Charles Gibbs (Alberta politician)

Charles Lionel Gibbs
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton
In office
June 28, 1926 – September 5, 1934
Alderman on the Edmonton City Council
In office
December 8, 1924 – September 5, 1934
Personal details
Born November 11, 1877
Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died September 5, 1934 (aged 56)
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Political party Labour
Children One son, one daughter
Profession Architect

Charles Lionel Gibbs (November 11, 1877 – September 5, 1934), who went by his middle name Lionel, was a politician in Alberta, Canada. He served as a municipal councillor in Edmonton from 1924 until his death and, concurrently, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1926 until his death.

Early life

Gibbs was born November 11, 1877, in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales and was educated at Surrey and Oxford, training as an architect. He emigrated to Canada in 1907, and established an architecture firm in Edmonton, Barnes and Gibbs, that same year. He also taught at the Edmonton Technical High School, and chaired the city's Parks Commission in 1912.

Politics

Edmonton municipal politics

Gibbs first sought elected office in the 1910 election, when he ran for alderman on the Edmonton City Council. He finished ninth of eleven candidates, and was not elected (the top five were). After this, he did not seek election again until 1914, when he was elected as a school trustee. He served his two year term in this position, but did not seek re-election at its conclusion.

In the 1924 election, Gibbs was elected as an alderman running on the Labour slate, finishing fourth of eleven candidates. He finished first of twelve candidates in his 1926 re-election attempt, and was similarly re-elected in the 1928 (first of fourteen candidates), 1930 (second of twelve), and 1932 (first of fifteen) re-election attempts. While on city council, he participated in Labour's first de facto majority on Council (while Labour only had five aldermen - Gibbs, L.S.C. Dineen, James East, Alfred Farmilo, and James Findlay - a sixth, Rice Sheppard had been elected as independent labour candidate as was sympathetic to Labour's views). He was still in office at the time of his death.

Provincial politics

Gibbs sought provincial office as a member of the Labour Party in the riding of Edmonton during the 1926 provincial election. At the time, the riding had five seats, elected using a single transferable vote electoral system. On the first count, he finished ninth of eighteen candidates; however, on subsequent counts the redistribution of votes from defeated candidates made him the third of five candidates elected. He was re-elected in the 1930 election, when he finished third of seventeen candidates on the first count as was also the third of six candidates elected. He was still an MLA at the time of his death in 1934.

Death

Charles Gibbs died September 5, 1934, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, while on a tour of eastern Canada.

References