Edmonton municipal election, 1953

The 1953 municipal election was held October 14, 1953 to elect six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council (William Hawrelak was acclaimed for a second term as mayor) and four trustees to sit on the separate school board (Mary Butterworth, William Cowley, James Falconer, and John Thorogood were acclaimed to two-year terms on the public board). The electorate also decided five plebiscite questions.

There were ten aldermen on city council, but four of the positions were already filled: Edwin Clarke, James MacDonald, Frederick John Mitchell, and Ethel Wilson were all elected to two-year terms in 1952 and were still in office. Richmond Francis Hanna had also been elected to a two-year term in 1952, but had been elected to the Canadian House of Commons and had resigned; consequently, Hu Harries was elected alderman for a one-year term to complete his term.

There were seven trustees on the public school board, but three of the positions were already filled: Charles Cummins, Robert Rae, and Harry Fowler had been acclaimed to two-year terms in 1952 and were still in office. The same was true on the separate board, where Francis Killeen, James O'Hara, and Adrian Crowe were continuing.

Voter turnout

There were 12146 ballots cast out of 107687 eligible voters, for a voter turnout of 11.2%.

Results

(bold indicates elected, italics indicate incumbent, SS denotes candidate from the south side of the North Saskatchewan River)

Mayor

Aldermen

Party		Candidate	Votes		Elected
	Citizens' Committee	Harold Tanner	11,267	SS	Y
	Citizens' Committee	Rupert Clare	10,936		Y
	Citizens' Committee	Abe Miller	9,845		Y
	Citizens' Committee	Charles Simmonds	8,362		Y
	Citizens' Committee	Cliffard Roy	8,334	SS	Y
	Citizens' Committee	Hu Harries	7,889	SS	Y
	Independent	Sidney Bowcott	7,395
	Independent	Phoebe McCullough	5,377
	Independent	Julia Kiniski	3,471

Public school trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Citizens' Committee	Mary Butterworth	Acclaimed	Y
	Citizens' Committee	William Cowley	Acclaimed	Y
	Citizens' Committee	James Falconer	Acclaimed	Y
	Citizens' Committee	John Thorogood	Acclaimed	Y

Separate (Catholic) school trustees

Party		Candidate	Votes		Elected
	Independent	Andre Dechene	2,305		Y
	Independent	William Sereda	1,869		Y
	Independent	Amby Lenon	1,680	SS	Y
	Independent	Catherine McGrath	1,662		Y
	Independent	John Kane	1,401

Plebiscites

Paving

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $1,250,000.00 for the City share of paving arterial and residential streets?

• Yes - 8271
• No - 757

Engineering Equipment

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $200,000.00 for the purpose of buying Engineers Department Equipment, consisting of scavenging equipment, oil distributor, front end loaders, oil and gas tenders, sweepers and other construction equipment?

• Yes - 7720
• No - 1090

Swimming Pool Renovations

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $75,000.00 for providing new filtration system and reconstructing dressing rooms and sun deck area in Borden Park Swimming Pool?

• Yes - 6413
• No - 2067

Playgrounds

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $50,000.00 to develop public playgrounds, playground shelters, wading pools and to provide other public recreation facilities?

• Yes - 7410
• No - 1270

New Building at the Royal Alexandra Hospital

Shall Council pass a bylaw creating a debenture debt in the sum of $355,000.00 being part of the cost of construction of a building to contain kitchen and dining room, storage and other facilities, at the Royal Alexandra Hospital?

• Yes - 7299
• No - 1439

References

City of Edmonton: Edmonton Elections

Elections and plebiscites in Edmonton
Municipal elections	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 (Jan) 1896 (Dec) 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1912 (Feb) 1912 (Dec) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1966 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
By-elections	1907 1911 1912 1970 1984 1994 2015 2016
Plebiscites	1979 1981
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