Whitecourt (provincial electoral district)
# Whitecourt (provincial electoral district)

Whitecourt was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 1971 to 1993.

## Boundary history

Member of the Legislative Assembly for Whitecourt :

| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| - | - | - | - |
| See Lac Ste. Anne 1909–1971 |||||
| 17th | 1971–1975 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| 18th | 1975–1979 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| 19th | 1979–1982 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| 20th | 1982–1986 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| 21st | 1986–1989 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| 22nd | 1989–1993 | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative |
| See Whitecourt-Ste. Anne 1993–2019 |||||

The district replaced Lac Ste. Anne for the 1971 election, with only minor boundary changes from the previous district. Its boundaries again remained mostly unchanged when replaced by Whitecourt-Ste. Anne in 1993, although the area around Fox Creek was transferred to Grande Prairie-Smoky.

## Representation history

The district's only MLA was Progressive Conservative Peter Trynchy. He entered the Legislature upon winning the seat in the 1971 election and served eight terms all together, six as MLA for Whitecourt and two in Whitecourt-Ste. Anne, finally retiring in 2001.

## Election results

### 1970s

1971 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 3,096 | 49.53% |
| | Social Credit | Clyde Feero | 2,125 | 33.99% |
| | New Democratic | Robert Price | 929 | 14.86% |
| | Liberal | Arthur Yates | 101 | 1.62% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,251 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 43 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 9,514 | 66.16% |
| | 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. |

1975 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 3,921 | 71.42% | +21.89% |
| | New Democratic | John Udchitz | 893 | 16.27% | +1.41% |
| | Social Credit | Rig Godwin | 676 | 12.31% | -21.68% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 5,490 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 21 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 8,683 | 63.47% | -2.69% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +10.24% |

1979 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 3,834 | 59.08% | -12.34% |
| | New Democratic | Ken Forscutt | 1,442 | 22.22% | +5.95% |
| | Social Credit | George Richardson | 1,214 | 18.71% | +6.40% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,490 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 162 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 10,488 | 63.42% | -0.05% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -9.15% |

### 1980s

The 1982 election saw the rise of the separatist Western Canada Concept, which failed to win any seats. Their result in Whitecourt was the fourth-best in the province, despite Social Credit candidate George Richardson's status as party leader. Trynchy still won an outright majority of votes, benefitting from a surge in turnout.

1982 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 4,635 | 51.71% | -7.37% |
| | Western Canada Concept | Andy Lee | 2,276 | 25.39% |
| | New Democratic | Dick Davies | 1,220 | 13.61% | -8.61% |
| | Social Credit | George Richardson | 685 | 7.64% | -11.07% |
| | Liberal | John Powers | 147 | 1.64% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8,963 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 44 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 12,441 | 72.40% | +8.98% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -16.38% |

1986 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 4,038 | 54.15% | +2.44% |
| | Representative | Merv Zadderey | 1,611 | 21.60% | +13.96% |
| | New Democratic | Dick Davies | 1,349 | 18.09% | +4.48% |
| | Liberal | Rick Allen | 459 | 6.16% | +4.52% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7,457 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 11 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 13,254 | 56.35% | -16.05% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -5.76% |

Representative Party swing in 1986 is calculated from Social Credit results in 1982.

1989 Alberta general election :

| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter Trynchy | 3,877 | 49.93% | -4.22% |
| | Liberal | Jurgen Preugschas | 2,432 | 31.32% | +25.16% |
| | New Democratic | Gwen Symington | 1,456 | 18.75% | +0.66% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7,765 |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 33 |
| Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | Electors / Turnout | 13,795 | 56.53% | +0.18% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -14.69% |
