James East
| James East | |
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| Alderman on the Edmonton City Council | |
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In office February 16, 1912 – October 27, 1914 |
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In office January 1, 1920 – December 9, 1929 |
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In office November 9, 1932 – November 12, 1936 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | October 7, 1871 Bolton, Ontario |
| Died | June 23, 1940 (aged 68) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Other political affiliations |
United People's League, Labour-Farmer |
| Profession | Prospector |
| Signature |  |
James East (October 7, 1871 – June 23, 1940) was a politician and labour activist in Alberta, Canada. He was for a time and the longest-serving alderman in Edmonton's history, and was a defeated candidate at the provincial and federal levels. He was also an ardent monetary reformer.
East was born in Bolton, Ontario on October 7, 1871. At the age of thirteen, he began to work in sawmills and farms. He took up prospecting and travelled the English-speaking world at it, going from South Dakota (in the Black Hills region) to New Mexico and Colorado, and then spending time in New Zealand and Australia. He returned to Canada in 1906, moving to Edmonton in 1907. He continued prospecting, moving to the Yukon for a time in 1911 before returning to Edmonton, more or less for good.
James East first sought political office in the February 1912 municipal election, when he ran for alderman on the Edmonton City Council, 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 North Saskatchewan River - where Strathcona was located - and there was only one such candidate (John Tipton) in the top five. Accordingly, Thomas J. Walsh - the second-place southside candidate, who had come in eighth - was elected to a two-year term, and East just for 1912.
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