ALBERTA 



159 



ALBERTA 



the telegraph is sure to follow, and Alberta 

 has practically an equal mileage of railways 

 and telegraphs. It has about 45,000 telephones 

 in use, a ratio of one telephone to every eleven 

 or twelve of population. Only in the United 

 "3 is the telephone as much used. The 

 telephone system is owned and operated by the 

 provincial government. 



Government. The government of Alberta, 

 liko th:it of Saskatchewan, was organized by 

 authority of the Dominion Parliament in 1905. 

 The formal inauguration of provincial gov- 

 ormnent took place on September 1, in the 

 presence of Earl Grey, then Governor-General, 

 and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Premier of the Do- 

 minion. 



The Legislature. Alberta is now represented 

 in the Dominion Parliament by four Senators, 

 and in accordance with the census of 1911, is 

 entitled to twelve members in the House of 

 Commons, but in the twelfth Parliament, 

 which opened in 1911, had only seven mem- 

 bers. The legislative powers of the province 

 are exercised by an assembly of fifty-six mem- 

 bers, whose enactments require the approval of 

 the Lieutenant-Governor. 



The Executive. The Lieutenant-Governor is 

 the chief executive, as the representative of 

 the Governor-General of Canada, and indi- 

 rtctly as the representative of the sovereign 

 of the United Kingdom. He is appointed by 

 th< Governor-General in Council for a term 

 of five years, and receives an annual salary of 

 $9,000. The actual administration of depart- 

 ments is in the hands of an executive council 

 of eight members, one of whom is premier. 

 Members of the council must hold seats in the 

 legislative assembly, and are responsible to it 

 for their acts. If the ministry loses the con- 

 fidence of the assembly, it has no course open 

 to it but resignation. 



I'roi incnil Finance. The provincial revenue 

 is derived mainly from three sources a Do- 

 minion subsidy, the sale of public school lands, 

 ;i tax on corporations. The first of these 

 is by far the largest, now amounting to 

 $1,500.000 a year. It includes a fixed appro- 

 pint ion of $50,000, an allowance of eighty cents 

 per head of population, and a number of 

 n. ins. The sale of public school lands 

 adds about $200,000 a year to the revenue, 

 <li< tax on banks, loan and trust com- 

 i, r.ulwitys and other corporations about 

 lu.il amount. Interest, fees, and rniscel- 

 U8 sources bring the total provincial rev- 

 enue to an average of $5,000,000 a year. 



The Courts. Besides the Dominion courts, 

 which have jurisdiction in Alberta, there are 

 a number of courts established by authority 

 of the province, namely, the supreme and dis- 

 trict courts. For minor offenses of a crim- 

 inal nature there are local justices of the 

 peace or police magistrates. The jurisdic- 

 tion of the district courts is practically uni- 

 versal, except in civil suits involving more 

 than $600. By mutual consent of the par- 

 ties, however, such cases may be tried by 

 the district judge. The district courts are held 

 at Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, Calgary, Macleod, 

 Lethbridge, Red Deer, Bassano, Taber and 

 Medicine Hat. The supreme court of Alberta 

 is composed of a chief justice and eight puisne, 

 or associate, judges. It has practically unlim- 

 ited original and appellate jurisdiction. The 

 court sitting with three judges constitutes a 

 court of appeal, which may review the decisions 

 of any individual judge or any other court. 

 This court also decides any legal and constitu- 

 tional questions submitted to it by the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor. 



Local Government. The general superin- 

 tendence of local government is in the hands 

 of the Minister of Municipal Affairs, a member 

 of the Executive Council of the province. 

 Rural communities and towns are governed 

 under provincial acts. The rural municipality 

 has a council including a reeve and five coun- 

 cillors, and a town has a mayor and six coun- 

 cillors. The affairs of incorporated cities are 

 regulated by special charters. 



Education. The unit of education in Al- 

 berta is the school district, and there are over 

 2,000 of these. The district is usually about 

 four miles square, and may be organized as 

 soon as it has four taxpayers and eight children 

 of school age. The local school boards, elected 

 by the voters, are under the general direction 

 of the provincial Department of Education. 

 The schools are supported partly by local taxa- 

 tion and partly by grants from the govern- 

 ment. About 100,000 children are enrolled in 

 the public schools. 



Technically speaking, there are no high 

 schools in Alberta, but in common speech the 

 name public school is given to those offer- 

 ing instruction in grades one to eight, and 

 the name high school to those offering instruc- 

 tion in grades nine to twelve. The aim has 

 been to make an almost imperceptible transi- 

 tion between elementary and secondary schools. 

 To this end, all schools in a district arc under 

 the control of a single school board. Two 



