Ivor Graham Dent, (February 7, 1924 – March 29, 2009) was a politician from

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 ...

, Canada. He served as mayor of

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from 1968-1974 and was a candidate for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

and the

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on behalf of the CCF and the NDP parties.

Early life

Ivor Dent was born in

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina. It is situated near the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway ...

on February 7, 1924. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he attempted to enlist in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

, but was rejected. He subsequently took work as an office boy for

Canadian Pacific 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 ...

until he was accepted to the air force a year later where he served as a bombardier for three years. After the war, he married his wife, Aileen in 1948 while he was studying science at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. The couple had four children. Ivor Dent 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 ...

in Science in 1949. Three years later, he and his wife moved to Edmonton and Dent enrolled at 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 ...

, from which he earned a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

. After earning his second degree, he moved to

Enchant, Alberta Enchant is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within the Municipal District of Taber. It is on Highway 526 and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway, between Vauxhall and Lomond. It has an elevation of . The hamlet is located in census ...

, where he taught for a year before returning to Edmonton to teach. He earned his third university degree, a Master of Administration, from the University of Alberta in 1956 and continued to teach.

Early political career

Dent's first bid for office took place during the 1955 Alberta election, when he ran in

for the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

. He placed twenty-fifth of thirty candidates in the first ballot (the multi-seat constituency used a

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

electoral system at the time) and was eliminated from contention on subsequent ballots. Dent turned his attention to municipal politics. In the 1957 municipal election, he ran for alderman on

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

. He finished seventh out of nineteen, falling short of the top five placings needed to be elected. Efforts during the

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

elections (in which he placed tenth of seventeen and eighth of fifteen, respectively) were similarly unsuccessful, and Dent took a two-year hiatus from politics, to earn his doctorate in educational administration from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Upon his return to Edmonton, he took up a position as a school vice principal. He ran for the leadership of the newly formed

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

in January 1962, losing to Neil Reimer, but was elected party president. Dent ran in the 1963 federal election in

Edmonton East Edmonton East (formerly known as Edmonton Centre-East) was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 2015. The district included a portion of the city of Edmonton. Geo ...

for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. He finished fourth of five candidates, defeating only

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

W.A. Tuomi, as incumbent Progressive Conservative

William Skoreyko William Skoreyko (December 8, 1922 – September 28, 1987) was a businessman, service station owner, and politician from Alberta, Canada. Bio Skoreyko first ran for election to the House of Commons of Canada in the district of Edmonton East ...

was handily re-elected. Dent was finally elected to office in the 1963 municipal election, when he was elected to a one-year aldermanic term (he placed fourth of sixteen). He was re-elected to a two-year term in the 1964 municipal election, in which he placed fifth of forty-six candidates, and in the 1966 election, in which he placed second out of forty-four candidates.

Mayor

After five years as an alderman, Dent ran for mayor in the 1968 election, in which he defeated his fellow aldermen Reginald Easton and John Leslie Bodie in a close three-way race (he was the first mayor elected to a three-year, rather than a two-year, term). He was re-elected in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, when he survived a challenge from alderman Julian Kinisky, but his second term didn't go as smoothly as the first. A damaging transit strike cost Dent support from all sides. In the 1974 election, Dent faced credible challenges from former mayor William Hawrelak (who had returned to municipal politics after vowing never to do so) and alderman Cec Purves. He wound up losing to both of them. Hawrelak was elected and Dent finished in third place in a seven candidate race. Although he was out of office by the time they occurred, Dent is credited by many with bringing the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

to Edmonton.

Further elections, awards, and retirement

After his defeat, Dent went to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

to study public administration. Upon his return to Canada, he became the principal of Rundle Elementary School, where he stayed until his retirement in 1980. In 1995 he joined the Board of Directors of SOS Children's Villages Canada until 2001. He attempted to reclaim his old office in the 1977 election, but finished in fourth place after the victor Purves, alderman

Laurence Decore Laurence George Decore (born Lavrentiy Dikur; June 28, 1940 – November 6, 1999) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was of Ukrainian descent. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, an ...

(himself a future mayor), and Terry Cavanagh (the alderman Council had selected to complete the deceased Hawrelak's term). He did not return to municipal politics, but ran in a 1986 federal by-election in Pembina for the

. Although he entered the race as the favourite, he was narrowly defeated by Progressive Conservative Walter van de Walle. He was admitted as a Member to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1984, and was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005. He was defeated in a 1990 bid for the chairmanship of the

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

Death

On March 29, 2009 Ivor Dent died from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

References

External links

Edmonton Public Library Biography of Ivor DentCity of Edmonton biography of Ivor DentOrder of Canada citation(CBC News) Former Edmonton mayor Ivor Dent dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Ivor 1924 births 2009 deaths Canadian schoolteachers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Canada Neurological disease deaths in Alberta Mayors of Edmonton Members of the Order of Canada New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Alberta New Democratic Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections Politicians from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II University of Alberta alumni University of Oregon alumni University of Saskatchewan alumni 20th-century mayors of places in Alberta