Political Career
Tanner was drafted to run for a seat to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the first time in the 1935 Alberta general election. He ran as a Social Credit candidate in the electoral district of Cardston. He won the three-way race, easily defeating incumbent United Farmers MLA George Stringam.
After the election, and despite his complete lack of parliamentary experience, Tanner was chosen to be Speaker of the Alberta Legislature when the first session of the 8th Alberta Legislative Assembly began. He filled that role until 1937 when he was appointed as a cabinet minister.
Premier William Aberhart appointed Tanner to the Executive Council of Alberta (cabinet) as the Minister of Lands and Mines on January 5, 1937. He ran for a second term in office in the 1940 Alberta general election with ministerial advantage. Tanner barely kept his seat, winning a hotly contested two-way race against Independent candidate S.H. Nelson.
Tanner ran for a third term in office in the 1944 Alberta general election. He faced a three-way race and won easily despite his popular vote dropping slightly from the previous election. The popular vote of the opposition candidates collapsed.
The 1948 Alberta general election would see Tanner run for his fourth term in office. He easily won a two-way race over Liberal candidate Briant Stringam to hold his seat.
A year after the 1948 election, Premier Manning changed Tanner's ministerial portfolio. Lands and Mines was changed to Lands and Forests and he was also given the Mines and Minerals portfolio. He served in both of those ministries until his retirement from the Legislature at dissolution in 1952.
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