1963 Alberta general election

1963 Alberta general election

← 1959 June 17, 1963 (1963-06-17) 1967 →

63 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
32 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
LIB
PC
Leader Ernest Manning Dave Hunter Milt Harradence
Party Social Credit Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since May 31, 1943 January 14, 1962 1962
Leader's seat Strathcona East ran in Athabasca (lost) ran in Calgary-West (lost)
Last election 61 seats, 55.7% 1 seat, 13.9% 1 seat, 23.9%
Seats before 60 1 1
Seats won 60 2 0
Seat change Steady Increase1 Decrease1
Popular vote 221,107 79,709 51,278
Percentage 54.8% 19.8% 12.7%
Swing Decrease0.9% Increase5.9% Decrease11.2%

Premier before election

Ernest Manning
Social Credit

Premier after election

Ernest Manning
Social Credit

The 1963 Alberta general election was held on June 17, 1963, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, won its eighth consecutive term in government, winning roughly the same number of seats in the legislature and share of popular vote that it had in the 1959 election.

Some Social Credit supporters were so confident of their party's chances that they talked of winning "63 in '63", i.e., all 63 seats in the legislature in the 1963 election. They fell short of this goal, but still had an overwhelming majority, reducing the opposition to only three MLAs in total. Indeed, as a share of the overall seats available, this represented Social Credit's greatest victory in its 36-year reign.

Much of the opposition vote shifted away from the Progressive Conservative Party, now led by Milt Harradence, resulting in the party losing its sole seat.

The Liberal Party was a partial beneficiary of the PC Party's decline, but picked up only one additional seat, for a total of two, despite winning almost 20% of the popular vote.

New Democratic Party candidates received 9 percent of the vote but no seats.

1963 was the last year in Alberta provincial politics when an MLA was acclaimed with the acclamation of Leonard Halmrast in Taber-Warner.

After the PCs won power, they would later speak of "79 in '79".

Results

Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1959 Elected % Change # % % Change
  Social Credit Ernest C. Manning 63 61 60 −1.6% 221,107 54.81% −0.88%
Liberal Dave Hunter 55 1 2 +100% 79,709 19.76% +5.88%
Coalition Frank Gainer 1 1 1 - 2,179 0.54% −0.01%
Progressive Conservative Milt Harradence 33 1 - −100% 51,278 12.71% −11.17%
  NDP1 Neil Reimer 56 - - - 37,133 9.45% +5.12%
  Independent 3 - - - 3,966 0.98% +0.10%
Independent Social Credit 6 1 - −100% 3,178 0.79% +0.21%
  Alberta Unity Movement 3 * - * 2,223 0.55% *
Progressive Conservative-Liberal Ross Ellis 1 * - * 1,134 0.28% *
Communist2 4 - - - 527 0.13% −0.08%
Total 225 65 63 −3.1% 403,444 100%  
Source: Elections Alberta

Notes:

1 The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation adopted the name "New Democratic Party" for the 1963 and subsequent elections.

2 The "Labour Progressive Party" returned to its original "Communist Party of Alberta" name for the 1963 and subsequent elections.

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Popular vote
Social Credit
54.81%
Liberal
19.76%
PC
12.71%
New Democratic
9.45%
Coalition
0.54%
Others
2.73%
Seats summary
Social Credit
95.24%
Liberal
3.17%
Coalition
1.59%

Results by riding

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Social Credit Liberal PC NDP Other
Alexandra Anders O. Aalborg
3,284
66.30%
John C. Sandercock
529
10.68%
W. Slim Thorpe (Con-Lib)
1,134
22.92%
Anders O. Aalborg
Athabasca Antonio Aloisio
2,241
50.43%
Dave Hunter
1,827
41.11%
Judith Johnston
223
5.02%
Trygve Hansen (Comm.)
118
2.66%
Antonio Aloisio
Banff-Cochrane Victor Watson
1,878
42.68%
Jack Fraser
331
7.52%
Frank L. Gainer (Coal)
2,179
49.66%
Francis Leo Gainer
Bonnyville Romeo B. Lamothe
2,222
47.91%
Albert Turcotte
1,059
22.83%
Victor E. Justik
1,091
23.52%
Peter G. Forman
255
5.50%
Karl Earnest Nordstrom
Bow Valley-Empress William Delday
2,871
60.19%
George Timko
923
19.35%
George A. Simpson
972
20.38%
William Delday
Calgary Bowness Charles E. Johnston
5,355
52.11%
Peter Petrasuk
2,456
23.90%
Albert A. Frawley
1,719
16.73%
Everett C. Baldwin
735
7.15%
Charles E. Johnston
Calgary-Centre Frederick C. Colborne
4,395
61.22%
E. Virgil Anderson
1,878
26.16%
Mrs. Melba Cochlan
757
10.54%
Dave Raichman (Comm.)
101
1.41%
Frederick C. Colborne
Calgary-East Albert W. Ludwig
4,763
60.23%
Evelyn Leew
677
8.56%
Bill Duncan
1,497
18.93%
Dick Dunlop
953
12.05%
Calgary-Glenmore A. Ross Lawson
4,268
31.40%
William Daniel Dickie
6,037
44.42%
Ned Corrigal
2,891
21.27%
G.A.J. Otjes
374
2.75%
Ernest S. Watkins
Calgary-North Robert A. Simpson
4,713
56.82%
Robert F. Goss
794
9.57%
Larry B. Nugent
2,123
25.59%
Steven P. Galan
647
7.80%
Rose Wilkinson
Calgary Queens Park Lea Leavitt
4,363
48.19%
John Donnachie
961
10.61%
Duncan Lovell McKillop
1,597
17.64%
Ben S. Greenfield
509
5.62%
Roy Alexander Farran (Ind.)
1,469
16.22%
Conrad Pfeifer (Ind. SoCred)
126
1.39%
Calgary-South Arthur J. Dixon
5,661
60.51%
Howard G. Cook
2,529
27.03%
John N. Smith
1,123
12.00%
Calgary-West Donald S. Fleming
5,183
42.76%
Ted Duncan
2,250
18.56%
Asa Milton Harradence
4,109
33.90%
Jack D. Peters
568
4.69%
Donald S. Fleming
Camrose Chester I. Sayers
3,427
56.57%
James P. Richardson
746
12.31%
Ernest Moore
1,519
25.07%
Kenneth Nelson
356
5.88%
Chester I. Sayers
Cardston Edgar W. Hinman
2,527
68.00%
John Fenton Webster
1,035
27.85%
Collin H. Holt
150
4.04%
Edgar W. Hinman
Clover Bar Floyd M. Baker
3,730
57.65%
James P. O'Dwyer
791
12.23%
Daniel F. Hollands
1,407
21.75%
Paul Arthur Dorin
535
8.27%
Floyd M. Baker
Cypress Harry E. Strom
3,030
77.71%
Alvin H. Reiman
861
22.08%
Harry E. Strom
Drumheller-Gleichen Gordon Edward Taylor
4,565
86.07%
Irene Dyck
720
13.57%
Dunvegan Ernest L. Lee
1,306
52.45%
M.H. (Milt) Connery
849
34.10%
Roy A. Mitchell
325
13.05%
Joseph M. Scruggs
Edmonton North Ethel Sylvia Wilson
4,655
52.17%
Thomas O'Dwyer
2,489
27.90%
William H. Nash
1,743
19.54%
Ethel Sylvia Wilson
Edmonton-Centre Ambrose Holowach
3,378
47.56%
Joseph A. Tannous
1,219
17.16%
Gerard Joseph Amerongen
1,492
21.01%
Alex Szchechina
993
13.98%
Ambrose Holowach
Edmonton-Jasper Place John William Horan
3,639
45.14%
Keith C. Campbell
2,234
27.71%
Clarence Edgar Sage
1,034
12.83%
Patrick J. Ryan
1,128
13.99%
Edmonton-North East Lou W. Heard
4,023
42.66%
Ken McAuley
1,295
13.73%
Allan Welsh
1,510
16.01%
Neil Reimer
2,589
27.45%
Lou W. Heard
Edmonton-North West Edgar H. Gerhart
4,369
45.97%
Edmund H. Leger
1,854
19.51%
Ned Feehan
1,878
19.76%
Grant W. Notley
1,391
14.64%
Edgar H. Gerhart
Edmonton-Norwood William Tomyn
3,905
47.86%
J. Laurier Picard
1,628
19.95%
J. Gordon Ozarko
1,190
14.58%
Robert W. Douglas
1,330
16.30%
Walter Makowecki (Comm.)
93
1.14%
William Tomyn
Edmonton-West Stanley Gordon Geldart
3,733
41.83%
Robert A. Doyle
2,572
28.82%
Tony Nugent
2,019
22.62%
Neil R. Larsen
585
6.55%
Edson Norman Alfred Willmore
2,668
56.16%
Bertram E. Schoeppe
1,371
28.86%
James D. Torgersen
701
14.75%
Norman Alfred Willmore
Grande Prairie Ira McLaughlin
4,763
72.94%
Ed. Kimpe
997
15.27%
Charles A. Evaskevich
762
11.67%
Ira McLaughlin
Grouard Roy Ells
3,832
62.38%
Gunner Wahlstrom
1,595
25.96%
Clif. I. Tollefson
674
10.97%
Roy Ells
Hand Hills-Acadia Clinton Keith French
3,215
61.77%
Lyall Alexander Curry (Ind.)
1,972
37.89%
Lac La Biche Elvin J. Woynarowich
1,479
36.11%
Michael Maccagno
1,809
44.17%
Henry T. Thompson
260
6.35%
Henry Tomaschuk
297
7.25%
Rudolph Michetti (Ind. SoCred)
246
6.01%
Michael Maccagno
Lac Ste. Anne William Patterson
2,777
51.94%
Douglas P. McKeen
1,794
33.55%
John Liss
1,474
27.57%
William Patterson
Lacombe Allan Russell Patrick
3,405
69.22%
John Paul Fehrenbach
776
15.78%
John Liss
1,474
29.97%
Allan Russell Patrick
Leduc James D. Henderson
1,898
39.74%
Ronald John Hayter
461
9.65%
Peter Wyllie
971
20.33%
Andrew Simon Borys
613
12.84%
Ronald Earl Ansley (Ind. SoCred)
731
15.31%
Michael F. Hold (AUM)
88
1.84%
Ronald Earl Ansley
Lethbridge John C. Landeryou
6,975
60.05%
Alan Cullen
3,786
32.60%
James Taylor
820
7.06%
John C. Landeryou
Little Bow Raymond Albert Speaker
3,368
63.72%
Arthur W. Ulrich
649
12.28%
Douglas H. Galbraith
1,245
23.55%
Peter Dawson
Macleod James Hartley
3,127
64.57%
Allie Streeter
1,466
30.27%
John K. Head
238
4.91%
James Hartley
Medicine Hat Harry C. Leinweber
4,954
51.77%
Helen Beny Gibson
2,259
23.61%
Kenneth Roy Biddell
1,485
15.52%
Milton J. Reinhardt
841
8.79%
Elizabeth G. Robinson
Okotoks-High River Edward P. Benoit
2,361
52.55%
Robert E.G. Armstrong
448
9.97%
Samuel Brown
1,585
35.28%
Bill Steemson
86
1.91%
Ernest G. Hansell
Olds-Didsbury Robert Curtis Clark
3,950
66.79%
Eva Banta
400
6.76%
Roger Lebeuf (AUM)
1,550
26.21%
Peace River Euell F. Montgomery
2,782
60.32%
Vic. O'Reilly
980
21.25%
Hall C. Sisson
842
18.26%
William F. Gilliland
Pembina Robin D. Jorgenson
3,067
55.78%
Ray Brodeur
842
15.31%
Percy Baxandall
823
14.97%
Herman Hauch
562
10.22%
Verdun Baxandall (Ind. SoCred)
165
3.00%
Robin D. Jorgenson
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest William A. Kovach
2,524
54.30%
Thomas J. Costigan
539
11.60%
Frank Lynch-Staunton
953
20.50%
Arthur Lees
621
13.36%
William A. Kovach
Ponoka Glen F. Johnston
1,830
44.56%
Neville S. Roper (Ind. SoCred)
1,721
41.90%
George F. Sharp (Ind.)
525
12.78%
Glen F. Johnston
Red Deer William Kenneth Ure
6,016
57.57%
Denis Yunker
609
5.83%
Walter M. Ogilvie
3,323
31.80%
Herman H. Dorin
446
4.27%
William Kenneth Ure
Redwater Michael Senych
1,670
41.61%
Steve Romanchuk
755
18.81%
Joe Bielish
1,362
33.94%
William Glass
216
5.38%
John Dubetz
Rocky Mountain House Alfred J. Hooke
3,175
72.32%
Ellis M. Bowen
591
13.46%
Robert H. Carlyle
599
13.64%
Alfred J. Hooke
Sedgewick-Coronation Jack C. Hillman
3,999
67.72%
James Leland Sims
1,368
23.17%
Karl O. Peterson
529
8.96%
Spirit River Lionel Lizee
383
8.68%
Adolph O. Fimrite
3,077
69.73%
Uri Powell
948
21.48%
Adolph O. Fimrite
St. Albert Keith Everitt
2,540
39.85%
Louis Chalifoux
2,030
31.85%
Alan Lazerte
1,332
20.90%
Alan Bevington
451
7.08%
Keith Everitt
St. Paul Raymond Reierson
2,889
60.90%
Rene P. Foisy
1,363
28.73%
H.B. Hodgins
265
5.59%
Daniel Gamache (Comm.)
215
4.53%
Raymond Reierson
Stettler Galen C. Norris
3,076
68.02%
Clark K. Burlingham
1,065
23.55%
Joseph J. Tipman
369
8.16%
Galen C. Norris
Stony Plain Cornelia R. Wood
2,716
41.75%
Harold McLaughlin
1,921
29.53%
Peter Germaniuk
903
13.88%
Conrad D. (Red) Fuhr
358
5.50%
Rudolph Zander (AUM)
595
9.15%
Cornelia R. Wood
Strathcona Centre Joseph Donovan Ross
5,232
58.39%
Ian Nicoll
2,418
26.99%
Harry J. Strynadka
1,262
14.08%
Joseph Donovan Ross
Strathcona East Ernest C. Manning
6,842
53.22%
James A. Cox
1,890
14.70%
Oscar H. Kruger
2,630
20.46%
Dennis A. Wood
1,457
11.33%
Ernest C. Manning
Strathcona West Randolph H. McKinnon
5,029
47.47%
Arthur W. Crossley
2,557
24.14%
Arnold H. Lane
1,863
17.59%
George R. Field
936
8.84%
Randolph H. McKinnon
Taber-Warner Leonard C. Halmrast
0
Three Hills Louis Petrie Meston
3,385
62.70%
James A. Lore
1,728
32.01%
John F. Kennan
257
4.76%
Vegreville-Bruce Alex W. Gordey
2,925
50.03%
Wilfrid L. Horton
675
11.55%
Graham Allan
1,194
20.42%
Albin Lukawiecki
851
14.56%
Clarence A. Knies (Ind. SoCred)
189
3.23%
Vermilion Ashley H. Cooper
2,964
68.08%
Arthur W. Roland
837
19.22%
Edward I. Thompson
545
12.52%
Ashley H. Cooper
Wainwright Henry A. Ruste
3,465
76.25%
John M. Saville
668
14.70%
John Wesley Connelly
387
8.52%
Henry A. Ruste
Wetaskiwin Albert W. Strohschein
3,333
61.01%
Albert (Butch) Dyberg
1,298
23.76%
Leslie Pritchard
823
15.06%
John A. Wingblade
Willingdon-Two Hills Nicholas A. Melnyk
2,315
56.53%
Allan Eschak
283
6.91%
Walter Witwicky
993
24.25%
William Glen Haley
496
12.11%

See also

References

Further reading

  • Saywell, John T., ed. (1964). Canadian Annual Review for 1963. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.