August served on his local municipal council from 1902 to 1904. In the 1907 election, he contested the provincial riding of Dufferin against ConservativePremierRodmond P. Roblin. Roblin won the challenge by 171 votes. August challenged Roblin again in the 1914 election, and lost by 139 votes.
Roblin's government was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal in 1915, and the Liberal Party won a landslide majority government in that year's provincial election. August defeated his Conservative opponent, A.S. Argue, by 286 votes. In the legislature, he served as a backbench supporter of Tobias C. Norris's ministry.