Edmonton municipal election, 1938

The 1938 municipal election was held November 9, 1938 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board (Adrien Crowe, James O'Hara, and J O Pilon were acclaimed to two-year terms on the separate school board). Voters also rejected two proposals to borrow money from other levels of government for the construction of new housing.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Edward Brown, Frederick Casselman, Douglas Grout, George Campbell, and Dan Knott were all elected to two-year terms in 1937 and were still in office.

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Albert Ottewell, Walter Morrish, Sidney Bowcott, and Bruce Smith had been elected to two-year terms in 1937 and were still in office. The same was true on the separate school board, where Hugh Currie, Charles Gariepy, William Wilde, and John Welihan were continuing.

Voter turnout

There were 23599 ballots cast out of 53848 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 43.8%.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent)

Mayor

Party Candidate Votes %
Citizens' CommitteeJohn Wesley Fry 12,491 53.34%
IndependentJoseph Clarke 5,922 25.29%
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Charles Gould 4,807 20.53%
    
IndependentFrederick Speed 198 0.85%

Aldermen

Party Candidate Votes Elected
Citizens' CommitteeHugh MacDonald 13,424 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeMack McColl 10,695 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeJames Ogilvie 11,893 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeSidney Parsons 11,354 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeBlair Paterson 11,231 Green tick
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Harry Ainlay 9,876
    
     Progressive Margaret Crang 8,664
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
James Findlay 8,561
    
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
William Miller 6,387
    
     Progressive Elisha East 6,000
IndependentSidney Bowcott 5,083
IndependentM. M. Downey 2,619
IndependentRaymond C. Ghostley 2,065

Public school trustees

Party Candidate Votes Elected
Citizens' CommitteeIzena Ross 11,716 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeArmour Ford 11,189 Green tick
Citizens' CommitteeW. G. McConachie 10,520 Green tick
     Progressive Frank Crang 8,171
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
W. H. Thornton 6,264
    
     Progressive Mary Ann Gilchrist 5,141
     Canadian Labour Party/
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
A. Richardson 3,559
    

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Adrien Crowe, James O'Hara, and J O Pilon were acclaimed.

Plebiscites

Low Income Housing

Are you in favour of the city borrowing from the Dominion or Provincial governments, to construct low cost dwelling houses in Edmonton, for rental purposes only, a sum not exceeding $250, 000, repayable in from 20 to 35 years, with interest not exceeding two per cent per annum?

Regular Housing

Are you in favour of the city borrowing from the Dominion or Provincial governments, for the purpose of loaning to individuals to construct dwelling houses in Edmonton, a sum not exceeding $250,000, repayable in from 20 to 35 years at a rate of interest not exceeding five percent per annum?

References

City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections