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