Walter Davy Cowan, D.D.S., (December 31, 1865 – September 28, 1934) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

member. Cowan served as

Mayor of Regina This is a list of mayors of Regina, the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The mayor leads Regina City Council, the city's governing body. The 42nd and current mayor is Sandra Masters, who was first elected in 2020. From ...

and served as

Conservative 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 i ...

- Unionist

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Regina from 1917 to 1921 and then as the Conservative MP for Long Lake from 1930 until his death. A dentist by profession, Cowan was born in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

, to Scottish immigrants. After his early schooling in Guelph, Cowan attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, graduating with a degree in dentistry in 1888. In 1889 he moved to Regina in what was then 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 was one of the first dentists in the region. He organized the first dental association in Canada, the Dental College of the Northwest Territories (later the Dental College of Saskatchewan) and served as its president until 1913. In 1890, Dr. Cowan was elected to the town council and served for one year. In 1891, he became associated editor of the ''Dominion Dental Journal''. He helped form the National Dental Association in 1904 and served as the organization's president. Cowan ran for parliament in the 1911 federal election as a

but was defeated in the Regina electoral district. Cowan was elected Mayor of Regina in 1916 and held that office for two years, deciding not to run for a third term after he was elected to 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 ...

in the 1917 federal election as a Unionist MP supporting the wartime government of Sir

Robert Borden Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World War I. Borde ...

. He did not run for re-election in the 1921 federal election. He also served during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as commanding officer of the Dental Corps, District No.12, with the rank of major. Cowan returned to the House of Commons after being elected as the Conservative MP for Long Lake in the 1930 federal election. During this time, he was also the provincial treasurer ("Klabee") for the Saskatchewan chapter of the

. He died in office in 1934. In 1918, Cowan published a book on post-war reconstruction called
After Hell, what?
'.

References

*

''Saskatchewan And Its People'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Walter Davy 1865 births 1934 deaths Mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan Canadian dentists Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Ku Klux Klan members