John McNeill was a municipal politician from Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served as an Alderman on Calgary City Council from January 6, 1916 to January 2, 1918.

Political career

McNeill was elected to Calgary city council for the first time in the 1916 Calgary municipal election. He was re-elected again in 1917.

While still an Alderman, McNeill ran in the South Calgary

South Calgary (provincial electoral district)

South Calgary was a provincial electoral district from Alberta, Canada. The electoral district returned a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 1921...

 provincial electoral district, as a Liberal-Conservative candidate. McNeill was neither endorsed by the Liberals

Alberta Liberal Party

The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...

 or Conservatives

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

 but did not want to run under an Independent banner. He felt that his chances of winning a seat in the provincial legislature were good. McNeill ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism.

He finished third place in the three way race behind Labor activist William Irvine

William Irvine (Canadian politician)

William Irvine was a Canadian politician, journalist and clergyman. He served in the Canadian House of Commons on three different occasions, as a representative of Labour, the United Farmers of Alberta and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

 and incumbent Conservative MLA Thomas Blow

Thomas Blow

Thomas Henry Blow was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada.Blow first ran for the Alberta Legislature as part of a 2 man Conservative slate in the Calgary provincial electoral district in the 1909 Alberta general election. He finished 4th out of 5th place in the block vote...

. He took 19% of the popular vote in that election.

McNeill did not return to City council in the 1918 Calgary municipal election.