David Milwyn Duggan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of theConservative Party of Alberta | |
| In office 1930 – May 4, 1942 | |
| Preceded by | Alexander McGillivray |
| Succeeded by | John Percy Page (after several years of dormancy) |
| Member of theLegislative Assembly of Alberta forEdmonton | |
| In office June 28, 1926 – May 4, 1942 | |
| 16thMayor of Edmonton | |
| In office December 13, 1920 – December 10, 1923 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Clarke |
| Succeeded by | Kenny Blatchford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1879-05-05)May 5, 1879 Builth, Wales |
| Died | May 4, 1942(1942-05-04) (aged 62) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Party | Conservative Party of Alberta, Citizens Progressive League, Citizens League |
| Spouse | Marian Price |
| Children | Four |
| Profession | Businessman, farmer |
| Signature |  |
David Milwyn Duggan (May 5, 1879 – May 4, 1942) was a Welsh-born Canadian politician who was theMayor of Edmonton from 1920 to 1923, a member of theLegislative Assembly of Alberta, and a leader of theConservative Party of Alberta.
David Duggan was born inBuilth,Wales May 5, 1879. In 1893 he entered the dry goods business, in which he remained until leaving Wales. In 1902 he married Marian Price, and went on to have four children with her.
Duggan immigrated to Canada in 1905 to farm nearNanton, Alberta. He and his brother Joseph J. moved to Edmonton in 1912 and founded Duggan Investments, Ltd., a firm handling bonds and investments. (Joseph served as Edmonton city councillor 1924 to 1925.[1])
Duggan ran for mayor in the1920 Edmonton election when, despite lacking any previous experience, he defeated incumbentJoseph Clarke. Clarke had become unpopular with the city's Board of Trade and both of its newspapers owing to what they perceived as anti-business policies, and these groups supported Duggan aggressively. During Duggan's mayoralty, Alberta's first radio station,CJCA, began operations, and Duggan himself concluded its inaugural broadcast by boasting "Edmonton leads the way in all Alberta.Calgary and others follow. That is all. Goodnight." He was re-elected in1921 and1922, but did not seek re-election after his last term expired.
His attention turned to provincial politics, and he was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Alberta in the1926 election as aConservative in the riding ofEdmonton. Duggan succeededAlexander McGillivray as leader in 1930, and led the party intothat year's election. In this election, the Conservatives picked up a seat in Edmonton (taking three of the city's six seats), but were shut out of seats outside of Edmonton andCalgary, as they had been in 1926. Moreover, they lost ground to the rivalAlberta Liberal Party in the race to form the official opposition to the governingUnited Farmers of Alberta. Duggan easily retained his own seat.
The situation worsened for the Conservatives in the1935 election, when theSocial Credit Party of Alberta swept the province, reducing the Conservatives to two members, Duggan and CalgaryMLAJohn Irwin (the other parties fared no better—the Liberals lost six of the eleven seats they had won in 1930, while the UFA, owners of a majority government before the writ was dropped, were eliminated from the legislature completely). In response to thiselectoral wipeout, Duggan's Conservatives formed an alliance with the Liberals, the Unity League, whereby candidates of the parties would not run against each other, these were identified as Independents on election results as the Unity League did not have official party status. In the1940 election, there were nineteen independents elected, including Duggan.
During his last full term in the legislature, Duggan was involved in theBankers' Toadies incident. He brought to the house's attention a government-sponsored leaflet that named him and eight other men (William Antrobus Griesbach among them) as "Banker's Toadies" and urged readers to "exterminate them". This incident saw Social Credit MLAJoseph Unwin and government advisor George F. Powell prosecuted for criminallibel and counsellingmurder.
Duggan was active with theBaptist Church, theRotary Club, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and theRed Cross. He died on May 4, 1942, while still an MLA. He was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Edmonton.
In 2004,Edmonton City Council passed a motion directing its Names Advisory Committee to strike a subcommittee whose purpose would be, among other things, to honour Duggan by naming a city feature after him.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Edmonton 1921–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Legislative Assembly of Alberta | ||
| Preceded by | MLAEdmonton 1926–1942 | Succeeded by |