Arthur Lewis Sifton
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Arthur Lewis Sifton, PC , KC (October 26, 1858–January 21, 1921) was a Canadian politician who was Premier of Alberta between 1910 and 1917.
Sifton was born in St Johns, Middlesex County, Canada West (later known as Ontario). He was first elected to the Northwest Territories legislature in 1902 for Banff. In 1903, he became territorial Chief Justice, and in 1907 became Alberta's chief justice. In 1910, he was recruited by the Alberta Liberal Party to succeed Alexander C. Rutherford as Premier. The party had been seriously divided over allegations of wrongdoing regarding railway construction. Sifton held the party together, and led it to victory in the 1913 and 1917 provincial elections. In 1916, his government gave women the right to vote, and passed temperance legislation that severely limited the sale of alcohol in the province.
The Conscription crisis of 1917 resulted in federal Prime Minister Robert Borden creating a Unionist government. Borden, a Conservative, invited prominent Liberals such as Sifton to join his Cabinet. Sifton accepted, resigning as Premier to become Borden's Minister of Customs and, later, Minister of Public Works and a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference. For his service at the peace conference, he was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in the 1920 New Year Honours, and was thus entitled to be styled "The Right Honourable".
Sifton died in Ottawa in 1921.
Preceded by Alexander Cameron Rutherford |
Premier of Alberta 1910-1917 |
Succeeded by Charles Stewart |
Preceded by Archibald Campbell |
MLA Vermilion, AB 1910-1917 |
Succeeded by Arthur Ebbett |
Preceded by Robert Brett |
MLA Banff, NWT 1899-1903 |
Succeeded by Charles W. Fisher |
[edit] External links
- Alberta legislative assembly biography
- Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament
Categories: 1858 births | 1921 deaths | Alberta MLAs | Alberta premiers | Canadian lawyers | Members of the 10th Ministry in Canada | Members of the 11th Ministry in Canada | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Alberta | Unionist MPs in Canada | Northwest Territories MLAs | Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | People from Middlesex County, Ontario | Alberta politician stubs