Alberta Politics
Marshall was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the first time in the 1909 Alberta general election to the new Olds electoral district. He won the new district easily over Conservative candidate George McDonald.
Marshall was appointed to the cabinet by Premier Alexander Cameron Rutherford to serve as the new Minister of Agriculture and Provincial Secretary November 1, 1909. Marshal's Ministerial appointments would last until May 26, 1910 when he and the rest of the Rutherford cabinet resigned in the face of the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway scandal. Marshall would be re-appointed Minister of Agriculture under the new government of Arthur Lewis Sifton on June 1, 1910 but his Provincial Secretary position would be given to Archibald J. McLean.
One of his most notable achievements as Minister of Agriculture was the creation and setup of Demonstration Farms around the province in 1911. These farms would evolve into Agriculture training schools. The most notable of these schools is still in operation today as Lakeland College.
Marshall would seek a second term in office in the 1913 Alberta general election. In that election he would defeat Conservative challenger George Cloakey by just 54 votes.
Cloakley would run against Marshall again in the 1917 Alberta general election but would not succeed in defeating Marshall the second time, instead Marshall substantially widened his plurality winning comfortably.
Marshall would go down to defeat in the 1921 Alberta general election at the hands of Nelson Smith from the United Farmers of Alberta by an almost 500 vote plurality. The defeat of Marshall and the Liberal government would mark the end of his roll as Minister of Agriculture. He would be replaced in the portfolio by former Conservative Leader George Hoadley.
After Marshalls defeat in the provincial election, he ran for the Liberal Party of Canada for the second time in the 1921 Canadian federal election in East Calgary. He was defeated by William Irvine and finished the race a distant third.
Read more about this topic: Duncan Marshall
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