# Willingdon (electoral district)

Willingdon 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

Willingdon was created in 1940 when Victoria and Whitford were split between this district and Redwater and Vegreville
The riding expanded south in 1963 when Vegreville merged with Bruce, to form Vegreville-Bruce. Due to the expanded boundaries the riding name was changed to Willingdon-Two Hills.

### Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Willingdon :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Victoria electoral district from 1905-1940 and Whitford electoral district from 1913-1940 |||||
| 9th | 1940–1944 | William Tomyn | Social Credit |
| 10th | 1944–1948 | William Tomyn | Social Credit |
| 11th | 1948–1952 | William Tomyn | Social Credit |
| 12th | 1952–1955 | Nick W. Dushenski | Co-operative Commonwealth |
| 13th | 1955–1959 | Nick W. Dushenski | Co-operative Commonwealth |
| 14th | 1959–1963 | Nicholas A. Melnyk | Social Credit |
| See Willingdon-Two Hills electoral district from 1963-1971 |||||

## Election results
### 1940

vte1940 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | William Tomyn | 2,329 | 61.11% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | T. Tomashavsky | 968 | 25.40% | – |
| | Independent | M. N. Grekol | 514 | 13.49% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,811 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 165 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 6,172 | 64.42% | – |
| | 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: "Willingdon Official Results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1944

vte1944 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | ±% |
| | Social Credit | William Tomyn | 1,771 | 44.30% | 1,844 | -16.82% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | L. L. Kostash | 1,328 | 33.22% | 1,448 | 7.82% |
| | Labor–Progressive | William A. Yusep | 899 | 22.49% | – | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,998 | – | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,867 | 68.14% | 3.72% | – |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | -12.32% |
| Source(s) Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1944 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. |||||||

### 1948

vte1948 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Credit | William Tomyn | 2,111 | 53.15% | 8.85% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Nick W. Dushenski | 1,861 | 46.85% | 13.64% |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,972 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 121 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,638 | 72.60% | 4.45% |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | -2.39% |
| Source(s) Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1952

vte1952 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | ±% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Nick W. Dushenski | 1,760 | 42.55% | 2,026 | -4.30% |
| | Social Credit | William Tomyn | 1,716 | 41.49% | 1,812 | -11.66% |
| | Liberal | John J. Fedun | 660 | 15.96% | – | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,136 | – | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 201 | – | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,776 | 75.09% | 2.49% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth gain from Social Credit | Co-operative Commonwealth gain from Social Credit | Swing | Swing | -2.62% |
| Source(s) Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1952 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. |||||||

### 1955

vte1955 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | ±% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Nick W. Dushenski | 1,729 | 42.53% | 2,108 | -0.02% |
| | Social Credit | Nicholas A. Melnyk | 1,580 | 38.87% | 1,701 | -2.62% |
| | Liberal | Nick Shandro | 756 | 18.60% | 2.64% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 4,065 | – | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 203 | – | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,654 | 75.49% | 0.40% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth hold | Co-operative Commonwealth hold | Swing | Swing | 1.30% |
| Source(s) Source: "Willingdon 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 | Nicholas A. Melnyk | 2,421 | 63.64% | 24.78% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Alex Hushlak | 991 | 26.05% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Nick W. Svekla | 392 | 10.30% | -32.23% |
| Total | Total | Total | 3,804 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 31 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 5,111 | 75.03% | -0.45% |
| | Social Credit gain from Co-operative Commonwealth | Social Credit gain from Co-operative Commonwealth | Swing | Swing | 16.96% |
| Source(s) Source: "Willingdon Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

## Plebiscite results
### 1948 electrification plebiscite

District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation.
| Option A | Option B |
| Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies? | Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission? |
| 1,069 28.42% | 2,716 71.76% |
| Province wide result: Option A passed. ||

### 1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Willingdon :
| 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 | 1,400 | 76.63% |
| | No | 427 | 23.37% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 1,827 | 100% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 19 | 19 |
| 5,979 eligible electors, turnout 30.88% ||||
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. Willingdon voted in favour of the proposal with one of the largest percentages in the province. Voter turnout in the district was one of the worst in the province, barely topping 30%, significantly below the province wide average of 46%.
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.