Frank Oliver (politician)
Edmonton | |
---|---|
In office May 29, 1883 – January 1, 1885 | |
In office 1888 – May 1896 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Francis Robert Oliver Bowsfield September 1, 1853 Canada West |
Died | March 31, 1933 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | (aged 79)
Relatives | Parents Allan Bowsfield and Hannah (Anna) Lundy |
Signature | |
Francis Oliver
Early life
Oliver was born Francis Bowsfield in
Oliver studied journalism in Toronto, Ontario. In 1880, he moved west and founded the Edmonton Bulletin with his wife, Harriet Dunlop (1863–1943).[2] When the first issue was printed on December 6, 1880, it became the first newspaper in what is now Alberta,[3] and he owned it until 1923. Oliver was active in what one historian called the "Edmonton Settlers' Rights Movement" of 1880s.[4] Prior to the official Dominion Land Survey, Oliver and others engaged in direct action to preserve land ownership rights of Edmonton old-timers, against encroachment by later-arriving settlers, who they termed "squatters." Oliver, later-mayor Matt McCauley, Metis Laurent Garneau and several others faced criminal charges, and then a civil suit after a "squatter"'s shack was pushed into the river valley.[5]
He also used the Edmonton Bulletin as a platform to voice his opposition to the establishment and continued existence of Papaschase Indian Reserve Number 136.[6][7] He continued this practice for eight years (even while he was an elected politician), until the federal government forced the Papaschase band members from their reserve. The land was divided between railway companies, settlers, and the federal government, who later auctioned their share off to settlers.[8]It is important to note that Indigenous communities in Canada have faced a long history of displacement, loss of land, and systemic marginalization. The struggles and negotiations surrounding Indian reserves like Papaschase Reserve reflect the complex and often contentious relationships between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian government during that time.
Political career
Oliver was elected to the North-West Council in 1883. He was the second elected member to the
Some of the stands he took in the NWT Council at Regina were not popular with all Edmontonians, least of all with local Conservatives. He organized a meeting in early January to refute charges that he was "an irreconcilable oppositionist with socialist tendencies," saying what he done had been in accordance "with the interests and wishes of the majority of his constituents."[10]
In 1885 following the suppression of the Metis Rebellion, his newspaper said that the blame for the outbreak was shared "between Riel and the Ottawa government," signalling out the late minister of the Interior.[11] His newspaper blamed the Ottawa government's "deception, mismanagement and injustice" for having caused the rebellion.[12]
Oliver lost his seat in the
Oliver contested and won one of the two seats in the Edmonton district in
He resigned from the council in 1896 to run for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada for the Liberal Party of Canada. Running as a Liberal Party candidate, Oliver was a champion of the small farmer and business people pioneering in Alberta at the time.[13] He was elected in the 1896 Canadian federal election to represent the entire Alberta (Provisional District). He was re-elected to the Alberta provisional district again in 1900.
The large Alberta riding was broken up, and Edmonton acquired an MP for itself in 1904. Oliver was elected to the newly-formed Edmonton district in 1904 Canadian federal election.[14]
Following his appointment to the federal cabinet, he retained the seat in a 1905 Ministerial by-election. He also was re-elected in the 1908 Canadian federal election and the 1911 Canadian federal election. [15]
As leading federal politician of western Prairies, Oliver was assigned by Wilfrid Laurier to draw up the electoral boundaries used in the 1905 Alberta general election. The boundaries were said to favour Edmonton, where the Alberta Liberal Party enjoyed the most support although overall, the Liberal Party got the majority of the votes cast and more votes than any other party in the election. Edmonton's political weight is said to have assured the city's designation as the provincial capital, if its central location and long dominance in north-central Alberta had not been enough.[3]
Federal Minister
From 1905 to 1911, he was appointed and served as the
As minister responsible for national parks, he drastically reduced the size of Rocky Mountains Park from 11,400 km2 (4,400 sq mi) in 1902, to 4,663 km2 (1,800 sq mi);[16] Kootenay Lakes Forest Reserve (later Waterton Lakes National Park) from 140 km2 (54 sq mi) in 1895[17] to 35 km2 (14 sq mi),[18] and Jasper National Park from 12,950 km2 (5,000 sq mi) in 1907 to 2,590 km2 (1,000 sq mi),[18] under the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act of 1911, which replaced the earlier legislation. Much of the land thus freed was declared to be forest reserves to capitalize on its timber and mineral resources.[19] Oliver's successor for Minister of the Interior, William James Roche, later expanded the three Alberta National Parks closer to their earlier sizes, in 1914 Waterton Lakes National Park to 1,096 km2 (423 sq mi), later in 1917 expand Banff National Park to 7,125 km2 (2,751 sq mi) and Jasper National Park to 11,396 km2 (4,400 sq mi).[18]
Oliver, unhappy with centralized approach to the National Parks System, reorganized the system by creating the position of Commissioner of Dominion Parks with its headquarters in Banff, Alberta, and Howard Douglas, the superintendent of Rocky Mountains Park (Banff National Park) since 1897, was appointed the first Commissioner.[20]
In 1907 he established a commission to investigate
By 1911, Oliver's immigration policy imposed tighter controls on immigration. Oliver was staunchly British, and his policies favoured nationality over occupation. He asserted that his immigration policy was more "restrictive, exclusive and selective" than those of his predecessors.[22] Like his predecessor, Clifford Sifton, Oliver encouraged immigration from Europe, and encouraged immigration of experienced farmers from Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.[23]
Oliver wrote
Oliver also used his newspaper to lobby for having the Papaschase Cree removed from their Treaty 6 Reserve territory, south of Edmonton, in 1880s.[25]
Frank Oliver's public positions apparently suited local sentiment as he was elected to the Territorial Assembly and as MP multiple times, often with majority of votes in the district.[26]
Later career and life
After the Liberal government was denied power in 1911, Oliver served in the House of Commons until 1917.
He ran for re-election in the new riding of West Edmonton in 1917 and received the most votes cast in the riding. His lead though was eliminated when officials of Borden's party distributed its army vote and he did not retain the seat. [27][28]
Oliver ran in 1921 to regain his Edmonton West seat but this time he was defeated by a candidate of the
Frank Oliver died in 1933 in Ottawa, Ontario.[29] His body was brought to Edmonton, and it was interred in the Edmonton Cemetery.[30]
Family
Frank Oliver married Harriet Dunlop (1863–1943), daughter of Thomas Dunlop of Prairie Grove, Manitoba in 1881. They had two children: Allen Oliver, MC and John Oliver. Allen Oliver was killed in action in 1916.
Legacy
The area of western downtown Edmonton west of 109 Street was named Oliver after the man; later a major commercial strip in the neighbourhood was named Oliver Square.
On August 2, 2021 the Toronto Daily Tribune story, "Edmonton’s Oliver Square changes name after community consultation." It reported, "A member of Parliament and federal minister first elected to office in 1883, Oliver is known for drafting discriminatory legislation, including policies that pushed Indigenous people off their traditional lands."
Mount Oliver in the Victoria Cross Ranges is named after him.
The Oliver Canadian Northern (now CNR) railway station in today's northeast Edmonton, and the surrounding area of same name, honours this man. Alberta Hospital Edmonton used to be in Oliver.[37]
The Oliver School District (1899-1957) was named after him. This was done in recognition of Oliver, as NWT Assemblyman, having a great deal to do with the act that established the school district system in the North-West Territories.
References
Bibliography
- Brennan, Brian (2001). Alberta Originals: Stories of Albertans Who Made a Difference. Fifth House. ISBN 1-894004-76-0.
Notes
- ISBN 9780385673662– via Google Books.
- ISBN 0-9685832-0-2.
- ^ a b c Brennan 2001, p. 18.
- ^ Gilpin, John F. “The Edmonton and District Settlers’ Rights Movement, 1880 to 1885” in Swords and Ploughshares: War and Agriculture in Western Canada ed. R. C. Macleod (1993)
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, June 24, 1882
- ISSN 1916-4467.
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, January 17, 1881
- ^ Jan Olson (4 November 2013). "Papaschase". Strathcona Community League. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin Jan. 10, 1885
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, January 31, 1885
- ^ |Edmonton Bulletin, September 5, 1885
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, July 18, 1885
- ^ Oliver's election campaign speech, Edmonton Bulletin, June 1, 1896
- ^ Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results, p. 201
- ^ "The Hon. Frank Oliver, P.C., M.P." Parlinfo. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- OCLC 639616565.
- ^ "Chapter 1 The Early Years (Up to 1900)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "Chapter 2 Expansion in the West (1900 to 1972)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "Biography – OLIVER, FRANK (Francis Robert Bowsfield, Bossfield, or Bousfield) – Volume XVI (1931-1940) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca.
- ^ "Chapter 4 National Parks Administration (1885 to 1973)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "Doukhobor Prayer Home". Alberta Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
- ^ "Black History Canada - Timeline 1900-Present". blackhistorycanada.ca. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ "Persuasion: Print Advertising on the Praries".
- ^ Yarhi, Eli (30 September 2016). "Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 — the Proposed Ban on Black Immigration to Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "History of Papaschase". www.papaschase.ca.
- ^ Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, Jan. 11, 1918
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, March 2, 1918
- ^ "The man who built the Edmonton Bulletin". Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ^ "Cemeteries :: City of Edmonton".
- ^ "Edmonton's Oliver Square Changes Name After Community Consultation - CBC.ca". 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ Dyer, Steven (28 August 2022). "Oliver community celebrates 100 years while searching for a new name". CTV News Edmonton. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Snowdon, Wallis (23 January 2024). "Oliver no more: Edmonton neighbourhood adopts new Cree name". CBC News. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ Fortner, Cole (21 February 2024). "Edmonton's Oliver community to be renamed". CityNews Edmonton. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ "New name for Edmonton's Oliver neighbourhood approved by city council - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ "Council approves Wîhkwêntôwin name for Oliver; change to take effect 2025". Edmonton. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
- ^ Place Names of Alberta
External links
- Frank Oliver (politician) – Parliament of Canada biography
- Hall, David J. (2016). "Frank Oliver". In Cook, Ramsay; Bélanger, Réal (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XVI (1931–1940) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- Frank Oliver, Manitoba Historical Society
- Frank Oliver and the 1905 election Alberta Heritage
- Frank Oliver and the Michel Band