1888 North-West Territories general election

none September 2021 September 2021 1888 North-West Territories general election Northwest Territories 1870 parliamentary 1885 North-West Territories election 1885 1st Council of the Northwest Territories 20–30 June 1888 members 1891 North-West Territories general election 1891 2nd North-West Legislative Assembly 22 seats in the North-West Legislative Assembly Lieutenant-governor Chairman after election Robert Brett The 1888 North-West Territories general election elected members of the 2nd Legislative Council of the North-West Territories. The 2nd Legislative Council of the North-West Territories replaced the 1st Council of the North-West Territories. The 2nd Legislative Council of the North-West Territories was replaced by the 1st North-West Assembly in 1891 when the quota of elected members was reached. (A different 2nd Council of the Northwest Territories (1905–1951) was created in 1905, when the NWT lost most of its population, to differentiate the new one from the two legislative councils of the NWT that had existed 1876 to 1891.) The 1888 election was the first general election in the history of the North-West Territories, Canada. Elections were held in various districts between 20 June and 30 June 1888. Although considered a general election, the writs were issued to return on various days. (1891 North-West Territories general election would be the first election where all the seats came empty on the same day.) Prior to 1888, the elected members of the 1st Council of the North-West Territories were elected in by-elections to supplement members appointed by the Government of Canada. In order to have an elected member, a constituency needed to be set up in an area 1000 sqmi km2 in size that had 1,000 residents. This created a patchwork of represented and unrepresented areas across the sprawling and sparsely settled territory. Twenty-one members were elected in this election. Robert Brett, the member for Red Deer, was appointed government leader by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal. His official title was Chairman of the Lieutenant Governor's Advisory Council.Thomas 1978 173 Three judges were appointed to the legislative assembly to provide legal advice, but they were not able to vote. They represented the territory at large. Voters in this election cast their votes by telling the returning officer who they wanted to vote for. This system lasted until 1894 when a secret ballot was first used in a by-election in the Whitewood district. Election results Voter turnout cannot be established as no voters lists were in use. Candidates were all elected on non-partisan basis. Decisions in the council were decided by majority vote. Three members were elected by acclamation. One was re-elected; two were newly elected. Calgary and Edmonton elected two members through Plurality block voting. Election summary Candidates# of candidatesPopular voteIncumbentNew#%Acclaimed candidates12--Elected candidates8105,08162.53%Defeated candidates-19 3,04537.47%Total40 8,126100% Legal advisors Three members were appointed by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal after the election: James Macleod, Hugh Richardson and Charles Rouleau. The purpose of these three legal advisors was to bring experience in procedure, protocol and amending and introducing legislation. The legal advisors held seats at large, were allowed to participate in debates (but not vote) and were paid a salary of $250. The Canadian parliamentary companion, 1889 Gemmell John Alexander J. Durie & Son 1889 389 9780665329609 https://archive.org/details/cihm_32960 15357429W The three members of the assembly had already served as members of the Assembly previously. There were no legal advisors reappointed after dissolution of the 1st North-West Legislative Assembly in 1891. Members of the Legislative Assembly elected thumb|Results of Calgary and Red Deer, as published in the Calgary Tribune For complete electoral history, see individual districts Electoral DistrictElectedSecondThirdFourthIncumbentBatocheHilliard Mitchell8255.78%James Fisher6544.22%New DistrictBattlefordJames Clinkskill18053.57%David Livingstone Clink15646.43%New DistrictCalgarytwodistrict Two representatives were elected from the district.John Lineham80943.80% Hugh Cayley63434.33%James Reilly40421.87%John D. Lauder andHugh Cayley (elected on July 14, 1886)EdmontontwodistrictHerbert Charles Wilson39532.54% Frank Oliver35028.83%Samuel Cunningham31926.28%Daniel Maloney15012.36%Herbert Charles WilsonKinistinoJames Hoey10453.89%John C. Slater8946.11%New DistrictMacleodFrederick W. A. G. HaultainAcclamationFrederick W. A. G. HaultainMedicine HatThomas TweedAcclamationNew DistrictMoose JawJames Hamilton Ross16155.52%George Malcolm Annable12944.48%James Hamilton RossMoosominJohn Ryerson NeffAcclamationSpencer BedfordNorth Qu’AppelleWilliam Sutherland26871.85%William Albert Clark10528.15%New District from Qu'AppelleWilliam SutherlandNorth ReginaDavid Jelly22762.71%George W. Brown13537.29%New District from ReginaDavid JellyPrince AlberttwodistrictWilliam Plaxton38337.85% John Felton Betts32231.82%Owen Hughes30730.34%New DistrictRed DeerRobert Brett32560.98%Alfred Brealey20839.02%New DistrictSourisJohn Gillanders Turriff23664.84%John Wesley Connell9225.27%Fraser369.89% New District from Moose MountainJohn Gillanders TurriffSouth Qu’AppelleGeorge Davidson26257.33%William Robert Bell19542.67% New District from Qu'AppelleRobert CrawfordSouth ReginaJohn Secord13152.19%David Lynch Scott12047.81%New District from ReginaJohn SecordWallaceJoel Reaman18872.31%William Eakin7227.69%New DistrictWhitewoodAlexander Thorburn16638.88%Thomas Gamble Lyons15837.00%John Hawkes10324.12%New DistrictWolseleyBenjamin Parkyn Richardson20950.73%James Dill20349.27%New District Medicine Hat In the Medicine Hat electoral district, candidate William Finlay had withdrawn before election day. The returning officer declared Thomas Tweed elected by acclamation. Finlay lost his nomination deposit of $200.00Northwest Elections 5 July 1888 Lethbridge Herald 1 Notes Plurality block voting was used; each voter had two votes References Further reading Lingard Charles Cecil Territorial government in Canada: the autonomy question in the old North-West Territories 1946 University of Toronto Press Toronto https://archive.org/details/territorialgover0000ling_s6l7 registration 577721800 Thomas Lewis H. The struggle for responsible government in the North-West Territories, 1870–97 1978 University of Toronto Press Toronto 978-0-8020-2287-5 2nd https://archive.org/details/struggleforrespo0000thom registration Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876–1905 https://www.saskarchives.com/sites/default/files/documents/NWT-Council.pdf Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan 2009 28 June 2022 28 September 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101028/http://www.saskarchives.com/web/seld/1-00.pdf dead External links Personnel of the Northwest Territories Assembly 1888–1905 History of Northwest Territories Assembly 1876–1905 Category:Elections in the Northwest Territories Category:1888 elections in Canada Category:1888 in the Northwest Territories Category:June 1888 in Canada