Highwood is a provincial electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 in the province mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.
The district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution out of the old Okotoks-High River riding and the North part of Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. The district has favoured right leaning parties since its creation. Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta candidates held the district from 1975 until 2012 when they were unseated by the Wildrose Party.
The current representative is Danielle Smith who was first elected in 2012.
History
The electoral district of Highwood was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution from the old electoral districts of Okotoks-High River and Pincher Creek-Crowsnest.
The 2010 boundary redistribution saw the riding cut down in size. Land south of the town of Highriver and a portion of land in the northwest of the constituency was transferred to the Livingstone-Macleod riding. A portion of land in the north east was also transferred to the Little Bow riding.[1] The boundary commission had intended to rename Highwood to bring back the Okotoks-High River name but it was quashed in an amendment to the redistribution bill in the Legislative Assembly.
Boundary history
| 58 Highwood 2003 Boundaries[2] |
|---|
| Bordering Districts |
| North |
East |
West |
South |
| Airdrie-Chestermere, Calgary-Hays, Calgary-Shaw, Foothills-Rocky View and Strathmore-Brooks |
Little Bow |
Banff-Cochrane |
Livingstone-Macleod |
| riding map goes here |
 |
 |
| Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act. |
| Starting at the intersection of the centre line of Highway 2 and the south Calgary city boundary; then 1. east along the Calgary city boundary to the southerly extension of 88 Street SE; 2. south along the extension of 88 Street SE to the right bank of the Bow River; 3. downstream along the right bank of the Bow River to the east boundary of Sec. 23 in Twp. 21, Rge. 26 W4; 4. south along the east boundary of Secs. 23, 14, 11 and 2 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 35, 26, 23, 14, 11 and 2 in Twps. 20 and 19, Rge. 26 W4 to the north boundary of Twp. 18 (Highway 23); 5. west along the north boundary of Twp. 18 (Highway 23) to the east boundary of Sec. 35 in Twp. 18, Rge. 27 W4; 6. south along the east boundary of Secs. 35, 26, 23, 14, 11 and 2 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 35, 26 and 23 in Twp. 17, Rge. 27 W4 to the right bank of the Little Bow River; 7. downstream along the right bank of the Little Bow River to the north boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 17, Rge. 26 W4; 8. west along the north boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 17, Rge. 26 and the north boundary of Secs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Rge. 27 and the north boundary of Secs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the east boundary of Sec. 6 in Rge. 28 W4; 9. south along the east boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 17, Rge. 28 W4 to the north boundary of Twp. 16; 10. west along the north boundary of Twp. 16 to the east boundary of Sec. 33, Rge. 2 W5; 11. south along the east boundary of Secs. 33, 28, 21, 16, 9 and 4 in the Twp. to the north boundary of Twp. 15; 12. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve; 13. in a northerly direction to the intersection with Highway 546 in Sec. 26, Twp. 19, Rge. 4 W5; 14. northeast along Highway 546 to the north boundary of Twp. 19, Rge. 3 W5; 15. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 35; 16. south along the east boundary of Secs. 35 and 26 to the north boundary of Sec. 24; 17. east along the north boundary of Sec. 24 in the Twp. and Secs. 19, 20 and 21 in Rge. 2 W5 to the east boundary of Sec. 28 in the Twp.; 18. north along the east boundary of Secs. 28 and 33 in the Twp. and Secs. 4 and 9 in Twp. 20, Rge. 2 W5 to Highway 7; 19. north and east along Highway 7 to the east boundary of Sec. 23, Twp. 20, Rge. 1 W5; 20. north along the east boundary of Secs. 23, 26 and 35 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Sec. 2 in Twp. 21, Rge. 1 W5 to the north boundary of Sec. 1; 21. east along the north boundary of Sec. 1 in Twp. 21, Rge. 1 W5 and Sec. 5 in Twp. 21, Rge. 29 W4 to Highway 2A; 22. north along Highway 2A to the centre line of Highway 2; 23. northwest along Highway 2 to the starting point. |
| Note: |
Representation history
The electoral district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution. The first election held that year saw Okotoks-High River incumbent Social Credit MLA Edward Benoit win a very closely contested race to pick up the new seat for his party.
Benoit was defeated in the 1975 election by Progressive Conservative candidate George Wolstenholme. He was re-elected to his second term in the 1979 general election and retired at dissolution of the Legislature in 1982.
The 1982 election garnered great interest as incumbent Western Canada Concept MLA Gordon Kesler tried to win re-election here after winning a by-election is his former riding of Olds-Didsbury. Progressive Conservative candidate Harry Alger defeated Kesler in a landslide. Kesler had originally promised to move into the Olds-Didsbury riding after winning election and had reneged on that promise.
Alger won his second term in the 1986 general election defeating five other candidates. He retired from provincial politics at dissolution of the legislature in 1989. His replacement was Progressive Conservative candidate Don Tannas who won election for the first time that year.
Tannas won re-election three times in the 1993, 1997 and 2001 general elections with increasing majorities every time. He retired from provincial politics at dissolution of the legislature in 2004.
The 2004 general election saw Progressive Conservative candidate George Groeneveld. He was appointed to cabinet in 2006 as the Minister of Agriculture by Premier Ed Stelmach. In the 2008 general election he won a landslide majority. In early 2010 Groeneveld was shuffled out of cabinet and returned to the back benches.
The 2012 general election saw the riding returned to opposition control for the first time since 1975 when Wildrose leader Danielle Smith won the open seat winning her first term in office and becoming Leader of the Official Opposition.
Legislature results
1971 general election
1975 general election
1979 general election
1982 general election
1986 general election
| 1986 Alberta general election results[8] |
Turnout 53.36% |
Swing |
|
Affiliation |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
Party |
Personal |
|
Progressive Conservative | Harry Alger | 5,336 | 66.47% | -3.61% |
|
New Democratic | William McCutcheon | 1,054 | 13.13% | 8.96% |
|
Representative | Murray Meszaros | 811 | 10.10% |
|
Independent | Pam McIver | 633 | 7.88% |
|
Independent | Norman Kientz | 142 | 1.77% |
|
Independent | Bill Bohdan | 52 | 0.65% |
| Total |
8,028 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined |
18 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout |
15,080 | % |
| |
Progressive Conservative hold |
Swing -6.29% |
1989 general election
1993 general election
1997 general election
2001 general election
2004 general election
2008 general election
2012 general election
Senate nominee results
2004 Senate nominee election district results
| 2004 Senate nominee election results: Highwood[14] |
Turnout 43.52% |
| Affiliation |
Candidate |
Votes |
% Votes |
% Ballots |
Rank |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Bert Brown |
5,568 |
19.25% |
61.73% |
1 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Betty Unger |
4,045 |
13.99% |
44.85% |
2 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Jim Silye |
3,807 |
13.17% |
42.21% |
5 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
Cliff Breitkreuz |
3,223 |
11.15% |
35.73% |
3 |
| |
Progressive Conservative |
David Usherwood |
2,932 |
10.14% |
32.51% |
6 |
| |
Independent |
Link Byfield |
2,566 |
8.87% |
28.45% |
4 |
|
Alliance |
Vance Gough |
2,046 |
7.08% |
22.68% |
8 |
|
Alliance |
Michael Roth |
1,722 |
5.95% |
19.09% |
7 |
|
Alliance |
Gary Horan |
1,621 |
5.61% |
17.97% |
10 |
| |
Independent |
Tom Sindlinger |
1,388 |
4.79% |
15.39% |
9 |
| Total Votes |
28,918 |
100% |
| Total Ballots |
9,020 |
3.21 Votes Per Ballot |
| Rejected, Spoiled and Declined |
1,564 |
Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot
Student Vote results
2004 election
| Participating Schools[15] |
|---|
| Highwood High School |
| Foothills Composite High School |
| Red Deer Lake School |
| The Centre for Learning @Home |
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.
2012 election
References
- ↑ "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta" (PDF). Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission. June 2010. p. 19. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ↑ "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. pp. 46–47.
- ↑ "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-16. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "Highwood Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ↑ "2001 Statement of Official results Highwood" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
- ↑ The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 434–437.
- ↑ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ↑ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- ↑ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on 2005-02-17. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
External links
Alberta electoral district
