1908 Prince Edward Island general election explained

Election Name:1908 Prince Edward Island general election
Country:Prince Edward Island
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1904 Prince Edward Island general election
Previous Year:1904
Previous Mps:35th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Elected Mps:members
Next Election:1912 Prince Edward Island general election
Next Year:1912
Next Mps:37th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Seats For Election:All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Majority Seats:16
Leader1:Francis Haszard
Leader Since1:1908
Leaders Seat1:4th Queens
Last Election1:22 seats, 54.1%
Seats1:17
Seat Change1:5
Popular Vote1:15,488
Percentage1:51.6%
Swing1:2.5pp
Leader2:John A. Mathieson
Leader Since2:1903
Leaders Seat2:5th Kings
Last Election2:8 seats, 45.9%
Seats2:13
Seat Change2:5
Popular Vote2:14,541
Percentage2:48.4%
Swing2:2.5pp
Premier
Posttitle:Premier after election
Before Election:Francis Haszard
After Election:Francis Haszard

The 1908 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 18, 1908.[1]

The election was won by the governing Liberals, led by incumbent Premier Francis Haszard. Haszard had taken over from his predecessor, Arthur Peters, following his death in January 1908.

Haszard resigned as Premier in 1911 following appointment to the province's Supreme Court, and he was succeeded as Premier by H. James Palmer. Due to his designation as Premier, Palmer ran in a by-election in his district of 3rd Queens; traditionally, the Opposition does not run a candidate in these triggered by-elections, but the Conservatives did in the December, 1911 by-election and defeated Palmer in his own district.

The opposition Conservatives, led by John A. Mathieson, gained five seats in this election.

Members Elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.[2]

Kings

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Kings   John McLeanConservative   Lauchlin MacDonaldLiberal
2nd Kings   Robert CoxLiberal   James McInnisLiberal
3rd Kings   Walter A. O. MorsonConservative   John A. MacDonaldConservative
4th Kings   Albert P. ProwseConservative   Murdock MacKinnonConservative
5th Kings   Archibald J. MacDonaldConservative   John Alexander MathiesonConservative

Prince

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Prince   Benjamin GallantLiberal   John AgnewLiberal
2nd Prince   John RichardsLiberal   Alfred McWilliamsLiberal
3rd Prince   Aubin Edmond ArsenaultConservative   Hector DobieConservative
4th Prince   James KennedyConservative   
Joseph ReadLiberal
5th Prince   James A. MacNeillConservative   J. Edward WyattConservative

Queens

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Queens   Matthew SmithLiberal   Murdock KennedyConservative
2nd Queens   William LairdLiberal   John McMillanLiberal
3rd Queens   Herbert James PalmerLiberal   James H. CummiskeyLiberal
4th Queens   David P. IrvingLiberal   Francis L. HaszardLiberal
5th Queens   James WarburtonLiberal   George E. HughesLiberal

Sources

  1. Web site: Provincial General Election Results, 1908 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304233108/http://www.electionspei.ca/pdfs/ceoreports/results/1908Report.pdf . dead . March 4, 2016 . Elections PEI .
  2. Web site: History and Politics of Prince Edward Island . Fred Driscoll . Canadian Parliamentary Review.

Further reading