1917 Saskatchewan general election

1917 Saskatchewan general election
← outgoing members members →
62 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan; 32 seats needed for a majority
Premier before election; William Martin; Liberal	Premier after election ; William Martin; Liberal

The 1917 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 26, 1917, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.

After replacing Walter Scott as leader of the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan and premier of the province, William M. Martin led the party to its fourth consecutive victory, winning all but 8 of the 59 seats in the legislature.

The Conservative Party of Wellington Willoughby continued to lose popular support.

This was the first Saskatchewan election in which women were allowed to vote and run for office. However, none were declared elected in this vote; the first Saskatchewan woman elected an MLA was after a 1918 by-election.

The Non-Partisan League, forerunner of the Progressive Party of Saskatchewan, nominated candidates for the first time, although none were successful. Labour candidates also appeared for the first time.

David John Sykes became the first Independent to sit in the Saskatchewan legislature. He was nominated by the Liberal, Conservative and Non-Partisan League organizations, and thus was acclaimed this election.^[1]

An at-large service vote was held to elect three soldiers from October 3 to October 13, 1917. All service members were not affiliated, and were elected to represent Saskatchewan residents stationed in France, Belgium and Great Britain.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	1912	Elected	% Change	Votes	%	% Change
	Liberal	William M. Martin	58	46	51	+13.3%	106,552	56.68%	-0.28%
	Conservative	Wellington Willoughby	53	7	7	–	68,243	36.30%	-5.68%
	Independent		10	–	1	+100%	4,440	2.36%	+1.30%
	Nonpartisan League		7	*	–	*	7,267	3.87%	*
	Labour	William Geo. Baker (default)	2	*	–	*	1,474	0.79%	*
Sub-total			130	53	59	–	187,976	100%
	Soldiers' vote (Province at large)		14	*	3	*	13,655	6.77%	*
Total			144	53	62	+11.3%	201,631	100%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan

Note:* Party did not nominate candidates in previous election.

Percentages

Popular vote

Liberal			56.68%
Conservative			36.30%
Others			7.02%

Seats summary

Liberal			82.26%
Conservative			11.29%
Others			6.45%

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

4th Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
District	Member	Party
Arm River	George A. Scott	Liberal
Bengough	Thomas Gamble	Liberal
Biggar	George H. Harris	Liberal
Cannington	John D. Stewart	Liberal
Canora	Albert Hermanson	Liberal
Cumberland	Deakin Alexander Hall	Liberal
Cut Knife	William Dodds	Liberal
Cypress	Isaac Stirling	Liberal
Elrose	Archibald McNab	Liberal
Estevan	George Bell	Liberal
Francis	Walter Robinson	Liberal
Hanley	Macbeth Malcolm	Liberal
Happyland	Stephen Morrey	Liberal
Humboldt	William Turgeon	Liberal
Île-à-la-Crosse	Joseph Nolin	Liberal
Jack Fish Lake	Donald Finlayson	Liberal
Kerrobert	John Dowd	Liberal
Kindersley	William R. Motherwell	Liberal
Kinistino	John R. Taylor	Liberal
Last Mountain	Samuel Latta	Liberal
Lloydminster	Robert J. Gordon	Liberal
Lumsden	William Vancise	Liberal
Maple Creek	Alexander Colquhoun	Liberal
Melfort	George B. Johnston	Liberal
Milestone	Bernard Larson	Liberal
Moose Jaw City	Wellington Willoughby	Conservative
Moose Jaw County	Charles Dunning	Liberal
Moose Mountain	Robert Magee	Liberal
Moosomin	John Salkeld	Conservative
Morse	Malcolm L. Leitch	Liberal
North Qu'Appelle	James Garfield Gardiner	Liberal
Notukeu	George Spence	Liberal
Pelly	Magnus Ramsland ¹	Liberal
Pheasant Hills	James Arthur Smith	Liberal
Pipestone	Richard Phin	Liberal
Prince Albert	Charles M. McDonald	Liberal
Redberry	George Langley	Liberal
Regina City	William Martin	Liberal
Rosetown	William Badger	Conservative
Rosthern	William Bashford	Liberal
Saltcoats	James Alexander Calder	Liberal
Saskatoon City	Donald Maclean	Conservative
Saskatoon County	Murdo Cameron	Liberal
Shellbrook	Edgar Clinch	Liberal
Souris	William Fraser	Conservative
South Qu'Appelle	Joseph Glenn	Conservative
Swift Current	David Sykes	Independent
The Battlefords	Allan Pickel	Liberal
Thunder Creek	Andrew Gallaugher	Conservative
Tisdale	Hugh Jones	Liberal
Touchwood	John M. Parker	Liberal
Turtleford	Archibald Gemmell	Liberal
Vonda	James Hogan	Liberal
Wadena	John MacMillan	Liberal
Weyburn	Robert Mitchell	Liberal
Wilkie	Reuben Martin	Liberal
Willow Bunch	Abel Hindle	Liberal
Wynyard	Wilhelm Paulson	Liberal
Yorkton	Thomas Garry	Liberal

Notes

¹ Magnus Ramsland died in 1918. In the resulting by-election, he was succeeded by his widow Sarah Ramsland, the first woman ever elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.

October 13, 1917 service vote results

Like other provinces Saskatchewan held a service vote – actually two separate votes – for Saskatchewan residents in the Canadian armed services fighting during World War I. The first vote was for France and Belgium – two members were elected in a block vote; the top member represented France and the second member elected represented Belgium. Another member was also elected to represent troops in Great Britain. Three seats in the Legislature were set aside for these soldier-MLAs.

France and Belgium

Candidate	Votes	elected
Private Harris Turner	3,938	France
Captain Frederick Bagshaw	1,791	Belgium
Lt. Col. Alexander Ross	978
Private Kenneth Crawford	798
Sergeant William Reade	577
Sapper John Arthur Gibson	379
Major Robert Henry Smith	365
Sgt. Major William Harry Wilson	233
Lieutenant Alfred Haigh	216

Great Britain

Candidate	Votes	%
Lt. Col. James Albert Cross	2,698
Captain Alfred Manville	691
Sergeant Arthur Eaton	504
Sergeant Samuel Barraclough	273
Captain Daniel Lochead	214

References

^ "Sykes Nominated by Three Parties in Swift Current". Saskatoon Daily Star. April 9, 1917. p. 11. Retrieved October 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.