He ran as candidate in the first election after Alberta became a province in 1905. He ran as a Liberal in Athabasca, He took the seat by acclamation. (He was the only MLA acclaimed in that election.)Thomas 28 In office, he advocated for a railway to be built into the northeast corner of the new province.Thomas 64 He also gave testimony to a select committee of the Senate of Canada in 1907 about agricultural conditions in northwest Canada, drawing on his experience living and travelling in the area, including his boat trip down the Athabasca of ten years before. In his testimony, he estimated that the "good land north of Edmonton, east of the Rocky Mountains" amounted to at least .Davis 98
