John Adrian Simpson (August 20, 1854 – September 11, 1916) was a Canadian politician and businessman. Born in Peel County, Canada West, he came west in 1890 and eventually settled in Innisfail, where he opened a lumberyard. He served on Innisfail's first town council, and also in the legislative assemblies of

the Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and later Alberta; in the last, he acted as deputy speaker.

Early life

John Simpson was born in 1854 in Peel County, Ontario. He married Anna Proudfoot in 1879, before coming west to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 1890. Shortly after, he moved to the Olds area, and in 1891 he settled in Innisfail where he started a lumberyard the next year.

Political career

Besides being a member of Innisfail's first town council, Simpson sought election to the

Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a uni ...

in the 1894 election in the district of Red Deer. He defeated two candidates, including incumbent

Francis Wilkins Francis Edward Wilkins (1864 in St. Louis, Missouri – 1908 in Lacombe, Alberta) was a politician in Northwest Territories, Canada. Francis moved with his family to a homestead near Red Deer in 1890. Francis was acclaimed to the Legislative A ...

, and was subsequently re-elected in the

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

and

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

elections, on the latter occasion in the new district of Innisfail. He continued to serve in the legislature until his riding became part of the new province of Alberta in 1905. Simpson ran in Alberta's first provincial election in Innisfail as the Liberal candidate, and was elected over Conservative Sam Curry by a single vote—the narrowest margin of any race in the election. In the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Simpson served as deputy speaker. During the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal, he remained loyal to the government of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Alexander Cameron Rutherford in the face of a rebellion from Liberal insurgents. There was some concern on the government side that the speaker, Charles W. Fisher, would resign to support the insurgents; Simpson's elevation to speaker, a position which was expected to remain impartial, would rob the government of a crucial vote. After Rutherford's government fell, Simpson supported the successor government of Liberal

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 ...

, though its stance on the issue that had toppled Rutherford's government—the construction of the

Alberta and Great Waterways Railway Northern Alberta Railways was a Canadian railway which served northern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Jointly owned by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, NAR existed as a separate company from 1929 until 19 ...

—was in many respects diametrically opposed to Rutherford's. Though he was re-elected in the 1909 election, in

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

Simpson was defeated by Conservative

Fred W. Archer Frederick William Archer (August 17, 1859 – October 19, 1936) was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He was a native of Ireland and came to Canada in 1883. He served in Boulton's Mounted Infantry in the North-West Rebellion. ...

. He did not re-enter political life. He died suddenly at his Innisfail home on September 11, 1916, and was buried at the Innisfail Cemetery.http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/newspapr/np_page2.asp?code=n4np0125.jpg

Electoral record

References

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John 1854 births 1916 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Alberta municipal councillors Canadian businesspeople Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories People from the Regional Municipality of Peel People from Red Deer County