Social Credit Party of Alberta
Encyclopedia
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, that was founded on the social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...

 monetary policy and conservative Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 social values.

The Canadian social credit movement
Canadian social credit movement
The Canadian social credit movement was a Canadian political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. H. Douglas. Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds...

 was largely an out-growth of the Alberta Social Credit Party. The Social Credit Party of Canada
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

 was originally strongest in Alberta, before developing a base in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 when Réal Caouette
Réal Caouette
David Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes...

 agreed to merge his Ralliement créditiste movement
Ralliement créditiste
Historically in Quebec, Canada, there was a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the social credit philosophy; at various times they had...

 into the federal party. The British Columbia Social Credit Party
British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...

 formed the government for many years in neighbouring British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, although this was effectively a coalition of centre-right forces in the province that had no interest in social credit monetary policies. The party won a majority government in 1935, barely months after its formation, and remained in power until 1971--the third-longest unbroken run in government at the provincial level in Canada (behind only the Ontario Tories
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...

' 42 years in power and the still-on-going 40 years held by the current Progressive Conservatives of Alberta
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

). However, it has held no seats since 1982, and finished a distant sixth in the 2008 general election.

Origins

William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...

, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 pastor and evangelist in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, was attracted to social credit theory while Alberta was in the depths of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. He soon began promoting it via his radio program on CFCN in Calgary, adding a heavy dose of fundamentalist Christianity
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...

 to C.H. Douglas' original ideology. The basic premise of social credit--that all citizens have the right to the wealth they jointly produce--was especially attractive to farmers sinking under the weight of the Depression. Several study groups devoted to the theory sprang up across the province, which united into the Social Credit League of Alberta.

Rise to power

From 1932 to 1935, Aberhart tried to get the governing United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...

 to adopt social credit. When UFA Premier
Premier of Alberta
The Premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Alberta is Alison Redford. She became Premier by winning the Progressive Conservative leadership elections on...

 Richard Reid
Richard Gavin Reid
Richard Gavin "Dick" Reid was a Canadian politician who served as the sixth Premier of Alberta from 1934 to 1935...

 rejected his overtures as unconstitutional, Aberhart entered Social Credit candidates in the that year's provincial election
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. He reaped an unexpected windfall from widespread discontent with the overly-cautious direction of the UFA government, which was also reeling from a scandal that had forced Reid's predecessor, John Brownlee
John Edward Brownlee
John Edward Brownlee was the fifth Premier of Alberta, Canada, serving from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's Victoria College before moving west to Calgary to become a lawyer...

, to resign a year earlier. The latter, in particular, caused socially conservative
Social conservatism (Canada)
Social conservatism in Canada is a political attitude that is widespread, though not as pronounced as in the United States. It represents conservative positions on issues of family, sexuality and morality...

 Albertans to flock to Social Credit. In some cases, local UFA chapters openly supported Social Credit candidates.

In the August 22, 1935 election
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, much to its own surprise, Social Credit won a landslide victory
Landslide victory
In politics, a landslide victory is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming margin in an election...

, taking 54% of the vote and winning 56 of the 63 seats in the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

. The only opposition came from five Liberals
Alberta Liberal Party
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...

 and two Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

. The UFA lost all of its seats in one of the worst defeats 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 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
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

.

Not "Funny money"

Following the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
The 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt took place from March to June 1937 in the Canadian province of Alberta. It was a rebellion against Premier William Aberhart by a group of backbench members of the Legislative Assembly from his Social Credit League...

, the party attempted to implement its radical populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

 policies, such as the issuance of prosperity certificate
Prosperity certificate
In 1936, the Alberta Social Credit Party-led government of the Province of Alberta, Canada, introduced prosperity certificates in an attempt to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression...

s to Alberta residents (dubbed "funny money" by detractors) in accordance with the theories of Silvio Gesell
Silvio Gesell
Silvio Gesell was a German merchant, theoretical economist, social activist, anarchist and founder of Freiwirtschaft.-Life:...

. Douglas, the originator of the Social Credit movement, did not like the idea of prosperity certificates which depreciated in value the longer they were held, and openly criticized Gesell's theories.

Early in their term, the Socreds tried to pass two bills that would have placed the province's banks under government control. However, Lieutenant-Governor John C. Bowen
John C. Bowen
John Campbell Bowen was a clergy man, insurance broker and long serving politician. He served as an Alderman in the City of Edmonton on the municipal level and then went on to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 to 1926 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition...

 refused to grant Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

 to the bills. The Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 subsequently ruled the legislation unconstitutional because only the federal government can legislate on banking.

Bowen also refused Royal Assent to the Accurate News and Information Act
Accurate News and Information Act
The Accurate News and Information Act was a statute passed by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada, in 1937, at the instigation of William Aberhart's Social Credit government...

, which would have forced newspapers to print government rebuttals to stories the Executive Council
Executive Council of Alberta
The Executive Council of Alberta is the cabinet of that Canadian province.Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the Cabinet is similar in structure and role to the Cabinet of Canada while being smaller in size...

 (cabinet) objected to. The government also repealed legislation allowing for the recall of members of the Legislative Assembly by petition when Aberhart himself became the target of recall efforts.

The government's relationship with Bowen became so acrimonious that in 1938, Bowen even threatened to use his reserve powers to dismiss it. In the end, Bowen chose not to take this extraordinary action, in part because the Socreds were so popular that they would have almost certainly been reelected.

Other policies

Thwarted in their attempt to gain complete control of Alberta's banks, Aberhart's government eventually succeeded in gaining a foothold in the province's financial sector by creating the Alberta Treasury Branches in 1938. ATB has become a lasting legacy of Social Credit Party policies in Alberta, operating as an orthodox financial institution
Financial institution
In financial economics, a financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members. Probably the most important financial service provided by financial institutions is acting as financial intermediaries...

 and crown corporation. It also enacted several socially conservative laws, notably one restricting the sale and serving of alcohol. It was one of the strictest such laws in Canada. For many years, commercial airlines could not serve alcohol while flying over Alberta.

Manning era

Social Credit was elected with a slightly reduced mandate in 1940
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. "Bible Bill" Aberhart died in 1943 and was replaced by his Provincial Secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...

 and Minister of Trade and Industry, Ernest Manning
Ernest Manning
Ernest Charles Manning, , a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any premier in the province's history, and was the second longest serving provincial premier in Canadian history...

.

Manning's government was much more pragmatic. Under his leadership, the party largely abandoned social credit monetary theories, though it did issue prosperity certificates from oil royalties in 1957 and 1958. His government was arguably one of the most conservative provincial governments in Canada. Manning moved to purge the party of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

, which had been an element of its Christian populist rhetoric for years, but had become far less fashionable after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Several socially conservative laws remained in place, such as the ban on airlines serving alcohol over provincial airspace.

Under Manning, Alberta became a virtual one-party state, winning seven consecutive elections. The party usually won well over 50 percent of the popular vote, and rarely faced more than ten opposition MLAs. He wielded considerable influence over the party's federal counterparts
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

 as well. For example, he let it be known that his province would never accept francophone Catholic Real Caouette
Réal Caouette
David Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes...

, leader of the party's Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 wing, as the party's leader--even though Caouette headed the party's third-strongest faction (behind the Alberta and British Columbia Socreds
British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...

). This led to rumours that Caouette actually defeated Robert Thompson
Robert Thompson
Robert or Bob Thompson may refer to:*Bob Thompson , American orchestra leader, arranger, composer*Bob Thompson , American figurative painter*Bob Thompson , British producer and writer...

 for the federal party's leadership in 1961, only to be vetoed by Manning and the Alberta Socreds.

The discovery of significant reserves of oil in 1947 transformed Alberta from one of Canada's poorest provinces to one of the country's richest with resource revenues pouring into the government's treasury.

Decline

Manning's last election win, in 1967
Alberta general election, 1967
The Alberta general election of 1967 was the sixteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 23, 1967 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, proved ominous for the party. Despite winning 55 of the 65 seats in the legislature, it won less than 45% of the popular vote--its lowest share of the popular vote since 1940. More importantly, the once-moribund Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

, led by young lawyer Peter Lougheed
Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985....

, won six seats, mostly in Calgary and Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

. Despite having wide support in Calgary and Edmonton (Manning himself represented an Edmonton riding), Social Credit was at bottom an agrarian-based party, and never really lost this character. The party didn't react nearly fast enough to the changes in Alberta as Calgary and Edmonton gained more influence.

Manning retired in 1968 and was replaced by Harry Strom
Harry Strom
Harry Edwin Strom was the ninth Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 1968 to 1971. His two and a half years as Premier were the last of the thirty-six year Social Credit dynasty, as his defeat by Peter Lougheed saw its replacement by a new era Progressive Conservative government...

 at the party's first leadership election. But after spending virtually all of its history as the governing party, the Socreds had become tired and complacent. In the 1971 election
Alberta general election, 1971
The Alberta general election of 1971 was the seventeenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 30, 1971 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, Lougheed's PCs ended Social Credit's 36-year hold on power. The Socreds saw their share of the popular vote decrease slightly, finishing only five points behind the PCs. However, the PCs took every seat in Edmonton and all but five seats in Calgary. Due to a quirk in the first past the post system, this decimated the Social Credit caucus. They finished with only 25 seats to the PCs' 49, consigning them to the opposition benches for the first time in party history. Strom resigned as party leader in 1973 and was succeeded by Werner Schmidt
Werner Schmidt
Werner Schmidt is a former Canadian politician. A teacher and school principal.-Political career:Schmidt was vice-president of Lethbridge Community College when he was chosen to succeed Harry Strom as leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party following the defeat of Strom's government in 1971...

, vice-president of Lethbridge Community College, who didn't hold a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Schmidt won the 1973 leadership election by defeating former Highways Minister Gordon Taylor
Gordon Taylor
Gordon Edward Taylor was a Canadian politician, businessman and teacher.-Provincial political career:He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1940 provincial election representing Drumheller for Social Credit and continued to sit in the legislature for 39 years...

, former Education Minister Robert Curtis Clark
Robert Curtis Clark
Robert "Bob" Curtis Clark is a former teacher, civil servant and provincial level politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1960 to 1981. During his career he served as Leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party and Leader of the Official Opposition...

, who was also the party's acting leader in the legislature, and John Ludwig, dean of business education at Alberta College.

Schmidt won the leadership in an upset victory on the second ballot with 814 votes, defeating Clark, who had the support of half of the Social Credit caucus, by a margin of 39 votes. Schmidt had trailed Clark on the first ballot by a margin of 512 votes to 583.

First ballot
  • Clark 583
  • Schmidt 512
  • Taylor 406
  • Ludwig 71


(Ludwig eliminated, Taylor withdraws)

Second ballot
  • Schmidt 814
  • Clark 775


Social Credit sank into near-paralysis in opposition. The party's support collapsed in the 1975 election
Alberta general election, 1975
The Alberta general election of 1975 was the eighteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 25, 1975 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, when it fell to four seats--just barely holding onto official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...

--and lost half of its popular vote from 1971. Schmidt failed to win a seat and resigned as party leader. Clark took the leadership unopposed. The party managed to stave off total collapse in the 1979 election
Alberta general election, 1979
The Alberta general election of 1979 was the nineteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 14, 1979 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, holding onto its four seats.

Dormancy in the 1980s

Clark resigned and on November 29, 1980 former Calgary mayor Rod Sykes
Rod Sykes
James Rodney "Rod" Winter Sykes is a Canadian politician. He served as the 30th Mayor of Calgary from 1969 to 1977 and as leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party from 1980 to 1982...

 became the party's new leader defeating Edmonton alderman Julian Kinisky 538-292.. Again without a full-time leader in the legislature, the party continued to sag in the polls. It badly lost a by-election to the upstart Western Canada Concept
Western Canada Concept
The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.The party argued that Western...

 in the Olds-Didsbury
Olds-Didsbury
Olds-Didsbury was a provincial electoral district in central southern Alberta, Canada.The riding was created in 1963 as a merger between the Olds and Didsbury ridings....

 vacated by Clark, losing official party status in the process. Unable to resolve the party's internal and financial problems, Sykes quit as leader in March 1982.

On March 31, 1982, Raymond Speaker
Raymond Speaker
Raymond Albert "Ray" Speaker, PC, OC is a farmer and Canadian politician.Speaker was born and raised in Enchant, Alberta where he farms to this day...

, the Socreds' parliamentary leader and leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, announced that Social Credit would sit out that year's election
Alberta general election, 1982
The Alberta general election of 1982 was the twentieth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 2, 1982 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. In his press release, he said it would be useless for Social Credit to fight the next election since there were not enough Social Credit voters left in the province.

The Social Credit council quickly distanced itself from Speaker's statement. There was wide speculation at the time that Speaker would cross the floor to Western Canada Concept. Unable to attract a new leader, the Social Credit membership held an emergency meeting September 18, 1982. A resolution was put forward that would have dissolved the party. This was soundly rejected by the attending delegates and a new president was elected.

As soon as the writs were dropped in October, Speaker and Walt Buck
Walt Buck
Dr. Walter "Walt" Alexander Buck is a former provincial level politician and dentist from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1967 to 1989. During his time in office he served in numerous party caucuses and as an Independent.-Political career:Buck ran...

 and left the party to become independent candidates for the legislature. The party's third MLA, Fred Mandeville
Fred Mandeville
Frederick "Fred" Thomas Mandeville was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1967 to 1982 sitting as part of the Social Credit caucus when it was both in government and official opposition...

 announced his retirement. Social Credit went into the 1982 election without a full- time leader, and for the first time since 1935, no incumbents. The party ran only 23 candidates and garnered only 0.8 percent of the vote. It was shut out of the Legislative Assembly for the first time since 1935, and has never elected another MLA.

In 1986, Social Credit, Western Canada Concept
Western Canada Concept
The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.The party argued that Western...

 and the Heritage Party of Alberta joined together to form the Alberta Alliance Political Association. The Alliance fell apart when the WCC left, followed by Social Credit. The AAPA became the present day Alberta Party
Alberta Party
The Alberta Party Political Association, more commonly known as the Alberta Party, is a political party in the province of Alberta, Canada...

. Social Credit sat out the 1986 election. Most of its remaining supporters joined and ran for the Representative Party
Representative Party of Alberta
The Representative Party of Alberta was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada formed by Raymond Speaker in 1984. The party was right of center, conservative in ideology and considered a modern version of Social Credit without the monetary reforms....

, which had been formed by Speaker after he and Buck were denied funding normally reserved to opposition parties.

Rebirth in the 1990s

Interim Leadership of the party was given to Martin Hattersley
Martin Hattersley
J. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...

, an Edmonton lawyer, and later to Harvey Yuill of Barrhead
Barrhead
Barrhead is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. As of the 2001 census its population was 19,813....

. The party ran only six candidates in the 1989 election
Alberta general election, 1989
The Alberta general election of 1989 was the twenty-second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 20, 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

. The party was rekindled under the leadership of Robert Alford
Robert Alford
Robert Alford in Edson, Alberta, Canada, and is a politician. He married in 1975 and raised two daughters.-Education:...

 from 1990 to 1992. In 1991, Randy Thorsteinson
Randy Thorsteinson
Randy Thorsteinson is a politician and businessman in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.-Early years:Thorsteinson was born in Gimli, Manitoba spending his youth living in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Edmonton, Alberta; Calgary, Alberta and Grande Prairie, Alberta.-Education:He graduated from St. Paul's High School...

, a Reform Party of Canada
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....

 activist, was elected as party president. In 1992, Thorsteinson was elected as leader, and Robert Alford as president. Social Credit improved its performance in the 1993 election
Alberta general election, 1993
The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...

, but won no seats. In the 1997 election
Alberta general election, 1997
The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, the party nominated 70 candidates, and won 64,667 votes, over 7% of the popular vote.

After the 1997 election, polling revealed that the Social Credit Party was poised for a break-through: an estimated 150,000 Albertans would have been ready to once again support Social Credit as an alternative. This would have meant up to eight seats or more in the legislature. However, in April 1999, Thorsteinson, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, resigned to protest an internal party proposal to limit Mormon involvement within the party. The fortunes of the Social Credit party quickly faded.

In November 1999, James Albers
James Albers
-Political career:Albers ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1989 Alberta general election. He ran in the electoral district of Edmonton Avonmore but was defeated finishing second out of three candidates to New Democrat Marie Laing. He finished about 300 votes ahead of future Liberal MLA...

 was elected over Jon Dykstra and Norm Racine to lead the party in a hotly-contested race. Wiebo Ludwig
Wiebo Ludwig
Wiebo Ludwig is the leader of a compound in Trickle Creek, just outside Hythe,Alberta, Canada, who is best known for his legal problems arising from his conflict with the oil and gas industry. Ludwig has been accused of being an eco-terrorist for sabotaging oil and gas wells...

 was disqualified. During the election of 2001
Alberta general election, 2001
The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, the right wing vote fractured between the newly formed Alberta First Party
Alberta First Party
The Alberta First Party was a right-wing political party that operated in Alberta, Canada from 1999 until 2003. It was founded by former members of the Social Credit Party of Alberta. The party was registered with Elections Alberta on November 2, 1999...

 and Social Credit. Most right-wing voters went back to supporting the Progressive Conservatives, who had experienced a resurgence in popularity.

Thorsteinson founded the Alberta Alliance Party
Alberta Alliance Party
The Alberta Alliance was a right wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members were former supporters of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined from such other provincial fringe parties...

 in October 2002.

Lavern Ahlstrom
Lavern Ahlstrom
Lavern Ahlstrom is a retired provincial level politician and former leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party.-Political career:Ahlstrom first became involved with Social Credit in the 1970s. He has been a perennial candidate for the party with some moderately successful showings during his career...

 was appointed leader of the party in February 2001. Under Ahlstrom's leadership, the party made moves toward re-embracing elements of social credit monetary theory.

The party nominated 12 candidates in the 2001 election
Alberta general election, 2001
The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

 (down from 70 in 1997) and received 5,361 votes (0.5% of the popular vote), down from 64,667.

Alberta Social Credit today

, Social Credit insists it is "neither a 'right-wing' nor a 'left-wing' political party", and that it opposes both "big business" and "big government". However, the party has adopted what some Albertans might consider to be centrist or even left-leaning
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 policies. These include:
  • re-regulation of energy services,
  • creation of a public automobile insurance provider, and
  • the use of government funds to build meat packing plants in response to the BSE
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

     crisis.
  • vehement opposition to the proposed privatization
    Privatization
    Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

     of the Alberta Treasury Branches.


The party nominated 42 candidates for the 2004 election
Alberta general election, 2004
The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

, and won 10,874 votes (1.2% of the popular vote, an increase of 0.7% from 2001.) It polled well in a few ridings, most notably Rocky Mountain House where Lavern Ahlstrom tied for second place.

In late 2005, the party entered discussion about merging with the Alberta Party
Alberta Party
The Alberta Party Political Association, more commonly known as the Alberta Party, is a political party in the province of Alberta, Canada...

 and the Alberta Alliance. Despite cooperation and successful merger talks between the party leaders, the Social Credit Party membership voted down the motion to merge at the 2006 Social Credit Convention. (See: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=107&cat=59&id=538741&more= and http://www.albertaparty.ab.ca/default.asp?pageID=15)

In the Drumheller-Stettler
Drumheller-Stettler
Drumheller-Stettler is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The electoral district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting...

 by-election on 12 June 2007, the party's candidate Larry Davidson placed third with 11.7% of the vote.

In early November 2007, Len Skowronski
Len Skowronski
Leonard "Len" Skowronski is the leader of the provincial Social Credit Party in Alberta, Canada. He was elected at a leadership convention held on November 3, 2007 in Red Deer to replace Lavern Ahlstrom who resigned....

 replaced Lavern Ahlstrom as leader of the party. http://www.reddeerexpress.com/express/edition03/news-011.html

The party fielded eight candidates for the March 3, 2008 Alberta general election. The party received 0.22% of the total or 2,051 votes, a decline of 1.0% from the previous election — the party’s lowest ever election result. The best individual riding result, and the only result over 3.0%, was for Wilf Tricker in Rocky Mountain House, who received 6.4% of the vote, finishing fifth in a field of seven candidates, just 0.62% behind the Green candidate and well ahead of the NDP and Separation Party candidates.

Election results

Year Candidates/Ridings Seats Won Popular Vote % Result
1935
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

63/63 56 163,700 54.25% Majority Government
1940
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

56/57 36 132,507 42.90%
1944
Alberta general election, 1944
The Alberta general election of 1944 was the tenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. The Assembly was dissolved on July 8, 1944 and the vote for was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

57/57 51 146,367 51.88%
1948
Alberta general election, 1948
The Alberta general election of 1948 was the eleventh general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 17, 1948 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

57/57 51 164,003 55.63%
1952
Alberta general election, 1952
The Alberta general election of 1952 was the twelfth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 5, 1952 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.Ernest C...

61/61 52 167,789 56.24%
1955
Alberta general election, 1955
The Alberta general election of 1955 was the thirteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 29, 1955 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

61/61 37 175,553 46.42%
1959
Alberta general election, 1959
The Alberta general election of 1959 was the fourteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 18, 1959 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.Ernest C...

64/65 61 230,283 55.69%
1963
Alberta general election, 1963
The Alberta general election of 1963 was the fifteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 17, 1963 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C...

63/63 60 221,107 54.81%
1967
Alberta general election, 1967
The Alberta general election of 1967 was the sixteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 23, 1967 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

65/65 55 222,270 44.60%
1971
Alberta general election, 1971
The Alberta general election of 1971 was the seventeenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 30, 1971 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

75/75 25 262,953 41.10% Official Opposition
1975
Alberta general election, 1975
The Alberta general election of 1975 was the eighteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 25, 1975 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

70/75 4 107,211 18.17%
1979
Alberta general election, 1979
The Alberta general election of 1979 was the nineteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 14, 1979 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

79/79 4 141,284 19.87%
1982
Alberta general election, 1982
The Alberta general election of 1982 was the twentieth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 2, 1982 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

23/79 0 7,843 0.83% 6th Place Standing
Did not contest the 1986 general election
Alberta general election, 1986
The Alberta general election of 1986 was the twenty-first general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 8, 1986 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

 see Representative Party
Representative Party of Alberta
The Representative Party of Alberta was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada formed by Raymond Speaker in 1984. The party was right of center, conservative in ideology and considered a modern version of Social Credit without the monetary reforms....

1989
Alberta general election, 1989
The Alberta general election of 1989 was the twenty-second general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 20, 1989 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

6/83 0 3,939 0.47% 4th Place Standing
1993
Alberta general election, 1993
The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...

39/83 0 23,885 2.41%
1997
Alberta general election, 1997
The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

70/83 0 64,667 6.84%
2001
Alberta general election, 2001
The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

12/83 0 5,361 0.53% 6th Place Standing
2004
Alberta general election, 2004
The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

42/83 0 10,874 1.22%
2008 8/83 0 2,051 0.22%

Party leaders

  • William Aberhart
    William Aberhart
    William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...

     1935-1943
  • Ernest Manning
    Ernest Manning
    Ernest Charles Manning, , a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any premier in the province's history, and was the second longest serving provincial premier in Canadian history...

     1943-1968
  • Harry E. Strom
    Harry Strom
    Harry Edwin Strom was the ninth Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 1968 to 1971. His two and a half years as Premier were the last of the thirty-six year Social Credit dynasty, as his defeat by Peter Lougheed saw its replacement by a new era Progressive Conservative government...

     1968-1972
  • Werner Schmidt
    Werner Schmidt
    Werner Schmidt is a former Canadian politician. A teacher and school principal.-Political career:Schmidt was vice-president of Lethbridge Community College when he was chosen to succeed Harry Strom as leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party following the defeat of Strom's government in 1971...

     1973-1975
  • Robert Curtis Clark
    Robert Curtis Clark
    Robert "Bob" Curtis Clark is a former teacher, civil servant and provincial level politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1960 to 1981. During his career he served as Leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party and Leader of the Official Opposition...

     1975-1980
  • Raymond Speaker
    Raymond Speaker
    Raymond Albert "Ray" Speaker, PC, OC is a farmer and Canadian politician.Speaker was born and raised in Enchant, Alberta where he farms to this day...

     1980-1982
  • Martin Hattersley
    Martin Hattersley
    J. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...

     (Interim Leader) 1985-1988
  • Harvey Yuill (Interim Leader) 1988-1990
  • Robert Alford
    Robert Alford
    Robert Alford in Edson, Alberta, Canada, and is a politician. He married in 1975 and raised two daughters.-Education:...

     1990-1992
  • Randy Thorsteinson
    Randy Thorsteinson
    Randy Thorsteinson is a politician and businessman in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.-Early years:Thorsteinson was born in Gimli, Manitoba spending his youth living in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Edmonton, Alberta; Calgary, Alberta and Grande Prairie, Alberta.-Education:He graduated from St. Paul's High School...

     1993-1999
  • James Albers
    James Albers
    -Political career:Albers ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1989 Alberta general election. He ran in the electoral district of Edmonton Avonmore but was defeated finishing second out of three candidates to New Democrat Marie Laing. He finished about 300 votes ahead of future Liberal MLA...

     1999-2001
  • Lavern Ahlstrom
    Lavern Ahlstrom
    Lavern Ahlstrom is a retired provincial level politician and former leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party.-Political career:Ahlstrom first became involved with Social Credit in the 1970s. He has been a perennial candidate for the party with some moderately successful showings during his career...

     2001-2007
  • Len Skowronski
    Len Skowronski
    Leonard "Len" Skowronski is the leader of the provincial Social Credit Party in Alberta, Canada. He was elected at a leadership convention held on November 3, 2007 in Red Deer to replace Lavern Ahlstrom who resigned....

     2007-

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK