1944 Edmonton municipal election

The 1944 municipal election was held November 1, 1944 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board, while three trustees were acclaimed to the separate school board. This was the first election to be held on the first Wednesday of November rather than the second Wednesday, in order to avoid future conflicts with the Armistice Day holiday, as happened in 1936 and 1942.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: James McCrie Douglas (SS), Harry Ainlay (SS), Winslow Hamilton, Charles Gariepy, and Melvin Downey (SS) were all elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. Southside (SS) representation was guaranteed - two councillors had to come from the southside. This requirement was dropped in 1961.[1]

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Albert Ottewell (SS), Bertram Robertson, Frank Newson, and Roy Sutherland had been elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. The same was true of the separate board, where William Wilde (SS), Joseph Gallant, Thomas Malone, and J O Pilon were continuing.

Voter turnout

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There were 9,948 ballots cast out of 61,033 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 16.4%.

Results

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Mayor

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Party Candidate Votes %
Independent John Wesley Fry 7,017 71.12%
Independent Rice Sheppard 2,850 28.88%

Aldermen

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Party Candidate Votes Elected
Citizens' Committee Sidney Bowcott 6,597  Y
Citizens' Committee Athelstan Bissett 6,317 SS  Y
Citizens' Committee Sidney Parsons 6,094  Y
Citizens' Committee James Ogilvie 5,916  Y
Citizens' Committee Frederick John Mitchell 5,532  Y
Independent Gwendolen Clarke 3,420
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Margaret Thompson 2,311
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Edith Rogers 2,298
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Alfred Gregory 2,273
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Howard Smith 2,015
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Robert Haskins 1,944
Independent Jan Lakeman 1,585

Public school trustees

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Party Candidate Votes Elected
Citizens' Committee Izena Ross 5,593  Y
Citizens' Committee George Cormie 5,255  Y
Citizens' Committee Alex Gemeroy 5,143  Y
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Mary Butterworth 3,371 SS
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation William Thornton 2,994
  Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Archibald Richardson 2,888

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

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Adrian Crowe (SS), Francis Killeen, and James O'Hara were acclaimed.

References

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  1. ^ "Municipal elections in Edmonton (1892 to 1944)" (PDF). edmonton.ca. pp. 92–93.
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