# Calgary Centre (provincial electoral district)

Calgary Centre 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 1959 to 1971.

## History

The original Centre Calgary district was first created during a brief period when the Calgary riding was split three ways. The other two districts were Calgary South and Calgary North.
The second incarnation was during the re-distribution of 1959 when Alberta moved from Single Transferable Vote to First Past the Post.
The riding was last contested in the 1967 Alberta general election, after which the Alberta Legislature passed the 1970 An Act to amend The Election Act and The Legislative Assembly Act to redraw provincial electoral districts. Calgary Centre and Calgary Victoria Park were split between Calgary-Buffalo, Calgary-Mountain View, Calgary-Bow, Calgary-Millican and Calgary-North Hill.
The riding covered the Downtown Calgary.

### 1959 redistribution

The historic 1959 redistribution of the provincial ridings of Calgary and Edmonton marked the transition back to First Past the Post. From 1926 to 1959 Calgary and Edmonton, elected members with Single Transferable Vote. The rest of the province had an option of how to count ballots to elect members in single seat ridings.
The redistribution created seven ridings in Calgary, two of those still exist today. Calgary and Edmonton were becoming too large to be a single riding.
The other six ridings were Calgary Bowness, Calgary West, Calgary Glenmore, Calgary North, Calgary North East, Calgary South East.

### Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary Centre :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Calgary electoral district from 1921-1959 |||||
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Frederick C. Colborne | Social Credit |
| 15th | 1963–1967 | Frederick C. Colborne | Social Credit |
| 16th | 1967–1971 | Frederick C. Colborne | Social Credit |
| See Calgary-West electoral district from 1971-Present, Calgary-Millican electoral district from 1971-1993 and Calgary-Buffalo electoral district from 1971-Present |||||

## Election results
### 1959

vte1959 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Fred C. Colborne | 4,824 | 53.79% | 0.00% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Runo Berglund | 2,642 | 29.46% | 0.00% |
| | Liberal | Gordan Arnell | 1,154 | 12.87% | 0.00% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Grant McHardy | 349 | 3.89% | 0.00% |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,969 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 16 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 16,884 | 53.22% | – |
| Source(s) Source: "Calgary-Centre Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1963

vte1963 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Fred C. Colborne | 4,395 | 61.63% | 7.85% |
| | Liberal | E. Virgil Anderson | 1,878 | 26.34% | 13.47% |
| | New Democratic | Mrs. Melba Cochlan | 757 | 10.62% | – |
| | Communist | Dave Raichman | 101 | 1.42% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 7,131 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 48 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 17,567 | 40.87% | – |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | 5.48% |
| Source(s) Source: "Calgary-Centre Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1967

vte1967 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Fred C. Colborne | 3,873 | 40.85% | -20.78% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Chuck Cook | 3,359 | 35.43% | – |
| | Liberal | John Starchuk | 1,275 | 13.45% | -12.89% |
| | New Democratic | Mrs. Margaret Hanley | 973 | 10.26% | -0.35% |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,480 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 90 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 17,554 | 54.52% | – |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | -14.94% |
| Source(s) Source: "Calgary-Centre Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||