Clover Bar (provincial electoral district)

Clover Bar was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1993.^[1]

Clover Bar

Alberta electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Alberta
District created	1930
District abolished	1993
First contested	1930
Last contested	1989

History

The Clover Bar electoral district was formed from the Edmonton, Leduc and Victoria electoral districts prior to the 1930 Alberta general election. The Clover Bar electoral district would be abolished and the Clover Bar-Fort Saskatchewan electoral district would be formed in its place prior to the 1993 Alberta general election.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Clover Bar
Assembly	Years	Member		Party
See Edmonton electoral district from 1921-1930, Leduc electoral district from 1905-1930 and Victoria electoral district from 1905-1930
7th	1930–1935		Rudolph Hennig	United Farmers
8th	1935–1940		Floyd M. Baker	Social Credit
9th	1940–1944
10th	1944–1948
11th	1948–1952
12th	1952–1955
13th	1955–1959
14th	1959–1963
15th	1963–1967
16th	1967–1971		Walter A. Buck
17th	1971–1975
18th	1975–1979
19th	1979–1982
20th	1982–1986			Independent
21st	1986–1989			Representative
22nd	1989–1993		Kurt Gesell	Progressive Conservative
See Clover Bar-Fort Saskatchewan electoral district from 1993-2001

Election results

1930

v t e 1930 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Farmers	Rudolph Hennig	1,338	46.20%	–
	Independent	Christian Hein	866	29.90%	–
	Conservative	S. T. Bigelow	692	23.90%	–
Total			2,896	–	–
Ballot transfer results
	United Farmers	Rudolph Hennig	1,462	56.73%	–
	Independent	Christian Hein	1,115	43.27%	–
Total			2,577	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			170	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			4,451	68.88%	–
	United Farmers pickup new district.
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality

1935

v t e 1935 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,503	53.07%	–
	Liberal	M. G. Christie	1,105	23.43%	–
	United Farmers	D. Roberts	844	17.90%	-19.30%
	Conservative	S. Savage	264	5.60%	-18.30%
Total			4,716	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			130	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			5,636	85.98%	17.07%
	Social Credit gain from United Farmers		Swing		N/A%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1940

v t e 1940 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First count
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,252	44.17%	-8.90%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	David Roberts	1,476	28.95%	–
	Independent	A. H. Gibson	1,370	14.92%	–
Total			5,098	–	–
Ballot transfer results
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,418	59.19%	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	David Roberts	1,667	40.81%	–
Total			4,085	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			208	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			6,814	77.87%	-8.11%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		N/A%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality

1944

v t e 1944 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,969	63.69%	19.52%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	David Roberts	1,693	36.31%	7.36%
Total			4,662	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			53	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			6,560	71.88%	-5.99%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		13.69%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1948

v t e 1948 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,801	60.93%	-2.75%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alfred O. Arntson	1,035	22.51%	-13.80%
	Liberal	R. M. MacCrimmon	761	16.55%	–
Total			4,597	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			297	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			6,985	70.06%	-1.81%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		5.52%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1952

v t e 1952 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,238	56.77%	-4.16%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Martin Reynolds	935	23.72%	1.20%
	Liberal	Joseph R. Sweeney	769	19.51%	2.95%
Total			3,942	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			262	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			6,354	66.16%	-3.90%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-2.68%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1955

v t e 1955 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
First count
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,314	47.64%	-9.13%
	Liberal	Wilfred McLean	1,609	33.13%	13.62%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Martin Reynolds	603	12.42%	-11.30%
	Conservative	Andrew M. Adamson	331	6.81%	–
Total			4,857	–	–
Ballot transfer results
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	2,505	53.72%	–
	Liberal	Wilfred McLean	2,158	46.28%	–
Total			4,663	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			298	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			7,302	70.60%	4.54%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		N/A%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality

1959

v t e 1959 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	3,393	57.87%	10.23%
	Progressive Conservative	Andrew M. Adamson	1,225	20.89%	–
	Liberal	Roy C. Marler	935	15.95%	-17.18%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Ernest Wilfred Davies	310	5.29%	-7.13%
Total			5,863	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			9	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			8,610	68.20%	-2.40%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		N/A%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1963

v t e 1963 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Floyd M. Baker	3,730	57.71%	-0.16%
	Progressive Conservative	Dan. F. Hollands	1,407	21.77%	0.88%
	Liberal	James P. O'Dwyer	791	12.24%	-3.71%
	New Democratic	Paul Arthur Dorin	535	8.28%	2.99%
Total			6,463	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			7	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			10,498	61.63%	-6.57%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-0.52%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1967

v t e 1967 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Walter A. Buck	4,101	51.53%	-6.19%
	Progressive Conservative	Dan. F. Hollands	2,215	27.83%	6.06%
	New Democratic	Alfred O. Arnston	1,175	14.76%	6.49%
	Liberal	Kazmer D. Curry	468	5.88%	-6.36%
Total			7,959	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			28	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			11,979	66.68%	5.04%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-6.12%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1971

v t e 1971 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Walter A. Buck	4,041	49.01%	-2.52%
	Progressive Conservative	J. Devereux	3,468	42.06%	14.23%
	New Democratic	A. Karvonen	736	8.93%	-5.84%
Total			8,245	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			26	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			11,532	71.72%	5.05%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-8.37%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1975

v t e 1975 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Walter A. Buck	5,151	55.04%	6.03%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Finnerty	3,211	34.31%	-7.75%
	New Democratic	Duncan McArthur	799	8.54%	-0.39%
	Liberal	David Cooke	197	2.11%	–
Total			9,358	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			24	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			14,341	65.42%	-6.30%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		6.89%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1979

v t e 1979 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Credit	Walter A. Buck	6,033	53.42%	-1.62%
	Progressive Conservative	C.G. (Butch) Thomlinson	3,947	34.95%	0.64%
	New Democratic	Graham Griffiths	1,102	9.76%	1.22%
	Liberal	Alan M. F. Dunn	211	1.87%	-0.24%
Total			11,293	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			N/A	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			16,985	66.49%	1.07%
	Social Credit hold		Swing		-1.13%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1979 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1982

v t e 1982 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Walter A. Buck	6,312	41.49%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Sten Berg	5,434	35.72%	0.77%
	Western Canada Concept	Sig Jorstad	1,783	11.72%	–
	New Democratic	David Morris	1,683	11.06%	1.31%
Total			15,212	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			20	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			20,859	73.02%	6.54%
	Independent gain from Social Credit		Swing		-6.35%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1982 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1986

v t e 1986 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Representative	Walter A. Buck	4,795	47.31%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Muriel Abdurahman	2,811	27.74%	-7.99%
	New Democratic	Ken Robinson	2,085	20.57%	9.51%
	Liberal	Barry Shandro	444	4.38%	–
Total			10,135	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			10	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			16,705	60.73%	-12.29%
	Representative gain from Independent		Swing		6.90%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

1989

v t e 1989 Alberta general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Kurt Gesell	3,717	34.56%	6.83%
	Liberal	Stephen Lindop	3,533	32.85%	28.47%
	New Democratic	W. H. (Skip) Gordon	3,505	32.59%	12.02%
Total			10,755	–	–
Rejected, spoiled and declined			11	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			17,175	62.68%	1.95%
	Progressive Conservative gain from Representative		Swing		-8.93%
Source(s) Source: "Clover Bar Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

Plebiscite results

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Clover Bar^[2]
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Ballot choice		Votes	%
	Yes	3,035	67.87%
	No	1,437	32.13%
Total votes		4,472	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		75
9,655 eligible electors, turnout 47.10%
Question B2: Should mixed drinking be allowed in beer parlours in Edmonton and the surrounding areas?
Ballot choice		Votes	%
	Yes	1,076	88.78%
	No	136	11.22%
Total votes		1,212	100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined		35
2,320 eligible electors, turnout 53.75%

On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.^[3]

The plebiscite was conducted in two parts. Question A, asked in all districts, asked the voters if the sale of liquor should be expanded in Alberta, while Question B, asked in a handful of districts within the corporate limits of Calgary and Edmonton, asked if men and women should be allowed to drink together in establishments.^[2] Question B was slightly modified depending on which city the voters were in.^[2]

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Clover Bar voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plebiscite. The district recorded average voter turnout almost being equal to the province wide 46% average.^[2]

Clover Bar also voted on question B2 with a number of residents living inside the electoral district within the corporate limits of Edmonton. Residents voted for mixed drinking with a super majority. Turnout for question B was also quite high; Edmonton residents averaged a significantly higher turnout than those who lived outside the city.^[2]

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957.^[2] The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding.^[4] However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.^[5]

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the plebiscite were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones. Business owners who wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.^[6]

See also

• List of Alberta provincial electoral districts

References

1. "Election results for Clover Bar". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
2. Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
3. "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
4. "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
5. "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
6. "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

• Office of the Chief Electoral Officer; Legislative Assembly Office (2006). A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. The Centennial Series. Edmonton, AB: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 0-9689217-8-7. Retrieved May 25, 2020.

External links

• Elections Alberta
• The Legislative Assembly of Alberta