In 1886, Lucas moved to Calgary. Here he became a partner in a land, insurance and auctioning company, and was the publisher of the
Calgary Herald. Lucas was first elected to
Calgary Town Council in
1891 as an Alderman, and was subsequently
acclaimed Mayor of Calgary in the
1892 and elected to a second year in the
1893 Calgary municipal election. As Calgary's seventh mayor, he helped found the
Calgary Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has a room named in his honour. Lucas spent one more term on council as Alderman for the newly created Ward 1 in
1894. Lucas was known for his anti-Chinese immigration views, and during his term as Mayor formed a branch of the Anti-Chinese League along with Aldermen
Wesley Fletcher Orr and Issac Sanford Freeze. A
smallpox outbreak in Calgary led to the August 2, 1892 riot in which a mob of around 300 men descended on two Chinese laundries in the town in an attempt to run the Chinese residents out of town. Lucas had been warned of the possibility of a riot and left town for the day. Lucas ran for a seat in the
1894 Northwest Territories general election in the
West Calgary electoral district. He was defeated finishing second in the three way race behind
Oswald Critchley. Lucas went to the
Kootenay district of British Columbia in 1897. He later moved to the
Vancouver. Lucas was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in a by-election for
Yale district in 1910, and was subsequently re-elected in the
1912 British Columbia general election. He served two terms as an MLA in
Premier Richard McBride and Premier William Bowser's
Conservative governments before being defeated in the 1916 provincial election. ==Later life==