1891 North-West Territories general election

none September 2021 September 2021 1891 North-West Territories general election Northwest Territories 1870 parliamentary 1888 North-West Territories general election 1888 1st North-West Legislative Assembly 1891 11 07 yes members 1894 North-West Territories general election 1894 25 seats in the North-West Legislative Assembly Chairman Robert Brett Chairman after election Frederick Haultain The 1891 North-West Territories general election was held on 7 November 1891 to elect 25 members of the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories, Canada. It was the second general election in the History of the North-West Territories. The legislature for the first time had no appointed members. It had 25 elected members, four more than in the 1888 election. The assembly had grown by one member—the three appointed "at large" legal advisors who had sat in the assembly previously were no longer there. Frederick W. A. G. Haultain, the member for Macleod, was the government leader. The key issue in this election was the French language question. Politicians had spent the previous three years divided on the issues of eliminating the status of the French language as an official language of the territory, and of assimilation of the French-speaking population. The appointed government made French an official language in Section 11 of the North-West Territories Act of 1877 that gained Royal Assent 28 April 1877. Prior to that, French was an official language while the North-West Territories was administered under the Manitoba Act from 1870 to 1875. The issue was ignited by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal reading the Speech from the Throne in French on 31 October 1888. The outcry caused Royal to read his second throne speech in English only. On 28 October 1889, the issue was made dormant when a Record Division was taken on the "Language Resolution", a motion that stated the assembly did not need official recognition of languages. The vote was 17 for 2 against. But this did not last, because the federal government got involved, and warned the Lieutenant Governor Royal to start making speeches in French again, and tried to legislate official bilingualism back in the territory, through the House of Commons of Canada. The bill was defeated on second reading, however. The interference by the Government of Canada resulted in members being elected to the assembly who favoured English as the only official language. On 19 January 1892 Haultain made a motion that only English would be used in the Assembly. The motion passed on division: 20 for, 4 against. Electoral system Most of the members were elected in single-member districts through First past the post. In Calgary two members were elected, through Block Voting (although in this instance they were elected by acclamation). Election results The turnout can not be established as no voters lists were in use. Members were elected on non-partisan basis but decisions were decided by majority vote in the chamber. Election summary# of candidatesPopular voteIncumbentNew#%Acclaimed candidates74--Elected candidates772,50053.88%Defeated candidates5122,14046.12%Total424,640100% Note: No vote returns, are currently available from the Batoche, St. Albert and Souris districts Results by riding Members elected to the 2nd North-West Legislative Assembly. For complete electoral history, see individual districts Electoral DistrictFirstSecondThirdIncumbentBanffRobert BrettAcclamationNew DistrictBatocheIn 1892 Charles Eugene Boucher was appointed by judicial order, and Charles Nolin was forced to step down.Charles NolinCharles Eugene BoucherHilliard MitchellBattlefordJames Clinkskill16855.63%James M. Skelton13444.37%James ClinkskillCalgarytwodistrict Two representatives were elected from the district.John LinehamAcclamation Hugh CayleyAcclamationJohn Lineham Hugh CayleyCanningtonSamuel PageAcclamationNew DistrictCumberlandJohn Felton Betts15951.96%Philip Turnor10634.64%William Plaxton4113.4%New DistrictEdmontonFrank OliverAcclamationHerbert Charles Wilson Frank Oliver (formerly a two-seat district)KinistinoWilliam Frederick Meyers3252.46%George Ellis2947.54%James HoeyLethbridgeCharles Alexander MagrathAcclamationNew DistrictMacleodFrederick W. A. G. HaultainAcclamationFrederick W. A. G. HaultainMedicine HatThomas TweedAcclamationThomas TweedMitchellHilliard MitchellAcclamationNew DistrictMoose JawJames Hamilton Ross23255.11%John Gilbert Gordon18944.89%James Hamilton RossMoosominJohn Ryerson NeffAcclamationJohn Ryerson NeffNorth Qu’AppelleWilliam Sutherland17350.73%A. Stewart16849.27%William SutherlandNorth ReginaDavid Jelly22960.58%W. Cayley Hamilton14939.42%David JellyPrince AlbertThomas McKayAcclamationWilliam PlaxtonRed DeerFrancis WilkinsAcclamationRobert BrettSt. AlbertAntonio Prince210Daniel Maloney183L. Garneaunot shownNew DistrictSourisGeorge KnowlingElectedJohn Wesley Connell–John Gillanders TurriffSouth Qu’AppelleGeorge Davidson32063.24%George H. V. Bulyea18636.76%George DavidsonSouth ReginaDaniel Mowat18550.82%John Secord17949.18%John SecordWallaceJoel Reaman31451.06%Thomas Alfred Patrick30148.94%Joel ReamanWhitewoodDaniel Campbell19745.92%Alexander Thorburn17841.49%John Hawkes5412.59%Alexander ThorburnWolseleyJames Dill31259.43%Benjamin Parkyn Richardson21340.57%Benjamin Parkyn Richardson Notes 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 Justifying the End of Official Bilingualism in the Northwest Territories Category:Elections in the Northwest Territories Category:1891 elections in Canada Category:1891 in the Northwest Territories Category:November 1891 in North America