Edmonton-Calder was a provincial electoral district in 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 1993 and again from 1996 to 2019.

History

The first Edmonton-Calder electoral district was created in the 1971 boundary redistribution from the electoral districts of Edmonton North West and Edmonton North. It was abolished in 1993 to create parts Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper.

Calder was re-created in the same general area out of Mayfield and Roper in the 1996 boundary redistribution. The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution lead to significant changes to the district, the northern boundaries were pushed from 137 Avenue to the Edmonton city limits between 127 Street and 184 Street into land that used to be part of Edmonton-Castle Downs. The south boundary which used to run along Stony Plain Road was pushed north to Yellowhead Trail ceding land to Edmonton-Meadowlark and Edmonton-Glenora.

Edmonton-Calder was dissolved prior to the 2019 Alberta general election and re-distributed into Edmonton-City Centre, Edmonton-West Henday, and Edmonton-North West electoral districts.

Boundary history

26 Edmonton-Calder 2003 boundaries
Bordering districts
NorthEastWestSouth
Edmonton-Castle Downs, St. AlbertEdmonton-Decore, Edmonton-Highlands-NorwoodSpruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. AlbertEdmonton-Centre, Edmonton-Glenora, Edmonton-Meadowlark
riding map goes here
Legal description from , S.A. 2003, c. E-4.1
Starting at the intersection of the west Edmonton city boundary with the south shore of Big Lake; then 1. northeast along the city boundary to the intersection with 137 Avenue; 2. east along 137 Avenue to 113A Street (Castle Downs Road); 3. north along 113A Street to 153 Avenue; 4. east along 153 Avenue to 97 Street; 5. south along 97 Street to 111 Avenue; 6. west along 111 Avenue to 121 Street; 7. north along 121 Street and its northerly extension to 118 Avenue; 8. west along 118 Avenue to the northbound lanes of 170 Street; 9. south along the northbound lanes of 170 Street to Stony Plain Road; 10. west along Stony Plain Road to the west Edmonton city boundary; 11. north along the west city boundary to the starting point.
Note:
29 Edmonton-Calder 2010 boundaries
Bordering districts
NorthEastWestSouth
Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater, Edmonton-Castle Downs and St. AlbertEdmonton-Decore and Edmonton-Highlands-NorwoodSpruce Grove-St. AlbertEdmonton-Centre, Edmonton-Glenora and Edmonton-Meadowlark
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.
Note:

Electoral history

Edmonton-Calder
AssemblyYearsMemberParty
Riding created from Edmonton North West and Edmonton West
17th1971–1975Tom ChambersProgressive Conservative
18th1975–1979
19th1979–1982
20th1982–1985
21st1986–1989Christie MjolsnessNew Democratic
22nd1989–1993
Riding dissolved into Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper
Riding re-created from Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper
24th1997–2001Lance WhiteLiberal
25th2001–2004Brent RathgeberProgressive Conservative
26th2004–2008David EggenNew Democratic
27th2008–2012Doug ElniskiProgressive Conservative
28th2012–2014David EggenNew Democratic
29th2015–2019
Riding dissolved into Edmonton-City Centre, Edmonton-North West and Edmonton-West Henday

The electoral district has existed twice since it was first created in 1971. The election held that year saw a hotly contested race between Social Credit incumbent Edgar Gerhart who had been MLA for the old electoral district of Edmonton Northwest and Progressive Conservative candidate Tom Chambers. On election night Chambers defeated Gerhart with just over 50% of the popular vote. His party went on to form its first government that election .

Chambers won his second term in 1975 with a landslide majority of almost 75% of the popular vote. He would be appointed to a cabinet portfolio in the government of Peter Lougheed in 1979. Chambers was re-elected twice more in 1979 and 1982 with shrinking majorities. He retired from office at dissolution in 1986.

The 1986 election was won by NDP candidate Christie Mjolsness. She had previously run against Chambers in the 1982 election and increased the percentage of her popular vote and won on the collapse of the Progressive Conservative vote despite losing raw popular vote. She was re-elected in 1989 in a hotly contested battle with Liberal candidate Lance White.

The riding was abolished in 1993 and redistricted to make Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper. Mjolsness would run for re-election in Roper and be defeated while White would run in Mayfield and be elected defeating incumbent Alex McEachern.

Calder would be re-created out of the two ridings in the 1996 boundary redistribution. White and McEachern would face each other for the second time with White coming out the victor. White would win just over 40% of the popular vote while McEachern finished in third place.

The riding would change hands in 2001 in a very closely contested election as Progressive Conservative candidate Brent Rathgeber defeated White with just over 40% of the popular vote. The NDP would return to office in the next election as NDP candidate David Eggen defeated Rathgeber by a close margin with just over 36% of the popular vote.

The 2008 election would see Eggen defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Doug Elniski in another close race, with Elniski picking up 41% of the popular vote to Eggen's 40%. Elinski announced his retirement, and did not run again in the 2012 election.

David Eggen was returned to office in the 2012 general election and in the 2015 general election. The 2012 election was another close race, with under 4% difference between Eggen and PC Bev Esslinger. During the 2015 election, Eggen was re-elected with over 70% of the popular vote, marking one of the best results for the provincial NDP in the province.

Legislative election results

1971

vte1971 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeTom Chambers5,93152.23%
Social CreditEdgar Gerhart3,65332.17%
New DemocraticBill Glass1,77215.60%
Total11,356
Rejected, spoiled and declined48
Eligible electors / turnout15,74472.43%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1975

vte1975 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeTom Chambers5,68968.17%15.94%
New DemocraticBurke Barker1,64019.65%4.05%
LiberalJack Pickett6207.43%
IndependentKeith Lawson3964.75%
Total8,345
Rejected, spoiled and declined26
Eligible electors / turnout16,67550.20%-22.23%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing14.23%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1979

vte1979 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeTom Chambers5,20558.47%-9.70%
New DemocraticBill Kobluk2,18024.49%4.84%
Social CreditDan R. Service98211.03%
LiberalRichard Guthrie5356.01%-1.42%
Total8,902
Rejected, spoiled and declined45
Eligible electors / turnout19,48345.69%-4.51%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing-7.27%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1982

vte1982 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeTom Chambers8,44255.38%-3.09%
New DemocraticChristie Mjolsness5,52736.26%11.77%
Western Canada ConceptWalter Stack1,2748.36%
Total15,243
Rejected, spoiled and declined19
Eligible electors / turnout26,01058.68%12.99%
Progressive Conservative holdSwing-7.43%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1986

vte1986 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New DemocraticChristie Mjolsness5,11450.70%14.44%
Progressive ConservativeTony Falcone2,91028.85%-26.53%
LiberalAl Iafolla1,92519.09%
Western Canada ConceptDave Draginda1111.10%-7.26%
CommunistMartin Robbert260.26%
Total10,086
Rejected, spoiled and declined11
Eligible electors / turnout22,15345.58%-13.10%
New Democratic gain from Progressive ConservativeSwing1.36%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1989

vte1989 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New DemocraticChristie Mjolsness5,33842.77%-7.94%
LiberalLance White4,43535.53%16.45%
Progressive ConservativeAldo De Luca2,70921.70%-7.15%
Total12,482
Rejected, spoiled and declined23
Eligible electors / turnout22,71455.05%9.48%
New Democratic holdSwing-7.31%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

1997

vte1997 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
LiberalLance White4,80240.31%
Progressive ConservativeLynn Faulder3,86032.40%
New DemocraticAlex McEachern3,25027.28%
Total11,912
Rejected, spoiled and declined31
Eligible electors / turnout22,31753.52%
Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

2001

vte2001 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeBrent Rathgeber5,12841.98%9.58%
LiberalLance White4,65438.10%-2.21%
New DemocraticChristine Burdett2,43219.91%-7.37%
Total12,214
Rejected, spoiled, and declined24
Eligible electors / turnout23,67151.70%-1.81%
Progressive Conservative gain from LiberalSwing-2.01%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

2004

vte2004 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New DemocraticDavid Eggen4,06736.01%16.10%
Progressive ConservativeBrent Rathgeber3,73033.02%-8.96%
LiberalBrad Smith2,98526.43%-11.68%
Alberta AllianceVicki Kramer5134.54%
Total11,295
Rejected, spoiled and declined48
Eligible electors / turnout23,15348.99%-2.71%
New Democratic gain from Progressive ConservativeSwing-0.45%
Source(s)Source: . Alberta Heritage Community Foundation.

2008

vte2008 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Progressive ConservativeDoug Elniski4,55740.86%7.83%
New DemocraticDavid Eggen4,35639.05%3.05%
LiberalJim Kane1,83916.49%-9.94%
GreenMichael Brown4023.60%
Total11,154
Rejected, spoiled and declined39
Eligible electors / turnout27,42040.82%-8.17%
Progressive Conservative gain from New DemocraticSwing-0.59%
Source(s)Source: . Elections Alberta.

2012

vte2012 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New DemocraticDavid Eggen5,73138.42%-0.63%
Progressive ConservativeBev Esslinger5,17734.71%-6.15%
WildroseRich Neumann2,79018.71%
LiberalAlex Bosse9766.54%-9.94%
Alberta PartyDavid Clark1891.27%
Social CreditMargaret Saunter520.35%
Total14,915
Rejected, spoiled and declined119
Eligible electors / turnout29,53550.90%10.08%
New Democratic gain from Progressive ConservativeSwing0.96%
Source(s)Source: . Elections Alberta.

2015

vte2015 Alberta general election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New DemocraticDavid Eggen12,83770.72%32.30%
Progressive ConservativeThomas (Tom) Bradley3,22217.75%-16.96%
WildroseAndrew Altimas1,5658.62%-10.08%
LiberalAmit (Sunny) Batra5272.90%-3.64%
Total18,151
Rejected, spoiled and declined42
Eligible electors / turnout36,26650.17%-0.74%
New Democratic holdSwing24.63%
Source(s)Source: . Elections Alberta.

Senate nominee election results

2004

2004 Senate nominee election results: Edmonton-CalderTurnout 49.21%
AffiliationCandidateVotes% votes% ballotsRank
Progressive ConservativeBetty Unger4,27215.41%46.54%2
IndependentLink Byfield3,55312.81%38.71%4
Progressive ConservativeBert Brown3,12611.28%34.06%1
Progressive ConservativeCliff Breitkreuz2,86710.34%32.23%3
IndependentTom Sindlinger2,6629.60%29.00%9
Alberta AllianceMichael Roth2,6089.41%28.41%7
Alberta AllianceGary Horan2,2928.27%24.97%10
Alberta AllianceVance Gough2,2838.24%24.87%8
Progressive ConservativeDavid Usherwood2,2107.97%24.08%6
Progressive ConservativeJim Silye1,8476.67%20.12%5
Total votes27,720100%
Total ballots9,1793.02 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined2,215

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot.

Student vote results

2004

Participating schools
Major General Griesbach School
Sir John Thompson Junior High School
St. Edmund School
Winterburn School

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 had 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 than where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta student vote results
AffiliationCandidateVotes%
LiberalBrad Smith24140.30%
NDPDavid Eggen17028.43%
Progressive ConservativeBrent Rathgeber11419.06%
Alberta AllianceVicki Kramer7312.21%
Total598100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined19

2012

2012 Alberta student vote results
AffiliationCandidateVotes%
Progressive ConservativeBev Esslinger%
WildroseDon Martin
LiberalAlex V Bosse%
Alberta PartyDavid Clark
NDPDavid Eggen%
Total100%

See also

Further reading

External links

53°35′N 113°36′W/53.59°N 113.60°W/ 53.59; -113.60