In 2021, following a story published in the Toronto Daily Tribune, discussion arose about Oliver's responsibility for discriminatory policies that targeted First Nations' land rights and Black immigration during his tenure as Minister of the Interior.

Oliver, later-mayor Matt McCauley, Metis Laurent Garneau, and several others faced criminal charges and a subsequent civil suit after a "squatter"'s shack was pushed into the river valley.

[5] Oliver also used the Edmonton Bulletin as a platform to voice his opposition to the establishment and continued existence of Papaschase Indian Reserve Number 136.

[6][7] He continued this practice for eight years (even while he was an elected politician), until the federal government forced the Papaschase band members from their reserve.

[9] The following month, he pointed out that out-migration to the U.S. was stunting Canada's own population growth, and the NWT was in large measure to account for that, due to conditions created by the Conservative government in Ottawa.

He organized a meeting in early January to refute charges that he was "an irreconcilable oppositionist with socialist tendencies", saying what he did had been in accordance "with the interests and wishes of the majority of his constituents".

[10] In 1885, following the suppression of the Metis Rebellion, his newspaper said that the blame for the outbreak was shared "between Riel and the Ottawa government", singling out the late minister of the interior.

Running as a Liberal Party candidate in the 1896 federal election, Oliver was a champion of small farmers and business people pioneering in Alberta at the time.

As leading federal politician of the western Prairies, Oliver was assigned by Wilfrid Laurier to draw up electoral boundaries used in the 1905 Alberta general election.

[24] Like his predecessor, Clifford Sifton, Oliver encouraged European immigration, particularly of experienced farmers from Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.

[27] After the Liberal government was denied power in 1911, Oliver continued to serve in the House of Commons as Edmonton's MP until 1917.

His lead was eliminated, however, when officials of Robert Borden's Unionist government distributed the army vote, and he did not retain the seat.

[28][29] Oliver ran in 1921 to regain his Edmonton West seat and was defeated by Donald Kennedy, a candidate of the United Farmers of Alberta.

On August 2, 2021, the Toronto Daily Tribune published the story "Edmonton's Oliver Square changes name after community consultation".

It reported, "A member of Parliament and federal minister first elected to office in 1883, Oliver is known for drafting discriminatory legislation, including policies that pushed Indigenous people off their traditional lands.