Arthur L. Sifton

Arthur Lewis Sifton (October 26, 1858 _ January 21, 1921), Canadian politician, was Premier of Alberta between 1910 and 1917.

Sifton was first elected to the North-West Territories legislature in 1885. In 1903, he became territorial Chief Justice, and in 1907 became Alberta's chief justice. In 1910, he was recruited by the Alberta Liberal Party to succeed Alexander C. Rutherford as Premier. The party had been seriously divided over allegations of wrongdoing regarding railway construction. Sifton held the party together, and led it to victory in the 1913 and 1917 provincial elections. In 1916, his government gave women the right to vote, and passed temperance legislation that severely limited the sale of alcohol in the province.

The Conscription crisis of 1917 resulted in federal Prime Minister Robert Borden creating a Unionist government. Borden, a Conservative, invited prominent Liberals such as Sifton to join his Cabinet. Sifton accepted, resigning as Premier to become Borden's Minister of Customs and, later, Minister of Public Works and a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference. In 1920, he was appointed a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

External Sites

• Alberta legislative assembly biography (http://www.assembly.ab.ca/lao/library/premiers/sifton.htm)