Saskatooon Star-Phoenix
Aug. 26, 2021
[...] My priority this election is promoting electoral reform with proportional representation so we can achieve most important things like pharmacare. I want Canada to reap the benefits other countries enjoy, including higher voter turnout, diversity in representation, healthier citizens, increased social trust, stronger economies, and environmental stewardship.
These benefits derive from relatively stable proportional power sharing, election to election, between parties. This supports enduring, harmonious collaborations rather than unending, discordant competition. Please make your first priority voting for a candidate who supports electoral reform with proportional representation. Nancy Carswell Shellbrook
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2021 was approximately the 100th anniversary of Saskatoon's adoption of STV.
Kerr and Hanson's book Saskatoon the First Half-Century (1982) described the coming of proportional representation to that city.
1914 movement began to get PR to city elections, led by local influencer J.T. Hull and City Commissioner C.J. Yorath.
Kerr and Hanson described the proposal this way -- the wards would be abolished and each voter would cast what was called a "single transferable vote."
In marking the ranked vote, the voter could mark as few or as many perferences as he preferred.
As candidates were elected or eliminated in the vote-count process, a vote might be transferred according to preferences that had been marked by the voter.
Alongside the STV used for election of the aldermen, Instant-Runoff Voting (Alternative Voting) was to be used to elect the mayor.
"P.R. was defended as a system that gave minorities a voice in government and that would make every vote count. Yorath presented detailed information on how in federal and provincial elections many votes are wasted under both single-winner First Past The Post and multi-winner Block Voting. Sometimes a minority of people elected the majority of seats. Sometimes a small shift in votes led to huge shift in electoral strength [produced massive changes in seat tallies of parties].
In the 1912 provincial election the Conservative Party received 43 percent of the votes but only 15 percent of the seats.
P.R. was defended as a device to reduce that injustice as well as curb the power of party machinery.
The Council of Agriculture [over-arching body of organized farm movements across country] included P.R. as part of its programme in 1919 and in Saskatoon the Trades and Labour Council caleld for P.R. as a method of better ensuring representation for labour on city council. It was also supported as a way to abolish the sectionalism produced by the ward system [aldermen that were elected in wards being only concerned about ward issues and not needs of the greater city].
Saskatoon got its chance to vote on P.R. in 1920, although almost no one on council could explain the system.
Labour Alderman R.J. Moore said 'I believe the Labour Party will have fairer representation on council under this system.'
Voter voted to abolish the ward system and adopt P.R. by about the same numbers, 1040 to 650, with Riverdale being the only ward where opinions was almost equally divided.
The civic election of 1921 was the first held under S.T.V.
Only two candidates ran for mayor but 16 ran for the ten aldermanic seats - now that wards had been eliminated, the entire council had to be elected. The last seat was filled after 14 counts and a full day after the polls closed. Seven of nine incumbents were elected, and each former ward was represented by two elected members (based on residence) except the downtown ward (Ward Three), which had just one, and Riversdale, which had three.
The most popular candidate was R.J. Moore of the Labour Party who took more than twice the votes of anyone else. He did well in every former ward. Five candidates were elected east of the river and five from the westside.
Labour's representaton increased from one ot two under the new voting system. The result was not much different from previously, but it is difficult to judge its effectiveness because most candidates ran as independents with no party identification.
P.R. survived for five years.
Despite the balanced representation seen in 1921 and higher voter turn-out, Saskatoon had its share of STV detractors. They forced a December 1924 plebiscite on STV repeal and it failed but not by much - the vote on the continued use of STV won by just 38 votes. (Johnston and Koene)
However the next plebiscite, held in May 1926, after the required two-year pause, yielded an anti-STV majority. (Johnston and Koene, p. 206)
finally lost out in 1926 vote when 3000 voted to abolish P.R. and only 1200 in favour of its continuance. Many said they found the system too complicated.
Saskatoon readopted STV in 1938, and abandoned it again four years later, in what was the only case (yet) of a Canadian city having STV, repealing it and returning to it again. (Johnston and Koene, Learning History's Lessons Anew, p. 205- 206)
The last application of STV/Alternative Voting in 1926 was the most remarkable - if you like roller-coaster election counts and controversy, that is.
Three-way race for mayor
Instant-Runoff Voting (Alternative Voting) was used to elect the mayor.
in the First Count, John Hair had 1906 votes; G.W. Norman 1744,
G.W.A. Potter was in third place, with at least several hundred.
In the 2nd Count, Potter was eliminated and his votes transferred, Norman then having nine more votes than Hair.
Hair requested a recount. This took time, and by the end of December the two candidates were tied with 54 vote remaining to be counted. 38 of them were thrown out for not having election official's initials. The remaining 16 went in equal measure to Hair and Norman. As the rules dictated, Hair was declared the winer because he had more first-place preferences than Norman.
22 westside voters challenged the result sayint their vore s should naot have bben thrown out just because the official had not initialled their votes. An appeal was launched to overturn the election, and Hair resigned.
In 1927 Norman was elected and served to 1929. Hair then was elected and served a typical two-year term.
Kerr and Hanson: "Meanwhile Saskatoon had moved to city-wide [Block Voting] for aldermen [and FPTP for mayor]. This was confirmed by city voters in 1930 by a margin of five to one over its competitors." [The alternatives on offer are not delineated.]
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for info on 1921 election see
That article in the Saskatoon Daily-Star Dec. 10, 1921, page 3 states:
"For the first time in the history of Saskatoon, the election will be conducted under the system of proportional representation.
The ballot papers for the mayor, alderman and public school trustees must not be marked with a cross - X - but the ratepayers must denote their preference by the use of figures - the figure 1 for first choice, 2 for second chocie, etc.
On the ballot for the Daylight Saving measure, the cross must be used and no other marking.
If any other mark of any sort is placed on the ballot, it will be considerd spoiled and count for nothing in the election."
...
It has been definitely decided that first choice for school board and city council will be counted on Monday night, and members elected on that count will be announced the same day as the election. Counting of second choices will start at 8 o'clock next morning, and the complete list of elected members wil likely be ready for publication in The Star on Tuesday afternoon.
[thus the mayor will be declared on election night.]
Four ballots will be given to each voter...
All ballots will be placed in the same box. They will be sorted according to color.
two running for mayor
10 running for the ten aldermanic spots on city council
four running for two empty spots on the public schoolboard
Daylight Saving measure
Results published in the Saskatoon Daily Star of Wednesday, Dec. 14, 1921
The final count of the P.R. ballots cast was only completed at six o'clock yesterday afternoon. it left the position of the candidates as fixed by the first count unchanged.
Drummond and Cairns were incumbents running for re-election.
1921 Aldermanic contest
Number of votes 4162 Quota 1388
1st Count 2nd Count 3rd count
Hull's transfers Wakeling's transfers
Mrs. E. Helen Drummond 1319 1344 1438
Mr. John Cairns 1289 1310 1382
M.C. Byers 1110 1112 1267
R.M. Wakeling 359 378 0
T.H. Hull 85 0
non-transferable +18 18 +57 75
Mrs. Drummond's surplus was not transferred because it would not have brought Byers past Cairns even if all the transferred votes went to Byers.
Mr. Cairns was elected without receiving quota.
The first count placed the three leading candidates far in advance of the other two. They all went on to be elected.
...
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1921
Aldermanic election
1921 elected:
William Anderson 1922-1924
F. Austin Blain elected, served 1921-1942 (formerly had served in 1906)
C.W. Bolton 1919-1923
W.H. Clare 1917-1922
A.F. Dickson 1919-1923
T.A. Lynd 1917-1922
R.J. Moore 1919-1928
James Priel 1922-1928
G.W. Norman 1917-1926
W.A. Wood 1922-1924
[all ten elected in 1921 are listed above]
elected 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926
F.E. Guppy 1909-1910, 1926-1927
J.W. Hair 1926, 1928-1929, 1932-1933
W.P. Kirkpatrick 1923-1924
J.S. Mills 1925-1928, 1930-1931, 1936-1938, 1946-1947
Russell Wilson 1906, 1923-1925
[above is 14 in total. perhaps some I missed?]
not elected under STV (they might not have run for re-election in 1921)
(seems like three incuments not elected in 1921)
F.G. Lewin 1917-1920
Frank Cornish served 1920-1921
Howard McConnell 1919-1921
Thompson 1919-1921
J.C. Thompson 1919-1921
John Macklem 1925-1927, 1934
Denis Mahoney 1924-1925
Howard McConnell 1919-1921 [1921 ran for mayor]
G.W.A. Potter 1914-1917, 1925-1926
A.S. Walker 1924-1927
1939-1941 Second PR period
J.H. Cameron 1931-1938
Caswell 1935-1946
Cavers 1939-1940
Nelson Clarke 1942
Frederick C. "Dean" Cronkite 1941-1946, 1949-1952
S.A. Early 1916-1917, 1934-1947
G.A. Forrester 1940-1941
R.H. Hunter 1934-1951
S.N. McEachern 1934-1940
P.G. Makaroff 1939
Carl Niderost 1935-1938
W.N. Steward 1941-1947
A.J.E. Sumner 1943-1945
Durward Thomas 1937-1940
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General muncipal electoral history (from municipal handbook)
Elections – Historical Background
Starting with the election held in 2012, elections in Saskatoon are held every four years, on the fourth Wednesday of October. Previously, elections were held every three years and until 1970, Municipal elections in Saskatoon were held annually. For most of Saskatoon’s history, municipal elections were held in the late fall, with the new Council sworn in at the first meeting of the new year. Since the 1976 election, the new Council has been sworn in immediately following the municipal election.
Saskatoon used the ward system – where electors vote only for candidates in their own ward – in the annual elections from 1906-1920.
[The switch to at-large district and STV/IRV (STV not mentioned in the handbook!)]
The city switched to the “at-large” system beginning with the December 12, 1921 election. Under the at-large system, electors vote for all candidates, city-wide. Saskatoon used the at-large system until 1970, returned to the ward system for elections from 1973-1985, went back to the at-large system for the 1988 and 1991 elections, then returned once more to the ward system.
Then as now, by-elections could be held at any time to replace members of Council who did not complete their terms, with the successful candidate being sworn in immediately and serving until the original term was up.
Until 1954, mayors served for one year only. Aldermen served two-year terms, with five of them elected each year.
Starting with the 1954 election, mayoral terms were increased to two years. Beginning with the election of December 2, 1970, the Mayor and Council were all elected to three-year terms.
On November 9, 1992 City Council voted to replace the term “Alderman” with “Councillor”
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Selected Population figures for Saskatoon
...
pop. votes cast* turnout percentage
1922 14,748 3,228 21.9
1932 14,216 8,708 61.2
1942 13,460 4,551 33.8
1952 40,484 15,264 37.8
1962 68,047 11,646 17.11
1973 80,000 voters** 16,009 20.0
Mayor and 2 Aldermen elected by acclamation (explains low turnout); 8 Aldermen elected by vote, 7 Public School Trustees, 7 Separate School Trustees;
*likely the table indicates ballots here, not votes
**1973 42,808 (Burgess List) 80,000 (estimated by total voters)
[nothing about pro-rep in "Elections historical background" section of the municipal handbook]
Other news
Daylight Saving had been disapproved by majority of voters in 1920
but nevertheless it was used in 1921 from May 9 to September 30 inclusive
in 1921 majority of voters voted against Daylight Saving (once again)
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1923
majority of voters voted against Daylight Saving (once again)
majority of voters voted to maintain pro-rep
1926 December voters voted against pro-rep
==
DST votes in 1930s
1931 November majority of voters voted for Daylight Savings Time
1932 DST went into effect from May 1 to Oct. 2 (and in 1933)
1933 November majority of voters voted against Daylight Savings Time
1934 November majority of voters voted against Daylight Savings Time
1937 June 30 majority of voters voted against Daylight Savings Time
Pro-rep comes back
1938 November majority of voters voted for pro-rep
[1939 pro-rep used in election]
1940 November majority of voters voted for Daylight Savings Time
[1940 pro-rep used in election]
1941 November majority of voters voted to continue Daylight Savings Time
1941 November majority of voters voted against continuance of pro-rep
[1941 pro-rep used in election]
[1942 reverted to Block Voting where each voter could cast up to ten aldermanic votes, if no acclamations]
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Notes and additional writing on Saskatoon's use of STV
1920 Saskatchewan municipal councils given option to adopt STV in 1920
Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and North Battleford adopted STV in 1920.
All had abandoned it by 1926, although Saskatoon used it again from 1938 to 1942.
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History of city elections in Saskatoon
ward system adopted in 1906
commissioner form of government adopted in 1910 (Saskatoon's 70th Anniversary Celebration (Peel 10447), p. 35)
The council-board scheme - appointed board of commissioners and council – – Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Red Deer
1913 Saskatoon had five wards. bylaw granting one man one vote passed by voters. [I guess this means that Saskatoon used staggered terms and elected one in each ward in alternating years.) (Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 9, 1912)
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Harris Turner and Turner's Weekly
Private soldier, he was blinded in WWI.
He was elected as one of two representatives for soldiers serving in France and Belgium during WWI (1917) (there was also MLA elected to represent soldiers in Great Britain)
He was re-elected as Saskatoon Independent MLA in 1921 as one of two MLAs elected in Saskatoon City.
In Saskatoon, Harris Turner published Turner's Weekly, an original and independent newspaper. It was first in Canada to publish chapters of Major Douglas's Economic Democracy. One of its readers was Calgary Labour MP William Irvine who when he was in England in 1923, looked up Major Douglas and became a partial convert to Social Credit.
After it ceased publication, Turner and A.P. Waldron moved to produce The Progressive, initiated by the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association. (The UFA, Sept 15, 1923, p. 5)
then went to publish the Western Producer.
(Turner's Weekly quoted in Edmonton Bulletin, Feb. 20, 1919)
[cannot find any connection between TW and pro-rep]
Turner's Weekly then the UFA, starting in its first issue of 1922, carried the writings of Major Douglas (The UFA, May 1, 1933, p. 27)
Harris Turner was alderman of Saskatoon 1929-1930. (PR not used at that time.)
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(Saskatoon ward system abolished in 1919 and a system of pro-rep approved by vote the same year (Saskatoon's 70th Anniversary Celebration (Peel 10447), p. 55
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There was record voter participation in the first STV elections in Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina, although later when the novelty wore off, turnout went down again. (Johnston and Koene, p. 233)
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The count in Saskatoon's first STV election went quickly. It took only 10 hours, a short time considering that because all seats were open (the city choosing to end its staggered-seat system at this time), there were 10 open seats and 17 candidates, necessitating 14 counts.
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Saskatoon
Saskatoon's city commissioner, C.G. Yorath, was a supporter of Pro-rep and he was the one who informed the city council of the provincial law allowing adoption of STV. (Within a couple years, Yorath moved to be city commissioner in Edmonton where he helped the STV cause there.)
The city clerk, Andrew Leslie, helped the cause, corresponding with Ronald Hooper and other STV experts.
When Saskatoon held its December 1920 plebiscite, a majority voted in favour. Saskatoon's first STV election was held a year later. The Saskatoon Daily Star described the Saskatoon's first STV election as "thorough and results were excellent... the people knew exactly how they wanted to vote and their ballots carried out that purpose." (Saskatoon Daily Star, Dec. 15, 1921, city clerk's file, Saskatoon Municipal Archive as per Johnston and Koene, p. 233)
Saskatoon's first STV election recorded the largest vote held up to that time in the city's history.
But despite this the count was done in just one day. The count started at 8:30 AM the morning after the polls closed and finished by 6 PM.
The ward system had been abolished and there were no staggered elections so ten seats were up for grabs. The large number of seats and the 17 candidates running meant that ten counts were required to fill the seats.
There was a large number of spoiled ballots (accruing to 12 percent) in the school trustee elections. But city clerk Tomlinson said that was normal for the city where voters could not train themselves not to mark Xs or other forbidden markings. There had been many spoiled ballots under the previous system (block voting) as well.
Many also left that part of the ballot blank. Blank ballots were often lumped together with spoiled ballots. (Johnston and Koene, p. 234)
(This identification of blank ballots as spoiled ones was also a feature in Calgary. There about 90 percent of the "spoiled" ballots noted in the plebiscite and money bylaw votes were not spoiled but actually blank, the voters having no firm feelings on the questions on the ballot.) (Johnston and Koene, p. 234)
Leslie later became Saskatoon's commissioner, and a new city clerk, M.C. Tomlinson, became active in the campaign, corresponding with city clerks in other cities on the proper formulation of STV bylaws. (Johnston and Koene, p. 219-220; Saskatoon Public Library photo information on-line)
[more info on Yorath in Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan]
Tomlinson wrote Hooper and Hallet to say that Pro-rep "has proved a great success in Saskatoon, and both the press and citizens are fully satisfied with the system as it worked out here." (city clerk's file, Saskatoon Municipal Archive as per Johnston and Koene, p. 233)
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