Arthur Lewis Sifton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second
premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the head of government and first minister of the Canadian province of Alberta. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the governing United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The premi ...
from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the
federal cabinet of Canada The Canadian Ministry (Canadian French, French: ''Conseil des ministres''), colloquially referred to as the Cabinet of Canada (), is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the t ...
thereafter. Born in
Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
(now
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
), he grew up there and in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, where he became a lawyer. He subsequently practised law with his brother Clifford Sifton in Brandon, where he was also active in municipal politics. He moved west to
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
in 1885 and to
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
in 1889. There, he was elected to the 4th and 5th North-West Legislative Assemblies; he served as a minister in the government of premier Frederick Haultain. In 1903, the federal government, at the instigation of his brother (who was then one of its ministers), made Sifton the Chief Justice of the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
. After
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
was created out of a portion of the Northwest Territories in 1905, Sifton became the first Chief Justice of Alberta in 1907 and served until 1910. In 1910, the Liberal government of Alberta premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford was embroiled in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal. The
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the representative in Alberta of the monarch. The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the mona ...
, George Bulyea, was a Liberal and determined that for the sake of the
Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party () is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election, with the first three provincial ...
, Rutherford had to be pushed aside in favour of a new premier. When other prominent Liberals declined it, the position was offered to Sifton, who accepted it. As premier, Sifton smoothed over the divisions in the party that had caused and been exacerbated by the railway scandal. He made attempts to break with the Rutherford railway policy; when these were rebuffed by the courts, he adopted a course similar to Rutherford's. He unsuccessfully pursued the transfer of rights over Alberta's natural resources from the federal government, which had retained them by the terms of Alberta's provincehood. While Sifton was premier, the
United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
rose as a political force. Sifton tried to accommodate many of their demands: his government constructed
agricultural college This article lists agricultural universities and colleges around the world, by continent and country. Africa Algeria * Higher National Agronomic School (French name: Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique) Benin * Agricultural University ...
s, incorporated a farmer-run
grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...
cooperative, and implemented a municipal system of
hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
insurance. Outside of agriculture, the UFA was instrumental in the Sifton government's implementation of some
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
measures (which resulted in
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
) and the extension of the vote to women. During the
conscription crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 () was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relatio ...
, Sifton supported the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
prime minister,
Sir Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World ...
, in his attempt to impose
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
to help win the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He backed the creation of a federal Union government composed of Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals. In 1917, he left provincial politics and became a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in the Union government. Over the next three and a half years, he served briefly in four different ministries and was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. He died in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
in January 1921 after a brief illness.


Early life

Arthur Sifton was born on October 26, 1858, in Arva,
Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
(now
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
), to John Wright Sifton (1833–1912) and Catherine "Kate" Watkins (1832–1909). He was the older brother of politician Clifford Sifton. He attended public schools across southern Ontario, culminating with a boys' school in Dundas and high school in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. His father was a devout
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
and a staunch Reformer and, later, Liberal. These allegiances permeated his home life; the Sifton household was often visited by clergy, laity, businessmen, lawyers, and politicians. In 1874 or 1875, John Sifton won contracts for preliminary construction work on the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
(CPR) and moved the family to
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, where Arthur completed high school at Wesley College. Following his graduation, he and Clifford attended Victoria College, then located in
Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...
, Ontario. In 1880, he graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
. While in Cobourg, he was not a devoted student: he skipped many classes, and was judged by his classmates to be "intellectually, morally, physically and erratically preeminent in virtue and otherwise, especially otherwise". Upon graduation, Arthur Sifton returned to Winnipeg to article with Albert Monkman until 1881, when he followed his father to Brandon. John hoped to take advantage of a local real estate boom; nominally, Arthur was running a Brandon branch of Monkman's law firm, though he had not yet finished his articling and was accordingly unqualified to practise law. On September 20, 1882, he married Mary Deering of Cobourg; the pair had two children, Nellie Louise Sifton (born August 1883) and Lewis Raymond St Clair Sifton (born February 1898). In 1883, he wrote and passed his
bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...
and joined Clifford's Brandon law firm, now styled Sifton and Sifton.
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
historian David Hall describes the next phase of Sifton's life as "shrouded in mystery". For reasons that are not clear, in 1885 Sifton dissolved his partnership with his brother and moved his family to
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
. (Hall speculates that the brothers had a falling out, but notes that their later working relationship appears to have been amicable.) In 1885, Prince Albert's prospects did not appear bright, as it had been bypassed by the CPR line. Regardless, Sifton practised law and was in 1885 made a
notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...
. Three years later, he earned a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
from Victoria College and a
Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
. In 1889, he relocated again, to
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
; there is some suggestion that this move was for the sake of his wife's health. There he opened a law office, worked in the office of the city solicitor, and became a partner in the firm of Sifton, Short, and Stuart. At one point he was a
crown prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...
. In 1892, he was appointed
Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
.


Early political career

Sifton's first foray into politics was in 1878, when he campaigned for the introduction of
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
under the auspices of the
Canada Temperance Act The ''Canada Temperance Act'' (), also known as the ''Scott Act'', was an Act of the Parliament of Canada passed in 1878, which provided for a national framework for municipalities to opt in by plebiscite to a scheme of prohibition. It was repeal ...
in the Manitoba electoral districts of Lisgar and Marquette. His first bid for elected office took place in 1882, when he was elected to Brandon's first city council. He was re-elected in 1883, and did not seek re-election at the conclusion of this second term, though he did briefly consider running for mayor before concluding that he had insufficient support to be elected. He also served on the local school board. When his brother Clifford became
Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...
's Minister of the Interior in November 1896, Sifton advised him on Liberal Party affairs in western Canada. This advice included suggested
patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
appointments, one of which was an unimplemented proposal that Arthur himself be appointed chief justice of the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
(a position that did not at the time exist). In 1898, Sifton re-entered politics—Hall speculates to increase his chances at a judgeship—by challenging
Robert Brett Robert George Brett (November 16, 1851 – September 16, 1929) was a politician and physician in the North-West Territories and Alberta, Canada, and was the second lieutenant governor of Alberta. Early life Robert George Brett was born on Nove ...
, the long-time Member of the
Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a u ...
for Banff, in the 1898 territorial election. Election day returns showed Sifton with a plurality of thirty-six votes, but by the time contested ballots were dealt with this had turned into a majority of two votes for Brett. Sifton successfully challenged this result in court, and in the ensuing by-election he defeated Brett by a comfortable margin. One oft-repeated anecdote from the campaign involved a campaign forum for which Brett was late. After giving his own speech, Sifton offered to give the still-absent Brett's speech as well, since he had heard it so many times. He did so, and when Brett eventually arrived to give a speech nearly identical to the one Sifton had given on his behalf he was puzzled by the audience's amusement. Having defeated Brett, Sifton was immediately one of the area's most prominent Liberals, and he was named president of the District of Alberta Liberals shortly thereafter. In 1901, Clifford Sifton appointed James Hamilton Ross, Northwest Territories Treasurer and Minister of Public Works, as
Commissioner of Yukon The commissioner of Yukon () is the representative of the Government of Canada in the Canadian federal territory of Yukon. The commissioner is appointed by the federal government and, in contrast to the governor general of Canada or the Lieuten ...
. It fell to Northwest Territories Premier Frederick William Gordon Haultain to fill the ensuing vacancy and, to preserve the delicate non-partisan balance of his administration, he had to pick a successor who was, like Ross, a Liberal. The role fell to Sifton. Soon after his appointment, Clifford offered him his sought-after position of Northwest Territories Chief Justice. Arthur declined on the basis of his recently assumed ministerial duties, but he made it clear that he was still interested in receiving the judicial post eventually. As minister, Sifton had to cope with increasing expenses and with grants from the federal government that did not keep pace. He dealt with this through support for territorial autonomy—the creation of one or more new provinces from the Northwest Territories. Campaigning on this position, he was re-elected in the 1902 territorial election. Months later, however, T. H. Maguire retired as territorial chief justice, and this time Sifton accepted his brother's offer of the position. He resigned his political offices in January 1903.


Career as a jurist

Despite the accusations of
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
that greeted his appointment on January 3, 1903, Sifton fast became a well-respected judge. He served as chief justice of the Northwest Territories until September 16, 1907, when the Supreme Court of Alberta was established, whereupon he headed this new court, sitting in Calgary as the first Chief Justice of Alberta. He was notoriously difficult for barristers to read: he generally heard arguments expressionlessly smoking a cigar, and it was as a judge that he first acquired his long-time nickname of the
Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...
for his inscrutability. In one trial, he sat apparently vigorously taking notes during both sides' lengthy closing arguments and, once they concluded, immediately delivered his judgment. The bewildered lawyers wondered what he had been writing down, since he had obviously made up his mind before closing arguments; once Sifton had left the courtroom, they found their answer in the form of page after page covered with the judge's signature. He rarely recorded his ''
ratio decidendi ' (; Latin plural ') is a Latin phrase meaning "the reason" or "the rationale for the decision". The ''ratio decidendi'' is "the point in a case that determines the judgement" or "the principle that the case establishes".See Barron's Law Dictio ...
'' but, despite this, few of his decisions were overturned on appeal. It has also been argued that his fellow judges had difficulty ruling on appeals from his decisions specifically because he rarely provided reasons. Much of his work was in
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...
, dealing especially with theft of livestock (in which cases he generally delivered a sentence of three years
hard labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...
, severe by the standards of the day). By the end of his judicial career, he had convicted as many Americans as Canadians. His rulings were generally concerned with practicalities rather than legal theory, based more on social morality than legal precedent, and he did not establish any important
precedents Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...
. In 1907, Sifton was one member of a three-member commission assigned to investigate labour unrest between coal miners and mine operators. His colleagues were mining executive Lewis Stockett and miners' union executive William Haysom. Miners' demands included increased wages, a reduction in working hours to eight per day (from ten), the posting of mine inspection reports, the isolated storage of explosives, the use of non-freezing explosives, and semi-monthly rather than monthly pay. The mine operators objected to this last point on the basis that many miners did not report to work the day after payday, and it was thus desirable to keep paydays to a minimum. The commission recommended that children under sixteen should not be allowed to work in mines, that inspectors should post their reports, that mine sites should have bath houses, and that ventilation inspection should be improved. It also recommended that Albertans keep a supply of coal on hand during the summer for winter use. The commission was silent on wages (except to say that these should not be fixed by legislation), the operation of
company stores Truck wages are wages paid not in conventional money but instead in the form of barter, payment in kind (i.e. commodities, including goods and/or services); credit with retailers; or a money substitute, such as scrip, Voucher, chits, vouchers or ...
(a sore point among the miners), and the incorporation of mine unions (which was recommended by mines but opposed by the unions). It made no recommendation about working hours, but Premier Alexander Rutherford's government legislated an
eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...
anyway. He resigned from the bench on May 25, 1910, to become Premier.


Premier


Ascension and cabinet-building

In 1910, the Liberal government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford was embroiled in the Alberta and Great Waterways (A&GW) Railway scandal. Accusations of favouritism by the government towards the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway had split the Liberal Party, and Rutherford's ability to remain at its head was in doubt. Lieutenant-Governor George Bulyea, a Liberal who had reluctantly asked Rutherford to form a government in 1905, saw his doubts about the Premier's leadership skills validated and quietly began looking for candidates to replace him and save the Liberal Party. Several possibilities—including
William Henry Cushing William Henry Cushing (August 21, 1852 – January 25, 1934) was a Canadian politician. Born in Ontario, he migrated west as a young adult where he started a successful lumber company and later became Alberta's first Minister of Public Works an ...
, Peter Talbot, and Frank Oliver—were considered and either rejected or found to be uninterested in the job. As early as March 14, Bulyea had concluded that Sifton might be "the only permanent solution", though it was not until May that the Lieutenant-Governor was able to secure Rutherford's agreement to resign and the agreement of both major factions in the Liberal caucus to accept Sifton as Premier. Even up until the last minute, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) loyal to Charles Wilson Cross—the province's Attorney-General and a staunch Rutherford ally—threatened to scuttle the arrangement unless Cross was kept on as attorney-general, to which Sifton refused to agree. On May 26, Rutherford resigned and Arthur Sifton became the second Premier of Alberta. One of his first challenges was to craft a cabinet satisfactory to all factions; this he did by excluding the leaders of all sides. He himself took the portfolios of Public Works and Provincial Treasurer. Charles R. Mitchell, who like Sifton had been a judge during the scandal and had accordingly played no part in it, became Minister of Education and Attorney-General. Archibald J. McLean was named Provincial Secretary. His support for the insurgents (though not as one of their leaders) was offset by the continuation of Rutherford's Agriculture Minister Duncan Marshall, who had played no particular role during the scandal but had remained loyal to Rutherford. To the consternation of the opposition
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
, Bulyea
prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. ...
the legislation before this new government's strength could be tested by a
vote of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...
. Still, its acceptance by the Liberal caucus can be measured by the fact that only one member, Ezra Riley, resigned in protest. Riley objected to the exclusion from cabinet of insurgency leader W. H. Cushing; after his resignation he ran as an independent Liberal in the ensuing by-election, but was defeated by Sifton supporter Archibald J. McArthur. As time began to heal old wounds, Sifton expanded his cabinet to include several of the old adversaries: in February 1912 Cross was re-instated as Attorney-General and rebel leader John R. Boyle was made Minister of Education (Mitchell, who had previously held both of these posts, was transferred to the Public Works portfolio). The other new additions to cabinet— Malcolm McKenzie as Provincial Treasurer and Charles Stewart in the new position of Minister of Municipal Affairs—had voted with the Rutherford government during the scandal. Another early challenge for the new Premier was to win a seat in the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...
. Although he lived and worked in Calgary, his first cabinet was composed mostly of southern members (McLean represented
Lethbridge District Lethbridge District was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 1909 to 1913. History The Lethbridge Dist ...
, Marshall represented Olds, and Mitchell was soon elected in
Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...
), so Sifton had Archibald Campbell resign his
Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...
seat and sought election there. Sifton made few promises during the campaign, though he did identify as his priorities "the development of lberta'sagricultural and mining resources and the transportation facilities". Despite accusations by the Conservatives that the Liberals bought "the foreign vote" with beer, whiskey, and tobacco, he won a comfortable majority.


Railway policy

Before resigning, Rutherford's government had called a
Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
into the Alberta and Great Waterways affair, and this commission had not reported by the time that Sifton took office. Between that and the proroguing of the legislature, the new Premier enjoyed a calm that lasted until November 10, when the legislature reconvened. Conservative leader Edward Michener attacked the government's
speech from the throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is opened. ...
for failing to commit itself on railway policy and attacked Sifton for failing to call a general election or seek the confidence of the legislature during his first half year in office. In the meantime, Sifton was facing a breach in his own party on the railway question. Many Liberals from the south of the province, including Sifton himself, felt inclined to abandon the construction of "pioneer" railways (such as the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway) designed to hasten the settlement of the province's emptier areas, and concentrate only on those connecting major population centres. Members from the north of the province, who comprised most of the Liberal caucus, disagreed, and were vehement in their insistence that the A&GW be built. Even among this latter group there were divisions: some Liberals agreed with the Conservatives that the railway should be directly built by the government, while others, including Cross, favoured a partnership with a "responsible company". These divisions were not calmed by the release of the commission's report, whose majority condemned Rutherford and Cross for poor judgment even as it concluded that there was insufficient evidence to find that they had engaged in improper behaviour. It was against this backdrop that Sifton announced his government's policy with respect to the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Company. Because it had failed to meet its construction obligations, Sifton introduced legislation to confiscate the proceeds of the sale of government-guaranteed bonds sold to finance the railway's construction. He gave no indication of how the money, which was being held in trust by several banks, would be used. Cross's faction of (primarily northern) Liberals opposed the bill on the grounds that it did not commit the government to using the money to construct the railway, while the Conservatives opposed it as an unjustified confiscation of private property. As Conservative R. B. Bennett said,
he bill isan act of confiscation, an act such as never before has been carried out in the British Empire, an act such as has few equals in the pages of history. Similar acts have been carried out, once in Nicaragua and Virginia, and in South Carolina and only in times of war or revolution ... In my opinion the bargain was an improvident one, but that does not justify confiscation ... I did not think the new road would pay. But it is a new doctrine that because a bargain did not pay it should be repudiated and one should become a repudiator of bargains and a confiscator of private rights.
In speaking of A&GW President William Clarke (an American), Bennett went on to say "Clarke I despise but Clarke I am bound to respect, because this province gave him a right by charter and if I know the United States I do not think it will allow this province to take his property without due process of the law." The Conservatives, however, had not been expected to support the legislation; the real question was whether Sifton could command enough support among Liberals to pass it. After all, during the Alberta and Great Waterways crisis only nine months earlier, a legislature of very similar makeup had endorsed the Rutherford government's handling of railway policy by a vote of twenty-three votes to fifteen; would Sifton's bill, effectively a repudiation of the Rutherford policy, convince enough Liberals to change sides? The answer came in December, when the bill passed
third reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...
by a vote of twenty-five votes to fourteen. Nine Liberals had reversed themselves and saved Sifton's government, though both Cross and Rutherford were among those to vote against it. Despite calls from Clarke for the federal government to use its power of reservation to stop the legislation, Bulyea granted
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
December 16. Sifton, in his capacity as provincial treasurer, immediately tried to access the money; the
Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...
,
Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
, and Union banks, where the funds were deposited, refused payment. Attorney-General Mitchell sued the banks; on November 4, 1911, Justice Charles Allan Stuart of the Supreme Court of Alberta found in the government's favour. The Royal Bank appealed this ruling and unsuccessfully petitioned the federal government to use its powers of disallowance to strike down the provincial act. In the meantime, Sifton announced a new railway policy that would see eight new lines constructed by private companies with the assistance of provincial loan guarantees, including several pioneer lines; this policy, in its resemblance to the Rutherford policy, met with the approval of the Cross faction, and the Liberals were once more united. In 1912, Justice Stuart's ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of Alberta ''
en banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...
''. Again the Royal Bank appealed, and on January 31, 1913, the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...
, which was at the time Canada's highest judicial authority, found for the Royal Bank, ruling that the provincial government did not have the right to confiscate money raised outside of the province. On September 22 Sifton announced new management of the AG&W agreeable to the bondholders, the government, and the banks. The Conservatives protested that other companies were prepared to construct the railroad for less than the sum agreed on with the A&GW, to which Sifton replied that the Privy Council's ruling meant that the government could not use the money raised to deal with any other company. The Conservatives
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...
ed the legislation and moved a series of amendments (including one calling for the scheme to be put to
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
), but the Liberals voted unanimously in its favour. The Alberta and Great Waterways saga had reached its end, and Sifton's caucus was never more united.


Natural resources

When Alberta and
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
were made provinces in 1905, the federal government retained control over their lands and natural resources, which made the new provinces unique in Canada. The Rutherford government acquiesced to this state of affairs; because the terms of confederation had been drawn up by the Liberal government of
Sir Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime min ...
, it was natural for the provincial Liberal Party to cast itself as their defender. In this capacity, Rutherford pointed to the $375,000 per year that the provincial government received from the federal government as compensation. In 1910, however, Liberal MLA
Alwyn Bramley-Moore Alywn Bramley-Moore (July 3, 1878 – April 4, 1916) was a provincial politician, author and soldier from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1909 to 1913, as part of the governing Libe ...
(who was a staunch provincial rights advocate and who many years later was called "Alberta's first
separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...
" by the ''
Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...
'') moved a resolution calling on the Sifton government to "take such steps as may be deemed necessary to acquire the control of all such natural resources as are of purely local concern". Sifton responded that it was already the intention of his government to begin negotiations with the federal government to this end. He asserted "I have always believed ... that we should administer our mines and timber. The question is not now whether we would like to control our natural resources, but what is the best way to get them." Soon after, Sifton made a trip east and spoke on the subject of provincial resource control to the Canadian Club of Toronto, where his points were well received. In May 1910, Sifton and Saskatchewan Premier
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
met with Laurier in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, where he was able to secure the Prime Minister's agreement that if the Liberals were re-elected in the 1911 federal election they would transfer to Alberta control over its resources. This election was fought primarily on the issue of reciprocity, which was popular in Alberta, and Sifton campaigned actively for Laurier (distinguishing himself from his brother, who broke with Laurier on reciprocity). Despite winning six of Alberta's seven seats, the Liberals were defeated nationally by
Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942), Conservative politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known ...
's
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
. Initially, this did not appear to be a problem; Borden had long called for the transfer of resource control to the prairie provinces, but when Sifton and Scott raised the issue with the new Prime Minister, little action resulted. Borden stalled for some time, and it emerged that he did not wish to buoy the fortunes of the provincial Liberal parties by giving them the political victory that would result from the transfer of resource control. Upon the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the issue fell out of public prominence, and it was not until 1930 that Alberta achieved this long-time objective.


Agricultural policy

Sifton's time as Premier corresponded with the rise of the
United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
(UFA) as a political force. Formed in 1909 by the merger of the Society of Equity and the
Alberta Farmers' Association The Alberta Farmers' Association (AFA) was a farmer's association that was active in Alberta, Canada from 1905 to 1909. It was formed from the Alberta branch of the Territorial Grain Growers' Association (TGGA) when Alberta became a province in 190 ...
, the UFA later became a political party and governed Alberta from 1921 until 1935. During Sifton's tenure, however, its entry into direct politics was still several years away, and it confined itself to advocating for farmers' interests. In a province in which 50,004 people voted in the 1909 provincial election, the UFA claimed an initial membership of 2,100, which climbed to 9,400 in 1913. Moreover, these figures did not include the many farmers who were active in the organization without paying dues; the UFA was a force to be reckoned with, and Sifton took notice. The UFA's first provincial victory took place in 1910, and involved the construction of
agricultural college This article lists agricultural universities and colleges around the world, by continent and country. Africa Algeria * Higher National Agronomic School (French name: Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique) Benin * Agricultural University ...
s. Premier Alexander Rutherford, always a stalwart ally of the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
, approved a plan to locate Alberta's first agricultural college on the university's campus, in Rutherford's home town of Strathcona. At the 1910 UFA convention, a resolution proposed putting the college in southern Alberta, though it was supplanted by an Edward Michener motion calling for the UFA's leadership to consult with the province on a mutually amenable location. After consultation with the UFA, Sifton agreed that, in addition to the college, agricultural schools would be built around the province, and that farmers would be guaranteed representation on the college's board. In fact, Sifton held off on the establishment of the college all together in favour of the creation of seven demonstration farms in different regions of the province. In 1912, the government announced the creation of agricultural colleges in connection with three of these farms (all of them in the ridings of provincial cabinet ministers: Duncan Marshall's Olds,
Claresholm Claresholm is a town located within southern Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 2, approximately northwest of the City of Lethbridge and south of the City of Calgary. History The location was originally a watering stop for steam engin ...
in Archibald McLean's Lethbridge District, and Sifton's
Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...
). Another of the UFA's policies called for a single tax on land to replace most other forms of taxation. The farmers hoped that this tax would help replace
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s, which made it harder for them to export their produce, and shift the tax burden towards cities, where land values were higher. They also called for a surtax on undeveloped land to curb
land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable in a brief amount of time. It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline ...
and encourage the sale of land to farmers. On this demand too, Sifton acted: in 1911–1912 he allowed municipalities to levy
property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...
es and required that rural municipalities tax only land, and in 1914 he imposed a provincial tax on undeveloped land to discourage land speculation. Other UFA-motivated acts by Sifton's government included abandonment of a 1912 plan to privatize
hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
insurance (it instead enacted a municipal insurance scheme) and the prohibition of contract clauses that allowed farm machinery companies to avoid responsibility for their products. Perhaps the most important piece of farm legislation passed by Sifton's government was the incorporation of the Alberta Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Company (AFCEC). Though the UFA's first preference was for government ownership and operation of
grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...
, which Sifton refused, it gladly accepted the AFCEC, in which only farmers could hold shares and which was supported by provincial startup loans. Hall writes that "the Sifton government in effect responded wholly or in part to practically every resolution from the 1913 UFA convention related to provincial powers." This rate could not sustain itself, however, especially once the First World War began to occupy an increasing share of the province's attention and resources. During the 1916 legislative session, the government acted on only two of the UFA's twenty-three demands of that year — one to allow the sale of
gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...
poison by UFA locals, and one dealing with
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
inspection.


Democratic and moral reform

It was not only in agricultural policy that the UFA spread its influence. The organization had a strong progressive bent, and advocated
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...
,
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
, and
prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. In response to the first of these, Sifton in 1913 introduced the ''Direct Democracy Act''. Though it went somewhat less far than the UFA would have liked—for example, it made no provision for
recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...
of elected officials—it did allow for Albertans to call a referendum directly by submitting a
petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...
including the names of eligible voters totalling ten percent of the votes cast in the previous provincial election, including at least eight percent in each of eighty-five percent of the province's ridings. The Conservatives were on record as supporting direct democracy, and could therefore criticize the bill only in detail. The large number of signatures required (beginning with the 1913 election, 9,399 signatures were required) meant that only an issue capable of galvanizing much of the province could lead to a referendum. Prohibition was such an issue. The Conservatives were advocates of such a referendum (during the
1st Alberta Legislative Assembly The 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from November 9, 1905, to Monday, March 22, 1909, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 1905 Alberta general election which was held on November 9, 1905. The Leg ...
, Conservative Cornelius Hiebert had advocated prohibition or, failing that, a government monopoly on alcohol sales), but Sifton and his Liberals were less enthusiastic. They knew the boon to government coffers that liquor sales represented, and were not eager to alienate either the UFA's moral reformers or the province's hoteliers and saloonkeepers. Once the referendum legislation was in place, however, its advocates wasted no time: in 1914 the legislature accepted a petition bearing 23,656 names, and duly called a referendum on the subject. The Alberta prohibition referendum passed resoundingly, and the legislature passed the Prohibition Act in the spring of 1916. Initially the new Act appeared successful: in 1917 there were 5,151 convictions for all crimes across Alberta, as compared to an annual average of 12,706 over the preceding four years. By the time the province's enforcement of the act was exposed as being either deliberately lax or merely futile, depending on the observer, Sifton had left office. Alberta's women, especially those of the UFA-affiliated United Farm Women of Alberta, were active in the province's moral reform movement. They were also active in seeking the vote: in 1913 a delegation of them arrived at the legislature demanding the vote; Sifton asked them "did you ladies wash up your luncheon dishes before you came down here to ask me for the vote? If you haven't you'd better go home because you're not going to get any votes from me." In October 1914 another delegation arrived, bearing the signatures of 40,000 people. At that time, the Premier agreed that most traditional objections to extension of the franchise were "played out", but expressed concern at the increases that would result to the cost of elections and uncertainty at whether most of the province's women actually wanted suffrage. In February 1915 a larger delegation arrived at the legislature and occupied the MLAs' seats, demanding that the franchise be extended quickly enough to allow women to vote in the upcoming prohibition referendum; an angry Sifton refused and suggested to the women that if they wanted the vote, they should contact their MLAs and promise that they would use their votes to re-elect them, "which is after all one of the strongest way in which you can appeal to male human nature, as represented in the legislature." Even so, he committed to raising the issue in the legislature after the referendum. On September 17, 1915, he told UFA President James Speakman that he had given instructions for the preparation of a statute "placing men and women in Alberta on the basis of absolute equality so far as Provincial matters are concerned." True to his word, he introduced legislation in the spring of 1916 giving women the vote in all provincial and municipal elections. The Conservatives supported it enthusiastically, and only St. Albert MLA Lucien Boudreau voted against it (though Ribstone Liberal James Gray Turgeon admitted that he was supporting his leader's legislation against his own convictions).


Style and political success

Arthur Sifton's political style was to remain aloof and detached, and to say no more than necessary; this cemented his reputation as "the Sphinx". He was authoritarian and, while he inspired respect, he was not loved; historian L. G. Thomas credits him with holding the Liberal Party together through his strength, but blames him for failing to heal its underlying divisions. Sifton was originally selected as Premier in the hopes that he would lead the Liberal Party to continued dominance of provincial politics in Alberta. His success in this regard was mixed: although he led the party to victory in the
1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...
and
1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...
elections, its majorities declined each time. Moreover, his victories were marred by accusations of unethical electoral tactics. In advance of the 1913 election, government-sponsored redistribution legislation increased the number of ridings from 41 to 56 and left them of unequal size; only 103 votes were cast in Clearwater in its first election. The Liberals argued that a model of straight
representation by population Political representation is the activity of making citizens "present" in public policy-making processes when political actors act in the best interest of citizens according to Hanna Pitkin's ''Concept of Representation'' (1967). This definition ...
was inappropriate in a province in which some districts were growing far more quickly than others. David Hall has called the bill a "flagrant
gerrymander Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
" and the ensuing election the "crookedest election in Alberta history". There being few policy differences separating the Liberals from the Conservatives, the electoral battle was instead an organizational one, with the two sides accusing one another of bribing ethnic minorities with alcohol and importing elections workers from outside of the province to bribe, intimidate, and mislead rural voters. The Conservatives also accused the Liberals of using government-paid civil servants to campaign for their re-election. Sifton, not confident of victory in his own riding, sought election both there and in
Macleod MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod ( ) are surnames in the English language. The names are anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic ', meaning "son of Leòd", derived from the Old Norse ''Liótr'' ("ugly"). One of the earliest occurrences of the surnam ...
. In the event, he was defeated there but retained his Vermilion riding. Since the 1917 election was held in the throes of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, it was unlikely to be an election as usual—indeed, the Conservatives favoured prolonging the legislature until the end of the war. Sifton was not willing to go that far, but did introduce legislation to re-elect, by act of the legislature, the twelve MLAs who had enlisted in the armed forces—of these, seven were Liberals and five Conservatives; one of the Liberals, Joseph Stauffer of Disbury, was killed in action before the legislation took effect. The Conservatives supported this legislation, though they later cast aspersions on it by suggesting that of the Liberals re-elected, two had never left Canada. A second piece of election legislation provided for two special MLAs to be elected by the 38,000 Albertans serving overseas; the Conservatives protested that two MLAs was not sufficient for such a large number of voters, especially since Clearwater by this time had only 116 eligible voters. After a sedate election that the Liberals won by a slightly reduced majority, Sifton announced his resignation as Premier to enter federal politics. Sifton's 1917 victory was the Liberals' last: his successor, Charles Stewart, lost the 1921 election to the newly-political UFA. In Thomas's estimation, Sifton would have faced a similar fate in 1917 if the UFA had run candidates then.


Federal politics

The
Conscription Crisis of 1917 The Conscription Crisis of 1917 () was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I. It was mainly caused by disagreement on whether men should be conscripted to fight in the war, but also brought out many issues regarding relatio ...
divided the Liberal Party of Canada, and this division extended into the provincial camp. Federal Liberal leader Laurier opposed Prime Minister Borden's proposal to implement wartime
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
, a stand which many Liberals, especially those outside
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, denounced as unpatriotic. Borden reached out to these Liberals to propose a
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
, to be led by him and to include Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals. Clifford Sifton was a major broker of the resulting deal and, when the question of a suitable Alberta representative in the cabinet came up, Arthur Sifton was a natural choice. In 1914, he had announced Alberta's willingness to sacrifice "its last dollar and its last man", and was a staunch supporter of conscription. He had agreed by August 1917 to join the Unionist government, and resigned as Premier in October. Although he was only 58 at the time of joining government, his health was suffering. He was short of energy and required a car to transport him even the several hundred metres from his Ottawa residence to the House of Commons of Canada. Because of this, he was given relatively undemanding portfolios: Minister of Customs and Inland Revenue, Minister of Public Works, and Secretary of State. Hall has called him among the least visible of Borden's ministers. Because of his health and his short tenure in each position, he made very little impact. Despite this, Sifton was highly regarded by his colleagues. Borden himself later stated "there was no one in whose judgment I placed firmer reliance". Sifton was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Imperial Privy Council in the 1920 New Year Honours, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable". Sifton was one of four Canadian delegates to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, along with Borden, Charles Doherty, and George Eulas Foster. There, he acted as vice chair of the Commission on Ports, Waterways, and Railways, and served on the Commission on Aerial Navigation. In these capacities he argued for Canada to be treated as an independent state at a time when its foreign policy was still managed by the United Kingdom. On June 28, 1919, Arthur Sifton was one of two Canadians to sign the Treaty of Versailles.


Death and legacy

In January 1921, Sifton became ill and took leave from his duties for a few days. Although his recovery seemed imminent, his condition suddenly worsened. He died at his home on January 21 at the age of 62. Borden mourned the loss of "a public servant of the highest ability and of the most conspicuous patriotism". He was buried in Ottawa's Beechwood Cemetery. His public papers are in the Canadian archives, with some legal papers in a legal collection in Alberta, and others mixed in with those of his brother Clifford.


Electoral record


As party leader


As MLA


As MP


Archives

There are Arthur Sifton fonds at Library and Archives Canada and the Provincial Archives of Alberta.


References


Citations


Works cited

* * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sifton, Arthur L. 1858 births 1921 deaths Judges in Alberta Lawyers in Alberta Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Canadian Methodists Canadian people of Anglo-Irish descent Leaders of the Alberta Liberal Party Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Canadian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories People from Middlesex County, Ontario Politicians from Calgary University of Toronto alumni Premiers of Alberta Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Canadian King's Counsel Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa) 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada