Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
Alberta electoral district
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills within Alberta, 2017 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA
 
 
 
Nathan Cooper
United Conservative
District created1996
First contested1997
Last contested2023

This riding in south-central Alberta stretches from the Red Deer River in the east to the area around Cremona in the west. Agriculture is the major employer, with retail a distant second. Household incomes, at $53,174, are below the Alberta average.[1] Seven per cent of residents are considered low income. More than two-thirds of the people here were born in Alberta, while seven per cent are immigrants. People of German origin make up nine per cent of the population. More than 96 per cent say their language at home is English, the second-highest rate in Alberta (2001 census). In 2021, National Post columnist Colby Cosh said that the district "might be the single most truculently conservative anywhere" in Canada.[2]

History

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The electoral district was created in the 1996 electoral boundary re-distribution from the old electoral districts of Olds-Didsbury and Three Hills-Airdrie.

In the 2004 electoral boundary re-distribution the boundaries changed somewhat, with an agricultural section in the far west transferred to Banff-Cochrane, while in the southeast a section of the old Drumheller-Chinook riding - including the community of Carbon - was added. Major communities include Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Trochu and Three Hills, as well as Olds College. It covers Kneehill County and most of Mountain View County.[3]

The 2010 electoral boundary re-distribution saw the district absorb the northern portions of Airdrie-Chestermere and Foothills-Rocky View which were both abolished and it lost some land on the eastern boundary to Drumheller-Stettler.[4]

The 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution resulted in the expansion of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills electoral district to include the northern portion of Wheatland County, formerly part of the Strathmore-Brooks constituency. The resulting population of the district in 2017 was 49,418, 6% above the provincial average population of 46,803.[5]

Boundary history

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Representation history

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Members of the Legislative Assembly for
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
Assembly Years Member Party
See Olds-Didsbury 1979-1997 and Three Hills-Airdrie 1993-1997
24th 1997-2001 Richard Marz Progressive Conservative
25th 2001-2004
26th 2004-2008
27th 2008-2012
2012 Vacant
28th 2012–2014 Bruce Rowe Wildrose
2014–2015 Progressive Conservative
29th 2015–2017 Nathan Cooper Wildrose
2017–2019 United Conservative
30th 2019–2023
31st 2023–

Right-leaning parties have fared well in this riding. Richard Marz, the incumbent, has been the riding's only representative since it was founded. In his first election win in 1997, the runner-up was Social Credit candidate Don MacDonald who had previously served as an MLA under the Liberal banner in the Legislative Assembly from 1992-1993.

Marz achieved a landslide running for his second term in the 2001 election taking over 80% of the popular vote. The 2004 election saw the Alliance Party in a distant second with 16.5%. The 2008 election resulted with Marz increasing his votes by 4.66% over the 2004 results. The Alliance Party changed names to the Wildrose Alliance Party and remained well behind with only 21.03% of the vote. Marz vacated the seat ahead of the 2012 general election on March 16, 2012. Wildrose candidate Bruce Rowe was elected in the 2012 provincial election.

Legislative election results

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1997

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1997 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Richard Marz 6,958 57.08%
Social Credit Don MacDonald 3,422 28.07%
Liberal Dave Herbert 1,562 12.81%
New Democratic Anne Wilson 247 2.03%
Total 12,189
Rejected, spoiled and declined 29
Eligible electors / turnout 19,830 61.76%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2001

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2001 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Richard Marz 10,553 80.81% 23.73%
Liberal Gayleen Roelfsema 1,663 12.73% -0.08%
Social Credit Nicholas Semmler 460 3.52% -24.55%
New Democratic Brenda L. Dyck 383 2.93% 0.91%
Total 13,059
Rejected, spoiled and declined 48
Eligible electors / turnout 21,391 61.50% -0.26%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 19.53%
Source(s)
Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
"Electoral Division of Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Statement of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2020.

2004

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2004 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Richard Marz 7,277 59.40% -21.41%
Alberta Alliance Gordon Quantz 2,023 16.51%
Liberal Tony Vonesch 1,336 10.91% -1.83%
Separation Brian Vasseur 746 6.09%
Green Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller 469 3.83%
New Democratic Christopher Davies 257 2.10% -0.84%
Social Credit Myrna Kissick 143 1.17% -2.36%
Total 12,251
Rejected, spoiled and declined 70
Eligible electors / turnout 21,718 56.73% -4.77%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -12.59%

2008

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2008 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Richard Marz 7,837 64.06% 4.67%
Wildrose Curt Engel 2,572 21.03% 4.52%
Liberal Tony Vonesch 1,038 8.49% -2.42%
Green Kate Haddow 518 4.23% 0.41%
New Democratic Andy Davies 268 2.19% 0.09%
Total 12,233
Rejected, spoiled and declined 59
Eligible electors / turnout 24,599 49.97% -6.76%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 0.08%
Source(s)
Source: "Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Official Results 2008 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2012

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2012 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Wildrose Bruce Rowe 10,182 56.54% 35.51%
Progressive Conservative Darcy Davis 6,707 37.24% -26.82%
New Democratic Kristie Krezanoski 565 3.14% 0.95%
Liberal Garth E. Davis 555 3.08% -5.40%
Total 18,009
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 106
Eligible electors / turnout 29,643 61.11% 11.14%
Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -11.87%
Source(s)
Source: "73 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2015

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2015 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Wildrose Nathan Cooper 10,692 53.41% -3.12%
Progressive Conservative Wade Bearchell 5,274 26.35% -10.89%
New Democratic Glenn R Norman 3,366 16.82% 13.68%
Alberta Party Jim Adamchick 685 3.42%
Total 20,017
Rejected, spoiled and declined 109
Eligible electors / turnout 33,859 59.44% -1.67%
Wildrose hold Swing 3.89%
Source(s)
Source: "73 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2019

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2019 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Nathan Cooper 20,516 78.55% -1.21%
New Democratic Kyle Johnston 3,070 11.75% -5.06%
Alberta Party Chase Brown 1,779 6.81% 3.39%
Freedom Conservative Allen MacLennan 557 2.13%
Alberta Advantage Party Dave Hughes 195 0.75%
Total 26,117
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 120
Eligible electors / Turnout 36,375 72.13% 12.69%
United Conservative notional hold Swing 19.87%
Source(s)
Source: "76 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

2023

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2023 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Nathan Cooper 18,228 75.29 -3.26
New Democratic Cheryl Hunter Loewen 4,553 18.81 +7.05
Alberta Independence Katherine Kowalchuk 1,140 4.71
Wildrose Loyalty Coalition Cam Tatlock 183 0.76
Solidarity Movement Judy Bridges 105 0.43
Total 24,209 99.43
Rejected and declined 138 0.57
Turnout 24,347 62.13
Eligible voters 39,185
United Conservative hold Swing -5.16
Source(s)

Senate nominee election results

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2004

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2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills[9] Turnout 56.98%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % votes % ballots Rank
Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 6,517 19.24% 59.43% 1
Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 4,721 13.94% 43.05% 2
Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 3,687 10.89% 33.62% 5
  Independent Link Byfield 3,483 10.28% 31.76% 4
Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 3,439 10.15% 31.36% 3
Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 2,969 8.77% 27.08% 6
Alberta Alliance Vance Gough 2,816 8.31% 25.68% 8
Alberta Alliance Michael Roth 2,500 7.38% 22.80% 7
Alberta Alliance Gary Horan 2,263 6.68% 20.64% 10
  Independent Tom Sindlinger 1,478 4.36% 13.48% 9
Total votes 33,873 100%
Total ballots 10,966 3.09 votes per ballot
Rejected, spoiled and declined 1,409

Voters had the option of selecting four candidates on the ballot

2012

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Student vote results

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2004

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Participating schools[10]
Acme School
Carbon School
Didsbury High School
Dr. Elliott School
Prairie Christian Academy
Three Hills School
Trochu Valley School
Westglen 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 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.

2004 Alberta student vote results[11]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Richard Marz 449 42.20%
Green Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller 170 15.98%
Alberta Alliance Gordon Quantz 154 14.47%
  Liberal Tony Vonesch 120 11.28%
Separation Brian Vasseur 109 10.24%
  NDP Christopher Davies 41 3.85%
Social Credit Myrna Kissick 21 1.98%
Total 1,064 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 19

2012

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2012 Alberta Student Vote results
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Darcy Davis %
Wildrose Bruce Rowe
Alberta Party %
  NDP Kristie Krezanoski %
Total 100%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Riding Profiles". CBC News.
  2. ^ Cosh, Colby (April 14, 2021). "Sorry, Alberta speaker Nathan Cooper's apology not good enough". National Post. Toronto. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (February 2003). "Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  4. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (June 2010). Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 978-0-9865367-1-7. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  5. ^ Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (October 2017). Proposed Electoral Division Areas, Boundaries, and Names for Alberta. Final Report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 978-1-988620-04-6. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  6. ^ "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. pp. 60–62.
  7. ^ "Bill 28 Electoral Divisions Act" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 2010.
  8. ^ "76 - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  10. ^ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  11. ^ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2008.
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51°44′56″N 113°45′54″W / 51.749°N 113.765°W / 51.749; -113.765