Kinda interesting how the schools are sort of inversed in regards to founding years of trade schools and University's.
Really interesting story behind the establishment of the U of A and one of the starting points in the Edmonton / Calgary rivalry.
When the Province was founded, Edmonton was awarded the provincial capital (especially given its proximity in the center of the province as opposed to Calgary).
After, there was talk about where to put the Province's university. It was determined they would follow the same idea as Saskatchewan. Put the Capital in the center city and the Province school in the second large city in the south (Saskatoon). The Government of Alberta proposed to do just that by declaring that the University would be placed in a city south of the North Sask River.
Calgary assumed they were getting the University until they learned that the city of Strathcona would get it instead, just south of the North Sask River. Strathcona was amalgamated into Edmonton in 1912.
I never understood the "center of the province" argument. If you look at a map of provincial capitals, almost none of them are in the center.
-Victoria is not even on the mainland
-Regina, Winnipeg, Tornoto, and Quebec City are all close to the south border
-St. John's is on the eastern cost
Besides - when you look at actual population numbers, Calgary is much more central in terms of where people actually live.
I guess I always wondered if the "center of the province" argument is just an old wives tale or if there was actually something to it. I sort of think it was a made up reason that somehow caught on and passed through generations.
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I never understood the "center of the province" argument. If you look at a map of provincial capitals, almost none of them are in the center.
-Victoria is not even on the mainland
-Regina, Winnipeg, Tornoto, and Quebec City are all close to the south border
-St. John's is on the eastern cost
Besides - when you look at actual population numbers, Calgary is much more central in terms of where people actually live.
I guess I always wondered if the "center of the province" argument is just an old wives tale or if there was actually something to it. I sort of think it was a made up reason that somehow caught on and passed through generations.
I think capitals generally go to the larger cities who would have the population, economy, and workforce to do the work.
Need to remember that these capitals were picked over a century ago. Calgary and Edmonton looked a lot different in 1905. There was no oil discovery and it still took weeks to travel the Province.
You can always look to what Brazil did - They built an entirely new city in the center of the country to be their capital. (EDIT: Canberra too!)
Here is an interesting piece on the selection. Obviously a lot goes into the selection:
Quote:
One other decision concerning the creation of a province had sparked considerable interest in the west: the location of a provincial capital. Calgary and Edmonton were both considered front-runners, but other sites such as Red Deer and Banff were also bidding for the honour. Calgary had the advantage of a greater population, and greater economic wealth and yet had the greatest liability in that it had elected a Conservative MP in 1904. Edmonton claimed to be the geographic centre, but its primary advantage was the fact that it had elected two very powerful Liberals, Frank Oliver and Peter Talbot, in that same election. Suffice it to say that Edmonton was named the provisional capital, with a permanent site to be chosen by the 25 Members of Alberta's first Legislature.
It should be noted that Calgary had a short lived university in 1912 - WW1 basically ended that experiment. When SAIT was established in 1916, that quelled some of the push for a university here in Calgary, then the UofA opened up their "Calgary Campus" in the 1950's. So it wasn't until the 60's that a big push for autonomy happened.
Edmonton was situated on the Grand Trunk Pacific railway and there were thousands of people flooding into the province via that railway. It was considered to be a gateway to the north and held a lot of power and influence when Alberta was declared a province in 1905. Not a huge surprise it was given the capital and the university in those early years.
It should be noted that Calgary had a short lived university in 1912 - WW1 basically ended that experiment. When SAIT was established in 1916, that quelled some of the push for a university here in Calgary, then the UofA opened up their "Calgary Campus" in the 1950's. So it wasn't until the 60's that a big push for autonomy happened.
Edmonton was situated on the Grand Trunk Pacific railway and there were thousands of people flooding into the province via that railway. It was considered to be a gateway to the north and held a lot of power and influence when Alberta was declared a province in 1905. Not a huge surprise it was given the capital and the university in those early years.
Calgary was bigger, and wealthier, and on the much more important Canadian Pacific. It was political.
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Edmonton was a liberal stronghold when the province was founded in contrast with conservative Calgary. The liberals were in power in Ottawa at the time and gerrymandered the provincial ridings to ensure a liberal victory and declare Edmonton the capital.
I think capitals generally go to the larger cities who would have the population, economy, and workforce to do the work.
Need to remember that these capitals were picked over a century ago. Calgary and Edmonton looked a lot different in 1905. There was no oil discovery and it still took weeks to travel the Province.
You can always look to what Brazil did - They built an entirely new city in the center of the country to be their capital. (EDIT: Canberra too!)
Here is an interesting piece on the selection. Obviously a lot goes into the selection:
Edmonton was a liberal stronghold when the province was founded in contrast with conservative Calgary. The liberals were in power in Ottawa at the time and gerrymandered the provincial ridings to ensure a liberal victory and declare Edmonton the capital.
Same thing when we lost the army bases and the passenger rail to Vancouver.
Edmonton was a liberal stronghold when the province was founded in contrast with conservative Calgary. The liberals were in power in Ottawa at the time and gerrymandered the provincial ridings to ensure a liberal victory and declare Edmonton the capital.
I am glad Edmonton got the capital. Spreads the jobs, industry and wealth around the province.
