Spirit River-Fairview

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Coordinates: 56°00′N 118°42′W / 56.0°N 118.7°W / 56.0; -118.7
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Spirit River-Fairview
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1971
District abolished1986
First contested1971
Last contested1984

Spirit River-Fairview was a provincial electoral district in northwestern Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 1971 to 1986.[1]

History[edit]

Spirit River-Fairview electoral district was created prior to the 1971 Alberta general election by merger of the Spirit River and Dunvegan electoral districts. The district was abolished in 1986 and recreated into Dunvegan.

Boundary history[edit]

Spirit River-Fairview was created in 1971 out of Dunvegan and the north half of Spirit River. It contained the communities of Spirit River, Fairview and Rycroft, and extended northward past the Chinchaga River. Its boundaries remained unchanged until it was abolished in 1986 and replaced by the second incarnation of Dunvegan.

Representation history[edit]

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Spirit River-Fairview
Assembly Years Member Party
See Spirit River 1940-1971 and Dunvegan 1959-1971
17th 1971 - 1975 Grant Notley New Democrat
18th 1975 - 1979
19th 1979 - 1982
20th 1982 - 1984
1984 - 1985 Vacant
1985 - 1986 Jim Gurnett New Democrat
See Dunvegan 1986-2004

Spirit River-Fairview's first MLA was NDP leader Grant Notley. He is the father of premier Rachel Notley, who was seven years old when he was first elected. Notley was the only New Democrat elected in 1971, and would remain the party's only MLA until 1982. He served as leader of the opposition until his untimely death in a plane crash on October 19, 1984.[2] Notley's closest competition during his career came in 1982 with Progressive Conservative physician Doug Snider who advocated for a hospital to be built in the community.[3]

The resulting by-election in 1985 saw the NDP hold Spirit River-Fairview, with Jim Gurnett serving as MLA for the remainder of the term, after which the riding was abolished. This makes Spirit River-Fairview the only rural riding in Alberta to have elected only New Democrats to the Legislative Assembly.

Election results[edit]

1971[edit]

1971 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Grant Notley 2,400 38.74% +3.43%
Social Credit Adolph Fimrite 2,246 36.26% -5.58%
Progressive Conservative Don Moore 1,439 23.23%
Independent Michael Zuk 110 1.78%
Total valid votes[4] 6,195
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 45
Electors / Turnout 7,705 80.99% +13.90%
New Democratic notional gain from Social Credit Swing +4.51%

Swing is calculated from the 1967 result in Dunvegan, which had similar boundaries.

1975[edit]

1975 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Grant Notley 3,017 50.83% +12.09%
Progressive Conservative Alex Woronuk 2,918 49.17% +25.94%
Total valid votes 5,935
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 49
Electors / Turnout 7,380 81.08% +0.09%
New Democratic hold Swing -6.93%

1979[edit]

1979 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Grant Notley 3,657 54.19% +3.36%
Progressive Conservative Jim Reynolds 2,668 39.53% -9.64%
Social Credit Aubrey Milner 356 5.27%
Liberal Terry Fletcher 68 1.01%
Total valid votes 6,749
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 17
Electors / Turnout 8,458 80.00% -1.08%
New Democratic hold Swing +6.50%

1982[edit]

1982 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Grant Notley 3,443 44.16% -10.03%
Progressive Conservative Doug Snider 3,260 41.82% +2.29%
Western Canada Concept Dan Fletcher 1,093 14.02%
Total valid votes 7,796
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 38
Electors / Turnout 9,476 82.67% +2.67%
New Democratic hold Swing -6.16%

1985 by-election[edit]

Alberta provincial by-election, February 21, 1985
Upon the death of Grant Notley on October 19, 1984
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Jim Gurnett 2,509 36.69% -7.47%
Progressive Conservative Verna Block 2,047 29.93% -11.89%
Western Canada Concept Dan Fletcher 1,713 25.05% +11.03%
Confederation of Regions Elmer Knutson 311 4.55% –
Liberal Rick Nicholson 162 2.37% –
Social Credit Ray Nielson 79 1.16% –
Heritage Mike Pawlus 18 0.26% –
Total valid votes 6,839 – –
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 11 – –
Electors / turnout 10,545 64.96% -17.71%
New Democratic hold Swing +2.21%
Source(s)
Source: "Official By-election Results". Elections Alberta. December 11, 1985. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Election results for Spirit River-Fairview". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Nelson, Chris (May 7, 2015). "The sad forgotten hero of Grant Notley aircraft tragedy". National Post. Postmedia News. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Magnussen, Hazel J. (2006). A doctor's calling: a matter of conscience. Parksville, BC: Wembley Publishing. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-0-9739843-0-9.
  4. ^ "Alberta Heritage Foundation: Results for Spirit River-Fairview". Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved August 30, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

56°00′N 118°42′W / 56.0°N 118.7°W / 56.0; -118.7

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