John Jost Gaetz (June 6, 1859 – December 24, 1937) was a provincial politician from

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. He served as a member of 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 1918 to 1921 sitting with the Liberal caucus in government.

Early life

Gaetz moved to the

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

area with his mother Catherine Gaetz in the fall of 1885. They applied for and got homesteads in the area. The area is now known as the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary.

Political career

Gaetz ran for a seat as the Liberal candidate in a by-election held on October 28, 1918. He won the district easily over Conservative candidate F.W. Galbraith. Gaetz ran for a second term in the

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments. The Liberal Party, which had governed the province since it ...

. He was easily defeated by United Farmers candidate George Smith in a two way race. Gaetz attempted to win his seat back in the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

. He faced off against Smith for the second time and Conservative candidate William Payne. The race was hotly contested Gaetz finished third and was eliminated on the first count. His second preferences put Smith over the top.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaetz, John 1859 births 1937 deaths Alberta Liberal Party MLAs People from Red Deer, Alberta Emigrants from the British Empire Immigrants to Canada