Preceded by John Carswell Constituency Red Deer Succeeded by William Lord Occupation teacher politician | Preceded by John Gaetz Name George Smith Succeeded by William Payne | |
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Died August 1, 1931, Red Deer, Canada | ||
Political party United Farmers of Alberta | ||
George Wilbert Smith (April 24, 1855 – August 1, 1931) was a teacher, businessman and politician on the municipal and provincial levels of government in Alberta, Canada. He served various posts on the Red Deer City Council and as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 until his death in 1931 sitting with the United Farmers caucus in government.
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Early life
George Wilbert Smith was born in 1855 in the town of Maitland, Nova Scotia. He moved west to the Northwest Territories settling in the Red Deer area in 1883. Smith became the first school teacher in central Alberta.
Smith was also a business man. He founded and served as a director on the Smith Lead Company Ltd. and also served on the board of directors for the Western General Electric Company.
Municipal
Smith served as an Alderman on Red Deer City Council for several years before becoming the mayor in 1916. He held the mayoralty until 1918.
Provincial
Smith ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1921 Alberta general election as a candidate under the United Farmers banner. He defeated incumbent John Gaetz in a two way race with a landslide majority to pick up the Red Deer electoral district for his party.
Smith ran for a second term in the 1926 Alberta general election. He ran against Gaetz for the second time and Conservative candidate William Payne in a hotly contested three way race. Smith defeated Payne on the second vote count to hold his seat.
Smith ran for a third term in office in the 1930 Alberta general election. He faced Payne for the second time in a two way race. The race was very close with Payne finishing 88 votes behind.
Smith's health started to decline, he was hospitalized in Red Deer, Alberta in July 1931 due to ailing kidneys. He died on August 1, 1931 of a heart seizure shortly before he was to have surgery for his condition.