1955 Alberta general election

The 1955 Alberta general election was held on June 29, 1955, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

1955 Alberta general election

← 1952 June 29, 1955 (1955-06-29) 1959 →

61 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
31 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
LIB
Leader Ernest Manning James H. Prowse
Party Social Credit Liberal
Leader since May 31, 1943 June 25, 1947
Leader's seat Edmonton Edmonton
Last election 53 seats, 56.2% 3 seats, 22.4%
Seats before 53 3
Seats won 37 15
Seat change Decrease16 Increase12
Popular vote 175,553 117,741
Percentage 46.4% 31.1%
Swing Decrease9.8% Increase8.7%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader John P. Page Elmer E. Roper
Party Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since 1952 1942
Leader's seat Edmonton Edmonton (lost re-election)
Last election 2 seats, 3.7% 1 seats, 14.1%
Seats before 2 2
Seats won 3 2
Seat change Increase1 ±0
Popular vote 34,757 31,180
Percentage 9.2% 8.2%
Swing Increase5.5% Decrease5.9%

Premier before election

Ernest Manning
Social Credit

Premier after election

Ernest Manning
Social Credit

Despite losing almost 10% of the popular vote (compared to its 1952 proportion of the vote) and 30% of its seats in the legislature, the Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, received a slightly higher number of votes than in 1952 and won a comfortable majority for its sixth term in government.

The Liberal Party emerged as the principal opposition to the Social Credit juggernaut, winning over 30% of the popular vote, and increasing its legislative caucus from 4 members to 15. The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation won two seats. However its leader, MLA Elmer Roper, was defeated, ending his thirteen-year career in the legislature. Three Conservative Party candidates and various independents also won seats.

This provincial election, like the previous seven, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting. This was the last provincial election to use PR. After this the electoral system was changed to Plurality voting.

The rise in opposition MLAs was only partially created in the cities where single transferable voting was in use. Only one more opposition MLA was elected in the cities versus the number elected there in 1952. Calgary elected two Liberals in 1955 versus one in 1952. The addition of seven Liberal MLAs was produced by the rise in Liberal Party popularity. This was a sign of dis-satisfaction with the SC government which by that point in time had been in power 20 years.

A portion of the increased opposition caucus were four Liberal MLAs who were elected in rural districts through vote transfers conducted under instant-runoff voting despite the Social Credit candidate in each of the districts being the leader in the First Count. The election of these four caused the government to abandon the STV/AV system that had been in use since 1924. After the system's replacement by single-member Plurality voting and various other reforms put into effect by Premier Manning, the SC government would take many more seats in subsequent elections.[1][2]

Voter turnout in this election was 68 percent.[3]

Snap vote

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The 1955 election was brought on after Liberal leader James Harper Prowse questioned the confidence of the government in question period regarding members of the Social Credit caucus who had had dealings with the Alberta Treasury Branch. Manning was angered by the question and had the Lieutenant Governor dissolve the assembly despite having two more years left in his term.

Expulsion

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On the last day of the campaign Ernest Manning barred candidates Roy Lee and John Landeryou from running as official Social Credit candidates. However, due to the ballots having already been printed, the two men were still listed under the Social Credit name. Lee and Landeryou had violated the Legislative Assembly Act by renting a building to the provincial government.[4]

End of STV and AV

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Following this election, the Social Credit government did away with the Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting system, that had been in place in the rural constituencies, and the PR through Single Transferable Vote system in Edmonton and Calgary, both of which had been in place since 1924.

Under Single Transferable Voting, results would take up to five days to count the necessary vote transfers, before the last member was declared elected. This was especially problematic, in Edmonton that elected seven members. The resulting representation was very well balanced, with as many as four parties commonly elected in each major city.

As well, the government in 1955 had lost four local elections in rural constituencies due to vote transfers held under IRV, when its candidate had received the largest portion of the vote in the first round but was not elected to the seat after re-distribution of the ballots in later counts. The cancellation of the IRV system was meant to prevent this in the future. In four constituencies the SC candidate had received plurality of first-choice votes but was not elected when another candidate surpassed his lead through vote transfers conducted under IRV. This indicated to the government that the supporters of the opposition parties were beginning to support each other in a joint effort to defeat the government. (One historian has stated that there were 20 constituencies like this in which the SC at the end won only five but that number is too high. There were 16 constituencies in which, in the first count, no candidate took the majority of the votes. Only in these constituencies was it necessary to hold more counts (involving re-distribution of some votes in accordance with voters' marked back-up preferences). Even where vote transfers were conducted and more counts held, mostly the candidate leading in the first round won the seat in the end, but there were four constituencies (Acadia-Coronation, Athabasca, Lac Ste. Anne and Vermilion) in which the leading candidate in the first round was not the candidate with the most votes at the end and thus did not win the seat. The victim in all four cases was a SC candidate.)

The government presented the complicated voting procedure as reason to shift to First past the post, a voting system that was simpler but also was expected to give the government more seats. The 1955 election saw the election of the largest opposition caucus that Manning faced during his 25 years as premier (although it was just 40 percent of the seats in the Legislature). As well, it was the most opposition members Social Credit would face during its 36 years in power.

After the shift to First past the post the next election (1959) saw the government win all but four of the seats in the Legislature, far more than its due share of the vote.

Results

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Elections to the 13th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1955)
Party Leader Candidates First-preference votes Seats
Votes ± % Fpv Change (pp) 1952 1955 ±
Social Credit Ernest C. Manning 62 175,553 7,764  46.42 -9.82
 
53
37 / 61
16 
Liberal James H. Prowse 53 117,741 75,812  31.13 8.76 8.76
 
3
15 / 61
12 
Conservative[a 1] John P. Page 26 34,757 23,786  9.19 5.52 5.52
 
2
3 / 61
1 
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 38 31,180 10,749  8.24 -5.81
 
2
2 / 61
 
Independent Social Credit 3 2,721 1,482  0.72 -0.69
 
1
1 / 61
 
Coalition Frank Gainer 2 4,581 4,581  1.21 1.21 1.21
 
1 / 61
1 
Independent 7 4,225 3,520  1.12 0.88 0.88
 
1 / 61
1 
Liberal–Conservative Ross Ellis 2 4,001 4,001  1.06 1.06 1.06
 
1 / 61
1 
Labor–Progressive 9 3,420 2,288  0.90 0.43
Total 202 378,179 100.00%
Rejected ballots 22,839 2,226 
Turnout 401,018 82,070  68.0% 8.6 
Registered voters 589,409 52,239 
  1. ^ Compared to 1952 Conservative/PC total

MLAs elected

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Synopsis of results

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Results by riding – 1955 Alberta general election (all except Calgary, Edmonton and servicemember MLAs)[5]
Riding First-preference votes Turnout
[a 1]
Final counts Winning party
Name SC Lib Con CCF I-SC Coal L-C LPP Ind Total SC Lib Con CCF I-SC 1952 1955
 
Acadia-Coronation 2,026 1,932 607 4,565 83.6% 2,122 2,263 SC Lib
Alexandra 2,143 1,420 101 590 4,254 67.4% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Athabasca 2,073 2,069 293 4,435 71.8% 2,097 2,145 SC Lib
Banff-Cochrane 1,926 2,342 4,268 70.7% Elected on 1st count SC Coal
Bonnyville 1,331 2,250 788 4,369 74.3% Elected on 1st count SC Lib
Bow Valley-Empress 2,330 2,569 4,899 74.5% Elected on 1st count SC Ind
Bruce 1,978 1,525 70 998 4,571 74.2% 2,105 2,033 SC SC
Camrose 2,899 2,214 217 734 6,064 72.2% 3,081 2,758 SC SC
Cardston 1,813 985 2,798 61.8% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Clover Bar 2,314 1,609 331 603 4,857 70.6% 2,505 2,158 SC SC
Cypress 2,668 1,205 3,873 71.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Didsbury 2,601 2,239 4,840 72.3% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Drumheller 3,224 995 183 4,402 67.4% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Edson 2,529 2,146 192 4,867 70.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Gleichen 1,912 1,784 3,696 74.6% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Grande Prairie 3,240 1,481 377 538 5,636 70.8% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Grouard 2,319 2,855 571 5,745 67.5% 2,425 3,026 Lib Lib
Hand Hills 2,685 1,666 282 4,633 81.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Lac La Biche 1,868 1,931 3,799 74.0% Elected on 1st count SC Lib
Lac Ste. Anne 1,965 1,684 1,374 5,023 76.6% 2,120 2,592 SC Lib
Lacombe 2,255 1,579 602 4,436 72.5% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Leduc 950 963 394 1,147 1,338 4,792 68.2% 1,871 2,035 I-SC I-SC
Lethbridge 4,788 3,361 883 490 9,522 63.6% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Little Bow 2,481 1,359 510 4,350 75.2% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Macleod 3,037 1,946 4,983 66.3% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Medicine Hat 5,066 1,862 605 7,533 61.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Okotoks-High River 2,482 2,607 5,089 77.3% Elected on 1st count SC L-C
Olds 3,161 2,238 5,399 74.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Peace River 3,456 2,184 780 6,420 63.2% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Pembina 2,609 1,708 840 5,157 72.9% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest 2,799 1,394 363 4,556 73.2% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Ponoka 2,254 1,323 184 698 130 4,589 71.3% 2,320 1,417 751 SC SC
Red Deer 4,170 4,381 637 9,188 70.2% 4,286 4,786 SC Con
Redwater 1,632 1,878 552 270 4,332 72.5% 1,739 2,214 SC Lib
Rocky Mountain House 2,829 1,200 417 4,446 68.6% Elected on 1st count SC SC
St. Albert 2,509 2,618 159 646 5,932 79.6% 2,610 3,029 SC Lib
St. Paul 2,761 2,049 415 5,225 76.4% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Sedgewick 2,748 1,450 483 4,681 71.7% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Spirit River 2,369 1,306 950 4,625 73.1% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Stettler 2,892 1,523 726 5,141 74.6% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Stony Plain 1,788 2,865 758 5,411 71.4% Elected on 1st count SC Lib
Taber 2,788 1,186 595 4,569 68.0% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Vegreville 1,887 1,126 1,953 4,966 81.0% 2,197 2,374 SC CCF
Vermilion 2,018 1,728 684 307 4,737 75.4% 2,111 2,131 SC Lib
Wainwright 2,657 1,537 570 63 4,827 72.0% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Warner 1,917 1,178 3,095 55.8% Elected on 1st count SC SC
Wetaskiwin 2,695 1,636 258 892 5,481 72.3% 2,756 1,731 942 SC SC
Willingdon 1,580 756 1,729 4,065 75.5% 1,701 2,108 CCF CCF
  1. ^ including spoilt ballots
  = Open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = Candidate was in previous Legislature
  = Incumbent had switched allegiance
  = Previously incumbent in another riding
  = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = Incumbency arose from by-election gain
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = Multiple candidates

Multi-member districts

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  = Candidate was in previous Legislature
  = First-time MLA

STV analysis

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Exhausted votes

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Eighteen districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:

Exhausted votes (1955)
District Counts Exhausted
1st preference Final Votes % of 1st pref
Calgary 62,494 59,366 3,128 5.01 5.01
 
Edmonton 76,544 74,367 2,177 2.84 2.84
 
Acadia-Coronation 4,565 4,385 180 3.94 3.94
 
Athabasca 4,435 4,242 193 4.35 4.35
 
Bruce 4,571 4,138 433 9.47 9.47
 
Camrose 6,064 5,839 225 3.71 3.71
 
Clover Bar 4,857 4,663 194 3.99 3.99
 
Grouard 5,745 5,461 284 4.94 4.94
 
Lac Ste. Anne 5,023 4,712 311 6.19 6.19
 
Leduc 4,792 3,906 886 18.49 18.49
 
Ponoka 4,589 4,488 101 2.20 2.2
 
Red Deer 9,188 9,072 116 1.26 1.26
 
Redwater 4,332 3,953 379 8.75 8.75
 
St. Albert 5,932 5,639 293 4.94 4.94
 
Vegreville 4,966 4,571 395 7.95 7.95
 
Vermilion 4,737 4,242 495 10.45 10.45
 
Wetaskiwin 5,481 5,429 52 0.95 0.95
 
Willingdon 4,065 3,809 256 6.30 6.3
 

Calgary

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Social Credit fielded more candidates than available seats. Liberals had a full slate, while the Conservatives and CCF, focusing on potential votes only, chose to have fewer candidates.

Party Candidates MLAs elected
1955 1952 ± 1955 1952 ±
Social Credit 7 6 1  3 4 1 
Liberal 6 6   2 1 1 
Conservative 4 5 1  1 1  
Co-operative Commonwealth 4 6 2   
Labor–Progressive 1 1 
Independent 1 1 
Labour 1 1 
Independent Labour 1 1 
Total 23 25 2  6 5 1 

Reports of count-by-count results are incomplete, skipping rounds 10, 11 and 13–17.[6][7] The following includes only the winning candidates plus those others going beyond the 17th round:

Calgary (1952 Alberta general election)
(analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)
Party Candidate Maximum
round
Maximum
votes
Share in
maximum
round
Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


PC Arthur Ryan Smith 1 9,726 15.59%
Liberal Hugh John MacDonald 12 9,298 15.02%
Social Credit Frederick C. Colborne 19 9,602 16.17%
PC Paul Brecken 21 7,618 12.83%
Social Credit Rose Wilkinson 20 8,979 15.12%
Social Credit Arthur J. Dixon 21 7,698 12.97%
Social Credit Howard B. Macdonald 18 5,668 9.48%
Liberal Grant MacEwan 21 8,338 14.05%
Exhausted votes 3,128 5.01%

Edmonton

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All major parties ran full slates. There were also two Labour candidates

Party Candidates MLAs elected
1952 1948 ± 1952 1948 ±
Social Credit 7 7   3 3  
Liberal 7 7   3 2 1 
Conservative 7 7   1 1  
Co-operative Commonwealth 7 7   1 1 
Labor–Progressive 1 1  
Independent 1 1 
Total 30 29 1  7 7  
Edmonton (1955 Alberta general election) (seven members elected, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)[8]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Social Credit Ernest Manning 30.33% 23,216
Liberal James Harper Prowse 24.50% 18,755 18,755
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 5.81% 4,444 4,628 4,985 5,018 5,048 5,052 5,119 5,127 5,208 5,221 5,378 5,398 5,836 5,850 6,145 6,161 6,171 7,460 7,468 7,530 7,611 7,635 7,708 7,856 8,097 8,125 8,263
Conservative John Percy Page 5.34% 4,086 4,446 4,998 5,015 5,017 5,050 5,056 5,136 5,142 5,429 5,446 5,561 5,575 5,731 5,753 5,791 5,806 5,833 5,863 7,352 7,465 7,523 7,743 7,888 8,565 8,676 9,224
Liberal Edgar Bailey 3.88% 2,971 3,136 4,724 4,732 4,735 4,751 4,761 4,781 4,784 4,796 4,805 4,820 4,825 4,859 4,869 5,021 5,026 5,068 5,079 5,125 5,368 5,398 6,369 6,446
Liberal Andre Dechene 3.76% 2,877 2,937 3,696 3,696 3,696 3,707 3,708 3,709 3,713 3,716 3,741 3,746 3,750 3,978 3,990 4,168 4,174 4,190 4,194 4,228 4,922 4,985
Liberal Abe William Miller 3.64% 2,787 2,976 4,634 4,642 4,642 4,647 4,650 4,659 4,665 4,692 4,701 4,724 4,741 4,788 4,807 5,107 5,118 5,140 5,155 5,323 6,185 6,242 7,998 8,199 10,674
Social Credit Anthony Hlynka 2.48% 1,896 3,289 3,311 3,313 3,314 3,314 3,317 3,320 3,324 3,326 3,330 3,337 3,343 3,350 3,381 3,390 3,455 3,466 3,686 3,706 3,728 5,295 5,503
Liberal J. Laurier Payment 2.14% 1,640 1,700 2,843 2,859 2,859 2,861 2,863 2,866 2,869 2,880 2,883 2,892 2,898 2,962 2,976 3,062 3,067 3,087 3,094 3,124
Liberal Harold Tanner 2.10% 1,604 1,677 4,144 4,161 4,164 4,171 4,175 4,211 4,215 4,231 4,243 4,247 4,250 4,286 4,306 4,430 4,437 4,448 4,455 4,522 5,464 5,490 6,746 6,891 9,496 10,445
Social Credit Joseph Donovan Ross 2.06% 1,575 5,632 5,662 5,672 5,673 5,674 5,678 5,690 5,695 5,705 5,711 5,722 5,733 5,744 5,746 5,752 5,944 5,951 6,195 6,236 6,275 7,078 7,166 9,319 9,437 9,447 9,483
Social Credit Edgar Gerhart 1.72% 1,320 5,179 5,192 5,193 5,194 5,197 5,201 5,203 5,213 5,218 5,225 5,231 5,231 5,249 5,259 5,268 5,510 5,522 5,884 5,908 5,927 6,717 6,887 8,973 9,099 9,106 9,121
Conservative Gifford Main 1.39% 1,064 1,137 1,203 1,204 1,204 1,227 1,228 1,252 1,255 1,317 1,321 1,682 1,709 1,975 1,992 2,014 2,021 2,037 2,052
Labor–Progressive William Harasym 1.24% 947 956 960 962 963 965 965 966 969 971 977 979 983 986
Co-operative Commonwealth Robert Atkin 1.23% 940 956 965 965 983 984 1,146 1,148 1,212 1,213 1,318 1,319 1,455 1,466 1,608 1,617 1,618
Social Credit William J.M. Henning 1.03% 785 2,246 2,253 2,257 2,258 2,258 2,258 2,262 2,264 2,266 2,268 2,272 2,278 2,285 2,290 2,294 2,494 2,502 3,483 3,502 3,519
Conservative Gerard Amerongen 0.90% 692 726 759 760 763 785 791 879 879 890 893 933 937
Social Credit Cyril G. Havard 0.79% 602 1,346 1,349 1,352 1,353 1,354 1,354 1,355 1,356 1,361 1,362 1,365 1,367 1,369 1,378 1,386 1,941 1,946
Social Credit Mrs. C.N. Hattersley 0.73% 555 1,306 1,306 1,307 1,308 1,312 1,314 1,316 1,318 1,320 1,326 1,332 1,332 1,336 1,354 1,379
Liberal Lois Grant 0.72% 552 570 928 930 932 935 937 948 957 960 970 974 978 988 1,019
Conservative Robert F. Lambert 0.72% 548 566 584 586 586 647 647 659 661 675 677
Co-operative Commonwealth Floyd Johnson 0.60% 458 475 478 479 484 484 495 497 596 598 708 713
Conservative Frederick John Mitchell 0.53% 405 449 476 482 483 491 491 502 502
Co-operative Commonwealth Mary Crawford 0.50% 383 398 403 405 412 423 452 456 521 522
Co-operative Commonwealth Ivor Dent 0.43% 328 333 336 338 364 365 390 394
Conservative Mrs. John A. L. Smith 0.39% 299 309 328 330 347 359 361
Co-operative Commonwealth Arthur E. Thompson 0.38% 290 298 301 301 356 356
Conservative Robert L. Brower 0.29% 221 228 238 238 239
Co-operative Commonwealth Hubert M. Smith 0.23% 177 181 188 189
Independent Charles E. Payne 0.17% 127 140 162
Exhausted ballots 0 0 20 29 37 49 70 88 99 123 159 185 204 533 566 624 756 798 850 942 1,043 1,286 1,834 2,038 2,038 2,177
Electorate: 127,069   Valid: 76,544   Spoilt: 6,248   Quota: 9,569   Turnout: 82,792 (65.2%)  
Edmonton (1952 Alberta general election)
(analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)
Party Candidate Maximum
round
Maximum
votes
Share in
maximum
round
Maximum votes
First round votesTransfer votes


Social Credit Ernest Manning 1 23,216 30.33%
Liberal James Harper Prowse 1 18,755 24.50%
CCF Elmer Roper 27 8,263 11.11%
Conservative John Percy Page 27 9,224 12.40%
Liberal Edgar Bailey 24 6,446 8.63%
Liberal Andre Dechene 22 4,985 6.60%
Liberal Abe William Miller 25 10,674 14.33%
Social Credit Anthony Hlynka 23 5,503 7.31%
Liberal J. Laurier Payment 20 3,124 4.13%
Liberal Harold Tanner 26 10,445 14.02%
Social Credit Joseph Donovan Ross 27 9,483 12.75%
Social Credit Edgar Gerhart 27 9,121 12.26%
Conservative Gifford Main 19 2,052 2.71%
LPP William Harasym 14 986 1.29%
CCF Robert Atkin 17 1,618 2.13%
Social Credit William J.M. Henning 21 3,519 4.65%
Conservative Gerard Amerongen 13 937 1.23%
Social Credit Cyril G. Havard 18 1,946 2.57%
Social Credit Mrs. C.N. Hattersley 16 1,379 1.81%
Liberal Lois Grant 15 1,019 1.34%
Conservative Robert F. Lambert 11 677 0.89%
CCF Floyd Johnson 12 713 0.93%
Conservative Frederick John Mitchell 9 502 0.66%
CCF Mary Crawford 10 522 0.68%
CCF Ivor Dent 8 394 0.52%
Conservative Mrs. John A. L. Smith 7 361 0.47%
CCF Arthur E. Thornton 6 356 0.47%
Conservative Robert L. Brower 5 239 0.31%
CCF Hubert M. Smith 4 189 0.25%
Independent Charles E. Payne 3 162 0.21%
Exhausted votes 2,177 2.84%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hesketh, Bob (1987). "The Abolition of Preferential voting in Alberta". Prairie Forum. 12 (1): 123–144. ISSN 0317-6282.
  2. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 77-80
  3. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 81
  4. ^ "Manning Takes Belated Kick At Two Former S.C. Members". Calgary Herald. June 29, 1955. p. 1.
  5. ^ A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. pp. 194–207. ISBN 0-9689217-9-5.
  6. ^ "A.R. Smith Tops Calgary Voting". Calgary Herald. June 30, 1955. pp. 1, 10.
  7. ^ "Brecken Out On Last Count". Calgary Herald. July 2, 1955. pp. 1–2.
  8. ^ "How Edmonton Chose M.L.A.s By Numerical Vote". Edmonton Journal. July 2, 1955. p. 2.