Alberta general election, 1948

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The Alberta general election of 1948 was the eleventh general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 17, 1948 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above the 50% mark it had set in the 1944 election. It won the same number of seats — 51 of the 57 seats in the legislature — that it had won in the previous election.

The remaining seats were won by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberal Party and independents.

Along with this election voters got to also vote in the first province wide plebiscite in the provinces history. The ballot asked voters about utility regulation.

Contents

[edit] Results

Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1944 Elected % Change # % % Change
     Social Credit
Ernest C. Manning
57 51 51 - 164,003 55.63% +3.75%
     Cooperative Commonwealth
Elmer Roper
51 2 2 - 56,387 19.13% -5.79%
     Liberal
James Harper Prowse
49 * 2 * 52,655 17.86% *
     Independent 7 3 1 -66.7% 9,014 3.05% -13.70%
     Independent Social Credit 3 * 1 * 2,958 1.00% *
     Independent Citizen's
John P. Page
2 * - * 3,969 1.35% *
     Labour 1 * - * 3,579 1.21% *
     Labour Progressive 2 - -   1,372 0.47% -3.79%
     United Labour 1 * - *. 856 0.30% *
Total 173 57 57 - 294,793 100%
 
Source: Elections Alberta

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

[edit] Electrification plebiscite

The electrification plebiscite was the first of four plebiscites conducted province-wide in Alberta's history. The ballot was not a traditional yes/no question, but presented two options on electricity regulation, asking if the province should create a Crown corporation to manage electricity, or leave the electricity industry unregulated.

The result shows how divided the province was on the issue, with a plurality of only 151 votes in favour of leaving the province deregulated.

Option A Option B
Are 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?
139,991     50.03% 139,840     49.97%

For a break down of results, please see individual districts.

[edit] Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

11th Alberta Legislative Assembly
  District Member Party
     Acadia-Coronation C.H. Gerhart Social Credit
     Alexandria Anders Aalborg Social Credit
     Athabasca Gordon Lee Social Credit
     Banff-Cochrane Arthur Wray Independent Social Credit
     Beaver River Harry Lobay Social Credit
     Bow Valley-Empress Wilson Cain Social Credit
     Bruce Earl Hardy Social Credit
     Calgary #1 Rose Wilkinson Social Credit
     Calgary #2 Frederick C. Colborne Social Credit
     Calgary #3 Howard Macdonald Independent
     Calgary #4 Hugh John Macdonald Liberal
     Calgary #5 Aylmer Liesemer Cooperative Commonwealth
     Camrose Chester Sayers Social Credit
     Cardston Nathan Eldon Tanner Social Credit
     Clover Bar Floyd Baker Social Credit
     Cypress James Underdahl Social Credit
     Didsbury Howard Hammell Social Credit
     Drumheller Gordon Taylor Social Credit
     Edmonton #1 Elmer Roper Cooperative Commonwealth
     Edmonton #2 Lou Heard Social Credit
     Edmonton #3 Ernest Manning Social Credit
     Edmonton #4 James Harper Prowse Liberal
     Edmonton #5 Clayton Adams Social Credit
     Edson Norman Willmore Social Credit
     Gleichen George E. Bell Social Credit
     Grande Prairie Ira McLaughlin Social Credit
     Grouard J.B.T. Wood Social Credit
     Hand Hills Wallace Warren Cross Social Credit
     Innisfail A.E. MacLellan Social Credit
     Lac St. Anne A.V. Bourcier Social Credit
     Lacombe D.B. MacMillan Social Credit
     Leduc Ronald Ansley Social Credit
     Lethbridge John Landeryou Social Credit
     Little Bow Peter Dawson Social Credit
     Macleod James Hartley Social Credit
     Medicine Hat John L. Robinson Social Credit
     Okotoks-High River Ivan Casey Social Credit
     Olds Norman E. Cook Social Credit
     Peace River William Gilliland Social Credit
     Pembina Robin Jorgenson Social Credit
     Pincher Creek-Crowsnest William Kovach Social Credit
     Ponoka Ora Moore Social Credit
     Red Deer David A. Ure Social Credit
     Redwater Peter Chaba Social Credit
     Rocky Mountain House Alfred Hooke Social Credit
     Sedgewick Albert Fee Social Credit
     Spirit River Henry DeBolt Social Credit
     St. Albert Lucien Maynard Social Credit
     St. Paul Joseph Beaudry Social Credit
     Stettler William Mackie Social Credit
     Stony Plain Cornelia Wood Social Credit
     Taber Roy S. Lee Social Credit
     Vegreville Michael Ponich Social Credit
     Vermillion William Cornish Social Credit
     Wainwright William Masson Social Credit
     Warner Leonard Halmrast Social Credit
     Wetaskiwin John Wingblade Social Credit
     Willingdon William Tomyn Social Credit

[edit] See also


Preceded by
1944 Alberta election
Alberta elections Succeeded by
1952 Alberta election
Languages