Alberta Social Credit Party - Rise To Power

Rise To Power

From 1932 to 1935, Aberhart tried to get the governing United Farmers of Alberta to adopt social credit. When the 1935 UFA convention voted against adopting Social Credit and UFA Premier Richard Reid rejected the proposals as being outside the province's constitutional powers, Aberhart entered Social Credit candidates in the that year's provincial election. There was widespread discontent with the overly-cautious direction of the UFA government, and in some cases, local UFA chapters openly supported the Social Credit candidates. The UFA government was also reeling from a scandal that had forced Reid's predecessor, John Brownlee, to resign a year earlier. This, in particular, caused some socially conservative UFA members to transfer their allegiance to the Christian-based Social Credit movement.

In the August 22, 1935 election, much to its own surprise, Social Credit won a landslide victory, taking 54% of the vote and winning 56 of the 63 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The only elected opposition was five Liberals and two Conservatives. The UFA lost all of its seats in the worst defeat for a sitting provincial government in Canada.

The Socreds' expectations for the election were so low that they hadn't named an official leader during the campaign. With the win, Social Credit had to choose a leader who would become the province's new premier. Aberhart was the obvious choice, but he initially said he didn't want the office. However, he was finally prevailed-upon to take power, and was sworn in as premier on September 3. He entered the Legislative Assembly a year later in a by-election.

The first year and a half in power was a period of adjustment for the newly-elected SC MLAs and their premier. Negotiations between Aberhart and Major Douglas who had been hired by the UFA as a financial advisor were colourful but unproductive. Aberhart, consumed with details of governmentship and administration, had little opportunity to progress along the Social Credit monetary reform road. After election he hired an orthodox financial export Mr. Magor, much to Douglas's displeasure, thus forestalling radical monetary reform. In March 1937 many SC MLAs revolted against Aberhart's leadership, refusing to pass the provincial budget until Aberhart promised serious reform of the banking system.