1959 Edmonton municipal election

The 1959 municipal election was held October 14, 1959, to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided eleven plebiscite questions.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Frederick John Mitchell, George Prudham, Donald Bowen, Ethel Wilson, and Laurette Douglas were all elected to two-year terms in 1958 and were still in office (in fact, Mitchell was in office as mayor, having been appointed four weeks earlier by council to replace William Hawrelak (resigned September 9, 1959), but city bylaws allowed him to resume his aldermanic term once a new mayor was elected).

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but three of the positions were already filled: J. Percy Page, Robert Thorogood, and William Orobko were elected to two-year terms in 1958 and were still in office. The same was true on the separate board, where Leo Lemieux, Vincent Dantzer, and E D Stack were continuing.

Voter turnout[]

There were 52357 ballots cast out of 150062 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 34.9%.

Results[]

• bold indicates elected
• italics indicate incumbent
• SS 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	%
	Citizens' Committee and Civic Reform Association	Elmer Roper	25,465	49.02%
	Independent	James Harper Prowse	19,318	37.19%
	Independent	William Pasternak	6624	12.75%
	Independent	John Thomas Bennett	542	1.04%

Aldermen[]

Party		Candidate	Votes		Elected
	Citizens' Committee & Civic Reform Association	William Henning	27,825	SS	Y
	Civic Reform Association	Angus McGugan	22,711	SS	Y
	Civic Reform Association	Ed Leger	21,372	SS	Y
	Civic Reform Association	Gordon McClary	19,269	–	Y
	Citizens' Committee	McKim Ross	17,950	SS	Y
	Citizens' Committee	Cliffard Roy	17,172	SS
	Citizens' Committee	Morris Weinlos	16,769
	Civic Reform Association	J. Les Bodie	15,077
	Citizens' Committee	Robert McDonald	14,592
	Independent	Ivor Dent	13,870	SS
	Edmonton Voters Association	Julia Kiniski	9,703
	Independent	Allan Welsh	8,824
	Independent	Orval Allen	7,671	SS
	Independent	Charles Simmonds	7,629	SS
	Independent	Stan Rogalski	3,787
	Edmonton Voters Association	E. J. (Slim) Powell	3,050
	Edmonton Voters Association	Walter Doskoch	2,639

Public school trustees[]

Party		Candidate	Votes		Elected
	Citizens' Committee & Civic Reform Association	Angus MacDonald	26,928		Y
	Civic Reform Association	Edith Rogers	24,893		Y
	Citizens' Committee & Civic Reform Association	Vernon Johnson	22,467	SS	Y
	Civic Reform Association	Murray Stewart Cooke	20,707
	Citizens' Committee	Ernest Hanna	18,685
	Citizens' Committee	Douglas Thomson	14,742	SS	Y
	Independent	David Graham	12,641
	Edmonton Voters Association	John Rawluk	3,685

Separate (Catholic) school trustees[]

Party		Candidate	Votes		Elected
	Independent	Joseph Moreau	7,165		Y
	Independent	Orest Demco	6,215		Y
	Independent	Catherine McGrath	6,158		Y
	Independent	Henry Carrigan	5,952	SS	Y
	Independent	Russell Burke	5,892	SS

Plebiscites[]

• Plebiscite items required a minimum two-thirds "Yes" majority to bring about action

Fluoridation of Water[]

Shall fluorides, for the prevention of tooth decay, be added to the City water supply sufficient to bring the fluoride content of City water up to the level of one part fluoride to one million parts of water?

• Yes - 27946
• No - 22166

Landfill[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $75,000.00 for the purchase of land to be used as a refuse disposal area employing the sanitary fill method?

• Yes - 20803
• No - 8925

Traffic Lights[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $160,000.00 in order to purchase and locate traffic lights on certain highway intersections within the City?

• Yes - 22886
• No - 7128

Paving[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $250,000.00 for the City share of standard paving of arterial and residential streets?

• Yes - 24502
• No - 5528

Parks[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $750,000.00 for constructing or improving park areas or playgrounds and circles, buffer zones, ravine side boulevards, small parks and triangles?

• Yes - 21718
• No - 8154

Railway Underpass[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $300,00.00 for the City share of constructing an underpass of the Canadian National Railway tracks at the crossing of 127 Street at 126 Avenue?

• Yes - 21420
• No - 9218

Bridge over Mill Creek Ravine[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $500,000.00 for the City share of constructing a four lane bridge to replace the existing structure over Mill Creek Ravine at 82nd Avenue?

• Yes - 23490
• No - 6729

Royal Alexandra Hospital Expansion[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $3,000,000.00 so that the patient bed capacity of the new Royal Alexandra Hospital approved in 1958 may be increased by 300 beds and to buy equipment?

• Yes - 25018
• No - 5911

Swimming Pool[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $350,000.00 for the City share of constructing an indoor swimming Pool at Eastglen Composite High School situated at 114th Avenue and 68th Street?

• Yes - 13842
• No - 15577

Youth Shelter[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $175,000.00 for the purpose of constructing an Emergency Receiving Home for neglected children?

• Yes - 25703
• No - 4802

Bridges over MacKinnon and MacKenzie ravines[]

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $1,000,000.00 for the purpose of constructing two 4 lane bridges to replace the existing structures located at 142 Street and MacKinnon Ravine, and 142 Street and MacKenzie Ravine?

• Yes - 16743
• No - 12645

References[]

City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections