In June 1962 the New Town of St. Albert, soon to become just the Town of St. Albert, was gearing up for its first ever civic elections under its new status. As a New Town, a board of administrators had run St. Albert. But the previous month the province announced it was rescinding its New Town status and planned civic elections for one mayor and six councillors for June 27. Only one person — William Veness — put his name forward for mayor while 14 stood for election to council. Of that total, seven were independent candidates, six were selected and endorsed by the Civic Electors Association and one by the Sturgeon Heights and Braeside Committee. A total of 49.4 per cent cast a ballot in the election and all six Civic Electors Association candidates were sent to office.
The following June saw the unthinkable — frost. A front-page photo showed a young Lois Hole showing off her destroyed squash, cucumber and potato crops. But the biggest news was the St. Albert Gazette’s attempt to charge a 10-cent subscription fee on top of what residents paid carriers. Only 35 per cent of people who chimed in on the subject were willing to pay that much. As a result, and with the dire warning that no subscription could mean no Gazette period, the paper decided to charge a five-cent rate for the time being.
With summer under way, June 1964 brought about renewed focus on vandalism and what the city’s youth were up to at night. On the heels of 157 newly planted trees being destroyed, the Gazette noted that parents need to watch their children as not doing so is not only “unfair to them but is also the shortest way to delinquency.” The acquisition of air rifles and BB guns was also top of mind after a 12-year-old boy shot a 13-year-old friend in the eye, landing the victim in hospital. His parents called on council to immediately ban air rifle sales to anyone under the age of 16. Council said it was ready to act, but first wanted the parents to discuss the matter with the RCMP to determine the best course of action. Across town, St. Albert’s first fire hall opened on McKenney Avenue (later renamed Sir Winston Churchill Avenue).
One year later saw a seriously depleted town council trying to run the city. A judge’s ruling in March had invalidated the results of the most recent election due to polling irregularities. A special election was scheduled for June 16. With only the mayor and two councillors sitting, Richard Fowler announced his resignation as councillor, leaving the mayor and one councillor in charge. Fowler announced days later he was running for mayor. In the meantime, council received a special order from the province allowing it to run with a quorum of two. Soon after, the town received some special attention. When former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill died earlier in the year, the town decided to name a street after him. That naming ceremony officially took place in June. The envoy that attended on the part of the British carried with him a letter from Churchill’s widow, Clementine, thanking “the people of St. Albert for the tribute you pay to my Husband’s memory in giving his name to an avenue in your town.” It was not the town’s only brush with greatness that month. Future Hall of Fame Toronto Maple Leafs’ goaltender Johnny Bower came to St. Albert to present local resident Alex Forbes with the keys to his new 1965 Ford Mustang.
June 1966 remains something of a mystery as the Gazette has only one issue from that month (If you find any copies, please contact us). But the one noteworthy item from that issue was the Protestant school board’s decision to allow sex education in its schools. Laughably, the story refers to it as “Sec education.”
The following June, in Canada’s centennial year, saw another grand community event as the community opened its $85,000 Centennial Library, featuring two floors, 6,000 sq. ft., an art exhibit area and a lecture room. Dr. J.W. Grant MacEwan officially opened the building in front of a standing-room-only crowd.
June 1968 passed with little of note, beyond the re-election of Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal Party and the local wins of Marcel Lambert (Edmonton West) and Jack Bigg (Pembina). But the next June saw St. Albert’s youth introduce the town to nonviolent protest. Students at Paul Kane, who learned three popular teachers were leaving but didn’t know why, organized an impromptu walkout that eventually led to a march to the Protestant division’s office. Eventually seven students were selected to speak with superintendent J. Chalmers. One of the teachers, he revealed, was asked to resign, while the other two had been pressured to quit by the board. The students attended the next board meeting, where they made a vague presentation on the “sour atmosphere” at the school. The board proposed a liaison committee between it and the students, but also noted in a letter to the head of the students’ union that students needed to show more maturity in such matters instead of “taking the rest of the day off as a holiday.” The board also said past staff decisions would not be revisited.
With news of a fourth university coming to the area, council decided to petition the province to call it the University of St. Albert in June 1970, though it would end up being called Athabasca University. The next two Junes were relatively quiet beyond the 120,000-sq.-ft. expansion of Grandin Shoppers Mall in 1972. In June 1973, the town council of the day was on the verge of shutting down altogether as personality conflicts superseded the best interests of the town.
Peter Boer is an editor at the St. Albert Gazette.
