05/26/2026
On May 26, 1910, Alexander Rutherford resigned as Premier of Alberta. He had been Premier since September 1905 and had recently won re-election in 1910. Rutherford retired due to a financial controversy over Government of Alberta railway financing and loan guarantees.
Developing Alberta’s railway infrastructure was a primary focus for the Government of Alberta under Rutherford’s leadership and the Alberta Liberal Party ran the 1909 election with the slogan “Rutherford, Reliability and Railways.” To promote the building of railways across Alberta, Premier Rutherford’s government offered financial incentives, such as guaranteed loans, to railway companies. One of railways, the Alberta & Great Waterways Railway (A&GWR), which planned to build a line between Edmonton to Waterways, on the Athabasca River just south of Fort McMurray via Lac La Biche. Early in 1910, the Government of Alberta’s deal with the A&GWR started to receive criticism for being overly generous and when the Province of Alberta received lower value for its share of the company’s bonds sold, while the company and other investors received greater profits, accusations of corruption, favouritism and kickbacks were made against Premier Rutherford.
Liberal backbenchers and Cabinet Ministers revolted in protest of Rutherford’s handling of the A&GWR financing and bond sales. Rutherford convened a Royal Commission to examine the affair and survived a vote of non-confidence in the Legislative Assembly. However, under increasing pressure, Rutherford resigned as Premier on May 26, 1910, and was replaced by Chief Justice Arthur L.W. Sifton.
Alexander Rutherford maintained his innocence of the accusations made against him. The Royal Commission found numerous problems with the Government of Alberta’s handling of railway financing but concluded that Alexander Rutherford had exercised poor judgement but had done nothing illegal. Rutherford ran, and lost, as an “Independent Liberal” in the 1913 provincial election.
Thank you to Ronald Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer and Geographical Names Program Coordinator for contributing this post!
Images courtesy Provincial Archives of Alberta: "Ground being broken to start the construction of the Alberta & Great Waterways Railway", November 1909, A11251. "Alberta & Great Waterways train at the Edmonton Station, 107 Avenue and 121 Street", ca. 1912, A4429. "Construction on the Alberta & Great Waterways Railway near Bon Accord, Alberta", 1914, A8274.
