The district was created in the 1996 boundary redistribution when Cardston-Chief Mountain and Taber-Warner were merged. The district comprises most of southern southwest Alberta on the United States-Canada border. It is mostly rural and contains a wide range of topography from Mountains to farmlands, including Waterton Lakes National Park and the Blood Reserve. Cardston-Taber-Warner and its antecedents have a long history that dates back to the old Cardston riding in the Northwest Territories.
The district has been held by right of center parties since it was created in 1997, and has held the distinction of being one rural riding not continuously held by the Progressive Conservatives in Alberta before many were lost in the 2012 Alberta general election. The Progressive Conservatives elected Ron Hirath and then Broyce Jacobs and the Alberta Alliance captured the district in 2004 holding it for a term before Broyce Jacobs won it back in 2008. The Wildrose Party won the district when Gary Bikman won it in the 2012 Alberta general election, and regained the seat in the 2015 Alberta general election, months after Bikman crossed to the PC Party.
History
The electoral district was created in the 1996 boundary re-distribution from the old ridings of Cardston-Chief Mountain and Taber-Warner.
The Cardston-Taber-Warner electoral district was dissolved in the 2017 electoral boundary re-distribution, and portions of the district would form the newly created Cardston-Siksika and Taber-Warner electoral districts.[2]
Legal description from the Statutes of Alberta 2003, Electoral Divisions Act.
Starting at the intersection of the Alberta-British Columbia boundary and the north boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park; then 1. in a generally easterly direction along the north park boundary to the right bank of the Waterton River; 2. downstream in a northeast direction to the intersection with the Belly River and the Blood Indian Reserve No. 148; 3. along the west, south and east boundary of the Indian Reserve to its intersection with the right bank of Pothole Creek; 4. upstream along the right bank to the north boundary of Sec. 8 in Twp. 7, Rge. 21 W4; 5. east along the north boundary of Secs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 to the east boundary of Sec. 11 in the Twp.; 6. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 1 in the Twp.; 7. east along the north boundary of Sec. 1 in the Twp. and the north boundary of Secs. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 in Twp. 7, Rge. 20 W4 to the east boundary of Rge. 20 W4; 8. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 6; 9. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 7, Rge. 19 W4; 10. north along the east boundary of Secs. 6, 7 and 18 to the north boundary of Sec. 17 in the Twp.; 11. east along the north boundary of Secs. 17, 16, 15, 14 and 13 in Twp. 7, Rge. 19 W4 and Secs. 18, 17, 16 and 15 in Twp. 7, Rge. 18 W4 to the east boundary of Sec. 22 in the Twp.; 12. north along the east boundary of Secs. 22, 27 and 34 in the Twp. to the north boundary of Twp. 7; 13. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in Twp. 8, Rge. 17 W4; 14. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 15. west along the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 3 to the east boundary of Sec. 4 in the Twp.; 16. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 4 in the Twp.; 17. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 18. north along the east boundary of the west half of Secs. 9 and 16 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 16 in the Twp.; 19. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 17 in the Twp.; 20. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 17 in the Twp.; 21. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 20 in the Twp.; 22. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 20 in the Twp.; 23. west along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 20 and 19 to the east boundary of Rge. 18 W4; 24. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 24 in Twp. 8, Rge. 18 W4; 25. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 26. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 27. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 28. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 26 in the Twp.; 29. west along the north boundary of Secs. 26 and 27 to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 34 in the Twp.; 30. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 34 in the Twp.; 31. west along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 34 and 33 to the east boundary of Sec. 32 in the Twp.; 32. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 8; 33. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 6 in Twp. 9, Rge. 18 W4; 34. north along the east boundary of Sec. 6 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 6; 35. west along the north boundary of the south half to the east boundary of the west half of Sec. 6; 36. north along the east boundary of the west half of Secs. 6 and 7 to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 7 in the Twp.; 37. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 19 W4; 38. north along the east boundary to the right bank of the Oldman River; 39. downstream along the right bank of the Oldman River to the right bank of the South Saskatchewan River; 40. downstream along the right bank of the South Saskatchewan River to the east boundary of Rge. 13 W4; 41. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 1 in Twp. 7, Rge. 13 W4; 42. west along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 1 and 2 to the east boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 43. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 3 in the Twp.; 44. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 45. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 9 in the Twp.; 46. west along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 9, 8 and 7 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W4; 47. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 12 in Twp. 7, Rge. 14 W4; 48. west along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 14 in the Twp.; 49. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of the south half of Sec. 14 in the Twp.; 50. west along the north boundary of the south half of Secs. 14 and 15 to the east boundary of Sec. 16 in the Twp.; 51. north along the east boundary to the north boundary of Sec. 16 in the Twp.; 52. west along the north boundary of Secs. 16, 17 and 18 in the Twp. to the east boundary of Rge. 15 W4; 53. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 4; 54. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Rge. 14 W4; 55. south along the east boundary to the north boundary of Twp. 3; 56. east along the north boundary to the east boundary of Sec. 32 in Twp. 3, Rge. 11 W4 (Highway 879); 57. south along the east boundary of Secs. 32, 29, 20, 17, 8 and 5 in the Twp. and the east boundary of Secs. 32, 29 and 20 in Twp. 2 to the right bank of the Milk River; 58. downstream along the right bank to the east boundary of Rge. 11 W4; 59. south along the east boundary to the south boundary of the province; 60. west along the south boundary to the Alberta-British Columbia boundary; 61. in a northwesterly direction to the starting point.
Cardston-Taber-Warner was contested six times in general elections, each time changing its MLA. The first election held in 1997 saw Taber-Warner incumbent Ron Hierath run for his second term in office in the district. He ran against three other candidates taking 60% of the vote to pick up the new district for the Progressive Conservatives.
Hierath retired at dissolution in 2001. He was replaced by Progressive Conservative candidate Broyce Jacobs who the district easily over Alberta First Party leader John Reil who made a strong second place showing in the field of four candidates.
Jacobs stood for a second term in office in the 2004 general election but was defeated in a hotly contested race by Alberta Alliance candidate Paul Hinman. The Senate nominee election results also favored the Alberta Alliance well with the three Alliance candidates finishing in the top four spots.
Hinman became leader of the Alberta Alliance in 2005. He would lead his party to a merger with the unregistered Wildrose Party headed by party President Link Byfield on January 19, 2008. However Hinman would be defeated by Jacobs in the 2008 election held just weeks after his party merger.
Jacobs would be forced into retirement in the run up to the 2012 election after he lost his party nomination meeting to Pat Shimbashi. The general election saw the Wildrose party reclaim the district with candidate Gary Bikman defeating Shimbashi by a wide margin to earn his first term in office. Bikman subsequently crossed the floor to the PCs in 2014.[5]
Wildrose re-gained the riding in 2015, with Grant Hunter becoming its last MLA. He also crossed the floor, joining the United Conservative Party when the PCs and Wildrose decided to merge in 2017.[6]
On November 19, 2004 a student vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.
