Ezra Hounsfield Riley (June 5, 1866 – January 5, 1937) was a Canadian politician and rancher in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. Riley served in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

from 1906–1910.

Early life

Riley was born in 1866 in Yorkville, Canada West (a suburb of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

then). He owned a large sum of land that he sold off to the City of Calgary in 1904. The land was developed into the historical Hillhurst-Sunnyside community northwest of Downtown.

1906 by-election

Riley was elected to the

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

on December 7, 1906. He would be re-elected to a second term in the

1909 Alberta general election The 1909 Alberta general election was the second general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on March 22, 1909, to elect 41 members of the Alberta legislature to the 2nd Alberta Legislature. The incumbent Liberal Party led by Premi ...

Resignation and defeat

After serving a year into his second term he resigned his seat to protest the leadership of

Arthur Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereaf ...

who became leader of the Liberal party in the wake of the

Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal The Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Scandal was a political scandal in Alberta, Canada in 1910, which forced the resignation of Liberal premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford. Rutherford and his government were accused of giving loan guarantee ...

. Riley would run in the subsequent by-election on October 3, 1910 The Conservatives did not run a candidate in that by-election instead choosing to support Riley. Explaining his resignation in a memorable stump speech on September 30, 1910 Riley was quoted as saying On election day Riley was defeated by 100 votes in a hotly and bitterly contested by-election rife with accusations of tampered voters lists. His brother Harold Riley would end up winning the district for the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in another by-election almost exactly a year later.

Honors

Riley Park in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, the site of which was on his former ranch is named in his honor.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Ezra 1866 births 1937 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs