Ivor Dent

Ivor Graham Dent, (February 7, 1924 – March 29, 2009) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as mayor of Edmonton from 1968-1974 and was a candidate for the House of Commons of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on behalf of the CCF and the NDP parties.

Early life Ivor Dent was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on February 7, 1924. During World War II, he attempted to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force, but was rejected. He subsequently took work as an office boy for Canadian Pacific until he was accepted to the air force a year later where he served as a bombardier for three years.

After the war, he married his wife, Aileen in 1948 while he was studying science at the University of Saskatchewan. The couple had four children. Ivor Dent graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Science in 1949.

Dent ran in the 1963 federal election in Edmonton East for the New Democratic Party. He finished fourth of five candidates, defeating only Communist W.A. Tuomi, as incumbent Progressive Conservative William Skoreyko was handily re-elected.

Dent was finally elected to office in the 1963 municipal election, when he was elected to a one-year aldermanic term (he placed fourth of sixteen). He was re-elected to a two-year term in the 1964 municipal election, in which he placed fifth of forty-six candidates, and in the 1966 election, in which he placed second out of forty-four candidates.

Mayor After five years as an alderman, Dent ran for mayor in the 1968 election, in which he defeated his fellow aldermen Reginald Easton and John Leslie Bodie in a close three-way race (he was the first mayor elected to a three-year, rather than a two-year, term). He was re-elected in 1971, when he survived a challenge from alderman Julian Kinisky, but his second term didn't go as smoothly as the first. A damaging transit strike cost Dent support from all sides.

In the 1974 election, Dent faced credible challenges from former mayor William Hawrelak (who had returned to municipal politics after vowing never to do so) and alderman Cec Purves. He wound up losing to both of them. Hawrelak was elected and Dent finished in third place in a seven candidate race.

Although he was out of office by the time they occurred, Dent is credited by many with bringing the 1978 Commonwealth Games to Edmonton. and was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005. He was defeated in a 1990 bid for the chairmanship of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

Death On March 29, 2009 Ivor Dent died from Alzheimer's disease.