# Wild Rose (electoral district)

Wild Rose was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. It had been considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party of Canada.

## Geography

The district was located in the southwest part of Alberta, stretching from the British Columbia border to the outer northern suburbs of Calgary. Within the large riding were: the City of Airdrie, the towns of Olds, Didsbury, Cochrane, Canmore, Sundre, and Banff, the Municipal District of Bighorn No. 8, Mountain View County, Improvement District No. 9, and parts of Clearwater County and Rocky View County. The Stoney First Nation was also located within the riding. The riding was bounded by British Columbia to the west, Calgary to the southeast and Red Deer to the northeast.

## History

The electoral district was created in 1986 from Bow River, Red Deer and Macleod ridings.
In 2003, about 30% of this district was transferred to Crowfoot riding and about 4% of Red Deer riding was transferred to this district.
Since its creation Wild Rose was one of the safest ridings in the country for the Conservative Party and its predecessors, which had won every election since 1993 by lopsided margins. Neither the Liberals nor the New Democrats had ever secured more than 15 percent of the vote in Wild Rose. In the 2006 election, the Green Party finished a distant second with 10.84 percent of the popular vote, which was among the highest percentages received for the Green Party in that election. The Green Party candidate, Lisa Fox, was again the second-place finisher in the October 2008 election, finishing ahead of the Liberal, New Democratic and Libertarian candidates with 6,389 votes, but far behind the winner Richards, who won 72.9 percent of all votes cast (36,869 votes total). In 2011 Richards defeated all of his opponents combined by a nearly three-to-one margin.
The riding was abolished in 2015. Most of the riding became Banff—Airdrie. A smaller part was transferred to Red Deer—Mountain View while a small portion went to Yellowhead.

## List of Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:
| Parliament | Years | Member | Party |
| Riding created from Bow River, Red Deer and Macleod |||||
| 34th | 1988–1993 | Louise Feltham | Progressive Conservative |
| 35th | 1993–1997 | Myron Thompson | Reform |
| 36th | 1997–2000 | Myron Thompson | Reform |
| 36th | 2000–2000 | Myron Thompson | Alliance |
| 37th | 2000–2003 | Myron Thompson | Alliance |
| 37th | 2003–2004 | Myron Thompson | Conservative |
| 38th | 2004–2006 | Myron Thompson | Conservative |
| 39th | 2006–2008 | Myron Thompson | Conservative |
| 40th | 2008–2011 | Blake Richards | Conservative |
| 41st | 2011–2015 | Blake Richards | Conservative |
| Riding dissolved into Yellowhead, Banff—Airdrie, Red Deer—Mountain View, Calgary Rocky Ridge, Calgary Skyview and Calgary Nose Hill |||||

## Election results

2011 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Blake Richards | 43,669 | 74.7 | +1.8 | $49,673 |
| | New Democratic | Jeff Horvath | 6,595 | 11.3 | +3.1 | $3,784 |
| | Green | Michael MacDonald | 4,071 | 7.0 | -5.6 | $5,270 |
| | Liberal | John Reilly | 3,908 | 6.7 | +1.0 | $43,616 |
| | Christian Heritage | Randy VandenBroek | 181 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 58,424 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 128 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 58,552 | 61.7 | +6 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 94,970 | – | – |
2008 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Blake Richards | 36,869 | 72.9 | +0.4 | $50,972 |
| | Green | Lisa Fox | 6,390 | 12.6 | +1.8 | $14,559 |
| | New Democratic | Jeff Horvath | 4,169 | 8.2 | +0.9 | $5,001 |
| | Liberal | Jenn Turcott | 2,890 | 5.7 | -4.0 | $6,555 |
| | Libertarian | Krista Zoobkoff | 246 | 0.5 | – | |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 50,564 | 100.0 | $101,401 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 107 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,671 | 56 | -9 |
2006 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Myron Thompson | 39,487 | 72.2 | +1.6 | $52,003 |
| | Green | Sean Maw | 5,929 | 10.8 | +2.6 | $8,652 |
| | Liberal | Judy Stewart | 5,331 | 9.7 | -2.9 | $8,736 |
| | New Democratic | Shannon Nelles | 3,972 | 7.3 | -1.2 | $2,057 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 54,715 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 127 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,842 | 66.7 | +5.2 |
2004 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Myron Thompson | 33,337 | 70.6 | -12.7 | $41,324 |
| | Liberal | Judy Stewart | 5,971 | 12.6 | +1.6 | $22,911 |
| | New Democratic | Jeff Horvath | 4,009 | 8.5 | +4.4 | $4,672 |
| | Green | Chris Foote | 3,904 | 8.3 | – | $696 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 47,221 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 101 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,322 | 61.51 | -1.0 |
2000 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Alliance | Myron Thompson | 40,193 | 70.4 | +6.6 | $38,078 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Truper McBride | 7,370 | 12.9 | -6.1 | $17,837 |
| | Liberal | Bryan Mahoney | 6,334 | 11.1 | -1.0 | $8,304 |
| | New Democratic | Anne Wilson | 2,320 | 4.1% | +0.5 | $2,552 |
| | Independent | Garnet T. Hammer | 908 | 1.6 | – | $72 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 57,125 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 175 | 0.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 57,300 | 62.5 | +2.0 |
1997 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Reform | Myron Thompson | 28,569 | 63.8 | +0.4 | $43,013 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bert Dyck | 8,506 | 19.0 | +3.6 | $34,928 |
| | Liberal | Bryan Mahoney | 5,428 | 12.1 | -2.0 | $9,259 |
| | New Democratic | Anne Wilson | 1,594 | 3.6 | +1.3 | $2,614 |
| | Green | Vanessa Violini | 692 | 1.5 | +0.6 | $275 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 44,789 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 88 | 0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,877 | 60.5 |
1993 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Reform | Myron Thompson | 30,820 | 63.4 | +30.0 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Louise Feltham | 7,502 | 15.4 | -32.8 |
| | Liberal | Roy Shellnutt | 6,861 | 14.1 | +4.0 |
| | New Democratic | Anne Wilson | 1,095 | 2.3 | -5.5 |
| | National | Stuart Hughes | 807 | 1.7 | |
| | Independent | Michael Leslie | 581 | 1.2 | |
| | Green | Scott Chisholm Lamont | 457 | 0.9 | |
| | Independent | Dave Strang | 267 | 0.5 | |
| | Natural Law | Dale Doram | 201 | 0.4 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 48,591 | 100.0 |
1988 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Louise Feltham | 20,054 | 48.2 |
| | Reform | Dal Brown | 13,895 | 33.4 |
| | Liberal | Cathy Richards | 4,209 | 10.1 |
| | New Democratic | Robin Slater | 3,209 | 7.7 |
| | Confederation of Regions | Dennis S. Combs | 209 | 0.5 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 41,576 | 100.0 |