# 1917 Alberta general 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.
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. 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, 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. The two major parties both 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 majority formed in Alberta, with the combined opposition equaling 41% of the MLAs, a mark not exceeded until 2023. 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.

## Results

| Party | Party | Party Leader | # of candidates | Seats | Seats | Seats | Popular Vote | Popular Vote | Popular Vote |
| Party | Party | Party Leader | # of candidates | 1913 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change |
| | Liberal | Arthur Sifton | 49 | 38/39 | 34 | −12.8% | 54,212 | 48.14% | −1.09% |
| | Conservative | Edward Michener | 48 | 17 | 19 | +11.8% | 47,055 | 41.79% | −3.31% |
| | Non-Partisan League | None | 5 | | 2 | | 2700 | 2% | |
| | Labor Representation | William Irvine | 2 | | 1 | | 3,576 | 3.17% | |
| | Socialist | Charles M. O'Brien | 3 | - | - | - | 784 | 0.70% | −1.17% |
| | Independent | Independent | 9 | - | 0 | | 4000 | 4% | +2.08% |
| Sub-total | Sub-total | Sub-total | 114 | 55/56 | 56 | - | 96,985 | 100% | |
| | Soldiers' vote (Province at large) | Soldiers' vote (Province at large) | 2 | | 2 | | 8,000 | 30% |
| | Soldiers' vote (Province at large) | Soldiers' vote (Province at large) | 19 | | 0 | | 17,000 | 70% | |
| Total | Total | Total | 135 | 55/56 | 58 | +3.6% | 125,898 | | |
| Source: Elections Alberta ||||||||||
Notes
* ↑ Percentage based on votes cast in Alberta districts, excluding the overseas army vote. No vote was held in 11 districts where the sitting member was re-elected without contest.
* 1 2 Charles Cross represented two ridings during the previous legislative assembly.
Popular vote
Liberal
48.14%
Conservative
41.79%
Labor Rep.
3.17%
NPL
2.00%
Others
4.90% :
Popular vote
Liberal
58.62%
Conservative
32.76%
NPL
3.45%
Labor Rep.
1.72%
Others
3.45% :

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

For complete electoral history, see individual districts
| Electoral district | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Candidates | Incumbent |
| Electoral district | Liberal | Liberal | Conservative | Conservative | Other | Other | Incumbent | Incumbent |
| Acadia | | John A. McColl 1,842 48.22% | | E. Gordon Jonah 1,229 32.17% | | Lorne Proudfoot 749 19.61% | John A. McColl |
| Alexandra | | | | James R. Lowery Acclaimed | | | James R. Lowery |
| Athabasca | | Alexander Grant MacKay 752 65.79% | | Alfred F. Fugl 391 34.21% | | | Alexander Grant MacKay |
| Beaver River | | Wilfrid Gariepy 1,134 64.07% | | Ambrose E. Gray 636 35.93% | | | Wilfrid Gariepy |
| Bow Valley | | Charles Richmond Mitchell 604 58.13% | | Edmund F. Purcell 435 41.87% | | | George Lane |
| Centre Calgary | | | | Thomas M.M. Tweedie 1,273 48.94% | | Alex Ross 1,328 51.06% | Thomas M.M. Tweedie |
| North Calgary | | William McCartney Davidson 2,701 54.72% | | Samuel Bacon Hillocks 2,235 45.28% | | | Samuel Bacon Hillocks |
| South Calgary | | | | Thomas H. Blow 3,273 48.01% | | William Irvine (Labour-Rep.) 2,248 32.98% John McNeill 1,296 19.01% | Thomas H. Blow |
| Camrose | | George P. Smith 2,258 65.22% | | Frank P. Layton 1,204 34.78% | | | George P. Smith |
| Cardston | | Martin Woolf 972 56.38% | | W.G. Smith 752 43.62% | | | Martin Woolf |
| Claresholm | | William Moffat 670 44.40% | | | | Louise McKinney 839 55.60% | William Moffat |
| Clearwater | | Joseph E. State 188 64.38% | | Robert Neville Frith 104 35.62% | | | Henry William McKenney |
| Cochrane | | Charles Wellington Fisher 630 57.32% | | H.E.G.H. Scholefield 469 42.68% | | | Charles Wellington Fisher |
| Coronation | | Harry S. Northwood 1,575 46.92% | | William Wallace Wilson 1,782 53.08% | | | Frank H. Whiteside |
| Didsbury | | Henry B. Atkins 1,394 52.80% | | Wilbur Leslie Tolton 1,246 47.20% | | | Joseph E. Stauffer |
| Edmonton East | | Fredrick Duncan 2,553 37.86% | | James Ramsey 3,035 45.00% | | Joseph A. Clarke 811 12.03% Sydney R. Keeling (Socialist) 345 5.12% | New District from Edmonton |
| Edmonton-South | | Robert Blyth Douglas 2,178 44.10% | | Herbert Howard Crawford 2,761 55.90% | | | Herbert Howard Crawford |
| Edmonton West | | William Thomas Henry 2,884 43.30% | | Albert Freeman Ewing 3,776 56.70% | | | New District from Edmonton |
| Edson | | Charles Wilson Cross 1,116 62.91% | | J.R. McIntosh 455 25.65% | | John Reid (Socialist) 203 11.44% | Charles Wilson Cross |
| Gleichen | | John P. McArthur 712 39.96% | | Fred Davis 762 42.76% | | John W. Leedy 308 17.28% | John P. McArthur |
| Grouard | | Jean Léon Côté 688 70.71% | | Eugene Gravel 285 29.29% | | | Jean Léon Côté |
| Hand Hills | | Robert Berry Eaton Acclaimed | | | | | Robert Berry Eaton |
| High River | | Dan F. Riley 885 48.95% | | George Douglas Stanley 923 51.05% | | | George Douglas Stanley |
| Innisfail | | Daniel J. Morkeberg 905 51.33% | | Frederick William Archer 766 43.45% | | James K. Wilson 92 5.22% | Frederick William Archer |
| Lac Ste. Anne | | Ralph E. Barker 766 48.91% | | George R. Barker 800 51.09% | | | Peter Gunn |
| Lacombe | | William Franklin Puffer 1,333 48.37% | | Andrew Gilmour 1,423 51.63% | | | William Franklin Puffer |
| Leduc | | Stanley G. Tobin 1,707 73.67% | | George Currie 610 26.33% | | | Stanley G. Tobin |
| Lethbridge City | | | | John S. Stewart Acclaimed | | | John S. Stewart |
| Little Bow | | James McNaughton 808 77.39% | | | | | James McNaughton |
| Macleod | | George Skelding 728 51.78% | | Robert Patterson 678 48.22% | | | Robert Patterson |
| Medicine Hat | | | | Nelson C. Spencer Acclaimed | | | Nelson C. Spencer |
| Nanton | | John M. Glendenning 415 32.88% | | J.T. Cooper 408 32.33% | | James Weir 439 34.79% | John M. Glendenning |
| Okotoks | | Angus McIntosh 535 40.50% | | George Hoadley 786 59.50% | | | George Hoadley |
| Olds | | Duncan Marshall 1,283 56.35% | | George H. Cloakey 994 43.65% | | | Duncan Marshall |
| Peace River | | William A. Rae 1,994 62.92% | | D.H. Minchin 712 22.47% | | L. Harry Adair 463 14.61% | Alphaeus Patterson |
| Pembina | | Gordon MacDonald Acclaimed | | | | | Gordon MacDonald |
| Pincher Creek | | Thomas Hammond 448 32.94% | | John H.W.S. Kemmis 496 36.47% | | J. E. Hillier (Non-partisan) 416 30.59% | John H.W.S. Kemmis |
| Ponoka | | William A. Campbell 857 49.11% | | Charles Orin Cunningham 888 50.89% | | | William A. Campbell |
| Red Deer | | Robert B. Welliver 1,272 44.87% | | Edward Michener 1,295 45.68% | | George Paton 268 9.45% | Edward Michener |
| Redcliff | | Charles S. Pingle Acclaimed | | | | | Charles S. Pingle |
| Ribstone | | James Gray Turgeon Acclaimed | | | | | James Gray Turgeon |
| Rocky Mountain | | | | Robert E. Campbell Acclaimed | | | Robert E. Campbell |
| Sedgewick | | Charles Stewart 1,657 63.05% | | John Reeve Lavell 971 36.95% | | | Charles Stewart |
| St. Albert | | Lucien Boudreau 1,095 59.61% | | Hector L. Landry 742 40.39% | | | Lucien Boudreau |
| St. Paul | | Prosper-Edmond Lessard 1,077 66.65% | | James Brady 539 33.35% | | | Prosper-Edmond Lessard |
| Stettler | | Edward H. Prudden 1,408 39.45% | | George McMorris 1,375 38.53% | | J.R. Knight 786 22.02% | Robert L. Shaw |
| Stony Plain | | Frank A. Smith 705 48.65% | | Frederick W. Lundy 744 51.35% | | | Conrad Weidenhammer |
| Sturgeon | | John Robert Boyle 1,546 47.19% | | James Sutherland 1,212 37.00% | | H. Mickleson 518 15.81% | John Robert Boyle |
| Taber | | Archibald J. McLean 1,804 63.75% | | Thomas O. King 1,026 36.25% | | | Archibald J. McLean |
| Vegreville | | Joseph S. McCallum 1,864 59.12% | | Malcolm R. Gordon 1,289 40.88% | | | Joseph S. McCallum |
| Vermilion | | Arthur L. Sifton 2,063 63.03% | | John B. Burch 1,210 36.97% | | | Arthur L. Sifton |
| Victoria | | Francis A. Walker Acclaimed | | | | | Francis A. Walker |
| Wainwright | | | | George LeRoy Hudson Acclaimed | | | George LeRoy Hudson |
| Warner | | Frank S. Leffingwell 706 64.89% | | Hy. James Tennant 382 35.11% | | | Frank S. Leffingwell |
| Wetaskiwin | | Hugh John Montgomery 1,500 68.71% | | Robert MacLachlan Angus 683 31.29% | | | Charles H. Olin |
| Whitford | | Andrew S. Shandro Acclaimed | | | | | Andrew S. Shandro |

### 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 |
| Alexandra | James Lowery | Conservative |
| Hand Hills | Robert Eaton | Liberal |
| Lethbridge City | John Smith Stewart | Conservative |
| Medicine Hat | Nelson Spencer | Conservative |
| Pembina | Gordon MacDonald | Liberal |
| Redcliff | Charles Pingle | Liberal |
| Ribstone | James Gray Turgeon | Liberal |
| Rocky Mountain | Robert Campbell | Conservative |
| Victoria | Francis A. Walker | Liberal |
| Wainwright | George LeRoy Hudson | Conservative |
| 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. 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 | Total Votes | 25,601 | 100% |