Timeline of Canadian electoral reform and related writings
Part 2 1900 to 1971
Documenting Canadian electoral reform,
especially Proportional Representation and Effective Voting (STV),
and Canadian or Canadian-related published works on the subject.
This is Part 2 of a three-part Montopedia blog.
(for Part 1. Beginnings to 1899, see
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(In 1900, Belgium and Switzerland were using P.R.
Tasmania in Australia had been using it (and would resume its use in 1907).
Within 25 years, 10-15 more countries would be using PR of one sort or another.
This includes several British Commonwealth countries -- Ireland, Malta, Australia and South Africa.
Two provinces would also be using STV to elect MLAs. And more than 15 municipalities in Canada would be using STV to elect city councillors.)
HISTORIC NOTE:
1900 The Women’s Canadian Historical Society opened a campaign for proportional representation with a lecture on "Effective Voting: Its History as Developed by an Australian Woman", referring to Catherine Helen Spence who had visited Toronto in 1893.
(from Barbara Caine, Unbridling the Tongues of Women: A Biography of Catherine Helen Spence (1887))
(several Montopedia blogs discuss Catherine Helen Spence)
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1900 Eltwood Pomeroy. By the People. Arguments and Authorities for Direct Legislation or the Initiative and the Referendum
Consists of articles and symposiums previously published in the New time, in 1897 and 1898.
Introduction by J.W. Sullivan, in which he sets out reasons why "representatives don't represent."
includes an article on P.R. by Robert Tyson in which he discussed the similarities between Direct Legislation and P.R.; different types of P.R. -- the Hare plan (STV), the Gove method, the Swiss Free list; Belgium's first use of PR in a national election in the world; and more
(Robert Tyson see Montopedia blogs, including
HISTORIC NOTE:
There was considerable overlap between the Direct Legislation people and proportionalist movement.
Prominent proportionalist Robert Tyson wrote an artice for the Direct Legislation Record on the 1898 Canadian referendum on Prohibition.
Issues of the DL Record circa 1900 records the involvement of several significant Canadian reformers -
George Wrigley (who is said to be father of George Weston Wrigley (see DCB)),
James H. Macoun (of the Geological Survey of Canada),
E.N. Price of St. Thomas (Ont.),
J.M. Johnson, editor of the London (Ont.) newspaper Searchlight.
(#331 (p. 71))
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Alfred Cridge. Hope and Home. San Francisco, 1900. favors "Hare system of preferential voting." (mentioned in The Preferential Vote (Oklahoma Univ.) p. 46 circa)
Alfred Cridge had lived in New Brunswick in the 1800s.
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Robert Tyson. "Needed Political Reforms, its principles and progress, with descriptions of the Swiss Free List, Hare-Spence Plan and Gove plan." Direct Legislation Record, Nov. 1900.
(Robert Tyson - see 1901)
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1898-1902 Samuel Russell, of Desoronto, Ontario MPP of East Hastings, three times introduced legislation for local option on P.R., to allow municipalities to decide for themselves if they would use STV. (The Direct Legislation Record and the Proportional Representation Review, March 1902 (135/216), also 1902 23/180) (Local option for Ontario municipalities not achieved until 2018. (see 1915)
The local option achieved in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba around 1917.)
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1901 Socialist Party of Canada called for PR.
Socialist Party of British Columbia. Socialist Party of British Columbia: statement of principles adopted at Vancouver, October 3rd, 1901.
Published in Ferguson, BC by Lardeau Eagle Printing. [1901?]
Called for pro-rep
(CIHM 83287)
R.P Pettipiece was editor/owner of the Lardeau Eagle from about 1900 to 1902. He went on to be editor of the SPC's Canadian Socialist and the BC Federation of Labour's British Columbia Federationist.
He was prominent BC labour official and SPC federal candidate. He was elected Vancouver alderman when STV was used in two Vancouver elections in 1922 (and again later under Block voting - 1933-1935 and in 1936 as a CCF candidate). He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1923 but failed in part due to vote splitting of left (IRV not used in that election).
In 1930s he spoke out against the use of wards, and today Vancouver aldermen are elected in at-large elections.
He also co-wrote the book The Genesis and Evolution of Slavery Showing how Chattel Slaves of Pagan times have been transformed into the Capitalist Property of Today (1916)
(see Montopedia blog https://montopedia.wixsite.com/montopedia/post/vancouver-s-stv-elections-1921-1922-fair-and-balanced)
(see Wikipedia: "Richard Parmater Pettipiece")
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HISTORIC NOTE:
1901 Robert Tyson, of Toronto, became editor of the Proportional Representation Review, published by the Proportional Representation League (U.S./Canada).
He held this post until 1913. He died the following year.
(see P.R. Review, Oct. 1914, p. 37)
(see Montopedia blog Proportional Representation Review)
(Robert Tyson's name is mentioned in this timeline in about every year until 1914.)
1901 "R.T." [Robert Tyson]. Proportional Voting in municipal elections.
Toronto: Proportional Representation Society of Ontario [1901] (5 pages)
(CIHM 87696)
(Robert Tyson - see 1900)
(Despite Tyson's best literary and lobbying efforts, P.R. was never used in a government election east of Manitoba.)
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1901 Second Political and Social Conference, Detroit. on Direct Legislation but STV used in elections and given prominence.
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1902 G.W. Ross (premier of Ontario) booklet published -- Is the Referendum constitutional?. Transcript of speech given in Ontario Legislature. (listed in P.R. Record 1902ish)
[mentions PR?]
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1902 Canadian Referendum League
Headed by J.F. Thompson, History Master, Simcoe High School
League formed due to success of D.L. Convention, Toronto, Nov. 1898.
Three main goals:
-- Direct Legislation and Proportional representation
-- Nationalization of all public franchises
-- Nationalization of all mines.
(Direct Legislation Record and the Proportional Representation Review Dec. 1902)
(No referendum in Canada has ever resulted in electoral change. Even where referendum result was in favour of change, government has over-ridden the result.)
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1902 George Shibley. Majority Rule in combination with representative government in city, state and nation can be obtained in a non-partisan way and with little effort...
existing system allows rule by the few. (24/128)
message of book "in a nutshell" p. 28
[Majority rule in combination with representative government is pretty much pro-rep.]
"Evils that result from rule of the few" p. 71
quotes Canadian scholar Goldwin Smith on why party government results in rule by the few (31/128)
(But Smith never went on to endorse PR, as Tyson mentions in his writing in 1904.)
Shibley was director of the Research Institute of Washington, D.C. and member, U.S. Supreme Court Bar. (Hathitrust 13960)
chair of the National Federation of Majority-Rule
He contributd article to 1904 Arena on "Majority-rule system constitutional"
Shibley wrote several books on the need for monetary reform and Freedom in 1912, an address by the Progressive Federation, to all progressive non-partisan organizations, an early work of the non-partisan movement.
His proposed constitution for the Progressive Federation included the use of P.R. for executive members, saying "this will result in such a representation that the conflicting interests that are ever present will participate in the work of the executive. This will tend to prevent factional strife. It will result in rep. for the minority, who will thus be able to argue their side of each proposition. This will tend toward a just decision by the executive board and tend also to prevent disruption, a weakness that always comes where the minority are not represented...
STV, "the simplest form" of pro-rep, was to be used "where multiple members are elected to similar offices. The instruction to the voters is to cast a vote for one of the candidates and also to indicate a second choice and a third choice, and the votes is afterward counted to one of these." (p. 14)
(Hathi trust)
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1902 Toronto Federation for Majority Rule.
People's veto and direct initiative. How to get it at the next general election.
Published in Toronto. 2-page broadside. (Weinrich) (see also 1903)
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1902
Robert Tyson. "Needed Political Reforms, Proportional representation or Effective voting. Arena, Dec. 1902 (listed in Preferential vote (U of Oklahoma) Hathi trust online)
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1902/1903 Robert Tyson gave the pro-rep cause a higher profile in Canada when he moderated the use of STV to elect the executive of the Trades and Labour Congress. (Proportional Representation Review Dec. 1902, p. 78; Dec. 1903)
At this time, the TLC passed a resolution in favour of "Proportional Representation in grouped constituencies and abolition of municipal wards."
(for Tyson's STV work with the Toronto TLC, see 1914)
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1902 Direct Legislation Record identified following prominent proportionalists:
John Idington, King's Counsel, Stratford
George Dower, former secretary of the Trades and Labor Congress.
Says the Voice of Winnipeg and The Toiler of Toronto are supportive of P.R. and electoral reform. (Direct Legislation Record 1902 [online 22/180])
1902 Legislative Committee of Toronto City Council recommended that Toronto aldermen and school board trustees be elected at-large using the "Hare-Spence system" (STV).
The proposal was thrown out by the Council, but Alderman Urquhart was mentioned as a supporter of STV.
Proposal for Toronto school board to appeal to Ontario government for right to to use STV narrowly defeated.
Toronto school board trustee John M. Godfrey was supporter of STV. He was likely related to Senator John Godfrey or to MP John Godfrey (1942-2023). (Direct Legislation Record 1902 [online 23/180])
1903 Toronto Federation for Majority Rule, Report of progress. Published in Toronto.
1-page broadside.
Toronto Federation for Majority Rule was "organized to secure the adoption of the people's veto and the direct initiative in the city government." (Weinrich)
(see also 1902)
======
1903-1906
Robert Tyson wrote many published essays on P.R.:
-"Belgian system of Proportional representation". The Arena, Dec. 1903.
-"How P.R. has worked in Belgium" 1904 Jan.-June (vol. 31) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030334265&seq=165&q1=tyson (165/712) goes into detail with correspondence with Count Avila (sp?), how system was imperfect to start
(alternative title "How P.R. was worked in Belgium")
-"Electoral wisdom of Japan" [SNTV] The Arena, Sept. 1904. (287/778)
(47 districts average of 8 members each, range is 5 to 15 (Tokyo with 1.5M residents))
-"Single Vote in plural elections." [SNTV] The Arena, Oct. 1904. (423/778)
examines STV(Hare or Hare-Spence system); Gove, list PR, Cumulative voting.
Tyson states six conclusions
[Arena 1904 says Wetmore's Weekly edited by Claude H. Wetmore
assoc editors: Pomeroy and Tyson)
to succeed the D.L. Record and the P.R. Review, to have D.L and P.R. departments
(735/778)
Hathi trust Wetmore's Weekly :
many more issues available there. about one page devoted to PR news each week
===================================
[George Shibley, chairman of People's Sovereignty League of Washington, contributed many articles]
Arena 1905 "P.R. in Switzerland" The Arena (378/798; 384/746, 494/746) ("Free List system with the Multiple Vote") (see 1905 below)
(Arena July to Dec. 1905
-A series of articles in The Arena under title "A primer of direct legislation":
"Proportional representation" and "The Hare or Hare-Spence system" The Arena, July 1906;
"Absolute majority method" [favours IRV] The Arena, July 1906.
(all listed in The Preferential ballot (U of Oklahoma) (Hathi trust online)).
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1904 Alfred Cridge Proportional representation including its relation to the Initiative and the Referendum (different version from the 1893 edition)
includes an article on P.R. by Robert Tyson in which he discussed PR and the life story of the late Alfred Cridge, who was something of a mentor to Tyson.
(Cridge - see Montopedia blogs on Alfred Cridge and his writings)
=========================================
1904 Earl Grey (the fourth) became Canada's governor General. served to 1911. He was avid fan of pro-rep. Likely he helped influence Ottawa to hold a referendum on adopting STV. Majority of voters voted in favour, but Ontario government refused to allow that change.
(see 1917)
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1904 Cumulative Voting adopted for elections to city boards in Toronto.
The Proportional Representation Review (September 1903) described it like this:
"Cumulative voting as applied to the Board of Control, means that each elector will have four votes but that he need not give each of them to a different candidate. He may do so if he wishes; but he has also the power to give all his four votes to one candidate. This makes "plumping" four times as powerful as it was by the old "block" vote system, when if you "plumped" for one candidate, you threw away three out of your four votes. Now you have the benefit of your full voting power, whether you plump or not. And plumping is the correct thing; in fact proportional representation is simply effective representation with the addition in the best systems of a provision for transfer of votes, so as to prevent wasting too many on one candidate...
Besides permitting an elector to give all four votes to one candidate, the cumulative plan enables him to give two of his votes to one candidate and two to another, or he may give three votes to one candidate and his fourth to another candidate. In fact he may distribute or cumulate his four votes as he pleases....
If one-fourth of the voters give all their votes to one candidate, they can elect him, no matter what the other three-fourths choose to do[...] thus Cumulative Voting if used carefully allows for minority representation." (P.R. Review, Sept 1903)
[But STV secures minority rep for even smaller miniority - in a four-seat district, STV guarantees a seat to any candidate with one-fifth of the vote.]
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Robert Tyson "P.R. in Switzerland"
"Free List system with the Multiple Vote"
uses largest remainder but there was move to go to using fairer but more complicated D'Hondt quota system (Tyson refers to Lt-Col Jules Curie, an officer in the French Army engineers)
as well, Tyson notes Canton Zug uses Cumulative Voting.
(although Sw. used multiple vote, as Tyson mentioned, Tyson's example says 21,000 voters cast 21,000 votes)
(The Arena, vol. 34. 1905) (378/798)
1905 Liberal Conservative Party (Ontario)
A pure ballot and an honest count ... : Ontario elections, 1905, Mr. J.P. Whitney, LL. D., K.C., M.P.P., for premier ... : the record and platform of the Liberal-Conservative Party : development, progress, reform and popular freedom, build up Ontario morally and materially : polling January 25, 1905.
Published [Toronto? : publisher not identified, 1905?]
online: CIHM 86677
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1905 McPherson, William David (1863-1929)
Title The law of elections in Canada
Published Toronto : Canada Law Book Company, 1905.
online: CIHM 85382
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1908 Robert Tyson. "Various voting methods" Arena, Jan. 1908, p. 60
Tyson defined
-"Full Proportional Representation" (where balance is fine enough that each voting block elects member(s) separately and any voting block with quota elects one member), as compared to
-"Partial Proportional Representation" (where two or more quotas are necessary to elect one member). This is due to low DM or less than perfect method.
Tyson identified these election methods:
Single-winner (FPTP),
Multi-member districts but using Block Voting;
Limited vote (ordinary form) where voter has number of votes equivalent to more than half the seats being filled);
Limited vote (special form) where voter has number of votes equivalent to less than half the seats being filled);
Cumulative Voting
Cleveland System (preponderance of choice)
The Free List with Multiple or Block Voting
Variants of the Free List:
-votes placed on candidates [open-list];
-cumulative voting as to parties prefered,
-limited voting as to parties prefered;
-single voting as used in Belgium. to this might be attached the Proxy Plan where
each elected member carries with him the number of votes he received in the last
election.
(List PR will use one of a variety of quota systems:
-Hare quota
-Droop quota
-D'Hondt system (used in Belgian elections)
-These systems may exclude small parties that do not receive enough vote to pass a pre-set threshold.
Single untransferable voting (what we call Single Non-Transferable Voting )
Single Transferable Voting (a number of systems that incorporate direct or indirect transfer of surpus votes and votes from eliminated candidates.)
These systems include:
-Hare or Hare-Spence system
-Gove System
Proxy Plan, where each elected member carries with him the number of votes he received in the last election.
Free List with Single Vote
Absolute Majority method [Alternative Voting or Instant-Runoff Voting] (The Hare or Gove plan can be adapted to single-winner contest).
Tyson closed with this remark:
"Much progress is being made in electoral reform in widely-separated countries, and the outlook for purified politics is encouraging and hopeful."
=====
1909 -- House of Commons passed a motion made by F.D. Monk, K.C. to appoint a committee of The HofC to investigate methods of P.R. (Humphreys, P.R. (1911), p. 124)
[I have seen nothing about the Committee's findings.]
Frederick Debartzsch Monk was an Ontario Conservative MP from 1896 to 1914.
see Montopedia blog: https://montopedia.wixsite.com/montopedia/post/1909-mp-monk-pushed-bill-to-form-hofc-committee-to-investigate-pro-rep-ottawa-canadian-governme
1909 Freemasons. Proportionate representation as the basis for grand lodge officers. Toronto : [publisher not identified], 1909
(CIHM 79333) [Perhaps shows that non-government organizations were using STV! Even today major political parties in Canada elect their leaders through a non-FPTP system - IRV. But meanwhile voters in elections are constrained to cast their vote under the disproportional FPTP system.]
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HISTORIC NOTE:
1909 House of Commons private member bill for committe to be formed to investigate STV. Passed. But no action was taken. (Western Globe, June 29, 1909)
Senator Richard Cartwright called for grouped districts. (Western Globe, June 29, 1909)
===
1911 Charles Beard's Loose leaf digest of short ballot charters, (NY 1911) contained:
Robert Tyson "Preferential voting" p. 21,301-21,304
Robert Tyson "Proportional representation through the single transferable vote" p. 21, 501-21, 502.
(mentioned in The Preferential Vote (Oklahoma Univ.) p. 46 circa)
1912 Robert Tyson wrote a series of articles in Grain Growers Guide on PR, calling for STV but discussing list PR and SNTV.
The Guide's publication of info. on electoral reform helped push the Canadian Council of Agriculture to endorse that reform. The farmer movement as a whole had interlocking interests in Direct Legislation, electoral reform, Henry George single tax, monetary reform/Social Credit, and more, with the women's wings of the provincial farmers' movements being also active in the drive for Prohibition and female suffrage.
(Robert Tyson - see 1900)
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1913 Direct Legislation
Toward democracy, or, The revival of an old idea : direct legislation the next step in democracy
Published Winnipeg : Grain Growers' Guide, 1913.
(CIHM 9-90583) (not in Peel)
1913 George Robson Coldwell, MLA. The fallacies of direct legislation.
[Winnipeg? : publisher not identified, 1913?]
Coldwell says Direct Legislation runs against principles of representative government.
G.R. Coldwell was Conservative MLA 1907-1915. Indicted on charges of fraud, he did not seek re-election in 1915. (not to be confused with CCF MP M.J. Coldwell )
(CIHM 77603) (Peel 3876)
1913 Toronto District Labour Council of Toronto used STV to elect its executive and also three delegates to the central Canadian Labour Congress. Aug. 1914 Labour Council gave Robert Tyson a leather chair as a gift for his work managing the STV elections of the Labour Council's executive and committees over the previous 20 years. Tyson recalled that these elections mostly used the Hare Quota and the "chance" method for the transfer of surplus votes. The Droop quota was used a couple times but it was found that with the chance method of transfer, the Hare quota worked better. (1913 Equity magazine, v. 15-16, online 203/462; 1914 Equity magazine, (online v. 15-16, 451/462)) (see 1897)
HISTORIC NOTE:
Lethbridge was first city in Canada/U.S. to adopt a non-plurality system for election of its city administration.
Lethbridge adopted single-winner Alternative Voting. P.R. Review, Oct. 1914 noted this, saying AV is "quite a different thing from P.R. but is of interest to many proportionalists."
(Circa 1914, Alternative Voting/Instant-Runoff Voting was sometimes called the Ware method. Ware's system however was the two-round single-winner system known today as the Supplementary Vote.)
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Outline of subsequent steps to STV in Alberta elections, 1913-1926
Lethbridge city elections - Lethbridge disbanded its city council. Its board of commissioners was elected in single-winner contests using ranked ballots (Alternative Voting), starting in 1913.
(old publications called it "Hare-Spence" or the "Western Australian method.")
Calgary city began to use STV in 1917
STV set up for provincial referendum on Prohibition in 1923, to choose best of four options. (One - government sale of liquor and bars - won with majority on the first count.)
Edmonton city began to use STV in 1923
Alberta provincial STV was adopted in 1924 -
Edmonton and Calgary elected five MLAs each, in city-wide districts
Medicine Hat elected two MLAs, in district that covered the city plus much
surrounding countryside.
First use of STV in provincial general election in 1926.
(Lethbridge, which had started the process, finally brought in STV for its city elections in 1928.)
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HISTORIC NOTE:
Around 1914 many North American cities switched, or considered switching, to the Commission Plan or Commission-Manager Plan of civic government. These plans concentrated power in just a few hands (the Board of Commissioners, sometimes with a Manager) sometimes with no city council at all. Under a strict Commission Plan, the new powerful commissioners were elected, and to have democratic accountability, Pro-Rep was often a component of the new system.
(At the same time, many cities were considering adopting Direct Legislation (Initiative, Referendum and Recall) as well.
St. John (N.B.) made the switch to Commission government in 1913.
Lethbridge made the switch in January 1914, dismantling its city council altogether. The Commissioners were elected by IRV. (see GGG, April 15, 1914)
Edmonton considered the switch to Elective Commission in 1913/1914.
The Clean Government League published Elective Commission -- The Business Plan of Municipal Government in 1913.
In December 1913, mayoral candidate William McNamara campaigned for the Commission Plan and was elected mayor. (GGG, Jan. 21, 1914, p. 9)
Following the election the city swirled with discussion of the commission form of city government.
(see Edmonton Bulletin, Feb. 10, 1914, p. 10; Nov. 28, 1914, p. 1; June 17, 1914, p. 5)
Various ballots designs were considered - STV or IRV using number ranking or columns, Bucklin, weighted Bucklin, a Bucklin-IRV hybrid. The "Edmonton Ballot" was devised to combine IRV for commissioners and IRV for mayor. (Edmonton Capital, August 24, 1914)
A new city constitution was hammered out, including IRV for election of commissioners, and a confirming referendum scheduled for Dec. 1914. But then two of the Plan's supporters, Mayor McNamara and Councillor James East, were forced to resign due to conflict-of-interest infractions. Perhaps due to this unhappy connection, the Elective Commission Plan met stony reception in December 1914, when most of the voters voted against it. (see Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 15, 1914)
(Voters later deep-sixed Commission form of government in votes held in 1920, 1921, and 1926.)
see Montopedia blog: "1913/1914 Edmonton almost switched to Elective Commission Plan...."
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1914 -- Toronto Railway Employees Union, with 2000 members, used STV for its elections in a two-day convention. Polling was done at several polling places in the convention and hours of voting were long to convenience the streetcar-men who worked different shifts. (1914 Equity magazine, p. 204 (online v. 15-16, 451/462))
(1915 -- Due to Direct Legislation laws on the books, Alberta held a referendum on Prohibition. A majority voted in favour. Some claimed that Switzerland's adoption of D.L. led to adoption of P.R. -- see Montopedia: "Timeline of Electoral reform".)
[1915] W.W. (Wilbur William) Andrews (1859-1922)
Our national sin : something for nothing.
Toronto : Issued by the Dept. of Social Service and Evangelism of the Methodist Church [published between 1915 and 1925].
mentions Proportional Representation.
(CIHM 98780)
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HISTORIC NOTE:
1915 Ottawa held a referendum on adopting STV for city elections. Majority of voters voted in favour. But Ontario government refused to allow that change.
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1916 The Crisis in party politics and the way out. The method and advantages of P.R. and an illustrative election (1916)
Published: Vancouver: Westminster Review Pub. Office, 1916.
(CIHM 76838) (Hathi trust online)
Not mentioned in Pilon, Drive for PR in BC (1994)
(The Westminster Review was published from November 1915 to December 1917, then it was published as British Columbia Monthly: The Magazine of the Canadian West from January 1918 until its last number was produced in December 1927. (from Wiki: "British Columbia Magazine". Likely published in Vancouver.)
Confusingly, a magazine of the name Westminster Review was also published in Britain, 1824-1914.)
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1916 Grain Growers Guide reprinted an incisive piece on P.R. from the Westminster Review*. It said it did this because several farmer organization locals had expressed an interest in holding a debate among their members on Proportional Representation that coming winter. (GGG, Oct. 4, 1916, p. 10)
(perhaps this is an excerpt from The Crisis in Party Politics...?)
[*don't know which WMR this was, the B.C. one or the British one]
===
[1916?] Calgary discussing city P.R.
P.R. Society of Calgary was invited to propose something (P.R. Record online149/240)
[I don't know when this group was formed]
[1916?] booklet? P.R. and City Government by C.J. Yorath was distributed in Saskatchewan.
(P.R. Record online 149/240) [perhaps in hathi trust?]
[formerly Calgary city commissioner, by 1916 perhaps city commissioner of Saskatoon]
(P.R. was put into use at the city level in four Sask. cities.)
========
1917 Earl Grey on PR in Equity, July 1917.
(see When Canada Had PR, p. 15 for excerpt)
The Fourth Earl Grey served as Canada's governor general 1904-1911. The Grey Cup was his contribution to Canadian sport.
Self-described as a perfect fanatic on the subject of electoral reform, a prominent member of the Proportional Represention League (U.K.)
1917 Harold Begbie. Albert Fourth Earl Grey A Last Word.
PR discussed on page 75-78
(CIHM 71702)
see also Earl Grey Education and pro rep fallacies (CIHM not seen)
(see 1904)
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(1917 federal election - Borden's Union government was re-elected
but this was in part due to voter supression, targetted enfranchisement and vote placement:
-disenfranchisement of naturalized citizens who had come to Canada since 1904?
-enfranchisement of female citizens who had relatives serving in the army
-the government being able to place the army vote where it was needed by the government candidates, in cases where the voter, say a U.S. citizen serving in the Canadian army, had never had a residence in Canada. (This was the charge made by W.W. McInnes when speaking in Calgary in December 1917. The former Vancouver judge, running as a Laurier candidate, called on "every free Canadian citizen to rally to the forces of democracy and vote to save their Canada from the hands of the autocratic despoilers." (Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 8, 1917).
Aside from election shenanigans, the Borden government made a campaign promise that it would not conscript men who were working in the hard-pressed agricultural sector.
When only months later the government broke this promise, it helped to turn western Canadian voters away from both the old-line parties. And in the next federal election neither party took any federal seats in Alberta.
As well, dissatisfaction with the Borden government and with the Alberta Liberal government (which had been in power more than a decade) gave rise to to a strong organized Labour movement and organized Farmer movement. The IWW, the OBU, the DLP/CLP, the NPL and the UFA were main carriers of these beliefs.
The formation of labour councils in Calgary and Edmonton helped cause need for multi-party politics and thus pro-rep at the city level.
The support of P.R.-friendly officials, such as Calgary city commissioners Yorath and Samis, Alberta Legislature clerk John D. Hunt and J.M. Miller (Edm. city clerk), was likely pivotal in STV's successful adoption and use.
Labour city councillors -- Fred White (Calgary), James East (Edmonton) and others - were strong supporters of P.R.
Edmonton business-slate councillors Izena Ross and Bickerton Pratt also pulled for STV, or at least voted in favour of holding a referendum on the question. (Edm. Bulletin, Dec. 17, 1922)
As well, the Conservative party, a long time suffering under-representation in Alberta elections, saw P.R. as a way to get its fair share of seats. The Edmonton Journal, a Conservative newspaper, was a strong proponent of P.R. in the late 1910s and early 1920s. It devoted a full page to STV publicity in its Feb. 14, 1920 issue.
(The Conservative party elected no MLAs in the 1921 election.
Under STV in 1926 Conservatives took four seats in Edmonton and Calgary;
under STV in 1955 Conservatives took two seats in the two cities;
under FPTP in 1959 Conservatives took just one seat in the two cities.)
=========
1917 Calgary was first city in Canada to adopt STV
1917 9 elected -- 6 were elected to 2-year terms, three to one-year terms
Calgary had population of about 66,000 in 1917. (1917 Henderson's Directory, p. 39)
STV in use until 1960, and in 1971.
Annual elections, so any casual vacancies filled in next election.
Two-year terms, staggered terms, half of councillors up for election each year (except 1961 and 1971 when all the seats filled).
Gregory Method (version unknown) was used for transfers of surplus votes.
at first elections were held at-large, city-wide
DM varied from five to nine, variance due to casual vacancies.
1917 9 elected -- 6 to 2-year terms, three to one-year terms
from 1918 to 1960, DM ranged from 6 to 8. (5 to 9?)
1960 adopted two-seat wards - 1961 both seats filled at same time.
Through 1960s most seats elected singly in alternating years, through IRV.
1971 both seats in each ward filled by STV.
1961, 1971 two-seat wards.
three times in 1960s -- both seats in a ward were filled at the same time, due to casual vacancy (so STV was used.)
HISTORIC NOTE:
Calgary's adoption of STV in 1917 was copied by 18 other municipalities within the next 17 years. Lethbridge adopted STV later, in 1928. All except Calgary, Winnipeg and some Winnipeg-area suburbs dropped STV by 1930. Saskatoon was only one (so far) to put STV into use again later. (see 1920, 1923, Saskatoon 1939)
========
1917 BC passed law allowing STV in cities. (see PR Review, July 1917. 199/240)
1917/1918 Nelson and several other BC cities adopted STV.
(see Pilon Drive for P.R. in BC)
===
1918 John D. Hunt The Dawn of a New Patriotism (1918)
(CIHM 83522)
also author of Democracy in Canada (the last chapter of The Dawn of a New Patriotism... printed as separate monograph as well.
(The Alberta Legislature Library has a copy)
John D. Hunt was clerk of the executive council of Alberta in the 1920s and was the force behind Alberta adopting STV-PR in 1924. (Of course the government in power at the time - the United Farmers of Alberta - played an important part as well.) (Actually Alberta adopted a hybrid STV/IRV system. In 1926 Alberta was the first legislature in North America to hold an election where all its members were elected using non-plurality methods - the proportional STV or the majoritarian Instant-Runoff Voting system.)
(see 1924)
Two files at the PAA contain information concerning his work for the Legislative Assembly, some of which centred around the introduction of STV in Alberta provincial elections, including correspondence with Humphreys and Hallett.
PR1969.0289/194 1-600-31
======
1919 William Irvine. Group Government. talks of P.R. The concept of Group government that each occupation group should have its due share of seats is similar to P.R. idea that each voting block should have its due share of seats.
========
1919 Canadian Council of Agriculture. A new national policy. (1919)
image 9 discusses pro-rep.
(CIHM 81359) (also CIHM 97623)
(a Canadian Council of Agriculture staffperson also wrote a leaflet on P.R. (see 1920)
United Farmers of Alberta. How to organize and carry on a local of the United Farmers of Alberta. Calgary: Office of the Province Secretary, U.F.A, 1919?.
(CIHM 9-90016) (Peel 4540)
p. 37 recounts how in 1919 the farmers movement endorsed pro-rep and other reforms, and also voted to engage in independent politics.
Suggests this sentence as subject for debate as an alternative activity for local club members: "Resolved that Proportional Representation is preferable to single member constituencies."
[thus clearly seeing that proportionality cannot happen in single-member districts but only through multi-member districts or some form of pooling of the vote]
Said that material on Pro-rep was available from the Faculty of Extension, UofA.
(By 1920 STV was being used to elect the provincial executive of the UFA.)
1919 [Proportional Representation Society of Canada] The first municipal P.R. elections in the United Kingdom: Sligo (Ireland) municipal elections, January, 1919 : a practical demonstration of the working of the single transferable vote. [Ottawa: Proportional Representation Society of Canada], 1919.
(PRSC P.R. pamphlet No. 8) [don't what previous seven pamphlets were ]
(CIHM 99422)
======
1919 Education, Social and Moral Reform, P.R. (Liberal Party of Ontario. 1919)
(CIHM 65659) (Hathi trust online)
HISTORIC NOTE:
As farmer, labour and public service organizations pushed for electoral reform, Mackenzie King's Liberal Party passed a resolution in favour of electoral reform in 1919.
King promised electoral reform as he fought the 1921 election.
(see 1921)
=======
Historic note:
January 1920 Premier Norris of Manitoba and his attorney-general contacted Ronald Hooper, an authority on P.R. living in Ontario at the time, about possibility of using STV in provincial elections. The government had already given Winnipeg ten seats, up from 4, and was concerned that Labour might take eight or nine, or none at all, any of which might happen under FPTP. Hooper later recalled "The government of the day did not want to take all the seats, and Mr. Johnson [the attorney-general) was statesmanlike enough to realize that it would be bad for the city of Winnipeg, and if labour got no representation, the matter would not end there." Hooper assured the government leaders that P.R. would merely give labour and non-labour representation in the provincial legislature in proportion to the votes" however they were placed. (from Hooper's evidence to 1936 Special Committee (see 1936))
Based on that advice, the government decided to adopt STV for election of the ten Winnipeg MLAs in a city-wide district.
This was the largest DM used under STV in a government election up to that time, although the 1917 Calgary city election had elected 9 quite successfully.
Manitoba's 33-year use of STV, and Alberta's, which went from 1924 to 1956, together made up the deepest experience of STV at the legislative level in all of North America.
(1920 Manitoba -- adoption of STV to elect Winnipeg MLAs.
STV used at provincial level to 1954, with two different districting schemes:
-- 1920 to 1949 -- DM-10 in Winnipeg city-wide district. (largest DM used to elect legislators using STV in the world up to that time). Optional-preferential voting. Whole-vote "exact method" used for transfers of surplus votes (see footnote).
-- 1949, 1953 -- Winnipeg used three districts DM 4.
1954 end of provincial PR in Manitoba -- seats in Winnipeg area increased by four, system changed to single-member districts and FPTP. (AV used in rural districts 1923-1954)
1920 also saw Winnipeg adopt STV for city elections.
(1920 Manitoba -- adoption of STV in Winnipeg city elections. in use at city level until 1970. DM-3 -- 6 members in each district. half of members elected each election (staggered terms). Casual vacancies filled by byelection (held at time of next election). The whole-vote "exact method" used for transfer of surplus votes.
(Winnipeg had 179,000 residents at this point in time.)
3-5 Labour councillors were elected in the 1920 city election. (according to early returns reported in the Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 4, 1920, p. 1). Such was the consistent result for Labour, although in 1934 Labour support soared, and Labour councillors and Communist councillors plus a Labour mayor eked out a narrow majority in the city hall.
(complaint was made that 9000 votes were rejected in 1920 because the voter had marked an X instead of numbers.) (Edmonton Bulletin, Dec. 8, 1920, p. 5)
1920 Manitoba -- adoption of STV to elect Winnipeg MLAs.
STV used at provincial level to 1954, with two different districting schemes:
-- 1920 to 1949 -- DM-10 in Winnipeg city-wide district. (largest DM used to elect legislators using STV in the world up to that time). Optional-preferential voting. Whole-vote "exact method" used for transfers of surplus votes (see footnote).
-- 1949, 1953 -- Winnipeg used three districts DM 4.
(1954 end of provincial PR in Manitoba -- seats in Winnipeg area increased by four, system changed to single-member districts and FPTP.
(single-winner Alternative Voting (AV) used in rural districts 1923-1954))
=====
1920 Edmonton Journal Feb. 14, 1920 devoted a full page to a discussion of P.R.
The cause of the Journal's in-depth reportage of P.R. was the use of STV to elect the UFA executive in a provincial convention.
E.J. Fream submitted an article on the subject "The Hare System of the Single Transferable Vote illustrated in Alberta as used in the election of the UFA executive."
The use of STV at UFA conventions then and later helped prove STV's safety and usefulness to Alberta voters.
======================
1920 Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association (SGGA)
J.B. Musselman (SGGA secretary), New Provincial Political Platform.
"This is not a party movement. either for or against the existing government. It is primarily an expression of political independence from the old party methods and a demand for truly democratic expression at the polls. Instead of electing supporters or opponents of a party leader who either is or hopes to become premier, the electors are demanding a means for intelligent expression of their own views at the polls and we believe that by the method proposed this can be accomplished." (from New Provincial Political Platform)
(CIHM 99025)
=====
1920 Your Committee have given special attention to P.R. as a method of voting (Social Service Council of Canada, Committee on Political Purity and the Franchise, 1920)
(Hathi trust online -- CIHM 80353)
1920 Charles Mullen, Proportional Representation and Municipal Government (1920)
[published in Montreal]
[not actually available online, available at UofA Library and many other major university libraries across Canada]
1920 J.A.S. (J.A. Stephenson) Proportional representation A truly democratic form of voting for government - just what it means and how it works. published in Winnipeg by Canadian Council of Agriculture.
Stevenson, a writer for the CCA, was also author of Profiteering and Where the Farmer touches city labor (these are both listed in Weinrich, Social Protest).
[Writings such as these encouraged the UFA to promise to bring in PR if elected - and helped the UFA actually fulfill that promise.)
1920 Proportional Representation Society of Canada.
Proportional Representation and National Confidence in Parliament. Statement submitted by the PRSC to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, with an Introductory Note Showing the Increasing Acceptance of P.R. in Canada.
March, 1920. (P.R. Pamphlet No. 7) perhaps 12 pages in length
(Hathi trust but not available to Canadian readers or possibly not at all; perhaps House of Commons Library has a copy))
Perhaps PRSC had seven publications (or more) but only two even listed on in Hathi trust online.
1920 - British Representation League established in Toronto as a force against P.R. its chairman, J.R. McNichol, described P.R. as a menace to the British constitution. (Bassano Mail, Dec. 2, 1920, p. 3)
(He likely was John Ritchie MacNichol, who went on to be president of the federal Conservative party from 1925 to 1943.)
1920 - former Winnipeg General Strike leader and jailbird Fred Dixon, speaking in Edmonton, called for Proportional Representation. (Edmonton Bulletin, April 21, 1920, page 3). (see Montopedia blog - https://montopedia.wixsite.com/montopedia/post/winnipeg-labour-man-called-for-active-citizenry-after-general-strike)
1920/1921 Vancouver and Victoria adopted STV. [check] (By then, Nelson and some other BC cities that had adopted STV in 1917/1918 had already dropped it.)
1921 United Farmers of Alberta pushed for electoral reform. Three sitting MLAs called for the change - Non-Partisan League's Louise McKinney and James Weir, [at least I expect that to be the case] and an UFA MLA Moore. The Liberal government of Alberta formed a royal commission. Legislative Clerk of the Legislative Council, John D. Hunt, wrote a report on the use of Proportional Representation in other countries and the reasons to have it in Alberta. (The report was shelved and, it seems, all copies were destroyed.)
An abridgement of his research was published by the UFA at the time of the 1921 provincial election:
Present Electoral system condemned - John D. Hunt, clerk of the Legislative Council, denounces system which allows manipulation by unscrupulous politicians. Proportional Representation only fair method -- Works well with occupational groups. Also attacks autocratic power of cabinet and caucus.
(Peel 9355)
HISTORIC NOTE:
1921 provincial election -- The United Farmers of Alberta, the largest farmer lobby group in the province, ran official party candidates and promised to reform the election system. its campaign literature ("UFA Reconstructive Legislative Program") called for "Proportional Representation for all classes of the community according to their numerical strength." This was to be produced by "Proportional Representation [in the cities] and a preferential ballot in the single-member constituencies." (Manitoba Free Press, July 25, 1921)
1921 federal election -- King promised electoral reform as he fought the 1921 election.
After he won with a slight majority, nothing immediately was done.
A Progressive Party MP, William Good, put forward a motion to the House of Commons advocating a reform in advance of the next election:
“one or more multi-member constituencies” would be created “for the purpose of demonstrating the working and effects of the system of true proportional representation.” The motion was defeated, although Prime Minister MacKenzie King himself voted in favour.
Later [1925?] King's government formed an all-party "Committee appointed to consider the Subject of Proportional Representation and the single transferable or preferential vote."
Nothing came of it. The committee recommended no change because the MPs on the committee said they had not seen evidence that proportional representation would be “conducive to good government.”
Labour MP A.A. Heaps tried to get the committee members to fulfill their own party's promise but was ignored. (FVC website: "100 year of broken promises"))
====
1921 election flawed, said Ronald Hooper
"Clearly we ought not to retain a system of election that so threatens the unity of Canada as to give whole cities and whole provinces over to one political creed," Hooper summed up.
Hooper's views were presented in the January 1922 Proportional Representation Review (available on-line)
Around 1923 (exact date unknown)) he presented evidence on P.R. to an Ontario Legislative Assembly body
(in 1936 he presented evidence to the House of Commons Special Committee on electoral reform). (see 1936)
====
1921 Edmonton city --The ILP did not take any seats in 1921 although its most-popular candidate - George L. Ritchie - received a vote from 15 percent of the voters (which under STV would have been enough to win a seat in a 6-seat contest.)
The Block voting system used in 1921 in Edmonton allowed the business slate to take all but one of the seats.
1922 Edmonton city -- majority of voters voted to adopt STV for next election, electing councillors in city-wide district.
Apparently there was great dissatisfaction with the 1921 election result. Labour councillors pulled for STV as did a couple business-slate councillors - Izena Ross and Bickerton Pratt. (Edmonton Bulletin, Jan. 17, 1922)
As well, Edmonton voters could see Calgary's success with STV since 1917, Winnipeg's success with it since 1920, and the successful use of STV in Vancouver and Victoria, Regina and Saskatoon in 1921 and 1922. These factors and others caused a majority of Edmonton voters to vote for STV when it came up for referendum in Dec. 1922, leading to the city using it for city elections starting in 1923.
1923 Edmonton adopted STV for city elections. STV in use until 1927.
City-wide district already being used under Block Voting so that at-large districting continued. Annual elections, so any casual vacancies filled in next election.
Two-year terms, staggered terms, half of councillors up for election each year.
DM varied from five to seven.
Whole-vote "exact method" used for transfer of surplus votes.
1923-1927 Edmonton used STV to elect its city councillors and school board trustees.
Edmonton dropped STV after voters in 1927 signalled they wanted to return to Block Voting.
(Edmonton did not go to single-member winner-take-all FPTP war elections until 2010.)
1923 Instant-Runoff Voting used for cancel-prohibition referendum. Government sale of booze and private beer parlours got majority of votes in 1st Count.
(1924 Alberta -- adoption of STV to elect provincial members in Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat. city-wide districts - Edmonton and Calgary each with 5 members, M.H. 2 members. (These MMDs were in existence prior to STV being adopted.) Optional-preferential voting. Droop quota. Whole-vote "exact method" used for transfers of surplus votes (see footnote).
(before the next election in 1930, M.H. divided into two single-member districts.
Later Edmonton and Calgary DM increased to 6 seats, back to 5, up to 6 again, then Edmonton up to 7. (STV dropped in 1956, replaced by single-member districts and FPTP.)
In almost all the STV elections in Edmonton and Calgary, 3 or 4 parties were represented among each city's MLAs.
1926 Edmonton: four parties represented among the city's MLAs.
Winning candidates received 15,000 votes, 82 percent of the 18,000 valid votes.
Overall, 8501, 57 percent of the winning candidates' vote totals, were made up of first preferences.
Overall, at least 11,200, at least 75 percent of the winning candidates' vote totals, were made up of first and second preferences.
1923 United Farmers of Ontario. Proportional representation and the transferable vote in single member constituencies. Published in Toronto (four pages)
UFO had been in power 1919 to 1921 but by 1923 it had missed its chance to bring in PR.
(Weinrich Social Protest)
(Around 1923 (exact date unknown) evidence on P.R. presented to an Ontario Legislative Assembly body.)
========
1924 Canadian House of Commons discussed proportional representation.
14th Parliament, Third session. 14-15 George V 1924
Ronald Hooper gave evidence.
[did see the transcript of the discussion one but can't find it now]
=====
1924 John D. Hunt A Key to P.R. (1924)
explained the workings of STV, using whole-vote "exact method" for transfer of surplus votes.
(Hunt's booklet A Key to P.R. (1924) is accessible in Peel's PP website and also reproduced in the book A Report on Alberta Elections and in the 100 years of Democracy volume of the [2005] Centennial Series.)
(John D. Hunt see 1917)
HISTORIC NOTE:
In 1924, Alberta adopted STV in cities and Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) elsewhere in provincial elections. This mixed system was in use in Alberta elections 1924-1956.
Manitoba, already using STV in Winnipeg, adopted Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) elsewhere in provincial elections. In use 1924-1953.
(IRV was used in all districts in BC in 1951 and 1952.)
=======
1926 Alberta election
first provincial election in Canada where all the elected members are elected by non-plurality systems.
1929 J.S. Woodsworth. Labor's case in Parliament: A summary and compilation of the speeches of J.S. Woodsworth in the Canadian House of Commons 1921-1928. [Ottawa]: Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad Employees, 1929.
Canada's pre-eminent lefty of his time, J.S. Woodsworth, called for "Proportional Representation with grouped constituencies" in a book of his speeches published in 1929.
"Proportional Representation with grouped constituencies" at the time meant STV - ranked votes, single voting and multi-member districts.
Page 76 to 78 also concern that type of electoral reform.
(Peel 10437)
(see Montopedia blog for excerpts on this material.)
=====
1930 Joseph P. Harris
The Practical Workings of Proportional Representation in the U.S. and Canada (1930)
A detailed examination of processes of STV and some variations.
Discusses "fixed quota" as a means of making it simpler to communicate and thus easier to sell (p. 3)
As well, contains a city-by-city chronology of the use of STV
including Calgary (p. 365) and Winnipeg (p. 366).
====
HISTORIC NOTE:
1935 Alberta Social Credit League convention called for five-seat districts across the province, with STV to be used to elect the MLAs. At that time Malta national elections had exactly that system and had had for 15 years. But Alberta never did apply STV outside Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat.
===
HISTORIC NOTE:
1936 The Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts
The House of Commons formed a special committee to investigate P.R. and electoral reform.
In the end, the Special Committe ruled against change.
Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts was struck to examine “the proportional representation system; the alternative vote in single-member constituencies; compulsory registration of voters; and compulsory voting.”
The study took a reserved approach and came out against electoral reform.
Ronald Hooper, self-taught PR expert, editor of the Winnipeg Tribune, reeve of the St. John rural municipality (in the Winnipeg area), gave evidence.
(his appearance is referred to on page 97 and 100. His appearance begins on page 101 and continues to page 126
In its 1936 report recommending against electoral system reform, the Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts questioned whether the adoption of either some form of PR [its focus was on STV] or the AV would work across the Dominion of Canada and be “conducive to good government.” It appears that the Special Committee’s focus went beyond how electoral system change could impact the representativeness of Parliament, in terms of how votes were translated into seats, to what could be meant as “good government.”
see:
(House of Commons, Special Committee on Elections and Franchise Acts, Fourth and Last Report, Journals, 1st Session, 18th Parliament, 11 June 1936, pp. 446–448; and Second and Last Report, Journals, 2nd Session, 18th Parliament, 6 April 1937, pp. 390–394.62)
The transcript of the Committee proceedings is available online at:
see Montopedia blog: https://montopedia.wixsite.com/montopedia/post/1936-house-of-commons-special-committee-on-elections-and-franchise-acts-did-not-endorse-stv
============
1939 Saskatoon -- Saskatoon adopted STV a second time. No other city that discarded STV has ever picked it up again (at least not yet). Saskatoon kept it to 1942.
====
1940s (perhaps 1930s)
Wilson M. Southam of the Ottawa Citizen, a leading figure in the Southam chain of Canadian newspapers, was said to be the Canadian P. R. movement's most active and effective leader since Ronald Hooper. (1948 National Muncipality Review)
HISTORIC NOTE:
1944 Alberta election saw 23 percent vote for CCF but it won only two seats, both in districts where STV was used. If the CCF had had 23 percent of the seats, likely Alberta's whole subsequent history would have been different, especially as Tommy Douglas's CCF government, elected next door, would have influenced our own political culture.
1949 Manitoba changed its election system.
Winnipeg was henceforth three 4-seat districts and St. Boniface had two seats.
They all elected their MLAs using STV.
HISTORIC NOTE:
1951 BC adopted Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) in provincial elections. IRV in use in 1951 and 1952 provincial elections. BC used mixture of single-member and multi-member districts at that time.
======
1954 Manitoba dropped STV
(1954 seats in Winnipeg area increased by four. (Greater Winnipeg went from 16 to 20 seats.)
system changed to single-member districts and FPTP.
(single-winner Alternative Voting (AV) used in rural districts 1923-1954))
(Winnipeg continued to use STV for city elections until about 1970)
1956 Alberta dropped STV
(Calgary continued to use STV for city elections)
HISTORIC NOTE:
1971 Calgary city election -- last use of STV in a government election in Canada.
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