Daniel Kennedy Knott (July 1, 1879 – November 26, 1959) was a labour activist and politician in Alberta, Canada, and a mayor of Edmonton.

[1] He apprenticed as a printer and worked for the Buffalo Express before moving to Alberta in 1905 to join his father and brother, who had come west two years earlier.

[citation needed] In 1922, Knott was a co-founder of an iteration of the Canadian Labour Party, with which he remained active until its 1935 merger with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

[3] Knott made his first bid for mayor in the 1926 election, seeking to take advantage of Kenny Blatchford's retirement from municipal politics.

In an effort to maintain the city's credit rating and to avoid raising property taxes, he abandoned many of the promises that had brought him to office, especially in the area of public sector job creation.

However, by the 1934 election much of his support was exhausted and he finished third of five candidates, behind his old negotiating partner Joseph Clarke and alderman James Ogilvie.

[10] Knott attempted to return to council as an alderman in the 1936 election, but was soundly defeated, finishing thirteenth of sixteen candidates.

While the KKK had received aggressive push back in some municipalities in Alberta, Dan Knott was (perceived to be) tolerant of their activity.

On two separate occasions he granted the Klan permission to hold a picnic and erect burning crosses on the Edmonton Exhibition grounds, now known as Northlands.

[11] The Klan at the time published their newspaper, the Liberator, out of a downtown Edmonton office at 13, 10105 100th St., near where the World Trade Centre building now stands.

[13] A picture of an Edmonton Ku Klux Klan convention held at the Royal Canadian Legion's Memorial Hall is believed to show Dan Knott in attendance.

He was an avid bowler, and led the team that swept the 1911 American Bowling Congress in Spokane.Daniel Kennedy Knott died November 26, 1959.