1917 Alberta general election

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox election The 1917 Alberta general election was 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 and Socialist, Non-Partisan League and Labour slates. The Legislature elected in this election was the last time, as of 2025, that the Liberal Party of Alberta has held power in Alberta.

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.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> 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 the First World War 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. These two members were elected in one contest using block voting, while each other MLA was elected through first past the post in a single-member district.

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 (Union government). Thus in Alberta, both major parties 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 stood for 106 years as the tightest seat majority elected in Alberta, with the combined opposition MLAs equaling 41% of the total MLAs, a mark not exceeded until 2023. Due to the election system used in Alberta, the Liberal vote total of 48 percent was enough to take a majority of seats in the Alberta Legislature. That winning vote share was a record low figure until 1967, which was in turn beaten in 1989. 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 the war. 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.

Electoral system

All but two of the MLAs elected in this election were elected through first past the post. Alberta had used multiple-member districts in Edmonton and Calgary previously, but for this election they had been split into single-member districts.

The two overseas army members were elected through plurality block voting.<ref>A Report on Alberta Elections</ref>

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	1913	Elected	% Change	#	%Template:Efn	% Change Template:Canadian party colour	Arthur Sifton	49	38/39Template:Efn	34	−12.8%	54,212	48.14%	−1.09% Template:Canadian party colour	Conservative	Edward Michener	48	17	19	+11.8%	47,055	41.79%	−3.31% Template:Canadian party colour	Non-Partisan League	None	5	2	2700	2%	Template:Canadian party colour	Labor Representation	William Irvine	2	1	3,576	3.17%	Template:Canadian party colour	Charles M. O'Brien	3	-	-	-	784	0.70%	−1.17% Template:Canadian party colour	Independent	9	-	0	4000	4%	+2.08%
Sub-total			114	55/56Template:Efn	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

Notes Template:Notelist Template:Bar box Template:Bar box

Members of the Legislative Assembly

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 Template:Canadian party colour	Alexandra	James Lowery	Conservative Template:Canadian party colour	Hand Hills	Robert Eaton	Liberal Template:Canadian party colour	Lethbridge City	John Smith Stewart	Conservative Template:Canadian party colour	Medicine Hat	Nelson Spencer	Conservative Template:Canadian party colour	Pembina	Gordon MacDonald	Liberal Template:Canadian party colour	Redcliff	Charles Pingle	Liberal Template:Canadian party colour	Ribstone	James Gray Turgeon	Liberal Template:Canadian party colour	Rocky Mountain	Robert Campbell	Conservative Template:Canadian party colour	Victoria	Francis A. Walker	Liberal Template:Canadian party colour	Wainwright	George LeRoy Hudson	Conservative Template:Canadian party colour	Whitford	Andrew Shandro	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. They were elected through plurality block voting, with each soldier and nurse having two votes. Roberta MacAdams, the sole woman in the race, capitalized on the two-vote system by instructing the soldiers to "give one vote to the man of your choice and the other vote to the Sister" (herself). She was successful, becoming the second woman elected in Alberta and in the whole of the British Empire.

Candidates and voters were Albertans who were enlisted for overseas military, naval or nursing service. Records show that 13,286 soldiers and nurses voted, casting almost 26,000 votes.<ref>A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982, p. 11</ref>

After the election, 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.

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%

References

Template:Reflist

1917 Alberta general election

Contents

Electoral system

Results

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Members acclaimed under Section 38

1917 soldiers' and nurses' vote

See also

References

Further reading

Navigation menu

1917 Alberta general election

Electoral system

Results

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Members acclaimed under Section 38

1917 soldiers' and nurses' vote

See also

References

Further reading

Navigation menu

Search