1944 Edmonton municipal election

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The 1944 municipal election was held November 1, 1944 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board, while three trustees were acclaimed to the separate school board. This was the first election to be held on the first Wednesday of November rather than the second Wednesday, in order to avoid future conflicts with the Armistice Day holiday, as happened in 1936 and 1942.

Contents

There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: James McCrie Douglas (SS), Harry Ainlay (SS), Winslow Hamilton, Charles Gariepy, and Melvin Downey (SS) were all elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. Southside (SS) representation was guaranteed - two councillors had to come from the southside. This requirement was dropped in 1961. [1]

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Albert Ottewell (SS), Bertram Robertson, Frank Newson, and Roy Sutherland had been elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. The same was true of the separate board, where William Wilde (SS), Joseph Gallant, Thomas Malone, and J O Pilon were continuing.

Voter turnout

There were 9,948 ballots cast out of 61,033 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 16.4%.

Results

Mayor

PartyCandidateVotes%
Independent John Wesley Fry 7,01771.12%
Independent Rice Sheppard 2,85028.88%

Aldermen

PartyCandidateVotesElected
Citizens' Committee Sidney Bowcott6,597Green check.svgY
Citizens' Committee Athelstan Bissett6,317SSGreen check.svgY
Citizens' Committee Sidney Parsons 6,094Green check.svgY
Citizens' Committee James Ogilvie5,916Green check.svgY
Citizens' Committee Frederick John Mitchell 5,532Green check.svgY
Independent Gwendolen Clarke3,420
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationMargaret Thompson2,311
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationEdith Rogers2,298
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationAlfred Gregory2,273
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationHoward Smith2,015
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationRobert Haskins1,944
Independent Jan Lakeman 1,585

Public school trustees

PartyCandidateVotesElected
Citizens' Committee Izena Ross5,593Green check.svgY
Citizens' Committee George Cormie5,255Green check.svgY
Citizens' Committee Alex Gemeroy5,143Green check.svgY
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationMary Butterworth3,371SS
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationWilliam Thornton2,994
 Co-operative Commonwealth FederationArchibald Richardson2,888

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Adrian Crowe (SS), Francis Killeen, and James O'Hara were acclaimed.

References

  1. "Municipal elections in Edmonton (1892 to 1944)" (PDF). edmonton.ca. pp. 92–93.