H

Sir Frederick W. A. G.  Haultain 
1857 – 1942

Premier of the North West Territories of Canada

Frederick Haultain was born in 1857 in England.  He emigrated to Canada in 1876 and attended the University of Toronto, receiving a BA in 1879, and a LLB from Osgoode Hall, Toronto. In 1884, he moved west and opened a law office on the site where the Fort Museum now stands. 

 In 1887 Haultain was elected to the North West Legislative Assembly to represent Macleod.  In 1897 he was appointed the Premier of the Northwest Territories, as well as Attorney General and Commissioner of Education. In 1902 he attended Kind Edward VII’s coronation as the North West Territories representative and was made a member of the King’s Counsel (KC).

Haultain’s greatest political accomplishment came after five years of determined effort: on September 1, 1905, the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created. Haultain had long been lobbying for the creation of one province. Haultain was not named Premier of either Province.  Instead, he represented the South Qu’Appelle riding and became the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Saskatchewan Legislature.  In 1912 he retired from politics, and was appointed the Chief Justice of Saskatchewan.  
 
In 1916, he was knighted by King George V, and awarded a Doctorate in Laws from both the University of Toronto and the University of Saskatchewan.  He was also elected Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan, a position which he held until 1939.  He died in 1942, and his ashes are buried at the Memorial Gates at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

Provincial Historic Area

During the summer of 1978, Alberta Culture - Historic Sites Service conducted an inventory of Fort Macleod's pre-1925 buildings. Four hundred structures were recorded. In particular, the department regarded the downtown core as having a good stock of brick and sandstone structures with a high percentage of original fabric intact in several commercial buildings.

During the winter of 1980-81 Gateway Consultants of Calgary conducted a study of the old commercial core. They produced a working concept document which addressed the issue of designating that portion of the downtown as a Provincial Historic Area under the Alberta Historical Resources Act. A committee was formed comprised of representatives of the Municipal and Provincial Governments, the town business community, the regional planning commission and the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation. Their mandate was to examine ways and means of revising and implementing the Historic Area concept plan.
A series of public meetings were conducted during the autumn and winter of 1981-82 and ultimately in March '82, the town council moved that the plan be adopted and submitted to the Alberta Legislature as an Order-in-Council. The plan was ratified, a Historic Area created, design guidelines implemented for buildings within the area, and a revolving fund set up to provide seed money for building revitalization. 
The Heritage Canada Main Street Program then provided their experience from other Canadian communities in working with small town revitalization.