Alberta, in the late 1800s, was part of the North West Territories and thus under the jurisdiction of the North West Territorial Council, which sat first in 1876. And of course, what is now Alberta was under the jurisdiction of the Canadian government in far-away Ottawa. That national (or federal) government had been founded in 1867.
Elections in Alberta were held first for members of the NWT Council, Calgary municipal bodies, then for a MP, then for a town council for Edmonton. Strathcona got a town council. Edmonton became a city in 1904. This all happened before Alberta became a province, in 1905, after which NWT council elections ceased but provincial elections were held each 3 to 5 years.
The first Alberta elections were these: for a NWT Council member for Alberta, for a "Civic Committee" in Calgary, then for a NWT Council member for Calgary, then for a Calgary Town Council, then for a MP for the part of NWT that is now Alberta. Town Councils for Edmonton, starting in 1892, and Strathcona, starting in 1899, necessitated elections as well.
The North West Territorial Council got its first Alberta member in 1883. An Edmonton member was elected in 1883. Frank Oliver was this member. He sat only two years. This set the pattern for Edmonton for the next 40 or so years, Edmontonians - or the largest part anyway - would vote Liberal. This was in part due to the Liberal government backing immigration to the Prairies and being more in favour of free trade with the U.S. - agricultural implements and other farm needs were cheaper in the U.S. and the Liberal did more than the Conservative in opening the border to cheap imports of that type, to improve farmer's standard of living. The Liberal Party's friendlier attitude to Francophones -- and thus Metis -- made that party more attractive to many North Saskatchewan River residents than the strongly-WASP policies Conservative Party. The CPR bypassing the Edmonton region did not impress local residents and besmirched the Conservative Party that backed that railway
It was in 1887 that the federal government included the first MP from the part of the NWT that is now the province of Alberta. This was Donald W. Davis, a former whiskey trader elected mostly with votes from the Calgary area.
Edmonton School Trustees Autumn 1881
According to a history book (Souvenir of the Edmonton Schools (1911), (Peel 3526), page 5), three school trustees were chosen in autumn 1881. These were Matt McCauley, Malcom Groat and William Rowland. (Groat soon took sick and was replaced by Mr. Hardistry) (Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 10, 1881) This likely followed an election (or referendum) where local resident voted on whether or not to organize a school district (or did this vote take place in 1885? That was the Edmonton School district was organized (as presumably happened after a positive vote by residents).Previously the Edmonton Bulletin had reported that the Dominion government had announced it would pay half the salary of a teacher if the attendance was at least 15 (Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 10, 1881)
Prominent local residents signed a guarantee to pay the remaining half. (Souvenir of the Edmonton Schools, page 7).
1885 Public School District was organized. This is the first organized (oldest) public school district in the Province of Alberta. It was Number 7 in the NWT. (see Edmonton School District No. 7, 1885-1935 (1935) (Peel 5917))
The District got the go-ahead by a referendum "previous to 1885". In this vote, the long-standing "conflict between the democratic and the corporation interests" was resolved, with the democratic (overall public good) triumphing. (Souvenir of the Edmonton Schools, page 7)
Board of trustees elected (or chosen in some manner): Matt McCauley, W.S. Robertson and Donald Ross. C.F. Strong (Strang?) was secretary. Richard Secord was the first teacher hired by the District. (Souvenir of the Edmonton Schools, page 7)
Edmonton NWT Council Member 1883
upwards of 100 people attended the nomination meeting for NWT Council member held at the public schoolhouse.
Three put their name forward: Frank Oliver, F. Lamoureaux, S.D. Mulkins.
A straw poll was counted as giving support to Oliver but Lamoureaux and Mulkins insisted that a proper vote be held. A date was set for May 26. (Edmonton Bulletin, May 19, 1885)
The May 26, 1883 Edmonton Bulletin reported that Oliver was elected.
Calgary's Civic Committee
By 1884, Calgary had had permanent settlement for about 11 years, and moves were made to form a local government. In the first weeks of 1884, James Reilly, who was building the Royal Hotel east of the Elbow River, circulated 200 handbills announcing a public meeting on January 7, 1884, at the Methodist Church.
At the meeting, Reilly advocated for a bridge across the Elbow River and the establishment of a civic committee to watch over the interests of the public until Calgary could be incorporated (as a town). The attendees were enthusiastic about the committee, and it was decided to give it seven members and to hold an election the following Monday. (MacEwan, Calgary Cavalcade, p. 52)
That day the vote was held to elect the seven members. A total of 24 candidates were nominated, which was about 10 percent of Calgary's male population. Only males and British citizens could vote - and no treaty Indians had the vote.
Major James Walker received 88 votes, the highest poll for the candidates.
The other elected members of the "Citizen's Committee" were Dr. Andrew Henderson, George Clift King, Thomas Swan, George Murdoch, J.D. Moulton, and Captain John Stewart. (see MacEwan Calgary Cavalcade, p. 38 for more info.)
(Calgary Herald (Jan. 16, 1884) reported the holding of the election and the list of winners and mentions scrutineers and ballot papers so it appears to be held as a secret vote but otherwise no particulars are given as to method of voting or vote tallies. Vote tallies are not recorded as far as I can find. Very likely Block Voting was used, and there was no effort made to produce fair representation.)
The Civic Committee met with the lieutenant-governor of the NWT, Edgar Dewdney, who happened to be in Calgary at the time, to discuss an allowance for a school, an increase from $300 to $1000 grant for the construction of a bridge over the Elbow River, incorporation of Calgary as a town, and representation for Calgary in the Legislative Council of the North-West Territories. Eventually the committee received an additional $200 for the bridge, and a NWT Council member was also eventually granted to Calgary.
At a meeting of the "Civic Committee," held in late January, it was decided to conduct a census of local residents and present application for incorporation as a town. Calgary at the time was taken to be those portions of Section 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 south of the Bow, together with the north halves of Section 10 and 11, in all about 2500 acres. (Calgary Herald, Jan. 30, 1884)
Feb. 27, 1884 Calgary Herald called for action, saying that "some weeks before" an application for incorporation of Calgary had been submitted with $100 attached but nothing was happening.
Apparently incorporation was expected momentarily, and a vote for mayor and town council was discussed already in April 1884. One city resident wrote that "voters should wait and see who is nominated and then vote for the best, irrespective of politics, friendship, relationship or any other sentiment... Let us select from our townsman those most fitted from experience, standing or ability those most worthily suited to serve us." (see "Citizen" opinion piece in Calgary Herald, April 16, 1884)
Despite expectations, Calgary was not incorporated until Nov. 27. In the meantime, on September 12, Calgary under the the quasi-official administration of the Civic Committee welcomed members of the British Association. These scientists were welcomed at the train station by Major Walker who gave a speech welcoming them and a reply speech was presented by Sir Richard Temple. The fine phrasing of the two speeches is printed in Report of the Visit of British Association to the Canadian North-West (1884) (available on the Peel's Prairie Provinces website).
Council Member for Calgary
In May 1884, Major Walker, acting on instructions from the NWT Lieutenant-governor, organized a public meeting in the NWMP barracks room on the issue of getting a representative in the NWT Council. Walker wrote the clerk of the Council that he was prepared to produce evidence that Calgary and environs (an area of 1000 square miles) held 1000 residents, the requirement for having a Council member. (Calgary Herald, May 7, 1884)
The following month Calgary was notified that it would have a seat on the NWT Council as soon as it elected a member. A by-election was held on June 28, 1884, to elect the first member for Calgary to serve in the Council of the North-West Territories. James Davidson Geddes, James Kidd Oswald and A. Begg were candidates to become the new member. Just ten days before the election, all three gave speeches to a public gathering at the Boynton Hall, which was reported fully in the Herald of that date. (A. Begg apparently dropped out of the race prior to election day.)
The election seems to hinge on perceived differences between the lessees (those who leased land, which meant the cattle ranchers) versus the settlers. "Elector," self -described as an "old-timer," wrote in the paper that he was backing Oswald because he was perceived to be encouraging settlers and was opposed to lessees. (Calgary Herald, June 18, 1884)
And the newspaper later voiced a thank-you to the horse whose action had caused the Deputy Minister of the Interior to prolong his stay in Calgary. The newspaper wrote that the longer stay would give "the leaseholders, squatters and miners" an opportunity to discuss their various systems of tenure with the official in a way that a shorter visit would not have. (Calgary Herald, July 9, 1884)
June 25th 1884 Calgary Herald carried statement by Geddes on the leaseholder question and other issues. On the Half-breed Question "he stated that he wanted to tell his Metis friends that he held a strong opinion that justice has not been done to them in regards to their lands, and if elected, rest assured that I will use my best endeavours to obtain for them the same rights and privileges as have been been obtained by their brethren in Manitoba." He also addressed the mining regulations and the liquor question. As the newspaper did not carry a statement by the other candidates, this would seem to be an endorsement of Geddes and perhaps played a part in his victory.
Geddes won over Oswald. [vote tallies were not reported in the Calgary Herald, nor in Mardon and Mardon Alberta Election Results.]
Shortly after the election, the Calgary Herald rebuked the Nor'Wester newspaper, newly started in Calgary, for its criticisms of those who had voted for Oswald and the officials who had merely been pursuing their official role when they had thrust the editor of the Nor'Wester out of the polling place where he had had no proper reason to be. ("The Election", Calgary Herald, July 9, 1884, p. 4)
As for education, the Citizen's Committee raised $125 on February 6, 1884, and a school was established. The school opened for twelve children on February 18, teacher John William Costello. (A Catholic, he served for many years on the Calgary Separate School Board. Calgary's first separate school began operations in 1885. His son grew up to become mayor of Calgary.)
The private school was not enough for the needs of the town. In fact Costello lost his job due to lack of funds after just one year. (https://johncostello.cssd.ab.ca/school-history)
Following a petition by James Walker, the Calgary Protestant Public School District No. 19 was formed by the Legislature on March 2, 1885.
Town of Calgary
On November 27, 1884, Lieutenant Governor Dewdney proclaimed the incorporation of The Town of Calgary.
On December 3, 1884, Calgarians voted in the first election held in the Town of Calgary, to elect the mayor and four councillors.
The North-West Municipal Ordinance of 1884 provided voting rights to any male British subject over 21 years of age who owned at minimum $300 of property. (excepting Trety Indians)
In the election, each elector was able to cast a vote for the mayor and up to four votes for the aldermanic candidates.
Mayoral contest
George Murdoch won the mayoral race in a landslide victory with 202 votes over E. Redpath's 16.
Aldermanic contest
Simon Jackson Hogg, Neville James Lindsay, Joseph Henry Millward, and Simon John Clarke were elected councillors. (Few if any of these members had been members of he Civic Committee, members of whom had been inactive and had disappointed area residents.)
The aldermanic contest was decided by Block Voting as the overall vote tally tells us.
Vote tallies
Hogg 183
Lindsay 179
Millward 170
I.S. Freeze 103
J. Clark 147
A. Grant 52
S. Jarrett 56
total 890 (cast by about 218 voters) (from Calgary Herald, Dec. 3, 1884)
The next morning the Council met for the first time at Beaudoin and Clarke's Saloon.
Edmonton, Macleod and St. Albert NWT Council members 1885
Seats in the NWT Council were up for election in September 1885.
The September 15, 1885 election was the first major (multi-seat) election. The seats were all previously filled through by-elections when each district had got its first member. In Alberta: Edmonton, St. Albert and Macleod held a vote; the Calgary seat was not up for election that year.
On September 15, 1885 Edmonton went to the polls to elect its seat on the NWT Council. As well, Macleod and St. Albert elected their first NWT councillors, Richard Boyle and Samuel Cunningham respectively.
Edmonton September 15, 1885
Herbert Wilson at the age of 25 was elected, defeating the sitting member, Frank Oliver. Herbert Wilson 120 votes; Oliver 111. (Wilson later was mayor of Edmonton. Frank Oliver later was MP.)
Macleod September 15, 1885
Viscount R.H. Boyle rancher 130
George C. Ives 67
(cannot find any newspaper reference to the election in Macleod)
St. Albert September 15, 1885
Cunningham 99
Daniel Maloney [vote tally not given in Mardon, Alberta Election Results]
(some sources say Cunningham won by acclamation)
Calgary town election Jan. 1886
Calgary held its second town election in January 1886. A total of 208 voters were said to have voted. But only a few months later, irregularities were detected and the NWT Council and local magistrate Jeremiah Travis voided the results of the election. This was in October 1886, and no town council sat until after a new election was held in November.
(Likely this date also saw members of the Calgary Public and Separate school boards elected. Both were formed in 1885.)
Calgary NWT Council members
On July 14, 1886 Calgary elected two members to the NWT Council - John D. Lauder and Hugh Cayley.
Calgary town election Nov. 1886
November 1886 Calgary held its third town election. A total of 367 voted in this election.
Alberta's first MP
1887 Donald W. Davis was elected to be the first MP from what is now Alberta. Donald W. Davis was elected to represent the entire district of Alberta, roughly the bottom two-thirds of the present province of Alberta but excluding a sliver along the east side that included Medicine Hat.
He was Conservative. Even back then, Calgary was Conservative, in part because the Conservative-government-backed CPR had been pivotal in the foundation of that city.
At the time of the election, Davis was running the I.G. Baker store in Calgary. A former whiskey trader in southern Alberta, he had turned his hand to building Fort Macleod and Fort Calgary. The main other contender for the job, Frank Oliver, was a prominent Edmontonian so Davis's success was a sign that Calgary was surpassing Edmonton, previously the main centre on the western Prairies. (MacGregor, Alberta, p. 121, 124)
Macleod NWT Council by-election 1887
Macleod NWT Councillor Boyle resigned in August 1887.
In September 1887 Frederick Haultain was elected to the seat.
Frederick William Gordon Haultain 301 elected
C.F.P. Coneybeare 156
Calgary town election
Calgary held its fourth town election in Jan. 1888. About 220 voted in this election. The mayor and six councillors were elected, up from four previously.
For the aldermanic contest, each voter had up to six votes to cast. Thus the number of votes that had to be counted was a formidable 1250 (approximate). Plurality block voting of course does not produce any minority representation. And doubtless, despite the large number of votes cast, the single largest voting block, likely less than half the voters, took all the seats.
The mayor too was elected in an undemocratic fashion - he received just 37 percent of votes cast, 87 votes out of 232 cast.
NWT Council members 1888 -- use of Multi-Member Districts
1888 Election of members of the 2nd Legislative Council of the NWT
(this is said to be the first general election in the NWT)
Seven elected in NWT's provisional District of Alberta
two members elected in Calgary 1888 June 27
likely through Block Voting
John Lineham 809 votes
Hugh Cayley 634 votes
James Reilly 404 votes
two members elected in Edmonton June 30, 1888
(the new district of Edmonton took in St. Albert, formerly represented by Cunningham)
Block Voting used to fill seats
Vote tallies as given by Edmonton Bulletin, July 7, 1888:
Wilson (Edmonton) 395
Oliver (Edmonton) 349
Cunningham 319
Maloney 151
(some sources say Oliver and Cunninghma had tie at 350 with the tie broken by election officer.)
many supporters of Wilson and Oliver plumped.
But Cunningham and Wilson had something of an agreement to help each other but it did not work out for Cunningham. "Arrangement had been made that Cunningham would give the second vote of St. Albert, Lac Ste. Anne, and Lac La Biche voters to Wilson in return for the second votes of Wilson's supporters. [or as he likely did not have control of the votes directly, this means to get those voters to mark their second votes as Cunningham instructed].
But the deal was broken on Wilson's side - and Cunningham got few votes in Edmonton. Cunningham did not not know of this for much of the afternoon as telephone line was down between St. Albert and Edmonton.
But at the end, Cunningham and Wilson were leading in votes at St. Albert, and their victory was anticipated, and "great was the jubilation in consequence." (Edmonton Bulletin, July 7, 1888)
But overall vote tallies in the district saw Oliver and Wilson in the lead and the winners.
Macleod
Frederick William Gordon Haultain elected by acclamation
(he was re-elected by acclamation in 1894, 1897, 1898 and re-elected properly in 1902) (Mardon and Mardon)
1891?
Medicine Hat
Thomas Tweed elected by acclamation
Red Deer
Robert Brett elected
Robert Brett 325
Alfred Brealey 208
St. Albert
(no district of St. Albert in 1888 as St. Albert district was part of new Edmonton district.)
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Calgary's 1889 town election (Jan. 1889) saw all the seats filled by acclamation. So there was not even a flawed election to complain about.
1890 Jan 6 Calgary town election
1891 Jan. 5
Donald W. Davis was re-elected to serve as MP for Alberta.
Calgary town election also held this same day.
1891 NWT election
all members came up for election on the same day, the first time that had happened in the Territory.
(as well, it seems likely that open oral voting was no longer the practice)
Banff Brett elected by acclamation
Calgary Lineham and Cayley elected by acclamation
Edmonton Oliver elected by acclamation
Lethbridge Magrath elected by acclamation
Macleod Haultain elected by acclamation
Medicine Hat Tweed elected by acclamation
Red Deer Wilkins elected by acclamation
St. Albert Prince 210 Maloney 183 Garneau (tally not shown)
1892 Jan. 4 Calgary town election.
Mayor elected through First past the post.
Six councillors elected at-large through block voting.
1892 Edmonton was incorporated as a city.
first town election held Feb. 10, 1892.
Mayoral candidate Mathew McCauley was elected by acclamation.
14 candidates ran for the six town council spots.
234 voted but about 1100 votes were cast due to the block voting system used.
Annual elections subsequent to this.
One of first major developments in Edmonton following this election was the land office "Rebellion" (otherwise known as the Rat Creek Rebellion) when town mayor Matt McCauley and a mob of armed Edmontonians gathered to prevent a government official from moving the land titles office to the new settlement of Strathcona on the southside. (see Corbett, McQueen of Edmonton, p. 93; also my blog on how tht rebellion led to the founding of the Edmonton police force.)
Calgary held annual elections in this period as well.
1893 Jan. 3 Calgary town election
1894 Jan. 15 Calgary town election
mayor elected with 53 percent of the vote in two way race.
Wards had been adopted. Each ward elected three councillors. 464 voted but ward totals added together give us a larger number:
Ward 1 630
Ward 2 580
Ward 3 380 (all numbers approx.)
A total of approx. 1600 votes had to be counted due to the block voting system used.
1894 NWT Assembly election
Banff
Calgary
Edmonton
High River
Macleod
Medicine Hat
Red Deer
St. Albert Daniel Maloney 396 (Rennie says he had Patrons of Industry connection)
Antonio Prince 296
(note: Patrons of Industry meeting at Chevigny Hotel, St. Albert got up candidate for upcoming election.
Malcolm McKinlay signed a $5000 bond to see election through as a farmers candidate.
EB, July 5, 1894)
Victoria
1894 Dec. Calgary town election
1895 Dec. Calgary town election
1896 Edmonton NWT Assembly by-election (Oliver's resignatioin)
1896 Dec. Calgary town election
1897 Macleod NWT Assembly by-election (ministerial by-election)
Haultain
1897 Dec. Calgary town election
1898 NWT election
Banff
Calgary
Edmonton
High River
Macleod
Medicine Hat
Red Deer
St. Albert Villeneuve
Maloney
Gardner
Victoria
Wetaskiwin Rosenroll by acclamation
1898 Dec. Calgary town election
1899 Banff NWT Assembly by-election (Brett's resignation)
1899 Strathcona became a town
Annual elections subsequent to this.
Strathcona town election
1899 NWT Assembly by-election -- Calgary West (ministerial by-election)
1899 Dec. Calgary town election
1900 Dec. Calgary town election
1901 Dec. Calgary town election
1902 NWT Assembly election
Banff
Calgary
Edmonton
High River
Innisfail
Macleod
Medicine Hat
Red Deer
St. Albert Daniel Maloney (Malony unseated)
Lambert
Victoria
Wetaskiwin Rosenroll by acclamation
1902 Dec. Calgary town election
1903 NWT Assembly by-election - St. Albert (seat declared vacant by the courts)
Lambert
Maloney
1899 NWT Assembly by-election - Banff
1903 Dec. Calgary town election
1904 federal election
Banff?
Calgary
Edmonton
High River?
Innisfail?
Macleod?
Medicine Hat
Red Deer
St. Albert?
Strathcona Talbot
Bush
Col. Gregory socialist
1899 Strathcona became a town
Annual elections subsequent to this.
1904 Dec. Calgary town election
Edmonton became a city in 1904
1904 Dec first Edmonton city election
Mayor elected through First Past the Post
Aldermen elected in one at-large city-wide district, with each voter able to cast eight votes. (Block voting)
743 voted in this election, but about 2500 votes were won by the successful candidates alone. Only one candidate received a vote from more than half the voters. Each of the others had approval from less than half the voters. Leaving aside the most-popular candidate, the others could have been actually representatives of just a minority of city voters. Whether or not a single group consisting of less than half the voters elected seven of the eight successful candidates cannot be known, but such certainly could have been the case.
1905 First Alberta provincial election
The 25 MLAs were elected in single-member districts through First Past The Post.
This seems normal but for the next 50 years every provincial election would see two or more MLAs elected in Multi-Member Districts.
By 1955, 13 were being elected in MMDs.
Like in the city elections, when multiple members were elected at-large city-wide, the early provincial elections in MMDs saw aldermen elected through Block Voting.
But in 1917 Calgary adopted Single Transferable Voting for city elections, Edmonton adopted STV for city elections in 1923, and as of 1924, all MMDs used for provincial elections elected MLAs through STV.
Outside the cities where only a single member was elected in each district, fairness of a rough sort was achieved through the use of Instant-Runoff Voting.
But the fairness achieved by STV and IRV ended in 1956, when Alberta changed its provincial elections to only use single-member districts and only use First Past the Post.
Calgary adopted wards in 1962. These were two-member wards but terms were staggered so each contest usually only elected just one alderman.
STV then was used when both seats in each ward came up for election in 1971.
After that STV was discontinued, replaced by Block Voting or First Past The Post.
Calgary now elects its mayor and councillors through First Past the Post.
Edmonton continued to elect its aldermen at-large through Block Voting until 1968.
It then switched to three-member wards, electing through Block Voting.
It then switched to two-member wards, electing through Block Voting.
Only as recently as 2010, did Edmonton switch to single-member wards, electing through First Past the Post.
Since 2010 Period of First Past the Post
And as of 2010, we saw for the first time, all the members of city governments in Edmonton and Calgary, and all of the Alberta MLAs being elected through single-member First Past the Post.
Block Voting was never that great but it had potential to be turned quickly into STV-PR, as we saw in 1917 and 1923 and 1924.
Odd it is that Edmonton would close that door as late as 2010 at a time when moves were being made elsewhere in Canada to bring in more proportional systems than even Block Voting. In fact in BC, in 2005 a majority of votes voted for change to STV - this result was ignored by the BC government of the time.
These changes in Alberta voting were sometimes done with approval of voters and sometimes not.
At the city level, changes usually were done with a vote by voters. However Edmonton's change to FPTP in 2009 was done with no referendum by voters.
At the provincial level, never in Alberta's history has a referendum been held before any of the many changes we have seen in the voting system.
In that way, the provincial pattern is the same as the federal - we have had changes but never have we held referendums ahead of such changes.
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