1963 Edmonton municipal election

The 1963 municipal election was held October 16, 1963 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided three plebiscite questions.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but four of the positions were already filled: Frederick John Mitchell, Ethel Wilson, Morris Weinlos, and Vincent Dantzer were all elected to two-year terms in 1962 and were still in office. George Prudham was also elected to a two-year term in 1961, but resigned. Six were elected in this election, all to one-year terms.

All elected officials were elected to one-year terms in this election, in preparation for the changeover to a new system, whereby elections would be held only every two years with all officials elected to two-year terms.

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but three of the positions were already filled: James Falconer, Milton Lazerte, and Helen Sinclair were elected to two-year terms in 1962 and were still in office. Four were elected in this election through Plurality block voting.

The same was true on the separate board, where Edward Stack, Jean McDonald, and Bill Diachuk were continuing.Four were elected in this election through Plurality block voting.

In addition to choosing members for City Council, citizens were asked to vote on three plebiscites. Two of the plebiscites were related, asking if the city should borrow money to purchase a four city block parcel of land in downtown Edmonton, and if the city should borrow money to build a sports and convention complex on that land. These two plebiscites were rejected. The site under consideration, on the north side of Jasper Avenue, is now occupied by the Citadel Theatre (opened 1976), Sun Life Place (1978), and Canada Place (1988). The eventual (1983) scaled down Edmonton Convention Centre was built a few metres south of the 1963 proposal site, on the cliff side of Jasper Avenue.

Citizens did agree to a sports/convention centre in a 1968 plebiscite, but later rejected the specific 1970 Omniplex project plebiscite. The similar-looking Commonwealth Stadium was built a few years later.

Voter turnout

There were 98052 ballots cast out of 173901 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 56.4%.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent)

Mayor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Hawrelak	52,340	53.80%
	Civic Government Association	Stanley Milner	44,950	46.20%

Aldermen

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Civic Government Association	McKim Ross	53,516	Y
	Civic Government Association	John Leslie Bodie	43,186	Y
	Civic Government Association	Gordon McClary	41,248	Y
	United Voters Association	Ivor Dent	41,044	Y
	United Voters Association	Julia Kiniski	36,861	Y
	Citizens Council	Ed Leger	35,927	Y
	Civic Government Association	Murray Hamilton	35,725
	Civic Government Association	Robert Brower	33,408
	United Voters Association	Allan Welsh	30,611
	Civic Government Association	Fred Kurylo	28,654
	United Voters Association	Norbert Berkowitz	26,246
	United Voters Association	Kenneth McAuley	26,153
	United Voters Association	R. J. Dunseith	20,819
	Independent	John Sehn	14,369

Public School Trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Better Education Association	Earl Buxton	33,699	Y
	Better Education Association	Walter Gainer	32,735	Y
	Quality Education Council	Edith Rogers	32,666	Y
	Civic Government Association	Vernon Johnson	25,366	Y
	Civic Government Association	P. William Jones	24,538
	Better Education Association	Herbert Meltzer	21,560
	Better Education Association	John Bracco	21,334
	Civic Government Association	Bruce Mathew	19,179
	Quality Education Council	Lee Fosmark	11,741
	Quality Education Council	Arnold Rapske	11,015
	Quality Education Council	George Edward Machon	8,357

Separate (Catholic) School Trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Independent	Orest Demco	11,581	Y
	Independent	A. A. Gorman	9,441	Y
	Independent	G. R. Boileau	9,689	Y
	Independent	B. Feehan	9,147	Y
	Independent	John Barbeau	8,506
	Independent	Roy Watson	6,103
	Independent	Harry Carrigan	6,020
	Independent	William Betzler	5,586

Plebiscites

• Plebiscite items required a minimum two-thirds "Yes" majority to bring about action

Land Exchange

Are you in favour of the disposition, by exchange, of approximately 1.23 acres of land lying East of Bellamy Hill, approximately .43 acres of which is now designated as Parkland, for approximately 215 acres of land lying in the Southwest section of the City in an area West of Whitemud Creek? The purpose of the exchange is to enable the purchaser to construct a commercial building on the Bellamy Hill site. If the exchange is accepted, the land acquired by the City will be Parkland? ^[1]

Yes	–	63,344
No	–	26,421

Convention Complex Land Acquisition

Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2454 to borrow by debentures $4,000,000.00 with which to buy the land and buildings between Jasper Avenue and 102nd Avenue and between 97th Street and 99th Street so that a convention centre, an arena for sporting and cultural events and exhibitions, a theatre building, tourist centre and parking garage can be built there as part of the City Centre Development Plan?

Yes	–	33,470
No	–	25,300

Convention Complex

Shall Council pass bylaw No. 2455 to borrow by debentures $10,250,000.00 to construct a convention centre, an arena for sporting and cultural events and exhibitions, a theatre building, tourist centre and parking garage?

Yes	–	30,903
No	–	25,457

Notes

1. Note that the Land Exchange plebiscite areas convert as: 1.25 acres (0.51 ha), 0.43 acres (0.17 ha) and 215 acres (87 ha).

References

• Election History, City of Edmonton: Elections and Census Office