1917 Alberta general election

1917 Alberta general election
← outgoing members members →
58 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta ; 30 seats were needed for a majority
Premier before election; Arthur Sifton ; Liberal	Premier after election; Arthur Sifton ; Liberal

Last updated September 02, 2024

The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener.

Because of World War I, eleven Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were re-elected by acclamation, under Section 38 of the Election Act, which stipulated that any member of the 3rd Alberta Legislative Assembly, would be guaranteed re-election, with no contest held, if members joined for war time service.^[1] Eleven MLAs were automatically re-elected through this clause. (None were re-elected in the next election.)

In addition, soldiers and nurses from Alberta serving in the First World War elected two MLAs. Two extra seats were thus added just for this election. The MLAs were non-partisan officially. But both Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams allied themselves to Labour and Non-Partisan League MLAs by showing social consciousness in regards the conditions available for returned soldiers and working families. These two members were elected in one contest, while each other MLA was elected through first past the post in a single-member district.

In 1917, the main issue facing the nation was conscription. In Alberta, where support for conscription was high, the incumbent Liberal government of Arthur Sifton decided to break with federal Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier and support Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden's efforts to form a coalition government. The two major parties both supported conscription, but growing labour and farmer activism, and the entry of women into politics, both as voters and candidates, made the election exciting enough that 30,000 more votes were cast than in the previous election (although they were nothing like the high numbers that would be cast in the 1921 election).

This was the last time Liberals won an Alberta provincial election. The 1917 election was the tightest majority ever formed in Alberta history, with the combined opposition equaling 41% of the MLAs on the government benches. Premier Sifton resigned in October 1917 in order to serve in the federal Unionist government of Prime Minister Borden and was replaced by Charles Stewart.

This was the first election in Alberta that women (those who were British subjects or Canadian citizens more than 20 years of age who were not Treaty Indian) had the right to vote and run. Two women were elected in the legislature that year. One of these was Roberta MacAdams, elected as one of two representatives of soldiers and nurses serving in the war. The other, Louise McKinney, was elected as a candidate of the Non-Partisan League. Her election and the election of fellow NPL candidate James Weir were harbingers of the rise of farmer politics that would see the election of the UFA government in 1921.

The Alberta Labor Representation League, which opposed conscription, elected one member in Calgary, Alex Ross.

The vote in the Athabasca district was conducted on 27 June 1917 due to the remoteness of the riding.

Electoral system

All but two of the MLAs elected in this election were elected through first past the post. Alberta had used multiple-member districts in Edmonton and Calgary previously, but for this election they had been split into single-member districts.

The two overseas army members were elected through plurality block voting.^[2]

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	1913	Elected	% Change	#	%^{[lower-alpha 1]}	% Change
	Liberal	Arthur Sifton	49	38/39^{[lower-alpha 2]}	34	−12.8%	54,212	48.14%	−1.09%
	Conservative	Edward Michener	48	17	19	+11.8%	47,055	41.79%	−3.31%
	Non-Partisan League	None	5		2		2700	2%
	Labor Representation	William Irvine	2		1		3,576	3.17%
	Socialist	Charles M. O'Brien	3	-	-	-	784	0.70%	−1.17%
	Independent		9	-	0		4000	4%	+2.08%
Sub-total			114	55/56^{[lower-alpha 2]}	56	-	96,985	100%
	Soldiers' vote (Province at large)		2		2		8,000	30%
	Soldiers' vote (Province at large)		19		0		17,000	70%
Total			135	55/56	58	+3.6%	125,898
Source: Elections Alberta

Notes

↑ Percentage based on votes cast in Alberta districts, excluding the overseas army vote. No vote was held in 11 districts where the sitting member was re-elected without contest.
1 2 Charles Cross represented two ridings during the previous legislative assembly.

Popular vote

Liberal			48.14%
Conservative			41.79%
Labor Rep.			3.17%
NPL			2.00%
Others			4.90%

Popular vote

Liberal			58.62%
Conservative			32.76%
NPL			3.45%
Labor Rep.			1.72%
Others			3.45%

Members of the Legislative Assembly

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Conservative		Other		Incumbent
Acadia		John A. McColl 1,842 48.22%		E. Gordon Jonah 1,229 32.17%		Lorne Proudfoot 749 19.61%		John A. McColl
Alexandra				James R. Lowery Acclaimed				James R. Lowery
Athabasca		Alexander Grant MacKay 752 65.79%		Alfred F. Fugl 391 34.21%				Alexander Grant MacKay
Beaver River		Wilfrid Gariepy 1,134 64.07%		Ambrose E. Gray 636 35.93%				Wilfrid Gariepy
Bow Valley		Charles Richmond Mitchell 604 58.13%		Edmund F. Purcell 435 41.87%				George Lane
Centre Calgary				Thomas M.M. Tweedie 1,273 48.94%		Alex Ross 1,328 51.06%		Thomas M.M. Tweedie
North Calgary		William McCartney Davidson 2,701 54.72%		Samuel Bacon Hillocks 2,235 45.28%				Samuel Bacon Hillocks
South Calgary				Thomas H. Blow 3,273 48.01%		William Irvine (Labour-Rep.) 2,248 32.98% John McNeill 1,296 19.01%		Thomas H. Blow
Camrose		George P. Smith 2,258 65.22%		Frank P. Layton 1,204 34.78%				George P. Smith
Cardston		Martin Woolf 972 56.38%		W.G. Smith 752 43.62%				Martin Woolf
Claresholm		William Moffat 670 44.40%				Louise McKinney 839 55.60%		William Moffat
Clearwater		Joseph E. State 188 64.38%		Robert Neville Frith 104 35.62%				Henry William McKenney
Cochrane		Charles Wellington Fisher 630 57.32%		H.E.G.H. Scholefield 469 42.68%				Charles Wellington Fisher
Coronation		Harry S. Northwood 1,575 46.92%		William Wallace Wilson 1,782 53.08%				Frank H. Whiteside
Didsbury		Henry B. Atkins 1,394 52.80%		Wilbur Leslie Tolton 1,246 47.20%				Joseph E. Stauffer
Edmonton East		Fredrick Duncan 2,553 37.86%		James Ramsey 3,035 45.00%		Joseph A. Clarke 811 12.03% Sydney R. Keeling (Socialist) 345 5.12%		New District from Edmonton
Edmonton-South		Robert Blyth Douglas 2,178 44.10%		Herbert Howard Crawford 2,761 55.90%				Herbert Howard Crawford
Edmonton West		William Thomas Henry 2,884 43.30%		Albert Freeman Ewing 3,776 56.70%				New District from Edmonton
Edson		Charles Wilson Cross 1,116 62.91%		J.R. McIntosh 455 25.65%		John Reid (Socialist) 203 11.44%		Charles Wilson Cross
Gleichen		John P. McArthur 712 39.96%		Fred Davis 762 42.76%		John W. Leedy 308 17.28%		John P. McArthur
Grouard		Jean Léon Côté 688 70.71%		Eugene Gravel 285 29.29%				Jean Léon Côté
Hand Hills		Robert Berry Eaton Acclaimed						Robert Berry Eaton
High River		Dan F. Riley 885 48.95%		George Douglas Stanley 923 51.05%				George Douglas Stanley
Innisfail		Daniel J. Morkeberg 905 51.33%		Frederick William Archer 766 43.45%		James K. Wilson 92 5.22%		Frederick William Archer
Lac Ste. Anne		Ralph E. Barker 766 48.91%		George R. Barker 800 51.09%				Peter Gunn
Lacombe		William Franklin Puffer 1,333 48.37%		Andrew Gilmour 1,423 51.63%				William Franklin Puffer
Leduc		Stanley G. Tobin 1,707 73.67%		George Currie 610 26.33%				Stanley G. Tobin
Lethbridge City				John S. Stewart Acclaimed				John S. Stewart
Little Bow		James McNaughton 808 77.39%						James McNaughton
Macleod		George Skelding 728 51.78%		Robert Patterson 678 48.22%				Robert Patterson
Medicine Hat				Nelson C. Spencer Acclaimed				Nelson C. Spencer
Nanton		John M. Glendenning 415 32.88%		J.T. Cooper 408 32.33%		James Weir 439 34.79%		John M. Glendenning
Okotoks		Angus McIntosh 535 40.50%		George Hoadley 786 59.50%				George Hoadley
Olds		Duncan Marshall 1,283 56.35%		George H. Cloakey 994 43.65%				Duncan Marshall
Peace River		William A. Rae 1,994 62.92%		D.H. Minchin 712 22.47%		L. Harry Adair 463 14.61%		Alphaeus Patterson
Pembina		Gordon MacDonald Acclaimed						Gordon MacDonald
Pincher Creek		Thomas Hammond 448 32.94%		John H.W.S. Kemmis 496 36.47%		J. E. Hillier (Non-partisan) 416 30.59%		John H.W.S. Kemmis
Ponoka		William A. Campbell 857 49.11%		Charles Orin Cunningham 888 50.89%				William A. Campbell
Red Deer		Robert B. Welliver 1,272 44.87%		Edward Michener 1,295 45.68%		George Paton 268 9.45%		Edward Michener
Redcliff		Charles S. Pingle Acclaimed						Charles S. Pingle
Ribstone		James Gray Turgeon Acclaimed						James Gray Turgeon
Rocky Mountain				Robert E. Campbell Acclaimed				Robert E. Campbell
Sedgewick		Charles Stewart 1,657 63.05%		John Reeve Lavell 971 36.95%				Charles Stewart
St. Albert		Lucien Boudreau 1,095 59.61%		Hector L. Landry 742 40.39%				Lucien Boudreau
St. Paul		Prosper-Edmond Lessard 1,077 66.65%		James Brady 539 33.35%				Prosper-Edmond Lessard
Stettler		Edward H. Prudden 1,408 39.45%		George McMorris 1,375 38.53%		J.R. Knight 786 22.02%		Robert L. Shaw
Stony Plain		Frank A. Smith 705 48.65%		Frederick W. Lundy 744 51.35%				Conrad Weidenhammer
Sturgeon		John Robert Boyle 1,546 47.19%		James Sutherland 1,212 37.00%		H. Mickleson 518 15.81%		John Robert Boyle
Taber		Archibald J. McLean 1,804 63.75%		Thomas O. King 1,026 36.25%				Archibald J. McLean
Vegreville		Joseph S. McCallum 1,864 59.12%		Malcolm R. Gordon 1,289 40.88%				Joseph S. McCallum
Vermilion		Arthur L. Sifton 2,063 63.03%		John B. Burch 1,210 36.97%				Arthur L. Sifton
Victoria		Francis A. Walker Acclaimed						Francis A. Walker
Wainwright				George LeRoy Hudson Acclaimed				George LeRoy Hudson
Warner		Frank S. Leffingwell 706 64.89%		Hy. James Tennant 382 35.11%				Frank S. Leffingwell
Wetaskiwin		Hugh John Montgomery 1,500 68.71%		Robert MacLachlan Angus 683 31.29%				Charles H. Olin
Whitford		Andrew S. Shandro Acclaimed						Andrew S. Shandro

Members acclaimed under Section 38

Eleven Liberal and Conservative MLAs serving in the army were allowed to retain their seats without election.

District	Member	Party
Alexandra	James Lowery	Conservative
Hand Hills	Robert Eaton	Liberal
Lethbridge City	John Smith Stewart	Conservative
Medicine Hat	Nelson Spencer	Conservative
Pembina	Gordon MacDonald	Liberal
Redcliff	Charles Pingle	Liberal
Ribstone	James Gray Turgeon	Liberal
Rocky Mountain	Robert Campbell	Conservative
Victoria	Francis A. Walker	Liberal
Wainwright	George LeRoy Hudson	Conservative
Whitford	Andrew Shandro	Liberal

1917 soldiers' and nurses' vote

Two extra seats were added for this election. Two MLAs were elected to represent the soldiers and nurses serving overseas. They were elected through plurality block voting, with each soldier and nurse having two votes. Roberta MacAdams, the sole woman in the race, capitalized on the two-vote system by instructing the soldiers to "give one vote to the man of your choice and the other vote to the Sister" (herself). She was successful, becoming the second woman elected in Alberta and in the whole of the British Empire.

Candidates and voters were Albertans who were enlisted for overseas military, naval or nursing service. The MLAs sat on the opposition benches. They were non-partisan officially, although both Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams allied themselves to Labour and NPL MLAs by showing social consciousness in regards the conditions available for returned soldiers and working families.

The vote was held on 18 September 1917.

Military Rank	Member	Votes	%
Captain	Robert Pearson	4,286	%
Lieutenant	Roberta MacAdams	4,023	%
Private	G.E. Harper	3,328	%
Lieutenant Colonel	James Cornwall	2,331	%
Lieutenant Colonel	I.F. Page	1,782	%
Lieutenant Colonel	W.H. Hewgill	1,744	%
Private	T.A.P. Frost	1,145	%
Major	James Walker	1,109	%
Lieutenant Colonel	J.W.H. McKinnery	918	%
Lieutenant Colonel	P.E. Bowen	882	%
Private	Herbert Stow	716	%
Lieutenant	Charles Taylor	519	%
Captain	W.D. Ferris	474	%
Captain	A.M. Calderon	438	%
Lieutenant Colonel	A.M. Jarvis	425	%
Captain	Lionel Asquith	423	%
Captain	D.W. Grey	374	%
Company Sergeant Major	H.L. Bateson	221	%
Lieutenant Colonel	A.E. Myatt	186	%
Order Room Sergeant	A. Joyce	180	%
Acting Staff Sergeant	C.M. Camroux	97	%
Total Votes		25,601	100%

Related Research Articles

Charles Stewart, was a Canadian politician who served as the third premier of Alberta from 1917 until 1921. Born in Strabane, Ontario, in then Wentworth County, Stewart was a farmer who moved west to Alberta after his farm was destroyed by a storm. There he became active in politics and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1909 election. He served as Minister of Public Works and Minister of Municipal Affairs—the first person to hold the latter position in Alberta—in the government of Arthur Sifton. When Sifton left provincial politics in 1917 to join the federal cabinet, Stewart was named his replacement.

Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereafter. Born in Canada West, he grew up there and in Winnipeg, where he became a lawyer. He subsequently practised law with his brother Clifford Sifton in Brandon, where he was also active in municipal politics. He moved west to Prince Albert in 1885 and to Calgary in 1889. There, he was elected to the 4th and 5th North-West Legislative Assemblies; he served as a minister in the government of premier Frederick Haultain. In 1903, the federal government, at the instigation of his brother, made Sifton the Chief Justice of the Northwest Territories. After Alberta was created out of a portion of the Northwest Territories in 1905, Sifton became the first Chief Justice of Alberta in 1907 and served until 1910.

There have been various groups in Canada that have nominated candidates under the label Labour Party or Independent Labour Party, or other variations from the 1870s until the 1960s. These were usually local or provincial groups using the Labour Party or Independent Labour Party name, backed by local labour councils made up of many union locals in a particular city, or individual trade unions. There was an attempt to create a national Canadian Labour Party in the late 1910s and in the 1920s, but these were only partly successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1917 Saskatchewan general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 1917 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 26, 1917, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.

The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July 1913 to compensate for the remote location of the riding. The method to elect members was under the First Past the Post voting system with the exception of the Edmonton district which returned two members under a plurality block vote. The election was unusual with the writ period for the general election being a very short period of 23 days.

The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments.

The 1930 Alberta general election was held on June 19, 1930, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The 1944 Alberta general election was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The Edmonton provincial electoral district also known as Edmonton City from 1905 to 1909, was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1917 and again from 1921 to 1959.

Charles Wellington Fisher was a Canadian politician who served as the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The Alberta Non-Partisan League was a minor provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The League changed its name in 1917 to the Non-Partisan Political League of Canada: Alberta Branch as it prepared to move into federal politics, and then changed its name again to the Farmers Non-Partisan Political League.

Charles Wilson Cross was a Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the House of Commons of Canada. He was also the first Attorney-General of Alberta. Born in Ontario, he studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School before coming west to practise in Edmonton. He became active with the Liberal Party of Canada, and when Alberta was created in 1905 he was chosen by Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford to be its first Attorney-General. Implicated in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal, he resigned in 1910 along with the rest of Rutherford's government.

Lt. Roberta Catherine Price née MacAdams was a provincial level politician and military dietitian from Alberta, Canada. She was the second woman elected to a legislative body in the British Empire and the first to introduce and pass a piece of legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Pearson (politician)</span> Canadian politician

Captain Robert Pearson was a soldier and politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for two terms between 1917 and 1926.

William Franklin Puffer was a Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 until 1917. Born in Ontario, he came west and settled in Lacombe, where he operated a butchery, among other interests. He was elected to the legislature in Alberta's first provincial election, and returned to office in each of the next two before being defeated in the 1917 election. He subsequently made two unsuccessful attempts to reclaim his seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfrid Gariépy</span> Canadian politician (1877–1960)

Wilfrid Gariepy was a Canadian politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and provincial cabinet minister, member of the House of Commons of Canada, and municipal councillor in Edmonton.

Claresholm was a provincial electoral district in Alberta mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1909 to 1929.

References

↑ An Act amending The Election Act respecting Members of the Legislative Assembly on Active Service. , SA 1917, c. 38
↑ A Report on Alberta Elections

v t e Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 2019 2023 Next
By-elections	26th Alberta Legislature (2004–2008) 27th Alberta Legislature (2008–2012) 28th Legislature (2012–2015) 29th Legislature (2015–2019)
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012 2021
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2017 2021
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971 2021
See also: Elections in Canada