William Henry Cushing
Encyclopedia
William Henry Cushing was a Canadian
politician. Born in Ontario
, he migrated west as a young adult where he started a successful lumber company and later became Alberta
's first Minister of Public Works and the 11th mayor of Calgary
. As Minister of Public Works in the government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford
, he oversaw the creation of Alberta Government Telephones
.
Cushing's resignation in 1910 precipitated the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal
, which forced Rutherford's resignation. Though Cushing had hopes of being asked to replace Rutherford, that role fell instead to Arthur Sifton, the province's chief judge. Left out of Sifton's cabinet, Cushing did not seek re-election in the 1913 election
, and did not re-enter politics thereafter. He was the chairman of Mount Royal College
's board of governors for sixteen years. He died in 1934.
in 1883, where in partnership with Stephen Jarett, he engaged in carpentry
, building houses and stores. In 1877 Cushing married Elizabeth Rinn, who died three years later. In 1883 he married Mary Jane Waters, with whom he had two children. In 1885 he opened a sash
and door factory, which made him wealthy. His business flourished and expanded; by 1900, it occupied 42 city lots and employed more than one hundred workers. He was also active in the local Methodist church and the Bowness golf club, and served eight years as a school trustee with the Calgary Board of Education
. He was a supporter of the Temperance Movement
.
on the council of Calgary, which was now a city. He served as alderman from January 7, 1895 until January 4, 1897, and again from May 1899 until January 2, 1900. During his last term he was elected the thirteenth mayor of Calgary, a position he held from January 2, 1900 until January 7, 1901. He subsequently served another term as alderman from January 6, 1902 until January 2, 1905.
He also served as the president of Calgary's Board of Trade.
was asked to form Alberta's first government in 1905, he appointed Cushing as his Minister of Public Works. Historian L. G. Thomas notes that this was an important portfolio, given the rapid development of infrastructure expected in the new province. In keeping with custom for cabinet ministers in Westminster parliamentary systems
, Cushing ran for the first Legislative Assembly of Alberta
in the district of Calgary
in the 1905 election
. Cushing, a Liberal
, was opposed by Conservative
leader R. B. Bennett
. The campaign was acrimonious; at one meeting, Bennett accused Cushing of giving his fellow Liberal candidates road-building money with which they could bribe their districts. On election day, Cushing defeated Bennett, who attributed his defeat to "Roman Catholic influence".
Once elected, he was Calgary's primary supporter in the legislature's debate over Alberta's capital city, claiming that it was the new province's economic centre, that Alberta's status as a province was the result of a political movement that had begun in Calgary, and that it would be cheaper to build a legislature there than in Edmonton
, site of the interim capital. His motion to name Calgary as the capital was defeated 16 votes to eight, and permanent capital was located at Edmonton. Though it was not to be at his preferred location, as Public Works Minister Cushing did choose the design for the new Alberta Legislature Building, which was based on the Minnesota State Capitol
.
As Calgary's representative, Cushing was further dismayed when Rutherford elected to locate the University of Alberta
in his own hometown of Strathcona
, immediately across the North Saskatchewan River
from Edmonton. Calgarians felt that, having been denied the capital, they should be first in line for the university.
As Public Works Minister, Cushing was a primary advocate of government intervention in the labour disputes plaguing Alberta's coal industry in 1907; Rutherford eventually appointed a commission to examine the problem. Cushing also presided over the government's entry into the telephone business: in 1906, most telephone lines in Alberta were privately owned, and the largest of these private owners was the Bell Telephone Company
. Bell controlled all telephone service in Calgary, and refused to extend its operations into less densely populated, and therefore less profitable, regions of the province. In response, Cushing attacked Bell as "the most pernicious and iniquitous monopoly that had ever been foisted upon a people claiming to be free" and sponsored legislation creating Alberta Government Telephones
to service areas that Bell would not. This new company later purchased Bell's lines, financing the venture by issuing debentures, in contrast to the government's usual policy of "pay as you go
". Cushing's zeal for government involvement was such that member of the Canadian House of Commons
Peter Talbot
in 1908 warned Rutherford that his Public Works Minister was "going crazy" with public ownership and that Rutherford would "someday find a lot of trouble through him". Thomas has argued that it was strange for a successful businessman like Cushing to be so aggressive rhetorically against a successful corporation, but Mount Royal College
historian Patricia Roome has suggested that Cushing was soured by his own experience as a Calgarian living under the monopoly, hostile to what he saw as a symbol of "eastern capitalism", and hopeful that bringing telephone service to rural areas would guarantee continued Liberal success.
, Calgary's growth had earned it a second seat in the legislature. Cushing finished first in a five candidate field, and was elected to fill one of these seats; Bennett, finishing second, was elected to the other.
Though Cushing, as Minister of Public Works, was initially responsible for railway policy, on November 1, 1909 Rutherford created a new ministry of Railways, which he appointed himself to head. In February 1910, Cushing resigned as Minister of Public Works, expressing disagreement with Rutherford's policy of offering loan guarantees to private railway builders, including the Alberta and Great Waterways (A&GW) Railway. He stated in his letter of resignation that this policy had been adopted without his knowledge or consent. Rutherford accepted the resignation with regret, but publicly disagreed with Cushing's claim that he had been kept unaware of government railway policy. On February 25, Cushing gave his account of the events leading to his resignation In the legislature : after responsibility for railways was removed from his department, Rutherford had offered the A&GW guarantees of $20,000 per mile of railway constructed. In making this guarantee, Rutherford had not consulted government engineers in the department of Public Works about construction costs, relying instead on the A&GW's engineer. Cushing felt that guaranteeing $20,000 per mile, regardless of actual construction costs, was unwise, and further believed that the government's reliance on the A&GW's engineer could let the company get away with building a sub-standard railway.
There followed a dramatic series of legislative debates and votes, in which many Liberals, including Cushing, frequently voted against their own government, even on motions of non-confidence. In March, Rutherford invited Cushing to rejoin the cabinet; according to Cushing, he was assured that if he did so his rival, Attorney General Charles Wilson Cross, would resign. He declined Rutherford's offer, both because he considered that he was no longer able to work with the premier and because his allies among the anti-Rutherford Liberals urged him to fight on. Rumours began to circulate that Rutherford would resign, to be replaced by Cushing. Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
George Bulyea was indeed convinced that Rutherford would have to resign in order to save the Liberals, but he and other powerful Liberals did not view Cushing as capable of leading the government. Bulyea instead invited provincial Chief Justice Arthur Sifton to form a government, though Cushing was reputed to have been "sitting in his hotel room, his ear glued to the telephone, waiting for the summons from the Lieutenant-Governor to assume the robes of Rutherford".
Sifton left Cushing, along with all other major figures of the A&GW dispute, out of his first cabinet; Ezra Riley
, a staunch Cushing ally, resigned his seat in protest. Cushing did not do the same, but did not seek re-election in the 1913 election
.
Board of Governors, holding the post from 1910 until 1926, when he was designated Honorary Chairman. He died in Calgary January 25, 1934 of a heart attack. Calgary's W. H. Cushing Workplace School is named in his honour.
Cushing is primarily remembered for his role in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal. In assessing his role in that episode, Thomas has suggested that his actions were motivated by something other than "revulsion against what appeared to be an unwise contract with a railway company". Instead, he believes that Cushing had concluded that he, rather than Rutherford, should be premier, and began to conduct himself publicly in such a way as to undermine Rutherford's authority. Whatever his motivations, Cushing's resignation precipitated a scandal that ended Alexander Rutherford's political career, and in so doing had a profound effect on Alberta's political history. In evaluating his legacy, Roome also considers his role in establishing the government telephone system, which in her opinion "produced serious financial difficulties" for the province in the years ahead.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. Born in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, he migrated west as a young adult where he started a successful lumber company and later became Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
's first Minister of Public Works and the 11th mayor of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. As Minister of Public Works in the government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first Premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Ontario, he studied and practised law in Ottawa before moving with his family to the Northwest Territories in 1895...
, he oversaw the creation of Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones was formed by the Liberal government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford in 1906 following the acquisitions by the government of several independent telephone companies...
.
Cushing's resignation in 1910 precipitated the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal
Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal
The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal was a political scandal in Alberta, Canada in 1910. It resulted in the resignation of the provincial government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford over allegations of conflict of interest in the government's involvement in the financing of the Alberta...
, which forced Rutherford's resignation. Though Cushing had hopes of being asked to replace Rutherford, that role fell instead to Arthur Sifton, the province's chief judge. Left out of Sifton's cabinet, Cushing did not seek re-election in the 1913 election
Alberta general election, 1913
The Alberta general election of 1913 was the third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July...
, and did not re-enter politics thereafter. He was the chairman of Mount Royal College
Mount Royal College
Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1910 as a primary and secondary school, Mount Royal became a post-secondary institution in 1931 as Mount Royal College offering transfer courses to the University of Alberta and later to the University of Calgary...
's board of governors for sixteen years. He died in 1934.
Early life
Cushing was born August 21, 1852 in Kenilworth, Ontario to William Cusing and Sarah Thomson. His father was a farmer who had immigrated from Norwich, England in 1840. In 1879, Cushing indentured as a carpenter. He moved to CalgaryCalgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
in 1883, where in partnership with Stephen Jarett, he engaged in carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, building houses and stores. In 1877 Cushing married Elizabeth Rinn, who died three years later. In 1883 he married Mary Jane Waters, with whom he had two children. In 1885 he opened a sash
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
and door factory, which made him wealthy. His business flourished and expanded; by 1900, it occupied 42 city lots and employed more than one hundred workers. He was also active in the local Methodist church and the Bowness golf club, and served eight years as a school trustee with the Calgary Board of Education
Calgary Board of Education
The Calgary Board of Education is the public school board in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As a public system, the CBE is required to accept any students who meet age and residency requirements, regardless of religion.-Size:...
. He was a supporter of the Temperance Movement
Prohibition in Canada
The temperance movement reached its height in Canada in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendums. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise...
.
Municipal politics
Cushing was elected Calgary town councillor for a term beginning on January 20, 1890. He remained in that capacity until January 16, 1893. Two years later he became an aldermanAlderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
on the council of Calgary, which was now a city. He served as alderman from January 7, 1895 until January 4, 1897, and again from May 1899 until January 2, 1900. During his last term he was elected the thirteenth mayor of Calgary, a position he held from January 2, 1900 until January 7, 1901. He subsequently served another term as alderman from January 6, 1902 until January 2, 1905.
He also served as the president of Calgary's Board of Trade.
Provincial politics
After Alexander Cameron RutherfordAlexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first Premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Ontario, he studied and practised law in Ottawa before moving with his family to the Northwest Territories in 1895...
was asked to form Alberta's first government in 1905, he appointed Cushing as his Minister of Public Works. Historian L. G. Thomas notes that this was an important portfolio, given the rapid development of infrastructure expected in the new province. In keeping with custom for cabinet ministers in Westminster parliamentary systems
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, Cushing ran for the first Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
in the district of Calgary
Calgary (provincial electoral district)
Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada that existed from 1905 to 1913 and was recreated from 1921 to 1959. The district returned from one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
in the 1905 election
Alberta general election, 1905
The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 1905, to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories...
. Cushing, a Liberal
Alberta Liberal Party
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...
, was opposed by Conservative
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
leader R. B. Bennett
R. B. Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
. The campaign was acrimonious; at one meeting, Bennett accused Cushing of giving his fellow Liberal candidates road-building money with which they could bribe their districts. On election day, Cushing defeated Bennett, who attributed his defeat to "Roman Catholic influence".
Once elected, he was Calgary's primary supporter in the legislature's debate over Alberta's capital city, claiming that it was the new province's economic centre, that Alberta's status as a province was the result of a political movement that had begun in Calgary, and that it would be cheaper to build a legislature there than in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, site of the interim capital. His motion to name Calgary as the capital was defeated 16 votes to eight, and permanent capital was located at Edmonton. Though it was not to be at his preferred location, as Public Works Minister Cushing did choose the design for the new Alberta Legislature Building, which was based on the Minnesota State Capitol
Minnesota State Capitol
The Minnesota State Capitol is located in Minnesota's capital city, Saint Paul, and houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Governor...
.
As Calgary's representative, Cushing was further dismayed when Rutherford elected to locate the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in his own hometown of Strathcona
Strathcona, Alberta
Strathcona was a city in Alberta, Canada, located on the south of the North Saskatchewan River opposite of the City of Edmonton. It amalgamated with Edmonton on February 1, 1912....
, immediately across the North Saskatchewan River
North Saskatchewan River
The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....
from Edmonton. Calgarians felt that, having been denied the capital, they should be first in line for the university.
As Public Works Minister, Cushing was a primary advocate of government intervention in the labour disputes plaguing Alberta's coal industry in 1907; Rutherford eventually appointed a commission to examine the problem. Cushing also presided over the government's entry into the telephone business: in 1906, most telephone lines in Alberta were privately owned, and the largest of these private owners was the Bell Telephone Company
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
. Bell controlled all telephone service in Calgary, and refused to extend its operations into less densely populated, and therefore less profitable, regions of the province. In response, Cushing attacked Bell as "the most pernicious and iniquitous monopoly that had ever been foisted upon a people claiming to be free" and sponsored legislation creating Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones was formed by the Liberal government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford in 1906 following the acquisitions by the government of several independent telephone companies...
to service areas that Bell would not. This new company later purchased Bell's lines, financing the venture by issuing debentures, in contrast to the government's usual policy of "pay as you go
PAYGO
PAYGO is the practice in the United States of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed.-Budgeting:The PAYGO compels new spending or tax changes not to add to the federal deficit. Not to be confused with pay-as-you-go financing, which is when a government...
". Cushing's zeal for government involvement was such that member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
Peter Talbot
Peter Talbot (politician)
Peter Talbot was a Canadian parliamentarian.Born in Eramosa, Canada West , he moved to Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1890 to teach school. In 1892, he moved to Lacombe, Alberta, to homestead and raise cattle.In 1902 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories and served until...
in 1908 warned Rutherford that his Public Works Minister was "going crazy" with public ownership and that Rutherford would "someday find a lot of trouble through him". Thomas has argued that it was strange for a successful businessman like Cushing to be so aggressive rhetorically against a successful corporation, but Mount Royal College
Mount Royal College
Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1910 as a primary and secondary school, Mount Royal became a post-secondary institution in 1931 as Mount Royal College offering transfer courses to the University of Alberta and later to the University of Calgary...
historian Patricia Roome has suggested that Cushing was soured by his own experience as a Calgarian living under the monopoly, hostile to what he saw as a symbol of "eastern capitalism", and hopeful that bringing telephone service to rural areas would guarantee continued Liberal success.
Railway scandal
By the 1909 electionAlberta general election, 1909
The Alberta general election was 1909 was the second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 22 March 1909 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, Calgary's growth had earned it a second seat in the legislature. Cushing finished first in a five candidate field, and was elected to fill one of these seats; Bennett, finishing second, was elected to the other.
Though Cushing, as Minister of Public Works, was initially responsible for railway policy, on November 1, 1909 Rutherford created a new ministry of Railways, which he appointed himself to head. In February 1910, Cushing resigned as Minister of Public Works, expressing disagreement with Rutherford's policy of offering loan guarantees to private railway builders, including the Alberta and Great Waterways (A&GW) Railway. He stated in his letter of resignation that this policy had been adopted without his knowledge or consent. Rutherford accepted the resignation with regret, but publicly disagreed with Cushing's claim that he had been kept unaware of government railway policy. On February 25, Cushing gave his account of the events leading to his resignation In the legislature : after responsibility for railways was removed from his department, Rutherford had offered the A&GW guarantees of $20,000 per mile of railway constructed. In making this guarantee, Rutherford had not consulted government engineers in the department of Public Works about construction costs, relying instead on the A&GW's engineer. Cushing felt that guaranteeing $20,000 per mile, regardless of actual construction costs, was unwise, and further believed that the government's reliance on the A&GW's engineer could let the company get away with building a sub-standard railway.
There followed a dramatic series of legislative debates and votes, in which many Liberals, including Cushing, frequently voted against their own government, even on motions of non-confidence. In March, Rutherford invited Cushing to rejoin the cabinet; according to Cushing, he was assured that if he did so his rival, Attorney General Charles Wilson Cross, would resign. He declined Rutherford's offer, both because he considered that he was no longer able to work with the premier and because his allies among the anti-Rutherford Liberals urged him to fight on. Rumours began to circulate that Rutherford would resign, to be replaced by Cushing. Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the nine other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
George Bulyea was indeed convinced that Rutherford would have to resign in order to save the Liberals, but he and other powerful Liberals did not view Cushing as capable of leading the government. Bulyea instead invited provincial Chief Justice Arthur Sifton to form a government, though Cushing was reputed to have been "sitting in his hotel room, his ear glued to the telephone, waiting for the summons from the Lieutenant-Governor to assume the robes of Rutherford".
Sifton left Cushing, along with all other major figures of the A&GW dispute, out of his first cabinet; Ezra Riley
Ezra Riley
Ezra Hounsfield Riley was a politician and rancher from Alberta, Canada.-Early life:Riley was born in 1866 in Yorkville, Ontario. He owned a large sum of land that he sold off to the City of Calgary in 1904...
, a staunch Cushing ally, resigned his seat in protest. Cushing did not do the same, but did not seek re-election in the 1913 election
Alberta general election, 1913
The Alberta general election of 1913 was the third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July...
.
Later life and legacy
Cushing was the first chairman of the Mount Royal CollegeMount Royal College
Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1910 as a primary and secondary school, Mount Royal became a post-secondary institution in 1931 as Mount Royal College offering transfer courses to the University of Alberta and later to the University of Calgary...
Board of Governors, holding the post from 1910 until 1926, when he was designated Honorary Chairman. He died in Calgary January 25, 1934 of a heart attack. Calgary's W. H. Cushing Workplace School is named in his honour.
Cushing is primarily remembered for his role in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal. In assessing his role in that episode, Thomas has suggested that his actions were motivated by something other than "revulsion against what appeared to be an unwise contract with a railway company". Instead, he believes that Cushing had concluded that he, rather than Rutherford, should be premier, and began to conduct himself publicly in such a way as to undermine Rutherford's authority. Whatever his motivations, Cushing's resignation precipitated a scandal that ended Alexander Rutherford's political career, and in so doing had a profound effect on Alberta's political history. In evaluating his legacy, Roome also considers his role in establishing the government telephone system, which in her opinion "produced serious financial difficulties" for the province in the years ahead.
Electoral record
| 1909 Alberta general election Alberta general election, 1909 The Alberta general election was 1909 was the second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 22 March 1909 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.... results (Calgary Calgary (provincial electoral district) Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada that existed from 1905 to 1913 and was recreated from 1921 to 1959. The district returned from one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta... ) (two candidates elected) |
Turnout N.A. | |||
| Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time... |
William Henry Cushing | 2,579 | 27.18% |
Conservative | R. B. Bennett R. B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years... |
2,423 | 25.53% |
Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time... |
Dr. Egbert | 1,933 | 20.37% |
Conservative | Thomas Blow Thomas Blow Thomas Henry Blow was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada.Blow first ran for the Alberta Legislature as part of a 2 man Conservative slate in the Calgary provincial electoral district in the 1909 Alberta general election. He finished 4th out of 5th place in the block vote... |
1,907 | 20.10% |
Socialist | George Howell | 747 | 7.87% |
| 1905 Alberta general election Alberta general election, 1905 The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 1905, to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories... results (Calgary Calgary (provincial electoral district) Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada that existed from 1905 to 1913 and was recreated from 1921 to 1959. The district returned from one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta... ) |
Turnout N.A. | |||
| Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time... |
William Henry Cushing | 1,030 | 42.39% |
Conservative | R. B. Bennett R. B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years... |
993 | 40.86% |
Independent | A. D. Macdonald | 407 | 16.75% |