Frederick W. A. G. Haultain

Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain (November 25, 1857 – January 30, 1942) was a lawyer and a long-serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades. He served as the first premier of the Northwest Territories from 1897 to 1905 as is recognized as having a significant contribution towards the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. From 1905 on he served as Leader of the Official Opposition in Saskatchewan as well as Leader of the Provincial Rights Party. His legislative career ended when he was appointed to the judiciary in 1912.

He was born in Woolwich, England in 1857, the son of Frederick W. Haultain (1821–1882) and Lucinde Helen Gordon (1828–1915), and came to Peterborough, Ontario with his family in 1860. He grew up in Peterborough and Montreal, later receiving a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. He went on to study law at Osgoode Hall and was called to the bar in Ontario in 1882 and in the North-West Territories in 1884.

Haultain was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in a by-election held on September 5, 1887. He defeated Charles Conybeare by a large margin. Haultain would win his next five elections by acclamation.

Haultain was appointed the first Premier of the territories on October 7, 1897.

Premier

As premier, Haultain led negotiations for the granting of provincial status. Haultain argued for these territories to be admitted as a single province named Buffalo, and wanted the new province to be governed by non-partisan governments. The federal Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, however, fearful of a large conservative province in the west, decided to create two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in 1905.

Haultain in 1941

Frustrated in negotiations with the federal Liberal government, Haultain became increasingly identified with the Conservative Party and campaigned for it in the 1904 federal election. Laurier's Liberals were re-elected.

Haultain led the Provincial Rights Party in the 1905 Saskatchewan provincial election, which was won by the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan. From 1905 to 1912, Haultain sat in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as leader of the Opposition.

In 1912, the newly elected Conservative federal government of Sir Robert Borden made Haultain Chief Justice of Saskatchewan's superior court. He was knighted in 1916, and in 1917 was made Chief Justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, a position he held until his retirement in 1938.