| Alberta General Election, 1913 |
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This election was lead for the first time by Premier Arthur Sifton of the Alberta Liberal Party whom took over for Alexander Rutherford . Premier Rutherford resigned for his governments involvement in the Great Waters Railway Scandal but remained a sitting member. Sifton faced great criticism for calling the snap election, after ramming Gerrymandered electoral boundaries through the legislature, running up the provincial debt and neglecting on promised railways. Labor candidates in this election allied with the Liberal government and not run under a labor banner. Edward Michener the official opposition leader of the Conservative Party ended up capitalizing on anger towards the Sifton government. He would lead the largest opposition to date in Alberta history. The Liberals would win a comfortable majority of seats despite being almost even in the popular vote. The Socialist Party vote would collapse and loose there only seat as Charles O'Brien , when down to defeat at the hands of a Conservative. EVENTS LEADING TO THE ELECTION THE CAMPAIGN The campaign started out at midnight on March 25 , 1913 . The premier dropped the election writ and dissolved the house after he ensured that all the governments legislation had been given Royal Assent. The new boundaries gave the Liberals an advantage, not only were they blatantly gerrymandered to their favor, but the opposition and even private citizens had a tough time figuring out what district they were in. Day one of the campaign brought controversy as it was reported that Hotel organizers were being expected to donate generously to the Liberal campaign in order to get licence renewals. Arthur Sifton and his lieutenant Charles Cross both contested nominations in two electoral districts. It was reported in the Calgary Herald that were so scared of the electorate they felt they might not win if they faced just one district. The campaign put the Liberals on the defensive. The media accused Sifton of thuggery. ELECTION ISSUES The big Issues of the election centered around the Sifton's government lack of infrastructure building in Southern Alberta. The ballooning Alberta debt which in a few years had gone from 2 million dollars to 27 million was talked about often. GERRYMANDERED BOUNDARIES Prior to the dropping of the writ the Sifton government forced a bill through the , 1913 and given Royal Assent on March 25 , 1913 . The bill increased the amount of electoral districts in the province by 25. The boundaries did not contain equal population with one riding Clearwater only containing 74 people enumerated. Calgary Centre was the largest population wise with 20,000 people enumerated. The bill drawn with a line at the centre of the province gave 30 seats to the north half of the province with 26 seats in the south. The Conservative and Socialist opposition vigorously opposed the bill, but failed to pass any amendments. The bill was jammed through third reading in the March 25 legislative sitting and given Royal Assent that evening, just shy of the writ of elections being dropped. SIFTONISM AND CROSSISM The Liberal campaign was dubbed "Siftonism" inferring that Sifton was a disease that needed to be cleaned from Alberta. The media at the time picked up on that, and roasted the Liberal party. The Conservative party attacked the Liberals on the Railway Scandle and Lack of provincial infrastructure. RESULTS The final result was Liberal Party , under its new leader, Arthur L. Sifton , won a third term in office, defeating Conservative Party , which was once again led by Edward Michener . The opposition gained the most picking up old districts, while the Liberals won mostly new ridings allowing them to hang on to a majority. The popular vote reflected a different picture as the votes between the Conservatives and Liberals were split almost even with a difference of over 4,000 separating the two parties. The Socialist vote collapsed and they lost there only seat. SUMMARY Note #Charles Cross ran in and won in two ridings. #Arthur Sifton ran in two districts he only won in one district. MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ELECTED For complete electoral history, see individual districts C.W. Cross was elected in both Edson and Edmonton and represented both ridings until 1917 July 30, 1913 REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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