Walter Davy Cowan

Who was Walter Davy Cowan?

Walter Davy Cowan, D.D.S., was a Saskatchewan politician who served as Mayor of Regina and as a Member of Parliament.

A dentist by profession, Cowan was born in Guelph, Canada West, to Scottish immigrants. After his early schooling in Guelph, Cowan attended the University of Maryland, graduating with a degree in dentistry in 1888.

In 1889 he moved to Regina in what was then the Northwest Territories and was one of the first dentists in the region. He organized the first dental association in Canada, the Dental College of the Northwest Territories and served as its president until 1913.

In 1890, Dr. Cowan was elected to the town council and served for one year. In 1891, he became associated editor of the Dominion Dental Journal. He helped form the National Dental Association in 1904 and served as the organization's president.

Cowan ran for parliament in the 1911 federal election as a Conservative but was defeated in the Regina electoral district.

Cowan was elected Mayor of Regina in 1916 and held that office for two years, deciding not to run for a third term after he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1917 federal election as a Unionist MP supporting the wartime government of Sir Robert Borden. He did not run for re-election in the 1921 federal election.