Lac La Biche-McMurray

Defunct provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada

Lac La Biche-McMurray
Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
District created1971
District abolished1986
First contested1971
Last contested1982

Lac La Biche-McMurray was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 1971 to 1986.[1]

It replaced the district of Lac La Biche with minimal boundary changes in 1971, and when abolished in 1986, was replaced by Athabasca-Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray. It differed from the current Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche riding in that it included the entire city of Fort McMurray.

Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Lac La Biche-McMurray
Assembly Years Member Party
See Lac La Biche 1952-1971
17th 1971–1972 Damase
Bouvier 		Social Credit
1972–1975 Independent
18th 1975–1979 Ron Tesolin Progressive
Conservative
19th 1979–1982 Norm Weiss
20th 1982–1986
See Fort McMurray 1986–2004 and Athabasca-
Lac La Biche 1986–1993

The riding's first MLA was Dan Bouvier, newly-minted member for Lac La Biche. Elected under the Social Credit banner, he resigned from caucus a year later "in the interest of [his] constituents".[2] He did not run again in the 1975 election.

The riding was then picked up by the governing Progressive Conservatives, with Ron Tesolin winning by a large margin over four rivals. He served only one term as MLA, but Norm Weiss held the riding for the PCs for two more terms.

Lac La Biche-McMurray was then abolished for the 1986 election and replaced with Fort McMurray, where Weiss would go on to serve two more terms, and Athabasca-Lac La Biche, which would be picked up by the New Democrats.

Boundary history

Lac La Biche-McMurray 1970 boundaries
Bordering districts
North East West South
N/A N/A Lesser Slave Lake, Peace River, Athabasca Redwater-Andrew, St. Paul, Bonnyville
Legal description from The Legislative Assembly Act, S.A. 1970, c. 34
"The boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of the Province; thence southerly along the east boundary of the Province to the north boundary of township 72; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 9, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 63; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 10, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the left bank of the Beaver River; thence upstream along the said left bank to the north boundary of section 32 in township 62, range 10, west of the 4th meridian; thence westerly along the north boundary of township 62 to the east boundary of range 14, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 61; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 18, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 76; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 22, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the south shore of Pelican Lake; thence in a general northwesterly and north-easterly direction along the shore of the westerly portion of the said Pelican Lake to the north boundary of township 78; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of township 79, range 22, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the east boundary of range 22, west of the 4th meridian to the north boundary of township 84; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the 5th meridian; thence northerly along the said 5th meridian to the north boundary of township 120; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 10, west of the 5th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of the Province; thence easterly along the said north boundary to the point of commencement."
Note:
Lac La Biche-McMurray 1977 boundaries
Bordering districts
North East West South
N/A N/A Lesser Slave Lake, Peace River, Athabasca Redwater-Andrew, St. Paul, Bonnyville
Legal description from The Legislative Assembly Act, S.A. 1977, c. 28
"—The boundary whereof is as follows: Commencing at the north-east corner of the Province; thence southerly along the east boundary of the Province to the north boundary of township 72; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 9, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 63; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 10, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the left bank of the Beaver River; thence upstream along the said left bank to the north boundary of section 32 in township 62, range 10, west of the 4th meridian; thence westerly along the north boundary of township 62 to the east boundary of range 14, west of the 4th meridian; thence southerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 61; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 18, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of township 76; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 22, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the south shore of Pelican Lake; thence in a general northwesterly And north-easterly direction along the shore of the westerly portion of the said Pelican Lake to the north boundary of township 78; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of township 79, range 22, west of the 4th meridian; thence northerly along the east boundary of range 22, west of the 4th meridian to the north boundary of township 84; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the 5th meridian; thence northerly along the said 5th meridian to the north boundary of township 120; thence westerly along the said north boundary to the east boundary of range 10, west of the 5th meridian; thence northerly along the said east boundary to the north boundary of the Province; thence easterly along the said north boundary to the point of commencement."
Note:

Electoral results

1971

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1971 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Damase Bouvier 2,679 53.37% -3.50%
Progressive Conservative Elmer Roy 1,927 38.39% +12.93%
New Democratic Kenneth Orchard 414 8.25% +4.01%
Total valid votes 5,020 – –
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 38 – –
Electors / turnout 8,198 61.70% –
Social Credit notional hold Swing -8.22%
Source(s)
Source: "Lac La Biche-McMurray Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975

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1975 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Ron Tesolin 2,859 53.05% +14.66%
Independent Mike Chandi 737 13.68% –
Liberal Jean Davidson 703 13.05% –
Social Credit Ken Cochrane 560 10.39% -42.98%
New Democratic Ronald Morgan 530 9.83% +1.59%
Total valid votes 5,389 – –
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 38 – –
Electors / turnout 9,842 55.14% -6.56%
Progressive Conservative gain from Independent Swing +0.49%
Source(s)
Source: "Lac La Biche-McMurray Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1979

In the late 70's, the population of Lac La Biche-McMurray inflated alongside the economic boom in the Athabasca oil sands, seen in the near-doubling of eligible electors for the 1979 election.

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1979 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Norm Weiss 3,431 49.91% -3.14%
New Democratic Claire Williscroft 1,777 25.85% +16.02%
Social Credit Conrad Sehn 1,347 19.59% +9.20%
Liberal Denise Diesel 320 4.65% -8.40%
Total valid votes 6,875 – –
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 31 – –
Electors / turnout 17,015 40.59% -14.55%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -9.58%
Source(s)
Source: "Lac La Biche-McMurray Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1982

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1982 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Norm Weiss 6,844 57.37% +7.46%
New Democratic Dermond Travis 3,481 29.18% +3.33%
Western Canada Concept Jim Williams 1,021 8.59% –
Liberal Roland Woodward 584 4.90% +0.25%
Total valid votes 11,930 – –
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 133 – –
Electors / turnout 23,569 51.18% +10.59%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +2.07%
Source(s)
Source: "Lac La Biche-McMurray Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

References

  1. ^ "Election results for Lac La Biche-McMurray". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "New House Leader for SoCreds". Montreal Gazette. Edmonton. September 17, 1973. Retrieved August 23, 2016.

Further reading

External links

  • Elections Alberta
  • The Legislative Assembly of Alberta
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