Dunvegan (electoral district)
# Dunvegan (electoral district)

Dunvegan 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, and again from 1986 to 2004.

The seat for Dunvegan in the Leglislative Assembly was held by the governing party for every year it existed. The riding was named for the small community of Dunvegan, once home to a fur trade post, and now the site of a provincial park and historic site.

## History

### Boundary history

The first riding named Dunvegan was created out of the western half of Peace River in 1959. It was bounded on the south by the Peace River and extended north to the Northwest Territories border, containing the entire northwest corner of Alberta. When it was abolished in 1971, the north section of the riding was transferred back to Peace River, and the southern two-thirds of the riding, along with the northern half of Spirit River, became Spirit River-Fairview.

In 1986 Dunvegan was re-created, replacing all of Spirit River-Fairview and a small part of Smoky River. In 1993 it absorbed another part of Smoky River (including the community of Falher) as well as a small part of Peace River (including Grimshaw).

The Dunvegan electoral district was dissolved in the 2003 electoral boundary re-distribution, and replaced by the Dunvegan-Central Peace electoral district for the 2004 Alberta general election with no changes to the district's boundaries.

### Representation history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Dunvegan :

| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| - | - | - | - |
| See Peace River 1905-1959 |||||
| 14th | 1959-1963 | Joseph Scruggs | Social Credit |
| 15th | 1963-1967 | Ernest Lee | Social Credit |
| 16th | 1967-1971 | Ernest Lee | Social Credit |
| See Spirit River-Fairview 1971-1986 |||||
| 22nd | 1986-1989 | Glen Clegg | Progressive Conservative |
| 23rd | 1989-1993 | Glen Clegg | Progressive Conservative |
| 24th | 1993-1997 | Glen Clegg | Progressive Conservative |
| 25th | 1997-2001 | Glen Clegg | Progressive Conservative |
| 26th | 2001-2004 | Hector Goudreau | Progressive Conservative |
| See Dunvegan-Central Peace 2004-2012 |||||

The first MLA for Dunvegan was Joseph Scruggs, who narrowly picked the riding up for the governing Social Credit. He did not run for re-election in 1963, but Ernest Lee held the riding for the government for two more terms.

The riding was then replaced by Spirit River-Fairview, which was picked up by New Democrat leader Grant Notley, who held that riding almost until it was replaced by Dunvegan in 1986.

In that election, the governing Progressive Conservatives would win the riding for the first time, despite an NDP surge elsewhere in the province. MLA Glen Clegg represented the area for five terms, retiring in 2001.

PC candidate Hector Goudreau would hold the riding for the government in its final term, and went on to represent Dunvegan-Central Peace for both terms it existed, as well as Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley until 2015.

## Election results

### 1950s

vte1959 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Social Credit | Joseph M. Scruggs | 1,080 | 38.96% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bennidict V. Griep | 661 | 23.85% | – |
| | Liberal | Steven P. Tachit | 648 | 23.38% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Floyd Albin Johnson | 383 | 13.82% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 2,772 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 17 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 3,551 | 78.54% | – |
| | 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: "Dunvegan Official Results 1959 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1960s

vte1963 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Social Credit | Ernest Leonard Lee | 1,306 | 52.66% | 13.70% |
| | Liberal | M.H. (Milt) Connery | 849 | 34.23% | 10.86% |
| | New Democratic | Roy A. Mitchell | 325 | 13.10% | -0.72% |
| Total | Total | Total | 2,480 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 10 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 3,790 | 65.70% | – |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | 1.66% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1963 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. NDP swing is compared to the CCF result in 1959. |||||||

vte1967 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Social Credit | Ernest Leonard Lee | 1,280 | 44.03% | -8.63% |
| | New Democratic | Phil Thompson | 1,080 | 37.15% | 24.05% |
| | Coalition | John A. Hammond | 547 | 18.82% | -11.38% |
| Total | Total | Total | 2,907 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 176 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 10,991 | 28.05% | – |
| | Social Credit hold | Social Credit hold | Swing | Swing | -5.77% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Liberal-PC Coalition swing is compared to the Liberal result in 1963. |||||||

### 1980s

vte1986 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Glen Clegg | 4,146 | 51.25% | 21.32% |
| | New Democratic | Jim Gurnett | 3,944 | 48.75% | 12.06% |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,090 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 32 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 11,213 | 72.43% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. The 1986 swing is calculated from the 1984 by-election in Spirit River-Fairview, which had similar boundaries and which was won by Gurnett. |||||||

vte1989 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Glen Clegg | 4,049 | 56.22% | 4.97% |
| | New Democratic | Jim Gurnett | 2,603 | 36.14% | -12.61% |
| | Liberal | R. Gerald Eherer | 550 | 7.64% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 7,202 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 13 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 10,507 | 68.67% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 8.79% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1990s

vte1993 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Glen Clegg | 4,650 | 46.05% | -10.17% |
| | Liberal | Hartmann Nagel | 4,347 | 43.05% | 35.41% |
| | New Democratic | Sheila Maxwell-Marks | 1,100 | 10.89% | -25.25% |
| Total | Total | Total | 10,097 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 35 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 16,275 | 62.25% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -8.54% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

vte1997 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Glen Clegg | 5,149 | 54.64% | 8.59% |
| | Liberal | Fred Trotter | 3,314 | 35.17% | 7.88% |
| | New Democratic | Marg McCuaig-Boyd | 961 | 10.20% | -0.69% |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,424 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 14 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 16,061 | 58.76% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 8.24% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 1997 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 2000s

vte2001 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Hector Goudreau | 5,857 | 67.25% | 12.61% |
| | Liberal | Bruce Rutley | 1,888 | 21.68% | -13.49% |
| | New Democratic | Yvonne Sinkevich | 508 | 5.83% | -4.37% |
| | Alberta Independence | Ron (Earl) Miller | 248 | 2.85% | – |
| | Independent | Fred Euler | 208 | 2.39% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,709 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 30 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 15,907 | 54.94% | – |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | 13.05% |
| Source(s) Source: "Dunvegan Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Ron (Earl) Miller was listed as an Independent, but represented the Independence Party of Alberta |||||||
