Edmonton municipal election, 1907

Last updated

The 1907 municipal election was held December 9, 1907, for the purpose of electing a mayor and five aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as five public school trustees and six separate school trustees. There were also four proposed bylaws put to a vote of the electorate concurrently with the election.

Edmonton City Council governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Contents

Positions to be elected

There were eight aldermen on city council, but three of the positions were already filled: Cameron Anderson and Wilfrid Gariépy had been elected to two-year terms in 1906, and were still in office. James Walker had also been elected to a two-year term, but resigned, and had been replaced by Daniel Fraser, who was also still in office.

Cameron Anderson Canadian politician

Cameron Anderson was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a municipal councillor in Edmonton.

Wilfrid Gariépy Canadian politician

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.

Thomas Daly had been elected to a two-year term in 1906, but resigned and hadn't been replaced. Accordingly, the fifth place aldermanic candidate in the 1907 election - Herman McInnis - was elected only to serve out the remaining year of Daly's term.

Thomas Daly (Alberta politician) Canadian politician

Thomas Daly was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a municipal councillor in Edmonton

Mayoral nominations

The candidates for mayor were former mayor John Alexander McDougall and incumbent councillor Joseph Henri Picard. McDougall was nominated by William Short, Arthur Cushing, J C Dowsett, W R West, A E Jackson, and J W Huff. Picard was nominated by William Antrobus Griesbach, Thomas Bellamy, George Manuel, William Thomas Henry, W J Graves, T P Hobson, and G K Allen. [1]

John Alexander McDougall Canadian politician

John Alexander McDougall was a politician in Alberta, Canada, a municipal councillor and mayor in Edmonton, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Joseph Henri Picard Canadian politician

Joseph Henri Picard was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a municipal councillor in Edmonton.

William Short (Alberta politician) Canadian politician

William Short was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a two time mayor of Edmonton.

Campaign

The election showed some signs of nastiness, as an anonymous letter (signed by a Mr. "Graybrook") attacking mayoral candidate McDougall was published in the Edmonton Journal. The letter accused McDougall of demanding an unfairly inflated price for land the city intended to buy from him, and of making pledges to reduce municipal taxes without being sufficiently familiar with the city's financial situation. The letter's writer was eventually exposed as being incumbent mayor William Antrobus Griesbach, who was not seeking re-election but who was supporting McDougall's opponent, Picard. [2]

<i>Edmonton Journal</i> daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta

The Edmonton Journal is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.

William Antrobus Griesbach Canadian politician

Major General William Antrobus Griesbach, CB, CMG, DSO*, VD, KC was a Canadian politician, decorated soldier, mayor of Edmonton, and member of the House of Commons of Canada and Senate of Canada.

Endorsements

The East End Ratepayers' Association endorsed George S. Armstrong, John Galbraith, William Clegg, and Isaac Lane for election as aldermen. [3] All four men had signed on to the association's platform, which included

George S. Armstrong Canadian politician

George Seale Armstrong was a Canadian businessman and politician. He served on the Edmonton City Council from 1907 to 1910 and as Mayor of Edmonton from 1910 to 1912.

Voter turnout

There were 1679 ballots cast in the 1907 municipal election. The number of eligible voters is no longer available, but the Edmonton Bulletin noted on the day of the election that "both Mssrs. McDougall and Picard have excellent organizations, and almost every available vote is being brought in." [5] It further asserted that the city's two polling stations were inadequate, and that the new council should create additional polling stations.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent)

Mayor

Aldermen

Public school trustees

A Butchart, W D Ferris, H A Gray, A E May, and Alex Taylor were elected. Detailed results are no longer available.

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Wilfrid Gariépy , E J Hart, Prosper-Edmond Lessard , Joseph Henri Picard , S Schultz, and O Tessier were elected. Detailed results are no longer available.

Bylaws

The following bylaws were voted on concurrently with the 1907 election:

Bylaw 153

A bylaw to authorize an agreement between the Municipality and American Oil Co.

  • For: 1,208
  • Against: 643

Bylaw 112

A bylaw to grant Cyrus S. Eaton and Matt E. Springer a special franchise.

  • For: 973
  • Against: 247

Bylaw 111

A bylaw to grant N.W. Gas and Co. a special franchise.

  • For: 325
  • Against: 670

Bylaw 105

A bylaw to raise the sum of $50,000 to be paid to City Hospital by way of a bonus.

  • For: 1,083
  • Against: 124

Related Research Articles

The second of two 1896 municipal elections was held December 14, 1896. This was the first election to take place on the second Monday of December instead of the second Monday in January. The election was to elect the town council, five trustees for the public school division and four trustees for the separate school division.

The 1897 municipal election was held December 13, 1897. This was the last election to elect a full town council for a one-year term, as the 1898 election was conducted under a staggered system. The election was to elect the town council, five trustees for the public school division and four trustees for the separate school division.

The 1900 municipal election was held December 10, 1900 for the purpose of electing a mayor and three aldermen to sit on the Edmonton Town Council, as well as five public school trustees and four separate school trustees.

The 1903 municipal election was held December 14, 1903 for the purpose of electing a mayor and three aldermen to sit on the Edmonton Town Council, as well as five public school trustees and five separate school trustees. There were six aldermanic positions on the council at the time, but three of them were already filled: Arthur Cushing, Daniel Fraser, and James Ross had been elected for two-year terms in 1902, and were still in office.

The 1904 municipal election was held December 12, 1904 for the purpose of electing a mayor and eight aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as five public school trustees and five separate school trustees. It was Edmonton's first election as a city, and the first in which there were eight aldermanic positions instead of six. Because of this new composition of city council, all aldermanic positions were elected instead of only half as had been the case in previous elections and would again be the case in subsequent elections. Accordingly, even though Edmund Grierson, Charles May, and Joseph Henri Picard had been elected to two-year terms in the 1903 election, their terms were truncated. May and Picard decided to stand for re-election, while Grierson did not.

The 1905 municipal election was held December 11, 1905 for the purpose of electing a mayor and four aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as five public school trustees and five separate school trustees. There were eight aldermen on city council, but four of the positions were already filled: John R. Boyle and Thomas Bellamy were both elected to two-year terms in 1904 and were still in office, while Robert Mays and David Latta - who had been appointed to replace the resigned Charles May and Kenneth McLeod, respectively - were also still in office.

The 1906 municipal election was held December 10, 1906 for the purpose of electing a mayor and four aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as five public school trustees and six separate school trustees. There were eight aldermen on city council, but three of the positions were already filled: Robert Manson, Joseph Henri Picard, and Samuel Smith had been elected to two-year terms in 1905, and were still in office. William Antrobus Griesbach had also been elected to a two-year term, but resigned to run for mayor. Accordingly, the fifth place aldermanic candidate in the 1906 election - Morton MacAuley - was elected only to serve out the remaining year of Griesbach's term.

The 1908 municipal election was held December 14, 1908 for the purpose of electing a mayor and six aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as three public school trustees and five separate school trustees. There were also five proposed bylaws put to a vote of the electorate concurrently with the election.

The 1909 municipal election was held December 13, 1909 for the purpose of electing a mayor and four aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as three public school trustees and five separate school trustees. There were also eight proposed bylaws put to a vote of the electorate concurrently with the election.

The 1910 municipal election was held December 12, 1910 for the purpose of electing a mayor and five aldermen to sit on the Edmonton City Council, as well as three public school trustees and five separate school trustees. There were also four proposed bylaws put to a vote of the electorate concurrently with the election.

The second of two 1912 municipal elections was held December 9, 1912 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards.

The 1913 municipal election was held December 8, 1913 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, trustees to sit on the public school board, and four trustees to sit on the separate school board.

The 1915 municipal election was held December 13, 1915 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards.

The 1917 municipal election was held December 10, 1917, to elect a mayor and seven aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. There were also two plebiscite questions asked.

The 1919 municipal election was held December 8, 1919 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the public school board. T P Malone, Paul Janvrin, T S Magee, and Joseph Henri Picard were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board. In the election's only plebiscite, Edmontonians rejected a proposal to pay their aldermen.

The 1921 municipal election was held December 12, 1921 to elect a mayor and seven aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the public school board. F A French, Paul Jenvrin, Thomas Magee, and Joseph Henri Picard were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board.

The 1922 municipal election was held December 11, 1922 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board. R Crossland, P M Dunne, Joseph Gariépy, and J J Murray were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board.

The 1923 municipal election was held December 10, 1923 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the public school board. Robert Crossland, Paul Jenvrin, Thomas Magee, and Joseph Henri Picard were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board.

References

City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections

  1. "J. A. McDougall and Ald. Picard, Edmonton Bulletin, December 2, 1907
  2. "An Announcement, Anonymous Letter, and an Affidavit" Edmonton Bulletin, November 23, 1907
  3. "The Full Ticket of Five is Announced" Edmonton Bulletin, November 23, 2007.
  4. "Platform of East Enders" Edmonton Bulletin, November 16, 2007.
  5. "Great Interest in the Elections" Edmonton Bulletin, December 9, 1907.