James East
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James East (October 7, 1871 – June 23, 1940) was a politician and labour activist in
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, Canada. He was for a time and the longest-serving alderman in
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's history, and was a defeated candidate at the provincial and federal levels. He was also an ardent
monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...
er.


Early life

East was born in
Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
,
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on October 7, 1871. At the age of thirteen, he began to work in
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s and farms. He took up
prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting reli ...
and travelled the English-speaking world at it, going from
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
(in the
Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
region) to
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
and
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, and then spending time in
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and
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. He returned to Canada in 1906, moving to Edmonton in 1907. He continued prospecting, moving to the
Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
for a time in 1911 before returning to Edmonton, more or less for good.


Municipal politics and expulsion from office

James East first sought political office in the February 1912 municipal election, when he ran for alderman on the
Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...
, finishing fifth of eighteen candidates. Unlike most of Edmonton's elections at the time, in which half of the aldermen were elected to two year terms (with the other half being elected to two year terms in intervening years) the recent amalgamation of Edmonton and Strathcona meant that all ten aldermen would be elected, five to two year terms and five to serve until the next election held late that same year. As a finisher in the top five, East would normally have been entitled to a two-year term; however the terms of the amalgamation specified that two of the aldermen elected to two year terms had to come from the south side of the
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- where Strathcona was located - and there was only one such candidate (
John Tipton John Tipton (August 14, 1786 – April 5, 1839) was from Tennessee and became a farmer in Indiana; an officer in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and veteran officer of the War of 1812, in which he reached the rank of Brigadier General; and po ...
) in the top five. Accordingly,
Thomas J. Walsh Thomas James Walsh (June 12, 1859March 2, 1933) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Helena, Montana who represented Montana in the US Senate from 1913 to 1933. He was initially elected by the state legislature, and from 1 ...
- the second-place southside candidate, who had come in eighth - was elected to a two-year term, and East just for 1912. He was easily re-elected to a two-year term in the next election held in December. However, during this two-year term, Justice William Ives convicted East of voting on a matter in which he had a pecuniary interest, and he was expelled from office on October 27, 1914 (mayor
William McNamara William West McNamara (born March 31, 1965) is an American film and television actor. Personal life Born in Dallas, Texas, McNamara is the son of a Ford Motor Company employee and an interior designer. He attended Salisbury School, Columbia Un ...
was expelled at the same time for the same reason). East attempted to return to office in the 1914 election, but came in tenth out of fourteen candidates and was not elected.


World War I, return to municipal office, and federal politics

In 1916, East enlisted in the
Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...
, where he spent the rest of the
First World War 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 ...
on the hospital ships Araguaya and Letitia before leaving the military in 1919. Upon his return to civilian life, East returned immediately to politics, running in the 1919 municipal election. In the years intervening since his last election, party politics had arrived at the municipal level in Edmonton, and East aligned himself with the
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
slate. This was a good election for Labour; its mayoral candidate, Joseph Clarke, was re-elected; it took the top three spots in the aldermanic race (East finished second); overall it took five seats on the 11-member city council. East served on city council for the next ten years. The 1921 election when East ran for re-election was less kind to Labour than the 1919 election had been. East, finishing second, was the only one of its candidates elected to city council. He was re-elected in the next three elections as well. He finished first in 1923, second in
1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...
, and third in 1927. While serving as alderman, East contested the 1925 federal election as a Labour-Farmer candidate (aligned with J.S. Woodsworth) in
Edmonton West Edmonton West (french: Edmonton-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1988, from 1997 to 2004 and again since 2015. Demographics History and geography T ...
, where he finished last of three candidates, behind
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
Charles Stewart and
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 ...
James McCrie Douglas James McCrie Douglas (5 February 1867 – 16 March 1950) was a politician in Alberta, Canada, a mayor of Edmonton, and a member of Parliament serving in the House of Commons of Canada from 1909 to 1921. Early life Douglas was born 5 February ...
.


Out of office, resurgence, and final defeat

In the 1929 municipal election, rather than running for re-election as alderman, East challenged his former federal rival James Douglas for the mayoralty. He was defeated handily, finishing second in a four-person race. He tried to return to aldermanic office in
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
but finished sixth out of twelve candidates, missing the five available seats. Labour's rival, the Civic Government Association party, swept all seats but one (won by Labour's Lionel Gibbs). East sat out the 1931 election, but made a successful run for alderman in
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
, when he finished fourth. In the 1934 election, there were six seats available due to
Rice Sheppard Rice Sheppard (April 2, 1861 – August 26, 1947) was a politician and farmers' activist in Alberta, Canada. He served on Edmonton City Council for many years, ran for mayoral, provincial, and federal office, and was an executive member of the Un ...
's resignation to run for mayor halfway through his term, and East finished sixth to become Labour's only elected alderman that election. He received only three votes more than James Ponton, the CGA's lowest-ranking candidate. In 1935, municipal politics in Edmonton began to re-align. Labour continued to run candidates, but for the first time they were up against
Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
candidates, many of whom had links to the political left and to Labour. Labour candidate Margaret Crang and three SC candidates were elected in this election (source: Monto, Tom. Protest and Progress. Three Labour Radicals in Early Edmonton (Rice Sheppard, Harry Ainlay and Margaret Crang). Edmonton : Crang Publishing/Alhambra Books, 2011). Among these successful Social Credit candidates was East's brother
Elisha Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
, who was elected in the 1935 election - making the pair the only brothers to serve on the Edmonton City Council at the same time. For his 1936 re-election attempt, East joined the newly formed United People's League. This proved a mistake;. He finished first among the UPL candidates, but fell far short of re-election, finishing eleventh in an election swept by the CGA-successor Citizens' Committee. James East, in his sixties, made no further attempt to return to elected office.


Death

James East died June 23, 1940, at the age of 68. He was survived by his wife and one son.


References


Edmonton Public Library biography of James EastCity of Edmonton biography of James East
{{DEFAULTSORT:East, James 1871 births 1940 deaths Canadian expatriates in Australia Canadian expatriates in New Zealand Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian prospectors Canadian military personnel from Ontario Edmonton city councillors Dominion Labor Party (Alberta) candidates in Alberta provincial elections Canadian Labour Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1925 Canadian federal election People from Caledon, Ontario