the 2001 election.

The second representative of the district was Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk. He won a three-way race in the 2001 general election with just over half the popular vote to pick up the seat for his party. He ran for a second term in 2004. Lukaszuk appeared defeated on election night by a few votes over Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis. A recount by Elections Alberta confirmed Kibbermanis as the winner and declared him as the elected member. Lukaszuk and his campaign team took the recount process to the courts, and won the election in the judicial recount.

Lukaszuk and Kibermanis both stood for election in 2008. Lukaszuk won with over half the popular vote, while Kibbermanis dropped to 36% of the total. Lukaszuk was re-elected in 2012; while his strict vote count only increased by around 700, his majority increased from 2,069 in 2008 to 4,697 in 2012.

In the 2015 Alberta General Election NDP MLA Nicole Goehring was elected with 64.5% of the vote, with Lukaszuk dropping to second with 23% of the popular vote.

Legislature results

1997 general election

1997 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Pamela Paul	4,456	41.32%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Ihor Broda	4,373	40.55%	–
	New Democratic	Peter Johnsen	1,494	13.86%	–
	Social Credit	David H. Friesen	460	4.27%	–
Total			10,783	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			32	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			21,400	50.54%	–
	Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Edmonton-Castle Downs Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2001 general election

2001 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas A. Lukaszuk	5,971	51.10%	10.55%
	Liberal	Boris Yaremko	4,479	38.33%	-2.99%
	New Democratic	Michael Charrois	1,235	10.57%	-3.29%
Total			11,685	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			34	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			24,921	46.95%	-3.59%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		6.00%
Source(s) Source: "Edmonton-Castle Downs Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2004 general election and judicial recount

The 2004 election saw a field of five candidates. Incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk was running for his second term in office after winning a close race in 2001. Chris Kibermannis was chosen as the Liberal candidate. He was a former draft pick for the Winnipeg Jets and a welder by trade. The NDP chose Peter Cross, who is a small business owner working as a graphics artist and long time Edmonton resident.[4]

2004 Alberta general election unofficial results[5]			Turnout 41.42%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Chris Kibermanis	5,019	41.79%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Lukaszuk	5,014	41.75%
	NDP	Peter Cross	1,317	10.97%
	Alberta Alliance	Colin Presizniuk	583	4.85%
	Social Credit	Ross Korpi	78	0.64%
Total			12,011	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			96

Rounding out the field of candidates, the Alberta Alliance running their first campaign acclaimed candidate Colin Presizniuk and Social Credit run candidate Ross Korpi. Presizniuk is a high-profile Edmonton area accountant and consultant who runs Presizniuk and Associates.[6]

The 2004 election proved to very contentious. On election night returns for the district had Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis winning an incredibly tight race by three votes over Progressive Conservative incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk. The race split the riding's 79 precincts with Kibermanis winning 43 to Lukaszuk's 36. The poll by poll numbers show the race was evenly divided across the board as no candidate was particularly strong in a geographic area. The other three candidates were only a marginal factor with the race polarizing between the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals.[5] NDP candidate Peter Cross made a respectable but distant third place showing. He gained votes for his party winning a slightly higher plurality, but decreasing in percentage of popular vote over the 2001 results.

At the bottom of the field, the Alberta Alliance candidate Colin Presizniuk took about 5% of the popular vote. His results were consistent with the party's showing in other Edmonton districts. The Social Credit party running their first candidate in the riding since 1997, saw a significant decrease in support as Ross Korpi barely registered with voters.

The razor thin election night margin separating the two candidates kept the results in doubt. The automatic recount process completed a few days later by returning officer Elizabeth Burk, narrowed the margin even further as Lukaszuk would gain two votes.[7] In addition to the results, voter turnout in the riding dropped to a record low almost reaching 42%. The turn out was significantly down falling five points from the 2001 election, and almost nine percentage points from the election in 1997.

Alberta Court of Appeal judicial recount[8]			Turnout 41.42%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Lukaszuk	5,022	41.78%	-9.32%
	Liberal	Chris Kibermanis	5,019	41.76%	3.43%	*
	New Democratic	Peter Cross	1,314	10.93%	0.36%
	Alberta Alliance	Colin Presizniuk	586	4.88%
	Social Credit	Ross Korpi	78	0.58%
Total			12,019
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			86
Eligible electors / Turnout			29,226	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-6.38%

After the Official results were announced by Elections Alberta, the legislative standings on the Alberta Legislature website had been updated to reflect Kibermanis winning as a member-elect. The Progressive Conservatives immediately challenged the results in the Court of Queen's Bench. The first judge at the Court of Queen's Bench upheld the returning officers verdict of a three-vote margin. A second count was done and the results were verified the same as the first. The Progressive Conservatives appealed the results to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

The Alberta Court of Appeals disputed a number of previously rejected ballots increasing the margin of Thomas Lukaszuk from 5,016 votes to 5,022 votes. The court also added some votes for Presizniuk and took some away for Cross, Korpi and Kibermanis did not see any change in their totals. As a result of the judicial ruling, the previous judicial counts and the Elections Alberta official count were over turned. Kibermanis did not have the resources to appeal the third judicial decision and conceded defeat. Thomas Lukaszuk was declared re-elected and returned to office. After the results were made official, the Liberals announced that Kibermanis would be the candidate for the next general election and would continue campaigning in the riding until the next writ period.

As a direct result of this election, both the campaigns for Thomas Lukaszuk and Chris Kibermanis filed an application to the Court of Appeal to reimburse the legal costs of contesting the results. No provisions existed under the Election Act and the appeals were denied. In October 2005 the Standing Legislative Offices Committee reviewed the matter and changes were recommended to allow candidates to be reimbursed for their legal costs.[7]

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas A. Lukaszuk	7,159	51.55%	9.77%
	Liberal	Christopher John Kibermanis	5,090	36.65%	-5.11%
	New Democratic	Ali Haymour	1,341	9.66%	-1.28%
	Green	Bob Reckhow	297	2.14%	–
Total			13,887	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			57	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			34,570	40.31%	-0.99%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		7.44%
Source(s) Source: "27 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2008 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2012 general election

2012 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas A. Lukaszuk	8,054	52.60%	1.05%
	Wildrose	John Oplanich	3,295	21.52%	–
	New Democratic	Brian Labelle	1,934	12.63%	2.97%
	Liberal	Kim Cassady	1,768	11.55%	-25.11%
	Alberta Party	Jeff Funnell	260	1.70%	–
Total			15,311	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			62	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			30,804	49.91%	9.59%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		8.09%
Source(s) Source: "30 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2015 general election

2015 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Nicole Goehring	11,689	64.46%	51.83%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Lukaszuk	4,182	23.06%	-29.54%
	Wildrose	Gerrit Roosenboom	1,383	7.63%	-13.89%
	Liberal	Todd Ross	880	4.85%	-6.69%
Total			18,134	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			69	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			35,641	51.07%	1.17%
	New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		5.16%
Source(s) Source: "30 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2019 general election

2019 Alberta general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Nicole Goehring	9,445	45.69%	-18.77%
	United Conservative	Ed Ammar	7,428	35.93%	5.24%
	Alberta Party	Moe Rahall	3,213	15.54%	–
	Alberta Independence	Todd Wayne	294	1.42%	–
	Liberal	Thomas Deak	291	1.41%	-3.44%
Total			20,671	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			107	60	14
Eligible electors / Turnout			31,953	65.26%	14.19%
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-15.82%
Source(s) Source: "28 - Edmonton-Castle Downs, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Senate nominee results

2004 Senate nominee election district results

2004 Senate nominee election results: Edmonton-Castle Downs[9]					Turnout 41.69%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	% Votes	% Ballots	Rank
	Progressive Conservative	Betty Unger	4,737	15.95%	49.04%	2
	Independent	Link Byfield	3,362	11.32%	34.80%	4
	Progressive Conservative	Bert Brown	3,328	11.21%	34.45%	1
	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Breitkreuz	3,184	10.72%	32.96%	3
	Alberta Alliance	Michael Roth	2,812	9.47%	29.11%	7
	Independent	Tom Sindlinger	2,735	9.21%	28.31%	9
	Alberta Alliance	Gary Horan	2,488	8.38%	25.76%	10
	Alberta Alliance	Vance Gough	2,472	8.33%	25.59%	8
	Progressive Conservative	David Usherwood	2,447	8.24%	25.33%	6
	Progressive Conservative	Jim Silye	2,129	7.17%	22.04%	5
Total Votes			29,694	100%
Total Ballots			9,660	3.07 Votes Per Ballot
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			2,523

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

Student Vote results

2004 election

Participating Schools[10]
Caernarvon School

On November 19, 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta Student Vote results[11]
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Chris Kibermanis	46	40.35%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Lukaszuk	30	26.32%
	Alberta Alliance	Colin Presizniuk	17	14.91%
	NDP	Peter Cross	14	12.28%
	Social Credit	Ross Korpi	7	6.14%
Total			114	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			11

2012 election

2012 Alberta Student Vote results
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Thomas Lukaszuk		%
	Wildrose	John Oplanich
	Liberal	Kim Cassady		%
	Alberta Party	Jeff Funnell
	NDP	Brian Labelle		%
Total				100%

References

1. "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. p. 16.
2. "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
3. STOLTE, ELISE (18 April 2015). "Riding results: Edmonton-Castle Downs: Lukaszuk loses to newcomer". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
4. "Peter Cross biography". Alberta NDP. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
5. "Edmonton-Castle Downs of Unofficial Results 2004 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
6. "homepage". Presizniuk and Associates. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
7. "Legislative Offices Committee" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. October 12, 2005. pp. LO-35. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
8. "Edmonton-Calder Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
9. "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
10. "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
11. "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-19.

External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
• 2005 Judicial Recount