Alberta general election, 1905

Alberta general election, 1905

9 November 1905

25 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 13 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Alexander Rutherford R. B. Bennett Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 3 August 1905 1905 Leader's seat Strathcona Calgary Last election 1 9 Seats won 22 3 Popular vote 14,485 9,316 Percentage 57.6% 37.1%

Premier before election Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal Premier-designate Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal

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 on 1 September 1905.

The Alberta Liberal Party of Alexander C. Rutherford won twenty three of the twenty five seats in the new legislature, defeating the Conservative Party, which was led by a young lawyer, Richard Bennett, who later served as Prime Minister of Canada.

Prior to the 1905 election the two political parties saw numerous changes and defections, In Alberta a host of former Liberal-Conservative MLA's jumped ship to the Liberals, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed the Liberal provisional government prior to the election. The Conservatives had no strong leader to rally around at the time as Frederick Haultain, had moved to Saskatchewan.

The election in 1905 was a bitter one, especially in Calgary and Southern Alberta where the Liberals were accused of vote tampering and interfering with Conservative voters. Recounts especially in Calgary took almost a month and saw the result swing back and forth. The scandal led to the arrest of some key Liberal organizers, including William Cushing's campaign manager, who had been a returning officer at a Calgary polling station.

Results

Party		Party Leader	Candidates[1]	Elected	Popular Vote
					#	%
	Liberal	Alexander C. Rutherford	26^1	22	14,485^3	57.56%
	Conservative	Richard Bennett	22^2	3	9,316^3	37.13%
	Independent		7	-	1,336	5.31%
Total			56	25	25,163	100%
Source: Elections Alberta

Note:

1. 2 Liberals contested the Peace River district after the results were voided.
2. Conservative L. Dubuc only contested the original Peace River election.
3. Vote returns for the first Peace River election are not included in totals.

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

1st Alberta Legislative Assembly
	District	Member	Party
	Athabasca	William Bredin	Liberal
	Banff	Charles W. Fisher	Liberal
	Calgary	William Cushing	Liberal
	Cardston	John William Woolf	Liberal
	Edmonton	Charles Wilson Cross	Liberal
	Gleichen	Charles Stuart	Liberal
	High River	Albert Robertson	Conservative
	Innisfail	John A. Simpson	Liberal
	Lacombe	William Puffer	Liberal
	Leduc	Robert Telford	Liberal
	Lethbridge	Leverett DeVeber	Liberal
	Macleod	Malcolm McKenzie	Liberal
	Medicine Hat	William Finlay	Liberal
	Pincher Creek	John Plummer Marcellus	Liberal
	Ponoka	John R. McLeod	Liberal
	Red Deer	John T. Moore	Liberal
	Rosebud	Cornelius Hiebert	Conservative
	St. Albert	Henry William McKenney	Independent Liberal
	Stony Plain	John McPherson	Liberal
	Strathcona	Alexander Cameron Rutherford	Liberal
	Sturgeon	John R. Boyle	Liberal
	Vermilion	Matthew McCauley	Liberal
	Victoria	Francis A. Walker	Liberal
	Wetaskiwin	Anthony Rosenroll	Liberal

Peace River

James Cornwall was declared elected to the Peace River district on election night 1905 for the Liberal Party. The election results were overturned by significant irregularities leaving the seat vacant. A new election was held on 15 February 1906.

Thomas Brick declared his candidacy in the new election for the Liberals after being asked to run by a large group of people who appeared at his homestead. He faced James Cornwall who attempted to re-win his seat and he also ran under the Liberal banner. The runner up candidate from the original 1905 election Conservative candidate Lucien Dubuc did not run again leaving a rare two way race under the same party banner. Thomas Brick would go on to defeat James Cornwall in a landslide.^[2]

	District	Member	Party
Election Night
	Peace River	James Cornwall	Liberal
15 February 1906
	Peace River	Thomas Brick	Liberal

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

References

1. "Members elected to first legislature November 17, 1905". Alberta Advocate. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
2. Yvette T. M. Mahé. "I remember Peace River, Alberta and adjacent districts. Part I". The Women's Institute of Peace River. Retrieved 2007-03-18.