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Alexander C. Rutherford

The Honourable
Alexander Cameron Rutherford
KC
Alexander Cameron Rutherford - Elliott And Fry.jpg
Photograph by Elliott and Fry, c. 1908–1910
1st Premier of Alberta
In office
September 2, 1905 – May 26, 1910
Monarch Edward VII
George V
Lieutenant Governor George H. V. Bulyea
Succeeded by Arthur Sifton
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Strathcona
In office
November 9, 1905 – April 17, 1913
Preceded by New district
Succeeded by District abolished
Alberta Provincial Treasurer
In office
September 9, 1905 – June 1, 1910
Preceded by New position
Succeeded by Arthur Sifton
Alberta Minister of Education
In office
September 9, 1905 – June 1, 1910
Preceded by New position
Succeeded by Charles R. Mitchell
Alberta Minister of Railways
In office
November 1, 1909 – June 1, 1910
Preceded by New position
Succeeded by Arthur Sifton (beginning December 20, 1912; vacant until then)
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for Strathcona
In office
May 21, 1902 – September 1, 1905
Preceded by New district
Succeeded by District abolished
Personal details
Born February 2, 1857
Osgoode Township, Ontario
Died June 11, 1941(1941-06-11) (aged 84)
Edmonton, Alberta
Political party Alberta Liberal Party
Spouse(s) Mattie Birkett
Children 3
Alma mater McGill University
Profession Lawyer
Signature

Alexander Cameron Rutherford, KC (February 2, 1857 – June 11, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Ontario, he studied and practised law in Ottawa before moving with his family to the North-West Territories in 1895. Here he began his political career, winning in his third attempt a seat in the North-West Legislative Assembly. In keeping with the territorial custom Rutherford ran as an independent, though he generally supported the territorial administration of Premier Frederick W. A. G. Haultain. At the federal level, however, Rutherford was a Liberal.

In 1905, Alberta Lieutenant Governor George Bulyea asked Rutherford to form the new province's first government. As premier, his first task was to win a workable majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which he did in the 1905 provincial election. His second was to provide the apparatus of provincial government: his government established everything from speed limits to a provincial court system. The legislature also controversially, and with Rutherford's support, selected Edmonton over rival Calgary as the provincial capital. Calgarians' bruised feelings were not salved when the government located the University of Alberta, a project dear to the Premier's heart, in his hometown of Strathcona, just across the North Saskatchewan River from Edmonton.


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