1960 Edmonton municipal election

The 1960 Edmonton municipal election was held October 19, 1960, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided eight plebiscite questions.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: William Henning, Angus McGugan, Ed Leger, Gordon McClary, and McKim Ross were all elected to two-year terms in 1959 and were still in office.

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Angus MacDonald, Edith Rogers, Vernon Johnson, and Douglas Thomson were elected to two-year terms in 1959 and were still in office. The same was true on the separate board, where Joseph Moreau, Orest Demco, Catherine McGrath, and Henry Carrigan were continuing.

Voter turnout

There were 26,009 ballots cast out of 158,771 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 16.4%.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent)

Aldermen

Each voter could cast up to five votes. Voting was at-large so each voter could vote for any candidate in the running. The most popular candidates of two different parties were elected; the least popular were not.

The elected council represented a variety of interests. Candidates belonging two different parties - Civic Government Association and Civic Reform Association - were elected. But smaller voting blocks were denied representation. Ivor Dent of the CCF (soon to be the NDP) was denied a seat although getting a vote from more than a third of the voters.

Three of the five successful candidates got a vote from a majority of voters across the city. ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Civic Government Association	Frederick John Mitchell	13,836	Y
	Civic Reform Association	George Prudham	13,258	Y
	Civic Government Association	Morris Weinlos	13,105	Y
	Civic Government Association	Ethel Wilson	10,969	Y
	Civic Reform Association	Milton Lazerte	10,847	Y
	Independent	Laurette Douglas	10,763
	Civic Reform Association	C. H. Clarke	9,454
	Independent	Ivor Dent	9,265
	Civic Government Association	Stanley Milner	8,659
	Civic Reform Association	Ian MacDonald Nicoll	8,553
	Civic Government Association	Sidney Wrigglesworth	5,756
	Independent	Edgar Gerhart	5,581
	Civic Reform Association	Rex Martin	5,540
	Independent	E. J. (Slim) Powell	2,876
	Independent	Paul Stepa	2,059

Public school trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Better Education Association & Civic Reform Association	Warren Edward (Ted) Smith	11,833	Y
	Better Education Association	John Andrews	11,729	Y
	Better Education Association	Shirley Forbes	9,832	Y
	Civic Government Association	James Falconer	6,680
	Civic Government Association	John Thorogood	6,619
	Civic Reform Association	John McIntosh Hope	6,074
	Civic Government Association	Murray Cooke	5,427
	Civic Reform Association	William Hackett	4,140
	Independent	David Graham	2,790

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Independent	Leo Lemieux	3,845	Y
	Independent	Edward Stack	3,211	Y
	Independent	John Barbeau	3,195	Y
	Independent	Vincent Dantzer	3,133

Plebiscites

At-Large Elections

Are you in favour of changing the Election System for Alderman and Public School Board Members so that all such elected representatives are elected from the City at large without regard to whether they live North or South of the North Saskatchewan River or own fifty percent of their property North or South of this river?

• Yes - 17204
• No - 9668

Paving

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $450,000.00 for the City share of standard paving of arterial and residential streets?

• Yes - 14728
• No - 4489

Asphalt on Existing Gravel Streets

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $250,000.00 for the City share of asphalt paving on existing gravel arterial and residential streets?

• Yes - 14501
• No - 4471

Asphalt on New Gravel Streets

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $500,000.00 for the City share of asphalt paving on new gravel arterial and residential streets?

• Yes - 13241
• No - 5338

Traffic Lights

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $180,000.00 in order to purchase and locate traffic lights on certain highway intersections within the City?

• Yes - 15812
• No - 3554

Parks

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $600,000.00 for the purpose of constructing and improving parks and playgrounds?

• Yes - 14455
• No - 4829

Bridge

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $500,000.00 for the purpose of constructing a district bridge as part of the City's overall arterial road system?

• Yes - 15043
• No - 4454

Library

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $165,000.00 for the purpose of constructing a district library?

• Yes - 12173
• No - 6756

References

1. Joseph Rek, Municipal elections in Edmonton, p. 44

External links

• City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections