51 Facts About Arthur Sifton

Arthur Sifton became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada thereafter.

Arthur Sifton subsequently practised law with his brother Clifford Sifton in Brandon, where he was active in municipal politics.

Arthur Sifton moved west to Prince Albert in 1885 and to Calgary in 1889.

When other prominent Liberals declined it, the position was offered to Arthur Sifton, who accepted it.

Arthur Sifton made attempts to break with the Rutherford railway policy; when these were rebuffed by the courts, he adopted a course similar to Rutherford's.

Arthur Sifton unsuccessfully pursued the transfer of rights over Alberta's natural resources from the federal government, which had retained them by the terms of Alberta's provincehood.

Arthur Sifton tried to accommodate many of their demands: his government constructed agricultural colleges, incorporated a farmer-run grain elevator cooperative, and implemented a municipal system of hail insurance.

Arthur Sifton backed the creation of a federal Union government composed of Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals.

Arthur Sifton died in Ottawa in January 1921 after a brief illness.

Arthur Sifton was born on October 26,1858, in Arva, Canada West, to John Wright Sifton and Catherine "Kate" Watkins.

Arthur Sifton was the older brother of politician Clifford Sifton.

Arthur Sifton attended public schools across southern Ontario, culminating with a boys' school in Dundas and high school in London.

Arthur Sifton's father was a devout Methodist and a staunch Reformer and, later, Liberal.

In 1874 or 1875, John Sifton won contracts for preliminary construction work on the Canadian Pacific Railway and moved the family to Winnipeg, where Arthur completed high school at Wesley College.

John hoped to take advantage of a local real estate boom; nominally, Arthur Sifton was running a Brandon branch of Monkman's law firm, though he had not yet finished his articling and was accordingly unqualified to practise law.

For reasons that are not clear, in 1885 Arthur Sifton dissolved his partnership with his brother and moved his family to Prince Albert.

Regardless, Arthur Sifton practised law and was in 1885 made a notary public.

Arthur Sifton was re-elected in 1883, and did not seek re-election at the conclusion of this second term, though he did briefly consider running for mayor before concluding that he had insufficient support to be elected.

When his brother Clifford became Wilfrid Laurier's Minister of the Interior in November 1896, Arthur Sifton advised him on Liberal Party affairs in western Canada.

Arthur Sifton successfully challenged this result in court, and in the ensuing by-election he defeated Brett by a comfortable margin.

Arthur Sifton did so, and when Brett eventually arrived to give a speech nearly identical to the one Sifton had given on his behalf he was puzzled by the audience's amusement.

In 1901, Clifford Arthur Sifton appointed James Hamilton Ross, Northwest Territories Treasurer and Minister of Public Works, as Commissioner of Yukon.

Arthur Sifton declined on the basis of his recently assumed ministerial duties, but he made it clear that he was still interested in receiving the judicial post eventually.

Months later T H Maguire retired as territorial chief justice, and this time Sifton accepted his brother's offer of the position.

Arthur Sifton served as chief justice of the Northwest Territories until September 16,1907, when the Supreme Court of Alberta was established, whereupon he headed this new court, sitting in Calgary as the first Chief Justice of Alberta.

Arthur Sifton was notoriously difficult for barristers to read: he generally heard arguments expressionlessly smoking a cigar, and it was as a judge that he first acquired his long-time nickname of the Sphinx for his inscrutability.

The bewildered lawyers wondered what he had been writing down, since he had obviously made up his mind before closing arguments; once Arthur Sifton had left the courtroom, they found their answer in the form of page after page covered with the judge's signature.

Arthur Sifton rarely recorded his ratio decidendi but, despite this, few of his decisions were overturned on appeal.

Arthur Sifton's rulings were generally concerned with practicalities rather than legal theory, based more on social morality than legal precedent, and he did not establish any important precedents.

In 1907, Arthur Sifton was one member of a three-member commission assigned to investigate labour unrest between coal miners and mine operators.

Arthur Sifton's colleagues were mining executive Lewis Stockett and miners' union executive William Haysom.

Arthur Sifton resigned from the bench on May 25,1910, to become Premier.

Arthur Sifton himself took the portfolios of Public Works and Provincial Treasurer.

Charles R Mitchell, who like Sifton had been a judge during the scandal and had accordingly played no part in it, became Minister of Education and Attorney-General.

Arthur Sifton made few promises during the campaign, though he did identify as his priorities "the development of [Alberta's] agricultural and mining resources and the transportation facilities".

Conservative leader Edward Michener attacked the government's speech from the throne for failing to commit itself on railway policy and attacked Arthur Sifton for failing to call a general election or seek the confidence of the legislature during his first half year in office.

Many Liberals from the south of the province, including Arthur Sifton himself, felt inclined to abandon the construction of "pioneer" railways designed to hasten the settlement of the province's emptier areas, and concentrate only on those connecting major population centres.

Arthur Sifton gave no indication of how the money, which was being held in trust by several banks, would be used.

The Alberta and Great Waterways saga had reached its end, and Arthur Sifton's caucus was never more united.

Arthur Sifton responded that it was already the intention of his government to begin negotiations with the federal government to this end.

Arthur Sifton held off on the establishment of the college all together in favour of the creation of seven demonstration farms in different regions of the province.

Arthur Sifton was authoritarian and, while he inspired respect, he was not loved; historian L G Thomas credits him with holding the Liberal Party together through his strength, but blames him for failing to heal its underlying divisions.

Arthur Sifton was originally selected as Premier in the hopes that he would lead the Liberal Party to continued dominance of provincial politics in Alberta.

In Thomas's estimation, Arthur Sifton would have faced a similar fate in 1917 if the UFA had run candidates then.

Clifford Sifton was a major broker of the resulting deal and, when the question of a suitable Alberta representative in the cabinet came up, Arthur Sifton was a natural choice.

Arthur Sifton had agreed by August 1917 to join the Unionist government, and resigned as Premier in October.

Arthur Sifton was short of energy and required a car to transport him even the several hundred metres from his Ottawa residence to the House of Commons of Canada.

Arthur Sifton was appointed to the Imperial Privy Council in the 1920 New Year Honours, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable".

Arthur Sifton was one of four Canadian delegates to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, along with Borden, Charles Doherty, and George Eulas Foster.

On June 28,1919, Arthur Sifton was one of two Canadians to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

In January 1921, Arthur Sifton became ill and took leave from his duties for a few days.