Julia Kiniski was an aldermen on the Edmonton City Council

Edmonton City Council

The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.Members represent wards throughout the city, and are known as councillors. Until 2010, Edmonton was divided in six wards with two councillors representing citizens in each ward...

 from 1963 until her death in 1969. Kiniski unsuccessfully ran for the office to which she was eventually elected eleven times, beginning in 1945, as an independent candidate or as a candidate for far-left parties.

Biography

Kiniski's family emigrated to Chipman, Alberta

Chipman, Alberta

Chipman is a village in central Alberta, Canada within Lamont County and Census Division No. 10. It is located on Highway 15, approximately 11 km southeast of Lamont, 22 km northwest of Mundare, 70 km east of Edmonton, and 30 km northeast of the Yellowhead Highway entrance...

 in 1912. At the age of sixteen she married her husband, Nicholas, with whom she raised six children, including wrestler Gene Kiniski

Gene Kiniski

Eugene Nicholas "Gene" Kiniski was a Canadian professional wrestler and the father of wrestlers Nick Kiniski and Kelly Kiniski. "Canada's Greatest Athlete" as he billed himself for promotional purposes was born outside of Edmonton, Alberta...

. In 1936, Kiniski and her husband moved to Edmonton. He worked as a barber, making $5 a week, while she sold cosmetics and managed a café. Having dropped out of school after the seventh grade, in later life Kiniski "[e]nrolled in University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

 Extension courses, studying psychology, philosophy and world affairs".

During her numerous unsuccessful campaigns for local office, Kiniski "became an accomplished, albeit unconventional, speaker". As a politician, she was "[k]nown and loved as supporter of the common people", whose success spurred renewed civic involvement:
As a member of the city council, "[o]ne of her pet projects... was her fight to support tenants in basement suites

Basement apartment

A basement apartment is an apartment located below street level, underneath another structure—usually an apartment building, but possibly a house or a business. Rent in basement apartments is usually much lower than it is in above-ground units, due to a number of deficiencies common to basement...

".

She died of a heart attack at the age of 70, and was succeeded in office by her son, Julian Kinisky, who won the seat vacated by his mother's death in the 1970 by-election. An elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 in Edmonton is named for her, as is the neighborhood of Kiniski Gardens

Kiniski Gardens, Edmonton

Kiniski Gardens is a triangle-shaped residential neighbourhood in the Mill Woods area of south east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Burnewood area of Mill Woods, and is named for Julia Kiniski, a local reform politician of the 1960s....

.

Table of election results

Elections won are in bold. In most years, five of the ten alderman seats were up for re-election, with the top five vote recipients winning those seats. Beginning in 1964, all seats were up for election every two years.

Year	Party	Votes	Result
1945 Edmonton municipal election, 1945 The 1945 municipal election was held November 7, 1945 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and five trustees to sit on the public school board .There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Sidney...	Independent	1,305	last place
1946 Edmonton municipal election, 1946 The 1946 municipal election was held November 6, 1946 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, four trustees to sit on the public school board, and three trustees to sit on the separate school board....	Independent	2,635	last place
1947 Edmonton municipal election, 1947 The 1947 municipal election was held November 5, 1947 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the public school board . Voters also voted on two plebiscites, one of which approved two year mayoral terms...	Independent	2,133	second to last
1948 Edmonton municipal election, 1948 The 1948 municipal election was held November 3, 1948 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council. There was no mayoral election, as Harry Ainlay was in the second year of a two year term...	Independent	1,783	third to last
1949 Edmonton municipal election, 1949 The 1949 municipal election was held November 2, 1949 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council. The electorate also decided eight plebiscite questions...	Independent	6,370	last place
1951 Edmonton municipal election, 1951 The 1951 municipal election was held November 7, 1951 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the separate school board...	Independent	5,045	last place
1953 Edmonton municipal election, 1953 The 1953 municipal election was held October 14, 1953 to elect six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the separate school board...	Independent	3,471	last place
1954 Edmonton municipal election, 1954 The 1954 municipal election was held October 13, 1954 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided seven plebiscite questions...	Independent	1,758	third to last
1956 Edmonton municipal election, 1956 The 1956 municipal election was held October 17, 1956 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided nine plebiscite questions...	Independent	3,999	last place
1957 Edmonton municipal election, 1957 The 1957 municipal election was held November 3, 1957 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on the public school board...	Independent	7,444	10th out of 19
1958 Edmonton municipal election, 1958 The 1958 municipal election was held October 15, 1958 to elect six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, four trustees to sit on the separate school board, and three trustees to sit on the public school board...	Edmonton Voters Association	4,283	9th out of 14
1959 Edmonton municipal election, 1959 The 1959 municipal election was held October 14, 1959 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards...	Edmonton Voters Association	9,703	11th out of 17
1961 Edmonton municipal election, 1961 In Alberta, Canada, the 1961 municipal election was held October 18, 1961 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards...	Independent	12,451	8th out of 18
1962 Edmonton municipal election, 1962 The 1962 municipal election was held October 17, 1962 to elect five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and three trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided two plebiscite questions...	Civic Rights Protective Association	12,643	8th out of 13
1963 Edmonton municipal election, 1963 The 1963 municipal election was held October 16, 1963 to elect a mayor and six aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and four trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards...	United Voters Association	36,861	5th out of 14
1964 Edmonton municipal election, 1964 The 1964 Edmonton municipal election was held October 14, 1964 to elect a mayor and twelve aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and seven trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards....	Civil Rights Association	54,637	2d out of a large field
1966 Edmonton municipal election, 1966 The 1966 municipal election was held October 19, 1966 to elect a mayor and twelve aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and seven trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards...	Civil Rights Association	53,969	3d out of a large field
1968 Edmonton municipal election, 1968 The 1968 municipal election was held October 16, 1968 to elect a mayor and twelve aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council and seven trustees to sit on each of the public and separate school boards. The electorate also decided three plebiscite questions....	no affiliation	35,760	9th out of a large field