# Acadia-Coronation

Acadia-Coronation was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1963.

## History

The Acadia-Coronation electoral district was formed from the Acadia electoral district prior to the 1940 Alberta general election. The district would be dissolved prior to the 1963 Alberta general election and be split into Hand Hills-Acadia and Sedgewick-Coronation electoral districts.

### Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Acadia-Coronation :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Acadia electoral district from 1913 to 1940 |||||
| 9th | 1940–1944 | Clarence E. Gerhart | Social Credit |
| 10th | 1944–1948 | Clarence E. Gerhart | Social Credit |
| 11th | 1948–1952 | Clarence E. Gerhart | Social Credit |
| 12th | 1952–1955 | Clarence E. Gerhart | Social Credit |
| 13th | 1955–1959 | James Leland Sims | Liberal |
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Marion Kelts | Social Credit |
| See Sedgewick-Coronation electoral district from 1963 to 1979 and Hand Hills-Acadia electoral district from 1963 to 1971 |||||

## Election results
### 1940

vte1940 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| First count ||||||
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,163 | 49.30% | – |
| | Independent | George N. Johnston | 1,665 | 37.95% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Mrs. R. Johnston | 559 | 6.46% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,387 | – | – |
| Ballot transfer results ||||||
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,297 | 53.92% | – |
| | Independent | George N. Johnston | 1,963 | 46.08% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,260 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 137 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,927 | 76.33% | – |
| | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. | Social Credit pickup new district. |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality |||||||

### 1944

vte1944 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,930 | 61.81% | 12.51% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Charles Frederickson | 1,215 | 25.63% | 19.17% |
| | Independent | John Hallet | 595 | 12.55% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,740 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 98 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,878 | 82.31% | 5.97% |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | 18.09% |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1948

vte1948 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,332 | 55.17% | -6.65% |
| | Liberal | Dr. Arthur M. Day | 1,254 | 29.67% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Russell A. Johnson | 641 | 15.16% | -10.47% |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,227 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 283 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,744 | 78.52% | -3.79% |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | -5.34% |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1952

vte1952 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | Acclaimed | – | – |
| Total | Total | Total | N/A | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | N/A |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1955

vte1955 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| First count ||||||
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,026 | 44.38% | – |
| | Liberal | James Leland Sims | 1,932 | 42.32% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | L. E. Reiman | 607 | 6.78% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,565 | – | – |
| Ballot transfer results ||||||
| | Liberal | James Leland Sims | 2,263 | 51.61% | – |
| | Social Credit | Clarence E. Gerhart | 2,122 | 48.39% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,385 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 297 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,815 | 83.63% | – |
| | Liberal gain from Social Credit | Liberal gain from Social Credit | Swing | Swing | N/A |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.Instant-runoff voting requires a candidate to receive a plurality (greater than 50%) of the votes. As no candidate received a plurality of votes, the bottom candidate was eliminated and their 2nd place votes were applied to both other candidates until one received a plurality |||||||

### 1959

vte1959 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | Marion Kelts | 2,450 | 57.48% | 13.10% |
| | Liberal | James Leland Sims | 1,408 | 33.04% | -9.28% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Lester A. Lindgren | 404 | 9.48% | 2.70% |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,262 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 11 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,573 | 76.67% | -5.96% |
| | Social Credit gain from Liberal | Social Credit gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | 11.96% |
| Source(s) Source: "Acadia-Coronation Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

## Plebiscite results
### 1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Acadia-Coronation :
| Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote? ||||
| Ballot choice | Ballot choice | Votes | % |
| | Yes | 1,526 | 53.92% |
| | No | 1,304 | 46.08% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,830 | 100% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 48 | 48 |
| 5,404 eligible electors, turnout 53.26% ||||
On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the Legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.
The plebiscite was conducted in two parts. Question A, asked in all districts, asked the voters if the sale of liquor should be expanded in Alberta, while Question B, asked in a handful of districts within the corporate limits of Calgary and Edmonton, asked if men and women should be allowed to drink together in establishments.
Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Acadia-Coronation was split on the issue, but voted in favour of the proposal. The district recorded one of the best turnouts in the province, well above the province wide 46% average.
Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. The Social Credit government in power at the time did not consider the results binding. However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.
Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the plebiscite were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones. Business owners who wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.