The 1891 North-West Territories general election was held on 7 November 1891 to elect 25 members of the

Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories This is a list of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assemblies dates and legislative sessions from 1870–present. The current capital is Yellowknife since 1967. There have been twenty-seven legislatures since becoming a territory in 1870. ...

, Canada. It was the second general election in the

History of the North-West Territories The history of the Northwest Territories covers the period from thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands that encompass present-day Northwest Territories were inhabited for millennia by several First Nat ...

. The legislature for the first time had no appointed members. It had 25 elected members, six more than in the previous election: the assembly had grown by three members; the three appointed "at large" legal advisors who had sat in the assembly in the first legislature were no longer there.

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain (November 25, 1857 – January 30, 1942) was a lawyer and a long-serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades. He served ...

was the government leader. The key issue in this election was the French language question. Politicians had spent the previous three years divided on the issues of eliminating the status of the French language as an official language of the territory, and of assimilation of the French-speaking population. The appointed government made French an official language in Section 11 of the ''North-West Territories Act of 1877'' that gained Royal Assent 28 April 1877. Prior to that, French was an official language while the North-West Territories was administered under the ''Manitoba Act'' from 1870 to 1875. The issue was ignited by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal reading the

Speech from the Throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

in French on 31 October 1888. The outcry caused Royal to read his second throne speech in English only. On 28 October 1889, the issue was made dormant when a Record Division was taken on the "Language Resolution", a motion that stated the assembly did not need official recognition of languages. The vote was 17 for 2 against. But this did not last, because the federal government got involved, and warned the Lieutenant Governor Royal to start making speeches in French again, and tried to legislate official bilingualism back in the territory, through the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

. The bill was defeated on second reading, however. The interference by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

resulted in members being elected to the assembly who favoured English as the only official language. On 19 January 1892 Haultain made a motion that only English would be used in the Assembly. The motion passed on division: 20 for, 4 against.

Electoral system

Most of the members were elected in single-member districts through

First past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

. In Calgary two members were elected, through

Block Voting Block voting or bloc voting refers to electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected at once and a group (voting bloc) of voters can force the system to elect only their preferred candidates. Block voting may be used at large (in a si ...

Election results

The turnout can not be established as no voters lists were in use. Candidates were elected as part of a consensus government, i.e., without political parties. Note: No vote returns, are currently available from the Batoche, St. Albert and Souris districts

Results by riding

Members elected to the 2nd North-West Legislative Assembly. For complete electoral history, see individual districts

Notes

References

External links