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ABSTRACT
Despite a tradition of non-partisanship during the period of territorial government in Western Canada from 1882-1905, partisan Liberal and Conservative rivalries emerged with the establishment of the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. David Hall says the platforms of the Liberal and Conservative parties provide important insight into the similarities and differences between the two. Hall says many of the same themes would resonate in Alberta politics for decades to come.
The principle of non-partisanship dominated the politics of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Assiniboia during the period of territorial government ( 1882-1905). Yet partisan Liberal and Conservative rivalries emerged simultaneously with the establishment of the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. This paper will examine this process, and particularly how the parties in Alberta sought to justify the change and differentiate themselves through their platforms, issued in anticipation of the first provincial elections in 1905.
No one so personified the non-partisan tradition as the Territorial premier, F. W. G. Haultain. This policy enabled the local government to treat all constituencies and regions more equitably than likely would have been the case with a strongly partisan organization. Even more important, the Territories were a dependency of the federal government, and Haultain believed that a non-partisan government in Regina would fare better in dealing with Ottawa, regardless of whether the Conservatives or Liberals happened to be in power. The annual budget, the vast majority of which was provided by Ottawa in annual grants, demonstrated this dependency graphically. However, Ottawa's paternal presence often seemed omnipresent: it determined policy with respect to lands and settlement, exploitation of natural resources, ranching and grazing, railway construction, and native peoples; and it provided policing through the Royal North-West Mounted Police. Haultain promoted provincial status, especially after 1900, with the expectation that the Territories would be transformed into a single large province with the same powers and responsibilities as the older provinces of Central Canada, the Maritimes and British Columbia. He also believed that the new province would be best served by continuing the non-partisan tradition.'
The Liberal federal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier did grant provincial status in 1905, but in a manner highly displeasing to Haultain and many people in western Canada. It created two...