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Frank Oliver (politician)

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For other people with the same name, see Frank Oliver (disambiguation).

The Honourable
Frank Oliver
PC
Minister of the Interior
In office
April 8, 1905 (1905-04-08) – October 6, 1911 (1911-10-06)
Preceded byClifford Sifton
Succeeded byRobert Rogers
Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs
In office
April 8, 1905 (1905-04-08) – October 6, 1911 (1911-10-06)
Preceded byWilfrid Laurier
Succeeded byRobert Rogers
Member of Parliament for Alberta (provisional district)
In office
June 23, 1896 (1896-06-23) – November 2, 1904 (1904-11-02)
Preceded byDonald Watson Davis
Succeeded byJohn Herron
Member of Parliament for Edmonton
In office
November 3, 1904 (1904-11-03) – December 16, 1917 (1917-12-16)
Preceded byCreated
Succeeded byAbolished
Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Northwest Territories for Edmonton
In office
May 29, 1883 (1883-05-29) – January 1, 1885 (1885-01-01)
In office
1888 (1888) – May 1896 (1896-05)
Personal details
Born
Francis Robert Oliver Bowsfield

(1853-09-01)September 1, 1853
Peel County, Canada West
DiedMarch 31, 1933(1933-03-31) (aged 79)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
RelativesAllan Bowsfield (father) and Hannah (Anna) Lundy (mother)
Signature

Francis Oliver PC (born Francis Robert Oliver Bowsfield;[1] September 1, 1853 – March 31, 1933) was a Canadian federal minister, politician, and journalist/publisher from the Northwest Territories and later Alberta. In 2021, following a story published in the Toronto Daily Tribune, discussion arose about Oliver's responsibility for discriminatory policies that targeted First Nations' land rights and Black immigration during his tenure as Minister of the Interior.

Early life

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Oliver was born Francis Bowsfield in Peel County, Canada West, just west of Toronto. He was the son of Allan Bowsfield and Hannah (Anna) Lundy. A disagreement in the family made him drop the name Bowsfield and adopt the name of his grandmother, Nancy Oliver Lundy.

Frank Oliver in 1898

Oliver studied journalism in Toronto. In 1880, he moved west and founded the Edmonton Bulletin with his wife, Harriet Dunlop (1863–1943).[2] When the inaugural issue was printed on December 6, 1880, it became the first newspaper in what is now Alberta,[3] and he owned it until 1923. Oliver was active in what one historian called the "Edmonton Settlers' Rights Movement" of 1880s.[4] Prior to the official Dominion Land Survey, Oliver and others engaged in direct action to preserve land ownership rights of Edmonton old-timers, against encroachment by later-arriving settlers, whom they termed "squatters". Oliver, later-mayor Matt McCauley, Metis Laurent Garneau, and several others faced criminal charges and a subsequent civil suit after a "squatter"'s shack was pushed into the river valley.[5]

Oliver also used the Edmonton Bulletin as a platform to voice his opposition to the establishment and continued existence of Papaschase Indian Reserve Number 136.[6][7] He continued this practice for eight years (even while he was an elected politician), until the federal government forced the Papaschase band members from their reserve. The land was divided between railway companies, settlers, and the federal government, who later auctioned their share off to settlers.[8]

Political career

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Oliver was elected to the North-West Council in 1883. He was the second elected member to the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories, winning the May 29, 1883, election for the newly formed Edmonton district. In 1885, his newspaper pointed out that the NWT council did not have as many elected members as its population —100,000—would warrant. Under the headline "Responsible Government", he called for a change in the way that the members were elected.[9] The following month, he pointed out that out-migration to the U.S. was stunting Canada's own population growth, and the NWT was in large measure to account for that, due to conditions created by the Conservative government in Ottawa. He blamed the out-migration on "the unwise and ever changing land regulations, the enormous reserves [(land held by the HBC and the Crown and not open to local settlement)], the ill treatment of squatters [(pioneers who had settled in the NW prior to government survey)], the discriminating tariff, the railway monopoly, and the lack of political rights (the one statement that has been made and repeated on platform after platform), and on how North-West lands and NW settlers must ultimately pay the whole cost of the CPR."

Some of the stands he took in the NWT Council at Regina were not popular with all Edmontonians, least of all with local Conservatives. He organized a meeting in early January to refute charges that he was "an irreconcilable oppositionist with socialist tendencies", saying what he did had been in accordance "with the interests and wishes of the majority of his constituents".[10]

In 1885, following the suppression of the Metis Rebellion, his newspaper said that the blame for the outbreak was shared "between Riel and the Ottawa government", singling out the late minister of the interior.[11] His newspaper blamed the Ottawa government's "deception, mismanagement and injustice" for having caused the rebellion.[12]

Oliver lost his seat in the 1885 Northwest Territories election to a local physician, 25-year-old Herbert Charles Wilson, who was named Speaker of the Council.

Oliver contested and won one of two seats in the Edmonton district in 1888. He retained the seat by acclamation in the 1891 and 1894 elections. During his time as a territorial representative, he contributed to the creation of the North-West Territories' first public school system.[3]

Oliver resigned from the council in 1896 to run for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada for the Liberal Party of Canada. Running as a Liberal Party candidate, he was a champion of the small farmer and business people pioneering in Alberta at the time.[13] He was elected in the 1896 Canadian federal election to represent the entire provincial district of Alberta and again in 1900.

The large Alberta riding was broken up, and Edmonton acquired an MP for itself in 1904. Oliver was elected to the newly formed Edmonton district in the 1904 Canadian federal election.[14]

Following his appointment to the federal cabinet, he retained the seat in a 1905 ministerial by-election. He also was re-elected in the 1908 and 1911 Canadian federal elections.[15]

As leading federal politician of the western Prairies, Oliver was assigned by Wilfrid Laurier to draw up electoral boundaries used in the 1905 Alberta general election. The boundaries were said to favour Edmonton, where the Alberta Liberal Party enjoyed the most support, although overall, the Liberal Party got the majority of the votes cast and more votes than any other party in the election. Edmonton's political weight is said to have assured the city's designation as the provincial capital, if its central location and long dominance in north-central Alberta had not been enough.[3]

Federal minister

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From 1905 to 1911, Oliver served as the Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs in the federal cabinet.

As minister responsible for national parks, he drastically reduced the size of Rocky Mountains Park from 11,400 km2 (4,400 sq mi) in 1902, to 4,663 km2 (1,800 sq mi);[16] Kootenay Lakes Forest Reserve (later Waterton Lakes National Park) from 140 km2 (54 sq mi) in 1895[17] to 35 km2 (14 sq mi);[18] and Jasper National Park from 12,950 km2 (5,000 sq mi) in 1907 to 2,590 km2 (1,000 sq mi),[18] under the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act of 1911, which replaced earlier legislation. Much of the land thus freed was declared forest reserves in order to capitalize on its timber and mineral resources.[19] Oliver's successor for Minister of the Interior, William James Roche, later expanded the three Alberta national parks closer to their earlier sizes: in 1914, Waterton Lakes National Park to 1,096 km2 (423 sq mi) and in 1917, Banff National Park to 7,125 km2 (2,751 sq mi) and Jasper National Park to 11,396 km2 (4,400 sq mi).[18]

Oliver, unhappy with the centralized approach to the national parks system, reorganized it by creating the position of Commissioner of Dominion Parks, with its headquarters in Banff, Alberta; Howard Douglas, superintendent of Rocky Mountains Park (Banff National Park) since 1897, was appointed its first commissioner.[20]

In 1907, Oliver established a commission to investigate Doukhobor settlement in Saskatchewan. The group had settled there on Clifford Sifton's promise that they could hold and work the land communally. The commission led to the reversal of Sifton's policy and the Doukhobors being disposessed of the land they had immigrated from Russia to settle.[21]

By 1911, Oliver had imposed tighter controls on immigration. He was staunchly British, and his policies favoured nationality over occupation. He asserted that his immigration policy was more "restrictive, exclusive and selective" than those of his predecessors.[22] Like his predecessor, Clifford Sifton, Oliver encouraged European immigration, particularly of experienced farmers from Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.[23]

Oliver wrote Order-in-Council P.C. 1911–1324, which was approved by the Laurier Cabinet on August 12, 1911, under the authority of the Immigration Act, 1906. It was intended to keep out black Americans escaping segregation in the American South by stating that "the Negro race...is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada." The order was never called upon, as efforts by immigration officials had already reduced the number of blacks immigrating to Canada. Cabinet cancelled the order on October 5, 1911, the day before Laurier's government was replaced by the new Conservative government. The cancellation claimed that the Minister of the Interior was not present at the time of approval.[24]

Oliver also used his newspaper to lobby for having the Papaschase Cree removed from their Treaty 6 reserve territory, south of Edmonton, in the 1880s.[25]

Later career and life

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After the Liberal government was denied power in 1911, Oliver served in the House of Commons until 1917.

He ran for re-election in the new riding of West Edmonton in 1917 and received the most votes cast. His lead was eliminated, however, when officials of Robert Borden's party distributed its army vote, and he did not retain the seat.[26][27]

Oliver ran in 1921 to regain his Edmonton West seat, and was defeated by a candidate of the United Farmers of Alberta. He served on the Board of Railway Commissioners until his death.

Oliver died in 1933 in Ottawa.[28] His body was brought to Edmonton, and it was interred in the Edmonton Cemetery.[29]

Family

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Frank Oliver married Harriet Dunlop (1863–1943), daughter of Thomas Dunlop of Prairie Grove, Manitoba, in 1881. They had two children.

Legacy

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The area of downtown Edmonton west of 109 Street was named Oliver after the man; later, a major commercial strip in the neighbourhood was named Oliver Square.

On August 2, 2021, the Toronto Daily Tribune published the story "Edmonton's Oliver Square changes name after community consultation". It reported, "A member of Parliament and federal minister first elected to office in 1883, Oliver is known for drafting discriminatory legislation, including policies that pushed Indigenous people off their traditional lands."[30] From mid-2020 to January 2024, the Oliver Community League, neighbourhood residents, Indigenous community members, and community members from other marginalized groups consulted on a new name for the neighbourhood.[31] In January 2024, the city's committee on names selected wîhkwêntôwin (Cree for 'circle of friends') to replace "Oliver" and sent this recommendation to city council.[32] On February 21, city council approved the name change,[33][34] which is set to go into effect on January 1, 2025.[35]

Mount Oliver in the Victoria Cross Ranges is named after him.[citation needed]

The Oliver Canadian Northern (now CNR) railway station in today's northeast Edmonton, and the surrounding area of same name, honours Oliver.[36]

References

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Bibliography

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  • Brennan, Brian (2001). Alberta Originals: Stories of Albertans Who Made a Difference. Fifth House. ISBN 1-894004-76-0.

Notes

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  1. ^ Berton, Pierre (August 10, 2011). The Promised Land: Settling the West 1896–1914. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 9780385673662 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Sanderson, Kay (1999). 200 Remarkable Alberta Women. Calgary: Famous Five Foundation. p. 16. ISBN 0-9685832-0-2.
  3. ^ a b c Brennan 2001, p. 18.
  4. ^ Gilpin, John F. "The Edmonton and District Settlers' Rights Movement, 1880 to 1885" in Swords and Ploughshares: War and Agriculture in Western Canada ed. R. C. Macleod (1993)
  5. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, June 24, 1882
  6. ^ Donald, Dwayne Trevor (May 1, 2004). "Edmonton Pentimento Re-Reading History in the Case of the Papaschase Cree". Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies. doi:10.25071/1916-4467.16868. ISSN 1916-4467.
  7. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, January 17, 1881
  8. ^ Jan Olson (November 4, 2013). "Papaschase". Strathcona Community League. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Edmonton Bulletin January 10, 1885
  10. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, January 31, 1885
  11. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, September 5, 1885
  12. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, July 18, 1885
  13. ^ Oliver's election campaign speech, Edmonton Bulletin, June 1, 1896
  14. ^ Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results, p. 201
  15. ^ "The Hon. Frank Oliver, P.C., M.P." Parlinfo. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Hildebrandt, Walter. Historical Analysis of Parks Canada and Banff National Park, 1968–1995 (Report). Banff-Bow Valley Study. OCLC 639616565.
  17. ^ "Chapter 1 the Early Years (Up to 1900)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  18. ^ a b c "Chapter 2 Expansion in the West (1900 to 1972)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  19. ^ "Biography – OLIVER, FRANK (Francis Robert Bowsfield, Bossfield, or Bousfield) – Volume XVI (1931-1940) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca.
  20. ^ "Chapter 4 National Parks Administration (1885 to 1973)". A History of Canada's National Parks Volume II. Parks Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  21. ^ "Doukhobor Prayer Home". Alberta Register of Historic Places. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  22. ^ "Black History Canada – Timeline 1900-Present". blackhistorycanada.ca. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  23. ^ "Persuasion: Print Advertising on the Praries".
  24. ^ Yarhi, Eli (September 30, 2016). "Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 — the Proposed Ban on Black Immigration to Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  25. ^ "History of Papaschase". www.papaschase.ca. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  26. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, January 11, 1918
  27. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, March 2, 1918
  28. ^ "The man who built the Edmonton Bulletin". Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  29. ^ "Cemeteries :: City of Edmonton".
  30. ^ "Edmonton's Oliver Square Changes Name After Community Consultation – CBC.ca". August 2, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  31. ^ Dyer, Steven (August 28, 2022). "Oliver community celebrates 100 years while searching for a new name". CTV News Edmonton. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  32. ^ Snowdon, Wallis (January 23, 2024). "Oliver no more: Edmonton neighbourhood adopts new Cree name". CBC News. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  33. ^ Fortner, Cole (February 21, 2024). "Edmonton's Oliver community to be renamed". CityNews Edmonton. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  34. ^ "New name for Edmonton's Oliver neighbourhood approved by city council – Edmonton | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  35. ^ "Council approves Wîhkwêntôwin name for Oliver; change to take effect 2025". Edmonton. February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  36. ^ Place Names of Alberta
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Oliver.
Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Preceded by
New District
 MLA Edmonton
1883–1885 		Succeeded by
Preceded by MLA Edmonton
1888–1896 		Succeeded by
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Alberta (Provisional District)
1896–1904 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
New district
 Member of Parliament for Edmonton
1904–1917 		Succeeded by
District abolished
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