Edmonton municipal election, 1937

The 1937 municipal election was held November 10, 1937 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and five trustees to sit on the public school board (Hugh Currie, Charles Gariepy, William Wilde, and John Welihan were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board). Voters also decided three plebiscite questions.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but four of the positions were already filled: Hugh MacDonald, James Ogilvie, John McCreath, and Athelstan Bissett had been elected to two-year terms in 1936 and were still in office. John Wesley Fry had also been elected to a two-year term in 1936, but he resigned to run for mayor; accordingly, Blair Paterson, who polled sixth in this election, was elected to a one-year term to finish off his term.

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but two of the positions were already filled: Izena Ross and Armour Ford had been elected to two-year terms in 1936 and were still in office. Frederick Casselman had also been elected to a two-year term in 1936, but had resigned; accordingly, George Gleave was elected to a one-year term. On the separate school board there were four vacancies, as A J Crowe, J O Pilon, and J O'Hara were continuing.

Voter turnout

There were 24279 ballots cast out of 51599 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 47%.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent)

Mayor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Citizens' Committee	John Wesley Fry	10,487	43.63%
	Edmonton First	Joseph Clarke	7,340	30.53%
	Progressive Civic Association	Guy Patterson	3,419	14.22%
	Independent	John Sedgewick Cowper	2,730	11.36%
	Independent	Frederick Speed	62	0.26%

Aldermen

Party		Candidate	Votes
	Citizens' Committee	Edward Brown	12,677
	Citizens' Committee	Frederick Casselman	12,386
	Citizens' Committee	Douglas Grout	12,252
	Citizens' Committee	George Campbell	11,709
	Citizens' Committee	Dan Knott	11,655
	Citizens' Committee	Blair Paterson	10,980
	Progressive Civic Association	Harry Ainlay	10,103
	Progressive Civic Association	James Findlay	8,501
	Independent	Margaret Crang	7,608
	Progressive Civic Association	Charles Gould	7,190
	Progressive Civic Association	Elisha East	5,323
	Independent	Walter Clevely	4,884
	Progressive Civic Association	William Miller	4,551
	Progressive Civic Association	Charles Lee	4,447
	Independent	Raymond C. Ghostley	2,308
	New Deal	John James Allen	2,036
	Independent	Peter Glassman	1,779
	Independent	Ernest Holub	1,072
	Independent	Charles Keily	734

Public school trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes
	Citizens' Committee	Albert Ottewell	10,297
	Citizens' Committee	Walter Morrish	8,829
	Progressive Civic Association	Sidney Bowcott	8,391
	Citizens' Committee	C. Bruce Smith	7,330
	Citizens' Committee	George Gleave	7,034
	Independent	Frank Crang	6,770
	Progressive Civic Association	Mary Ann Gilchrist	5,950
	Progressive Civic Association	Adam Bruce	5,384
	Progressive Civic Association	Thomas Housley	3,959

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Hugh Currie, Charles Gariepy, William Wilde, and John Welihan were acclaimed.

Plebiscites

Mayoral Election

Are you in favour of the Mayor being elected annually by the members of the City Council from their number?

• Yes - 4444
• No - 18383

Money Bylaw (Airport Hangar)

$35000 for an Airport Hangar

• Yes - 5308
• No - 1578

Money Bylaw (Police Signals)

$25000 for Police Signals

• Yes - 3075
• No - 3159

References

City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections