The 1944 municipal election was held November 1, 1944 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on the public school board, while three trustees were acclaimed to the separate school board. This was the first election to be held on the first Wednesday of November rather than the second Wednesday, in order to avoid future conflicts with the Armistice Day holiday, as happened in 1936 and 1942.
There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: James McCrie Douglas (SS), Harry Ainlay (SS), Winslow Hamilton, Charles Gariepy, and Melvin Downey (SS) were all elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. Southside (SS) representation was guaranteed - two councillors had to come from the southside. This requirement was dropped in 1961.
There were seven trustees on the public school board, but four of the positions were already filled: Albert Ottewell (SS), Bertram Robertson, Frank Newson, and Roy Sutherland had been elected to two-year terms in 1943 and were still in office. The same was true of the separate board, where William Wilde (SS), Joseph Gallant, Thomas Malone, and J O Pilon were continuing.
Voter turnout
There were 9,948 ballots cast out of 61,033 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 16.4%.
Results
bold or indicates elected italics indicate incumbent "SS", where data is available, indicates representative for Edmonton's South Side, with a minimum South Side representation instituted after the city of Strathcona, south of the North Saskatchewan River, amalgamated into Edmonton on February 1, 1912.
Mayor
Party Candidate Votes %
Aldermen
Party Candidate Votes ElectedCo-operative Commonwealth FederationMargaret Thompson2,311Co-operative Commonwealth FederationEdith Rogers2,298Co-operative Commonwealth FederationAlfred Gregory2,273Co-operative Commonwealth FederationHoward Smith2,015Co-operative Commonwealth FederationRobert Haskins1,944
Public school trustees
Party Candidate Votes ElectedCo-operative Commonwealth FederationMary Butterworth3,371SSCo-operative Commonwealth FederationWilliam Thornton2,994Co-operative Commonwealth FederationArchibald Richardson2,888
Separate (Catholic) school trustees
Adrian Crowe (SS), Francis Killeen, and James O'Hara were acclaimed.
References
External links Election History, City of Edmonton: Elections and Census Office