1st Council of the Northwest Territories

The 1st Council of the North-West Territories also known as the North-West Council in Canada lasted from October 7, 1876, to 1888.[1] It was created as a permanent replacement to the Temporary North-West Council which existed prior to 1876 and was replaced by the 1st North-West assembly when the quota of elected members was reached. The numerical denomination 1st was applied when the 2nd Council of the Northwest Territories was created to differentiate between the two councils.

1st Council of the Northwest Territories
Type
Type
History
Established1876
Disbanded1888
Seats?
Elections
Last election
1885 Northwest Territories election
Meeting place
Fort Livingstone
Battleford
Regina

Early history and development

The first members of the new council were appointed under the Northwest Territories Act and consisted of the Lieutenant Governor, appointed men and Stipendiary Magistrates. Elected representatives were added later and could join the council if an area of 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) had 1000 people an electoral district could be set up. This created a patchwork of represented and unrepresented areas, and there was no official or independent boundaries commission, all electoral law at the beginning was under the purview of the Lieutenant Governor.

Three electoral districts were created in 1881 and for an unknown reason writs were only issued in the district of Lorne which returned the first elected member Lawrence Clarke.

Electors participating in the Northwest Territories elections did not vote by secret ballot until the 1893 Whitewood by-election.[2]

Early sessions

When the first council formed under the new appointed government in 1876, the council consisted of the lieutenant governor who acted as the chairman (speaker), and two appointed members. Because a quorum could not be maintained, the council had to be adjourned if one member went to the washroom.

By-election dates and summaries

Twelve elections took place during the period of 1876–1888. The biggest was the election of 1885 that took place on September 15, 1885. The election saw 11 members in 9 districts returned to the council, due to high population growth in the Northwest Territories at the time. After the 1885 election, elected members became the majority in the council visa vis the appointed members, although they had to fight to wrest control from the "colonial" officials. It became a full assembly. These are not considered general elections, as there was no dissolution of the assembly. However, after four years from the first election, a district had to have another election - the seat was declared empty to be filled in an election.

For list of elected candidates please see below.

March 23, 1881 Lorne by-election #1
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 250 63.61%
Defeated candidates 1 143 36.39%
Total 2 393 100%

May 29, 1883 Edmonton by-election
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 155 59.62%
Defeated candidates 2 105 40.38%
Total 3 260 100%

June 5, 1883 Lorne by-election #2
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 279 69.92%
Defeated candidates 1 120 30.08%
Total 2 399 100%

August 13, 1883 Moose Jaw, Regina, Qu'Appelle sub-election
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 3 517 72.82%
Defeated candidates 5 193 27.18%
Total 8 710 100%

August 31, 1883 Broadview by-election
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 91 55.83%
Defeated candidates 1 72 44.17%
Total 2 163 100%

June 28, 1884 Calgary, Moose Mountain by-election
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 2 198 58.41%
Defeated candidates 2 141 41.59%
Total 4 339 100%

July 8, 1886 Moose Mountain by-election #2
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
Incumbent New # %
Acclaimed candidates 1 - - -
Total 1 - -

July 14, 1886 Calgary, by-election #2
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 2 427 61.88%
Defeated candidates 2 263 38.12%
Total 4 690 100%

October 14, 1886 Qu'Appelle by-election #2
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 332 53.37%
Defeated candidates 1 290 46.62%
Total 2 622 100%

May 24, 1887 Qu'Appelle by-election #3
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 2 427 61.88%
Defeated candidates 2 263 38.12%
Total 4 690 100%

September 5, 1887 Macleod by-election
Election summary # of candidates Popular vote
# %
Elected candidates 1 301 65.86%
Defeated candidates 1 156 34.14%
Total 2 457 100%

Legislative session dates
  • 1st Legislative Session, March 8, 1877, to March 22, 1877
  • 2nd Legislative Session, July 10, 1878, to August 2, 1878
  • 3rd Legislative Session, August 28, 1879, to September 22, 1879
  • 4th Legislative Session, May 26, 1881, to June 11, 1881
  • 5th Legislative Session, August 20, 1883, to October 4, 1883
  • 6th Legislative Session, July 3, 1884, to August 16, 1884
  • 7th Legislative Session, November 5, 1885, to December 18, 1885
  • 8th Legislative Session, October 13, 1886, to November 19, 1886
  • 9th Legislative Session, October 14, 1887, to November 19, 1887

Elected members of the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

District Member Date Elected Date Left Office Reason for leaving office
Broadview John Claude Hamilton August 31, 1883 September 14, 1887 Retirement?
Broadview Charles Marshallsay September 16, 1885 November 5, 1887 Death
Calgary James Davidson Geddes June 28, 1884 1886
Calgary John D. Lauder July 14, 1886 June 30, 1888 Retirement
Calgary Hugh Cayley July 14, 1886 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Edmonton Frank Oliver May 29, 1883
September 15, 1885 Defeated
Edmonton Herbert Charles Wilson September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Lorne Lawrence Clarke March 23, 1881 June 4, 1883 Retirement
Lorne Day Hort MacDowall June 5, 1883 September 14, 1885 Retirement
Lorne Owen Hughes September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Retirement
Macleod Richard Henry Boyle September 15, 1885 August, 1887 Resignation
Macleod Frederick Haultain September 5, 1887 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Moose Jaw James Hamilton Ross August 13, 1883 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Moose Mountain John Gillanders Turriff June 29, 1884 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Moosomin Spencer Bedford September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Retirement
Qu'Appelle Thomas Wesley Jackson August 13, 1883 September, 1886 Resignation
Qu'Appelle William Dell Perley September 15, 1885 February 22, 1887 Elected in 1887 Federal Election
Qu'Appelle Robert Crawford October 14, 1886 June 30, 1888 Retirement
Qu'Appelle William Sutherland May 24, 1887 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Regina William White August 13, 1883 August 12, 1885 Retirement
Regina David Jelly September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
Regina John Secord September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Re-elected 1888 election
St. Albert Samuel Cunningham September 15, 1885 June 30, 1888 Defeated 1888 election

Appointed members of the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories
Member Date Joined Council Date Left Office Reason for leaving office
Matthew Ryan January 1, 1876 1883 Retirement?
Hugh Richardson January 1, 1876 June 30, 1888 Re-appointed after the Election of 1888
James Macleod January 1, 1876 June 30, 1888 Re-appointed after the Election of 1888
Pascal Breland July 10, 1878 June 30, 1888 Lost appointment when Legislature dissolved
Acheson Gosford Irvine August 20, 1883 June 30, 1888 Lost appointment when Legislature dissolved
Hayter Reed August 20, 1883 June 30, 1888 Lost appointment when Legislature dissolved
Charles Rouleau July 3, 1883 June 30, 1888 Re-appointed after the Election of 1888
Jeremiah Travis 1885? ? ?

See also

References
  1. "Territories" (PDF). Saskatchewan Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  2. MacEwan, Grant (1966). Poking into politics. Edmonton, Alberta: The Institute of Applied Art. pp. 57–59. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
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