William Henry Cushing
William Henry Cushing | |
---|---|
Mayor of Calgary | |
In office January 2, 1900 – January 7, 1901 | |
Preceded by | James Reilly |
Succeeded by | James Stuart Mackie |
Calgary Alderman | |
In office January 6, 1902 – January 2, 1905 | |
In office May 1899 – January 2, 1900 | |
In office January 7, 1895 – January 4, 1897 | |
Calgary Town Councillor | |
In office January 20, 1890 – January 16, 1893 | |
Personal details | |
Born | August 21, 1852 Kenilworth, Ontario, Canada |
Died | January 25, 1934 Calgary, Alberta, Canada | (aged 81)
Resting place | Union Cemetery, Calgary |
Political party | Liberal |
Residence | Calgary |
Occupation | Lumberman |
Signature | |
William Henry Cushing (August 21, 1852 – January 25, 1934) was a Canadian politician. Born in Ontario, he migrated west as a young adult where he started a successful lumber company and later became Alberta's first Minister of Public Works and the 11th mayor of Calgary. As Minister of Public Works in the government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford, he oversaw the creation of Alberta Government Telephones.
Cushing's resignation in 1910 precipitated the
Early life
Cushing was born August 21, 1852, in
Municipal politics
Cushing was elected Calgary town councillor for a term beginning on January 20, 1890. He remained in that capacity until January 16, 1893. Two years later he became an alderman on the council of Calgary, which was now a city. He served as alderman from January 7, 1895, until January 4, 1897, and again from May 1899 until January 2, 1900. During his last term he was elected the thirteenth mayor of Calgary, a position he held from January 2, 1900, until January 7, 1901. He subsequently served another term as alderman from January 6, 1902, until January 2, 1905.[8]
He also served as the president of Calgary's Board of Trade[10] in 1906.[11]
Provincial politics
After Alexander Cameron Rutherford was asked to form Alberta's first government in 1905, he appointed Cushing as his Minister of Public Works. Historian L. G. Thomas notes that this was an important portfolio, given the rapid development of infrastructure expected in the new province.[6] In keeping with custom for cabinet ministers in Westminster parliamentary systems, Cushing ran for the first Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the district of Calgary in the 1905 election. Cushing, a Liberal, was opposed by Conservative leader R. B. Bennett. The campaign was acrimonious; at one meeting, Bennett accused Cushing of giving his fellow Liberal candidates road-building money with which they could bribe their districts.[12] On election day, Cushing defeated Bennett, who attributed his defeat to "Roman Catholic influence".[13]
Once elected, he was Calgary's primary supporter in the legislature's debate over Alberta's capital city, claiming that it was the new province's economic centre, that Alberta's status as a province was the result of a political movement that had begun in Calgary, and that it would be cheaper to build a legislature there than in Edmonton, site of the interim capital. His motion to name Calgary as the capital was defeated 16 votes to eight, and permanent capital was located at Edmonton.[14] Though it was not to be at his preferred location, as Public Works Minister, Cushing chose the design for the new Alberta Legislature Building, which was based on the Minnesota State Capitol.[15]
As Calgary's representative, Cushing was further dismayed when Rutherford elected to locate the University of Alberta in his own hometown of Strathcona, immediately across the North Saskatchewan River from Edmonton. Calgarians felt that, having been denied the capital, they should be first in line for the university.[16]
As Public Works Minister, Cushing was a primary advocate of government intervention in the labour disputes plaguing Alberta's coal industry in 1907; Rutherford eventually appointed a commission to examine the problem.
Railway scandal
By the 1909 Alberta general election, Calgary's growth had earned it a second seat in the legislature. Cushing finished first in a five-candidate field, and was elected to fill one of these seats; Bennett, finishing second, was elected to the other.
Though Cushing, as Minister of Public Works, was initially responsible for railway policy, on November 1, 1909, Rutherford created a new ministry of Railways, which he appointed himself to head.
There followed a dramatic series of legislative debates and votes, in which many Liberals, including Cushing, frequently voted against their own government, even on
Sifton left Cushing, along with all other major figures of the A&GW dispute, out of his first cabinet;[29] Ezra Riley, a staunch Cushing ally, resigned his seat in protest.[30] Cushing did not do the same but did not seek re-election in the 1913 election.[31]
Later life and legacy
Cushing was the first chairman of the
Cushing is primarily remembered for his role in the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal. In assessing his role in that episode, Thomas has suggested that his actions were motivated by something other than "revulsion against what appeared to be an unwise contract with a railway company". Instead, he believes that Cushing had concluded that he, rather than Rutherford, should be premier, and began to conduct himself publicly in such a way as to undermine Rutherford's authority. Whatever his motivations, Cushing's resignation precipitated a scandal that ended Alexander Rutherford's political career, and in so doing had a profound effect on Alberta's political history.[33] In evaluating his legacy, Roome also considers his role in establishing the government telephone system, which in her opinion "produced serious financial difficulties" for the province in the years ahead.[21]
Electoral record
1909 Alberta general election results (Calgary)[34] (two candidates elected) | Turnout N.A. | |||
Liberal | William Henry Cushing | 2,579 | 27.18% | |
Progressive Conservative | R. B. Bennett | 2,423 | 25.53% | |
Liberal | Dr. Egbert | 1,933 | 20.37% | |
Progressive Conservative | Thomas Blow | 1,907 | 20.10% | |
Socialist | George Howell | 747 | 7.87% | |
1905 Alberta general election results (Calgary)[35] | Turnout N.A. | |||
Liberal | William Henry Cushing | 1,030 | 42.39% | |
Progressive Conservative | R. B. Bennett | 993 | 40.86% | |
Independent | A. D. Macdonald | 407 | 16.75% |
References
- Babcock, D. R. (1989). A Gentleman of Strathcona: Alexander Cameron Rutherford. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 0-919813-57-7.
- Bright, David (1999). Limits of Labour: Class Formation and the Labour Movement in Calgary, 1883–1929. UBC Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7748-0697-8.
- Roome, Patricia (2004). "Alexander C. Rutherford". In Bradford J. Rennie (ed.). Alberta Premiers of the Twentieth Century. Regina, Saskatchewan: Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina. ISBN 0-88977-151-0.
- Thomas, Lewis Gwynne (1959). The Liberal Party in Alberta. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802050830.
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-115-53694-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-113-14384-6.
- ^ Parker, Charles Whately; Barnet M. Greene (1912). Who's who in Canada: an illustrated biographical record of men and women of the time. Vol. 15. International Press. p. 468.
- ^ "Pioneer Profiles (page C)". The Southern Alberta Pioneers And Their Descendants. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ Bright 28–29
- ^ a b Thomas 21
- ^ Jennings, A. Owen (1911). Merchants and manufacturers record of Calgary. Calgary: Jennings Publishing Company. p. 33.
- ^ a b c "Mayors' Gallery" (PDF). City of Calgary. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
- ^ a b "W. H. Cushing". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
- ^ Thomas 22
- ^ Calgary Board of Trade (1906). The famous Calgary district : the land of golden wheat, fat steers, industrial opportunities and unequalled climate.
- ^ Thomas 27
- ^ Thomas 28–29
- ^ Thomas 38
- ^ Babcock 44
- ^ Babcock 36, 58
- ^ Thomas 46–47
- ^ a b Thomas 51
- ^ Thomas 52–53
- ^ Babcock 39
- ^ a b Roome 10
- ^ Babcock 57
- ^ Thomas 72
- ^ Thomas 73
- ^ Thomas 82–83
- ^ Thomas 83
- ^ Thomas 89
- ^ Thomas 90
- ^ Thomas 91
- ^ Thomas 91–92
- ^ Thomas 144
- ^ "Calgary Board of Education – School profiles: W. H. Cushing Workplace School". Calgary Board of Education. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
- ^ Thomas 130
- ^ "Election results for Calgary, 1909". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- ^ "Election results for Calgary, 1905". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
External links