Peace River is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The district used instant-runoff voting from 1926 to 1957.
It and St. Albert are the only two Alberta districts that have been in operation since the birth of the province. Peace River is a reliable bellwether district, held by the governing political party for most of its history — former MLA Debbie Jabbour of the NDP was no exception, as she was elected in 2015 when the Alberta NDP came to power. Then Peace River elected a United Conservative MLA in 2019 when a majority of the seats in the province went to the UCP. Peace River last elected an opposition MLA in 1940.
Geography
Peace River encompasses a largely rural area in the northwest corner of Alberta. Urban municipalities within the riding include the towns of Grimshaw, High Level, Manning, Peace River, and Rainbow Lake, as well as the village of Nampa. The riding also includes the entirety of two rural municipalities (Mackenzie County and the County of Northern Lights) and portions of three others (Improvement District No. 24, the Municipal District of Peace No. 135, and Northern Sunrise County).
Four First Nations are located within the riding's boundaries: Beaver First Nation, Dene Tha' First Nation, Little Red River Cree Nation, and Tallcree First Nation.
Peace River borders the ridings of Central Peace-Notley to the southwest, Lesser Slave Lake to the southeast, and Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo to the east. The riding also borders British Columbia to the west and the Northwest Territories to the north.
History Peace River was established when the province was created in 1905. It covers the western section of what had been the District of Athabasca, which had never been represented in the North West Assembly. The district boundaries have been revised many times over the last century since 1905, but have always contained the town of Peace River and the northwestern section of the province.
From 1924 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA.A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982
The 2010 boundary redistribution saw the district gain a portion of land that belongs to the Municipal District of Northern Lights that was in the old Dunvegan-Central Peace district. In the 2017 redistribution, it gained Grimshaw from Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley.
Boundary description in 2003 and 2010 70 Peace River 2003 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthnoneFort McMurray-Wood BuffalononeDunvegan-Central Peace, Lesser Slave Lakeriding map goes hereLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.Starting at the northwest corner of the Province; then 1. east along the north boundary of the Province to the west boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park; 2. south, east and south along the park boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 112 at the 5th meridian; 3. east along the north boundary of Twp. 112 to the east boundary of Rge. 23 W4; 4. south along the east boundary of Rge. 23 W4 to the north boundary of Twp. 111; 5. west along the north boundary of Twp. 111 to the 5th Meridian; 6. south along the 5th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 105; 7. west along the north boundary of Twp. 105 to the east boundary of Rge. 12 W5; 8. south along the east boundary of Rge. 12 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 96; 9. west along the north boundary of Twp. 96 to the east boundary of Rge. 18 W5; 10. south along the east boundary of Rge. 18 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 79; 11. west along the north boundary of Twp. 79 to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5; 12. north along the east boundary of Rge. 20 W5 to the north boundary of Sec. 13, Twp. 80, Rge. 20 W5; 13. west along the north boundary of Secs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in Rges. 20 W5 and 21 W5 to the east boundary of Rge. 22 W5; 14. north along the east boundary of Rge. 22 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 80; 15. west along the north boundary of Twp. 80 to the right bank of the Smoky River; 16. downstream along the right bank of the Smoky River to the intersection with the right bank of the Peace River; 17. upstream along the right bank of the Peace River to the intersection with the north boundary of Twp. 82; 18. west along the north boundary of Twp. 82 to the east boundary of Rge. 23 W5; 19. north along the east boundary of Rge. 23 W5 to the north boundary of Twp. 83; 20. west along the north boundary of Twp. 83 to the 6th meridian; 21. north along the 6th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 85; 22. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 2 W6; 23. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 96; 24. east along the north boundary to the 6th meridian; 25. north along the 6th meridian to the north boundary of Twp. 104; 26. west along the north boundary to the west boundary of the Province; 27. north along the west boundary of the Province to the starting point.Note:
74 Peace River 2010 boundariesBordering districtsNorthEastWestSouthNorthwest Territories boundaryFort McMurray-Wood Buffalo and Lesser Slave LakeBritish Columbia boundaryDunvegan-Central Peace-NotleyLegal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2010, Electoral Divisions Act.Note:
Representation history Members of the Legislative Assembly for Peace RiverAssemblyYearsMemberParty1st1905Lucien Dubuc(member-elect)Independent1905–1906Vacant1906–1909Thomas BrickIndependent Liberal2nd1909–1913James CornwallLiberal3rd1913–1917Alphaeus PattersonConservative4th1917–1921William RaeLiberal5th1921Donald KennedyUnited Farmers1921Vacant1921–1926Herbert GreenfieldUnited Farmers6th1926–1930Hugh Allen7th1930–1935William Bailey8th1935–1940William LampleySocial Credit9th1940–1944Eld MartinIndependent10th1944–1948William GillilandSocial Credit11th1948–195212th1952–195513th1955–195914th1959–19611961Vacant1961–1963Euell MontgomerySocial Credit15th1963–196716th1967–1971Robert Wiebe17th1971–1975Al AdairProgressive Conservative18th1975–197919th1979–198220th1982–198621st1986–198922nd1989–199323rd1993–1997Gary Friedel24th1997–200125th2001–200426th2004–2008Frank Oberle27th2008–201228th2012–201529th2015–2019Debbie JabbourNew Democratic30th2019–2023Dan WilliamsUnited Conservative31st2023–present
The electoral district was created in 1905 when the province was founded. The election contest held that year in the Peace River electoral district was a two-way race between Liberal candidate James Cornwall and Independent candidate Lucien Dubuc. Both were supporters of the Rutherford government.
The election results took weeks to be counted. Dubuc was eventually declared the winner but the results of the election were never released to the public. the cabinet overturned the results due to significant irregularities, and the riding was declared vacant. Dubuc decided not to run again but challenged the calling of a new election in court. Dubuc's case failed in court.
A new election was held on February 15, 1906. Local farmers encouraged Thomas Brick, an Independent Liberal, to run. He won by a landslide over Cornwall. Brick held the district for a single term. He was initially going to run for a second term but dropped out during the campaign in 1909. Cornwall was the only candidate in the race, so was acclaimed.
Cornwall held the district for a single term. Near the end of the 2nd Legislative term, Cornwall announced his retirement saying he was through with politics. He had been under investigation in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal that rocked the Rutherford government and forced the resignation of Premier Rutherford. The lands in the Peace River district experienced a great influx of settlers during this period.
The 1913 election was hotly contested. Conservative Alphaeus Patterson defeated future MLA William Rae and former Athabasca MLA William Bredin.
Rae won the seat in 1917 after Patterson retired. He held the seat until he was defeated in 1921 by United Farmers candidate Donald Kennedy. Kennedy resigned his seat very quickly so that Premier Herbert Greenfield could have a seat in the legislature. Greenfield represented the district for a single term. His replacement was United Farmers MLA Hugh Allen.
Allen also served just for a single term, retiring in 1930. The United Farmers chose William Bailey to run as his replacement. Bailey served from 1930 until he was defeated by Social Credit candidate William Lampley in the 1935 general election.
Lampley served until 1940 when he was defeated by Independent Eld Martin. Martin also served a single term before Social Credit candidate William Gilliland defeated him in the 1944 election.
Gilliland held the district for several terms. He was re-elected in 1948, 1952, 1955 and 1959. He died on October 26, 1961, leaving the seat vacant.
A by-election held in 1961 was won by Social Credit candidate Euell Montgomery. He held the district until 1967, winning re-election in 1963 before retiring in 1967. The last Social Credit member to hold the seat was Robert Wiebe, elected in 1967.
The 1971 election saw Wiebe defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Al Adair. Adair held the district for six terms, being re-elected in 1975, 1979, 1982, 1986 and again in 1989. The Progressive Conservative dominance over Peace River continued as P-C candidate Gary Friedel won the district in 1993. He lasted three terms, being re-elected in 1997 and 2001 before retiring in 2004.
In 2004, Progressive Conservative Frank Oberle was elected to represent Peace River. He was re-elected to a second term in 2008, and served as the province's Energy Minister.
In 2015, a close race saw NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour defeat the incumbent Conservative MLA Oberle by a mere 282 votes. Jabbour was subsequently also elected by a majority of the assembled MLAs to serve as Deputy Speaker of the provincial legislature.
Legislative election results
2023
Elections in the 2010s
2015 Alberta general election redistributed resultsPartyVotes%4,37040.313,81635.202,28021.033763.47
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Stunned by the Social Credit victory in 1935, the Liberals and Conservatives jointly endorsed candidates across Alberta in what was known as the Independent Citizen's Association. This was the last time an opposition MLA was elected in Peace River.
Elections in the 1930s
!colspan=6|Final count
|colspan=2|Exhausted ballots |align=right|588
Elections in the 1920s
|colspan=3|United Farmers hold
A series of by-elections were needed after the United Farmers government took power in 1921. The United Farmers caucus chose Herbert Greenfield as the new Premier. Unfortunately he lacked a seat in the legislature.
Incumbent United Farmers MLA Donald MacBeth Kennedy resigned his district after only holding it for a few months to pursue a seat in the 1921 Canadian federal election. The only other seat available was Ponoka which had been made vacant by the death of United Farmers MLA Percival Baker. Of the two choices Greenfield chose to run in Peace River.
Along with this by-election and Ponoka five other ministerial by-elections to confirm cabinet ministers were called for an election day of December 9, 1921. This was set for one week after the 1921 Canadian federal election. The by-election writ was dropped on November 16, 1921.
Greenfield ran unopposed and was acclaimed at the nomination deadline held on December 2, 1921. The timing of the by-elections was deliberately chosen to coincide with the federal election to ensure that opposition candidates would be unlikely to oppose the cabinet ministers.
Elections in the 1910s
|colspan=3|Conservative gain from Liberal