Went for a walk this weekend...

[IluvAltaBeef]

And took some pics of the legislature buildings...

Wide opening in the North Sask. River traveling a ways down the river

Facing the south-west side

Flaming torch in winter, in place of the water fountain in the summer

South-side architecture

Facing south-east where the media folks park

North side, by the famous water pool that's only a foot deep...forget what they're called...

Entrance doors

And the Alberta sheild and crown engraved in the great doors

Looking waaaay up..

And up more to see the fantastic architect work and icicles hanging down

Torch pillar in honor of the fallen RCMP

The legislature buildings built out of...

Looking out the front enterance of the legislature interprative centre

Things sure have changed in over 100 years...that's the old Fort Edmonton (or you could say the old Edmonton) in front of the provincial legislature buildings.

Enjoy!

Edited to resize the pics

 

[Jassy]

Wow that one picture of looking straight up at the columns made me think I was there! Looks like you sure enjoyed your walk and got a little history too! thanks

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Great pics of our Capital...thx I haven't toured there for awhile

 

[Anonymous]

Great pics of our Capital...thx I haven't toured there for awhile

Why did they stick it way up north? I'd of thought the Calgary area would have been settled earlier- and be more close to civilization :???: :wink:

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Great pics of our Capital...thx I haven't toured there for awhile

Why did they stick it way up north? I'd of thought the Calgary area would have been settled earlier- and be more close to civilization :???: :wink:

Well of course Calgary was and is the more civilized city[says the Calgary gal} But because of my aging brain I can't for the life of me remember why Edmonton is our capital,prob cause they'd whine if they weren't{ya know like the oilers and thier fans}

Iluv Alta...I'm sure can fill us in on that history lesson :wink:

BTW,alot of people out of Alta think Edmontons north,theres WAY more north then Edmonton,i don't really think of Edmonton as north

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

I think maybe Edmonton was "Settled" before Calgary as it was a fur trading post.

 

[Yanuck]

Several communities were interested in being designated Alberta's capital. In the 1880's, Calgary had even tried to lure the territorial capital away from Regina. However, the contest for the capital of Alberta began in earnest after the 1904 federal general election. During the related campaign, Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier stated that if his Liberal government was returned to office, he would ensure that the Northwest Territories was given provincial status.

As one would expect, Calgary and Edmonton, the two largest cities in Alberta, were the chief contenders. Calgary had elected Conservative Maitland S. McCarthy to represent them in the federal House of Commons. Edmonton returned Liberal Frank Oliver. Maitland S. McCarthy was a new Member of Parliament whereas Frank Oliver had eight years previous experience as a Member of Parliament and on April 1, 1905, was appointed Minister of the Interior. Most political observers would have been very concerned regarding Calgary's prospects of being designated the future capital of Alberta at this point; however, that city was still confident that it had made the right choice by electing a Conservative to represent their interests in Ottawa.

Red Deer felt that it was the logical compromise between the two chief protaganists, particularly since it was located approximately half-way between Calgary and Edmonton. If Calgary couldn't be the seat of the new provincial government, that city would support nearby Banff as a "neutral" alternative. Medicine Hat was interested as well; however, its Member of Parliament, Liberal Walter Scott, discouraged that city from pursuing the matter. Lethbridge did not express a strong interest in being capital. Several other smaller communities, Athabasca Landing, Blackfalds, and Vegreville, to name a few, also expressed an interest in being designated capital. However, none of these was given serious consideration.

Following a considerable amount of lobbying by all of the major contenders, Edmonton was designated the provisional capital of Alberta when the related legislation was given Royal Assent (i.e. Alberta Act, July 20, 1905). The Act stated, however, that this designation would stand "unless or until the Lieutenant Governor in Council of the said province otherwise directs."

Having lost the first round, Calgary now set its sights on being designated the capital by the new provincial Legislature. However, early in 1905, Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier assigned the task of establishing Alberta's new electoral districts (i.e. constituencies) to Edmontonian Frank Oliver and Peter Talbot, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Strathcona. Although Red Deer was in the Strathcona electoral district, Peter Talbot lived in Lacombe and did not support the designation of Red Deer as capital of Alberta. Red Deer lobbied for this designation directly with Ottawa.

At the conclusion of their deliberations, Frank Oliver and Peter Talbot recommended that northern Alberta be given thirteen seats and that southern Alberta be given twelve. At that point, representatives of southern Alberta demanded a judicial review. They were unsuccessful in this regard.


E. Brown Collection, Courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta
When the first Alberta general election took place on November 9, 1905, the Liberals won twenty-three of the twenty-five seats in the provincial Legislature. Feeling confident of his government's strength, Premier Alexander C. Rutherford decided that the location of the permanent capital would be determined by an open vote in the House rather than by order-in-council. Matters were made more difficult for Calgary when the Premier appointed a representative of southern Alberta Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. (The Speaker does not normally vote in the Legislature.) On April 25, 1906, William H. Cushing, Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Calgary electoral district moved that "the seat of Government of this Province should be fixed permanently at the City of Calgary." His motion was seconded by Charles A. Stuart, the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Gleichen. Eight Members voted for this motion and sixteen voted against it. It is interesting to note that three Members from southern Alberta voted against the motion. Motions favoring Red Deer and Banff were also put forward, but were later withdrawn. Consequently, Edmonton remained the capital of Alberta by federal legislation.

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Thx Yanuck.....no wonder I didn't remember the details


Whew,sure happy Veg wasn't our capital,try explaining the big Easter egg to the Americans

Kinda like when I posted pics from the Torrington museum

 

[Hooks]

Thanks for the history lesson Yanuck....never realized how little I knew about Canadian government..........

Whew,sure happy Veg wasn't our capital,try explaining the big Easter egg to the Americans

......and since yall opened the door..............explanation please :???: :?

...oh, forgot.........great photos of some neat architecture...thanks

 

[IluvAltaBeef]

Thanks Yanuck for doing that for me...I remember reading about that somewhere sometime a looong time ago, but like you said Mrs. Greg, no wonder it was hard to remember.

And thanks for the coments.

 

[Les]

Thems almost fightin words mrs greg....

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Thems almost fightin words mrs greg....

Are you whining :roll:

 

[Les]

lol nope oiler fans dont whine.you know that.. but we do like to see the flames crash and burn :twisted:

 

[Les]

nice pic alta beef..by the way the last speeding ticket i got was about a yr ago right beside the ledg. building..cost me $125..thats what happens when the radar detector stop working lol

 

[IluvAltaBeef]

Yay Les is an Oiler's fan too!

Thanks, sounds like when you got your speeding ticket you got to look at something other than the flashing red and blue lights in your rear view mirror. :wink:

 

[Les]

I also got to listen to my22 yr old daughter laffin at me as the big bad copper was writin a ticket..My daughter used to get tickets all the time and i would give her crap over it..