1917 Alberta general election

1917 Alberta general election

7 June 1917 (1917-06-07)
58 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 30 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Arthur Sifton Edward Michener Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1910 1910 Leader's seat Vermilion Red Deer Last election 39 seats, 49.2% 17 seats, 45.1% Seats before 39 17 Seats won 34 19 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 54,212 47,055 Percentage 48.14% 41.79% Swing 1.1% 3.3%   Third party Fourth party   ANPL Leader None William Irvine Party Alberta Non-Partisan League Labor Representation Leader since n/a 1917 Leader's seat n/a ran in South Calgary Last election pre-creation pre-creation Seats before n/a 0 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 2,700 3,576 Percentage 3 3.17% Swing n/a 3.2
Premier before election Arthur Sifton Liberal Premier after election Arthur Sifton Liberal

The 1917 Alberta general election was the fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener.

Because of World War I, eleven Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were re-elected by acclamation, under Section 38 of the Election Act, which stipulated that any member of the 3rd Alberta Legislative Assembly, would be guaranteed re-election, with no contest held, if members joined for war time service. Eleven MLAs were automatically re-elected through this clause. (None were re-elected in the next election.)

In addition, soldiers and nurses from Alberta serving in WWI elected two MLAs. Two extra seats were thus added just for this election. The MLAs were non-partisan officially. But both Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams allied themselves to Labour and Non-Partisan League MLAs by showing social consciousness in regards the conditions available for returned soldiers and working families.

In 1917, the main issue facing the nation was conscription. In Alberta, where support for conscription was high, the incumbent Liberal government of Arthur Sifton decided to break with federal Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier and support Conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden's efforts to form a coalition government. The two major parties both supported conscription, but growing labour and farmer activism, and the entry of women into politics, both as voters and candidates, made the election exciting enough that 30,000 more votes were cast than in the previous election (although they were nothing like the high numbers that would be cast in the 1921 election).

This was the last time Liberals won an Alberta provincial election. The 1917 election was the tightest majority ever formed in Alberta history, with the combined opposition equaling 71% of the MLAs on the government benches. Premier Sifton resigned in October 1917 in order to serve in the federal Unionist government of Prime Minister Borden and was replaced by Charles Stewart.

This was the first election in Alberta that women (those who were British subjects or Canadian citizens more than 20 years of age who were not Treaty Indian) had the right to vote and run. Two women were elected in the legislature that year. One of these was Roberta MacAdams, elected as one of two representatives of soldiers and nurses serving in WWI. The other, Louise McKinney, was elected as a candidate of the Non-Partisan League. Her election and the election of fellow NPL candidate James Weir were harbingers of the rise of farmer politics that would see the election of the UFA government in 1921.

The Alberta Labor Representation League, which opposed conscription, elected one member in Calgary, Alex Ross.

The vote in the Athabasca district was conducted on 27 June 1917 due to the remoteness of the riding.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
				1913	Elected	% Change	#	%*	% Change
	Liberal	Arthur Sifton	49	38/391	34	-12.8%	54,212	48.14%	-1.09%	Conservative	Edward Michener	48	17	19	+11.8%	47,055	41.79%	-3.31%
	Non-Partisan League	None	5		2		2700	2%		Labor Representation	William Irvine	2		1		3,576	3.17%
	Socialist	Charles M. O'Brien	3	-	-	-	784	0.70%	-1.17%
	Independent		9	-	0		4000	4%	+2.08%
Sub-total			114	55/561	56	-	96,985	100%
	Soldiers' vote (Province at large)		2		2		8,000	30%
	Soldiers' vote (Province at large)		19		0		17,000	70%
Total			135	55/56	58	+3.6%	125,898
Source: Elections Alberta

• percentage based on vote cast in Alberta districts, excluding the overseas army vote

Note:

¹ Charles Cross represented two ridings during the previous legislative assembly.

Popular vote Liberal   48.14% Conservative   41.79% Labor Rep.   3.17% NPL   2.00% Others   4.90%

Popular vote Liberal   58.62% Conservative   32.76% NPL   3.45% Labor Rep.   1.72% Others   3.45%

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

4th Alberta Legislative Assembly
	District	Member	Party
	Acadia	John McColl	Liberal
	Beaver River	Wilfrid Gariépy	Liberal
	Bow Valley	Charles Mitchell	Liberal	Centre Calgary	Alex Ross	Labor Representation
	North Calgary	William McCartney Davidson	Liberal	South Calgary	Thomas Blow	Conservative
	Camrose	George P. Smith	Liberal
	Cardston	Martin Woolf	Liberal
	Claresholm	Louise McKinney	Non-Partisan
	Clearwater	Joseph State	Liberal
	Cochrane	Charles Fisher	Liberal	Coronation	William Wilson	Conservative
	Didsbury	Henry B. Atkins	Liberal	Edmonton East	James Ramsey	Conservative	Edmonton West	Albert Ewing	Conservative	Edmonton South	Herbert Crawford	Conservative
	Edson	Charles Wilson Cross	Liberal	Gleichen	Fred Davis	Conservative
	Grouard	Jean Côté	Liberal	High River	George Douglas Stanley	Conservative
	Innisfail	Daniel Morkeberg	Liberal	Lac Ste. Anne	George Barker	Conservative	Lacombe	Andrew Gilmour	Conservative
	Leduc	Stanley Tobin	Liberal
	Little Bow	James McNaughton	Liberal
	Macleod	George Skelding	Liberal
	Nanton	James Weir	Non-Partisan	Okotoks	George Hoadley	Conservative
	Olds	Duncan Marshall	Liberal
	Peace River	William Rae	Liberal	Pincher Creek	John Kemmis	Conservative	Ponoka	Charles Cunningham	Conservative	Red Deer	Edward Michener	Conservative
	Sedgewick	Charles Stewart	Liberal
	St. Albert	Lucien Boudreau	Liberal
	Stettler	Edward Prudden	Liberal
	St. Paul	Prosper-Edmond Lessard	Liberal	Stony Plain	Frederick Lundy	Conservative
	Sturgeon	John R. Boyle	Liberal
	Taber	Archibald J. McLean	Liberal
	Vegreville	Joseph S. McCallum	Liberal
	Vermilion	Arthur Sifton	Liberal
	Warner	Frank Leffingwell	Liberal
	Wetaskiwin	Hugh John Montgomery	Liberal

Members acclaimed under Section 38

Eleven Liberal and Conservative MLAs serving in the army were allowed to retain their seats without election.

	District	Member	Party	Alexandra	James Lowery	Conservative
	Hand Hills	Robert Eaton	Liberal	Lethbridge City	John Smith Stewart	Conservative	Medicine Hat	Nelson Spencer	Conservative
	Pembina	Gordon MacDonald	Liberal
	Redcliff	Charles Pingle	Liberal
	Ribstone	James Gray Turgeon	Liberal	Rocky Mountain	Robert Campbell	Conservative
	Victoria	Francis A. Walker	Liberal	Wainwright	George LeRoy Hudson	Conservative
	Whitford	Andrew Shandro	Liberal

27 June 1917

	District	Member	Party
	Athabasca	Alexander Grant MacKay	Liberal

1917 soldiers' and nurses' vote

Two extra seats were added for this election. Two MLAs were elected to represent the soldiers and nurses serving overseas.

Candidates and voters were Albertans who were enlisted for overseas military, naval or nursing service. The MLAs sat on the opposition benches. They were non-partisan officially, although both Robert Pearson and Roberta MacAdams allied themselves to Labour and NPL MLAs by showing social consciousness in regards the conditions available for returned soldiers and working families.

The vote was held on 18 September 1917. Each soldier and nurse had two votes.

Military Rank	Member	Votes	%
Captain	Robert Pearson	4,286	%
Lieutenant	Roberta MacAdams	4,023	%
Private	G.E. Harper	3,328	%
Lieutenant Colonel	James Cornwall	2,331	%
Lieutenant Colonel	I.F. Page	1,782	%
Lieutenant Colonel	W.H. Hewgill	1,744	%
Private	T.A.P. Frost	1,145	%
Major	James Walker	1,109	%
Lieutenant Colonel	J.W.H. McKinnery	918	%
Lieutenant Colonel	P.E. Bowen	882	%
Private	Herbert Stow	716	%
Lieutenant	Charles Taylor	519	%
Captain	W.D. Ferris	474	%
Captain	A.M. Calderon	438	%
Lieutenant Colonel	A.M. Jarvis	425	%
Captain	Lionel Asquith	423	%
Captain	D.W. Grey	374	%
Company Sergeant Major	H.L. Bateson	221	%
Lieutenant Colonel	A.E. Myatt	186	%
Order Room Sergeant	A. Joyce	180	%
Acting Staff Sergeant	C.M. Camroux	97	%
Total Votes		25,601	100%

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

Further reading

• Hopkins, J. Castell (1918). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1917. Toronto: The Annual Review.