Leverett DeVeber
Encyclopedia
Leverett George DeVeber (sometimes spelled De Veber) (February 10, 1849 – July 9, 1925) was a Canadian politician who served as Member of the Legislative Assemblies of 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...

 and the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

, minister in the government of Alberta, and member of the Senate of Canada. Born in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

 and trained as a physician, he joined the North-West Mounted Police and came west, eventually settling in Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...

 after leaving the police force. He represented Lethbridge in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1898 until 1905, when Lethbridge became part of the new province of Alberta. He was appointed Minister without Portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...

 in Alberta's first government, but resigned four months later to accept an appointment to the Senate, where he remained until his death.

Early life

DeVeber was born February 10, 1849, in Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

. His great-grandfather, Gabriel DeVeber, had been a British army officer who was rewarded for his service in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 with land in New Brunswick, where his descendants had lived since. Leverett George DeVeber was educated in Saint John and Kingston
Kingston, New Brunswick
Kingston is a rural Canadian community in Kings County, New Brunswick.Located on the Kingston Peninsula, the village was settled in 1783 by Loyalists at the conclusion of the American Revolution....

 before attending King's College
University of King's College
The University of King's College is a post-secondary institution in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. King's is a small liberal arts university offering mainly undergraduate programs....

 in Windsor
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...

, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. He was a prominent rower
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

 in New Brunswick, and also played cricket and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and took part in shooting
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...

, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

, and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 events.

He studied for a year at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 and then completed his medical studies at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, from which he graduated in 1870. He then studied at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 for a year. He practiced medicine in Saint John for six years, before coming west to join the North-West Mounted Police as a surgeon in 1882. Over the next three years he was stationed at Fort Walsh
Fort Walsh
Fort Walsh is a National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police fort and the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park....

, 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...

, and Fort MacLeod
Fort Macleod, Alberta
Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the province of Alberta, Canada. It was founded as a North-West Mounted Police barracks, and is named in honour of the North-West Mounted Police Colonel James Macleod. The town's current mayor is Shawn Patience.- History and heritage preservation...

; it was in this last town that he left the NWMP to set up a civilian practice in 1885.

In 1887 DeVeber married Rachael Ann Ryan, who was born in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 where her father was posted with the British Army. The pair would have two children: Marion Frances DeVeber, who married shipbuilder Francis Dunn and moved to England, and Leverett Sandys DeVeber, who worked in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 for the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...

.

DeVeber moved to Lethbridge in 1890, and became its Medical Officer of Health in 1893, in which capacity he continued until at least 1924. In Lethbridge he was involved in music: he took charge of his church's choir in 1891, and the same year sang at a local concert after the intended headliner, Nora Clench
Nora Clench
-Biography:Born Esther Leonora Clench in St. Marys, Canada West, the daughter of L. M. Clench, Clench attended Loretto Convent in Hamilton, Ontario. A musical child prodigy, when she was fifteen she entered the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, where she was a pupil of Adolph Brodsky, the Russian...

, failed to show up. He was also active with the Episcopalian
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...

 church and the Canadian Order of Foresters
Fraternal Forestry
The Independent Order of Foresters is a fraternal organization, now based in Toronto, Canada, and operating under the brand Foresters.-History:Foresters traces its origin to a British Friendly Society, a mutual organization caring for the sick...

.

Territorial and provincial service

DeVeber was acclaimed to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in the 1898 election
Northwest Territories general election, 1898
The Northwest Territories general election of 1898 took place on 4 November 1898. This was the fourth general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories....

, and re-elected in the 1902 election
Northwest Territories general election, 1902
The Northwest Territories general election of 1902, occurred on 21 May 1902 and was the fifth general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. This was the last election held until 1951,...

. Though he was a Liberal
Northwest Territories Liberal Party
The Northwest Territories Liberal Party was a short-lived branch of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Northwest Territories.The party existed between 1898 and 1905. In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from the heavily populated areas of the Northwest Territories...

, he wholeheartedly supported the efforts of Premier
Premier of the Northwest Territories
The Premier of the Northwest Territories is the first minister for the Northwest Territories,Canada. He or she is the territory's head of government and de facto chief executive, although the powers of the office are considerably less than those of a provincial premier.Unlike provincial premiers,...

 Frederick W. A. G. Haultain
Frederick W. A. G. Haultain
Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain was a lawyer and a long serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades...

 to conduct territory politics along non-partisan lines. As the federal government prepared to create two new provinces, 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...

 and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, out of the Northwest Territoes, DeVeber joined with Haultain in advocating the continuation of this non-partisan approach into the governments of the new provinces. This position put him at odds with the Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 federal government, led by Wilfrid Laurier
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

, who wanted the new provinces' governments to be Liberal. A Liberal, George Bulyea, was therefore appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the nine other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...

, and it was understood that he would appoint a Liberal as the province's first premier.

After Alberta's two most prominent Liberals, Peter Talbot
Peter Talbot (politician)
Peter Talbot was a Canadian parliamentarian.Born in Eramosa, Canada West , he moved to Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1890 to teach school. In 1892, he moved to Lacombe, Alberta, to homestead and raise cattle.In 1902 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories and served until...

 and Frank Oliver, made it clear that they were not interested, DeVeber considered himself as a possible candidate. Less than two months before Alberta's formal creation, he wrote to his colleague in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Alexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first Premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Ontario, he studied and practised law in Ottawa before moving with his family to the Northwest Territories in 1895...

, that the possibilities "practically came to you and I, both of us weak enough God knows but we have the sense to see it." DeVeber's belief that he may be appointed premier does not appear to have been well-founded: his opposition to the introduction of party lines earned him the enmity of some Liberals, not least because it aligned him with Haultain, a Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...

. In the estimation of historian L. G. Thomas, DeVeber's fellow Liberals "were not inclined to take him too seriously" as a potential premier.

Once it became clear that he was not to become premier, DeVeber turned his ambitions towards the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

. Though he had little interest in sustained involvement with the government of Alberta, he accepted Rutherford's (for Rutherford had been named premier) invitation to serve in his first cabinet as Minister without Portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...

. He made clear that he viewed the appointment as an interim one, to give Rutherford time to evaluate the many novice politicians entering the new province's legislature and, in DeVeber's words, "ascertain who of the new blood will rise to the surface". In keeping with the expectations of a government minister in the Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

, DeVeber ran in the 1905 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1905
The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 1905, to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories...

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

 William Carlos Ives by a comfortable margin in the Lethbridge
Lethbridge (provincial electoral district)
Lethbridge was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada.The riding has existed twice. The first incarnation was in 1905 when Alberta first became a province. Lethbridge covered a large patch of southern Alberta, It was broken into Lethbridge District and Lethbridge City in 1909...

 electoral district.

Senator

DeVeber did not serve long either as minister of Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....

: having received word that he was to be appointed to the Senate, he resigned from cabinet on March 1, 1906—exactly four months after his appointment—and from the legislature March 7. He formally began his term as Senator the next day. His time as an MLA was so short he did not sign the rolls in the Alberta Legislature and was never sworn in.

While in the Senate, DeVeber chaired the Standing Committee on Public Health and Inspection of Foods. One issue examined by this committee was water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

: beginning in March 1909 and for nearly a year afterwards, it studied the question in view of the increasing mortality from typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...

, and concluded, in the words of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

's Jennifer Read, "that the country required some form of legislation to manage the problem. However, it was at a loss about the form it should take and from what body it should emanate." As chair of the committee, DeVeber attended an October 1910 federal-provincial conference in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

 called to attempt to coordinate all Canadian jurisdictions' responses to water pollution. Besides recommending that provincial governments use their constitutional authority over health and municipal government to prevent undue water pollution from municipal sewage systems, it advised the federal government to use its authority over navigable waterways to prohibit the dumping of most waste into them; DeVeber supplied a draft bill for Parliament's consideration.

At the same time, DeVeber's colleague Napoléon Belcourt
Napoléon Belcourt
Napoléon Antoine Belcourt, PC was a Franco-Ontarian parliamentarian in Canada.-Early life:Belcourt was born in Toronto to French-Canadian parents, Ferdinand-Napoléon Belcourt and Marie-Anne Clair, and raised in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

 was championing a similar measure in the Senate (as an Ottawa resident, Belcourt was disturbed by the effect on the city's water supply by the dumping of waste upstream, in Aylmer
Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

), and while doing so he quoted extensively from the report of DeVeber's committee. When Belcourt's bill came up for debate, DeVeber scolded him on the floor of the Senate for misrepresenting the committee's report as being much more supportive of the bill than it actually was; in the estimation of University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...

 law professor Jamie Benidickson, DeVeber's comments assured the bill's defeat.

DeVeber remained a Senator until his death in 1925. Alberta's Mount DeVeber
Mount DeVeber
Mount DeVeber is a mountain in Willmore Wilderness Park in Alberta, Canada. It is named for former Canadian Senator Leverett George DeVeber....

, located in Willmore Wilderness Park
Willmore Wilderness Park
Willmore Wilderness Park, located in Alberta, Canada, is a 4,600 square kilometre wilderness area adjacent to the world famous Jasper National Park...

, is named in his honour.

Electoral record

>
1905 Alberta general election
Alberta general election, 1905
The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 1905, to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories...

 results (Lethbridge
Lethbridge (provincial electoral district)
Lethbridge was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada.The riding has existed twice. The first incarnation was in 1905 when Alberta first became a province. Lethbridge covered a large patch of southern Alberta, It was broken into Lethbridge District and Lethbridge City in 1909...

)
Turnout N.A.
Liberal
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...

Leverett G. DeVeber 639 56.55%
Conservative William Carlos Ives 491 43.45%
1902 Northwest Territories general election
Northwest Territories general election, 1902
The Northwest Territories general election of 1902, occurred on 21 May 1902 and was the fifth general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. This was the last election held until 1951,...

 results (Lethbridge)
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout N.A.
Leverett George DeVeber 264 53.99%
Henry Bentley 225 46.01%
1898 Northwest Territories general election
Northwest Territories general election, 1898
The Northwest Territories general election of 1898 took place on 4 November 1898. This was the fourth general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories....

 results (Lethbridge)
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout N.A.
Leverett George DeVeber Acclaimed
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