The January 1894 Calgary municipal election was scheduled for January 15, 1894 to elect a

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and nine Councillors to sit on the first

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

from January 17, 1894 to January 7, 1895. In addition, two members were elected as school trustees.

Background

This was the first election to take place after Calgary was officially incorporated as The City of Calgary under Chapter 33, Ordinance of North-West Territories on January 1, 1894. This was also the first election to establish a Ward system for the election of councillors, splitting the City into three wards, with three representatives each. The prior Town Charter required municipal elections to take place in December 1893, however the new City Charter came into effect in such a way as to prevent the election from occurring in December 1893, and would require the election to take place in December 1894. The whole of Calgary City Council resigned to force a January election, which was eventually validated as a general election through the legislature.

Voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

were provided to any male, single woman, or widowed British subject over twenty-one years of age who are assessed on the last revised assessment roll with a minimum property value of $200. The election was held under combination of

First-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

and Plurality block voting where each elector was able to cast a vote for the mayor and up to three votes for the candidates running to be ward councillors.

Results

Mayor

Aldermen

In each ward, each voter was able to cast up to three votes ( Plurality block voting). The number of total votes cast thus is much larger than it would have been if each voter cast just one vote. Under Block Voting, the largest voting block often takes all the seats, leaving none to the other voters who might make up the majority of voters.

Ward 1

Ward 2

Ward 3

School Trustee

By-Elections

Howard Douglas General Sir Howard Douglas, 3rd Baronet, (23 January 1776 – 9 November 1861) was a British Army officer born in Gosport, England, the younger son of Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, and a descendant of the Earls of Morton. He was an English ...

acclaimed on February 28, 1894 after Thomas Underwood failed to be sworn in within one month of the January 1894 election due to inability to return from England in time. * Joseph Henry Millward elected in a by-election scheduled July 4, 1894 following Joseph Edward Jacques' resignation which was accepted by Council on June 12, 1894. Millward defeated Thomson, and George Murdoch for the seat. * James Stuart Makie elected in a by-election scheduled October 2, 1894 following Joseph Henry Millward's resignation.

References

Sources

*Frederick Hunter
THE MAYORS AND COUNCILS OF THE CORPORATION OF CALGARY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calgary Municipal Election, 1893 January Municipal elections in Calgary 1894 elections in Canada 1890s in Calgary