1916 Edmonton municipal election explained

The 1916 municipal election was held December 11, 1916 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, three trustees to sit on the public school board, and four trustees to sit on the separate school board.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but four of the positions were already filled: Orlando Bush, Robert Douglas, William Campbell McArthur, and Charles Wilson were all elected to two-year terms in 1915 and were still in office. James Macfie MacDonald was also elected to a two-year term in 1915, but resigned to run for mayor but then stood aside for Henry. He was elected to a two-year term and a less popular northside candidate, J. A. Kinney, was elected to a one year term to fill out his term. Kinney ran as a candidate for the Labour Party; all other candidates ran without any stated connection to a slate or party.[1]

There were seven trustees on the public school board, while four of the positions were already filled: Walter Ramsey, Samuel Barnes, Henry Douglas, and J. A. McPherson had all been elected to two-year terms in 1915. There were also seven positions on the separate board, with three of them filled. Because one was vacant by reason of a resignation, O Derome was elected to a one-year term.

Electoral System

The election of mayor was conducted by First past the post.

The election of aldermen was conducted through Plurality block voting, with each voter having ability to cast as many as six votes, no more than one per candidate.

Voter turnout

There were 7745 ballots cast out of 11717 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 66.1%.

Results

Mayor

PartyCandidateVotes%IndependentWilliam Thomas Henry6,18679.88%IndependentJoseph Clarke1,55820.12%

Aldermen

One Southsider had to be elected to a two year term.

The least popular candidate, otherwise, was elected to a one-year term.

PartyCandidateVotesElected

Under the minimum South Side representation rule, Grant was elected instead of more popular Picard.

Public school trustees

PartyCandidateVotesIndependentWilliam Rea4,075IndependentJoseph Duggan2,665IndependentCharles Frost2,634IndependentL. T. Barclay2,258IndependentD. H. MacKinnon1,912IndependentSamuel McCoppen1,837IndependentJames Findlay1,091IndependentCharles Sandles971

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

PartyCandidateVotesIndependentJoseph GariƩpy407IndependentM. J. O'Farrell400IndependentG. W. Curtis299IndependentO. Derome264IndependentJ. A. Trudeau229IndependentRichard Crossland183

References

Notes and References

  1. Edmonton Bulletin, December 12, 1916