When Alberta was first formed in 1905, the population of farmers in the north outnumbered the cattle ranchers in the south. And this had long-lasting political implications for Alberta?s political future. Frank Oliver of Edmonton was the Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Alberta. As historian David Leonard points out, he was also the Minister of the Interior in the Liberal government of Sir Wilfred Laurier, a position that put him in charge of settling the west:

He had earlier opposed migration of Eastern Europeans to the western prairies, but by now was in favour. So it was part of the government of Sir Wilfred Laurier which addressed openness, freer immigration policies, freer trade with the United States. And when they decided in 1904 that the Northwest Territories did deserve provincial status because of the growing population, they sat down and they determined how best to carve it up. Laurier?s cabinet chose to make two provinces instead of one. But then they had to decide whether to divide the provinces north and south, or east and west.

Laurier, Oliver and their cohorts, they looked at the map and they recognized that the overall was probably a bit more in favour of the Liberals with the open immigration and freer trade. The southern cattlemen tended to be more conservative because they wanted to sell their cattle to the east: Ontario and Quebec. And that meant closing the tariffs, higher tariffs. They didn?t want American beef to invade the eastern Canadian market. They wanted high tariffs, and that was the policy of the Conservatives under Sir John A. Macdonald. So, looking at the map of the old Northwest Territories, and seeing that if we divided the territories into two provinces, a northern one and a southern one, the southern one would probably go Conservative, and the northern one would be overwhelmingly Liberal.

The politicians reasoned an east-west split would give them the best chance at a Liberal majority. So the boundaries were set for Alberta and Saskatchewan. And an interim administration was appointed to run Alberta until the election in November of 1905. At the head of this administration was a lawyer and strong Liberal by the name of Cameron Rutherford.

On the Heritage Trail, I?m Cheryl Croucher.