1902 North-West Territories general election

21 May 1902 (1902-05-21)

35 seats in the North-West Legislative Assembly
18 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
LIB
Leader Frederick W. A. G. Haultain Donald H. McDonald
Party Liberal-Conservative Liberal
Leader since 1897 1902
Leader's seat Macleod North Qu'Appelle
Last election 7 2
Seats won 21 7
Popular vote 8,319 5,067
Percentage 47.8% 29.1%

Premier before election

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain
Liberal-Conservative

Premier after election

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain
Liberal-Conservative

The 1902 North-West Territories general election, occurred on 21 May 1902 and was the fifth general election in the history of the North-West Territories, Canada. It was held to elect 35 Members of the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories.

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain and the Liberal-Conservatives continued with government. Donald H. McDonald was thrust into being the Liberal leader just days before the vote, with the surprise decision by Robert Brett to drop out of the race.

Three years after the 1902 election, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were carved out of North-West Territories in 1905, and they took most of the voting population with them. The 1902 election was the last election held in the NWT until 1951, and it elected the last assembly in the Northwest Territories (NWT) to use political parties. After 1905, the NWT government reverted to an appointed consensus model of government. Since 1951, the government of NWT has been of the elected consensus model of government.

Candidates in this election were not nominated by the party in a contested nomination as with modern elections, but rather proclaimed their support for the governing party or opposition party, or Independent. During the election race some candidates shifted their alignment. The result was a confusing mess, and the bulk of candidates proclaimed support for the already governing Liberal-Conservative party, leaving the Liberals without candidates in many districts. Lethbridge ended up being contested by two government supporting candidates.

1902 would also see the largest number of MLAs elected to the North-West Territories Legislature in the territories' history.

Election summary

Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Elected Popular Vote
# %
  Liberal-Conservative Frederick Haultain 32 21 8,319 47.70%
  Liberal Donald H. McDonald 21 7 5,067 29.06%
  Independent 11 6 3,381 19.39%
  Independent Liberal 1 1 362 2.07%
  Independent Liberal-Conservative 1 - 310 1.78%
Total 66 35 17,439 100%

Note:

  • Sources are conflicted about the affiliation of some candidates, vote counts and total number of candidates are accurate, standings and votes by party may change upon further research.

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

5th North-West Legislative Assembly
District Member Party
  Banff Arthur Sifton Liberal-Conservative
  Batoche Charles Fisher Liberal
  Battleford Joseph Benjamin Prince Liberal-Conservative
  Cannington Ewan McDiarmid Independent Liberal
  Cardston John William Woolf Liberal
  East Calgary John Jackson Young Independent
  Edmonton Richard Secord Independent
  Grenfell Richard Stuart Lake Liberal-Conservative
  High River Richard Alfred Wallace Liberal-Conservative
  Innisfail John A. Simpson Liberal-Conservative
  Kinistino William Frederick Meyers Liberal
  Lacombe Peter Talbot Liberal-Conservative
  Lethbridge Leverett DeVeber Liberal-Conservative
  Macleod Frederick Haultain Liberal-Conservative
  Maple Creek Horace Albertie Greeley Liberal-Conservative
  Medicine Hat William Finlay Liberal-Conservative
  Mitchell Alexander McIntyre Liberal-Conservative
  Moose Jaw George Annable Liberal
  Moosomin Alexander S. Smith Liberal-Conservative
  North Qu'Appelle Donald H. McDonald Liberal
  North Regina George W. Brown Liberal-Conservative
  Prince Albert Thomas McKay Liberal
  Saltcoats Thomas MacNutt Liberal-Conservative
  Saskatoon William Henry Sinclair Liberal-Conservative
  Souris John Connell Liberal-Conservative
  South Qu'Appelle George Bulyea Liberal-Conservative
  South Regina James Hawkes Independent
  Strathcona Alexander Rutherford Liberal-Conservative
  St. Albert Daniel Maloney Independent
  Victoria Jack Shera Independent
  West Calgary Richard Bennett* Independent
  Wetaskiwin Anthony Rosenroll Liberal-Conservative
  Whitewood Archibald Gillis Liberal-Conservative
  Wolseley William Elliott Liberal-Conservative
  Yorkton Thomas Alfred Patrick Liberal

Note: * Sources are conflicted on Richard Bennett as to whether he was a Liberal or Independent

See also

Further reading

  • Hopkins, J. Castell (1903). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1902. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.
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