The 1908 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 18, 1908.
The election was won by the governing Liberals, led by incumbent Premier Francis Haszard. Haszard had taken over from his predecessor, Arthur Peters, following his death in January 1908.
Haszard resigned as Premier in 1911 following appointment to the province's Supreme Court, and he was succeeded as Premier by H. James Palmer. Due to his designation as Premier, Palmer ran in a by-election in his district of 3rd Queens; traditionally, the Opposition does not run a candidate in these triggered by-elections, but the Conservatives did in the December, 1911 by-election and defeated Palmer in his own district.
The opposition Conservatives, led by John A. Mathieson, gained five seats in this election.
Party Standings
PartyParty LeaderSeatsPopular Vote1904Elected#%LiberalFrancis Haszard221715,48851.6%John A. Mathieson81314,54148.4%
Members Elected
The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.
In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.
Kings
District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Kings John McLean Conservative Lauchlin MacDonald Liberal 2nd Kings Robert Cox Liberal James McInnis Liberal 3rd Kings Walter A. O. Morson Conservative John A. MacDonald Conservative 4th Kings Albert P. Prowse Conservative Murdock MacKinnon Conservative 5th Kings Archibald J. MacDonald Conservative John Alexander Mathieson Conservative
Prince
District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Prince Benjamin Gallant Liberal John Agnew Liberal 2nd Prince John Richards Liberal Alfred McWilliams Liberal 3rd Prince Aubin Edmond Arsenault Conservative Hector Dobie Conservative 4th Prince James Kennedy Conservative Joseph Read Liberal 5th Prince James A. MacNeill Conservative J. Edward Wyatt Conservative
Queens
District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Queens Matthew Smith Liberal Murdock Kennedy Conservative 2nd Queens William Laird Liberal John McMillan Liberal 3rd Queens Herbert James Palmer Liberal James H. Cummiskey Liberal 4th Queens David P. Irving Liberal Francis L. Haszard Liberal 5th Queens James Warburton Liberal George E. Hughes Liberal
Sources
Further reading