Party History

Summary

Social Credit governed Alberta from 1935 to 1971. During this time: the Social Credit government eliminated Alberta's debt; established the Credit Union Act and Alberta Treasury Branches to provide low-interest loans; kept Alberta debt-free and income tax-free; and encouraged local ownership and control of hospitals, schools and utilities.

By Chick Hurst

In order to fully understand Alberta Social Credit we must understand the history of Alberta. We must also understand the mind set of the people, past and present. This understanding must include the knowledge of the imperial power of the eastern Canadian government and the international business establishment that controlled the lives of the residents of early Alberta and, for the most part, still do.

Prior to the sale of Ruperts Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada in 1869, the people were indentured servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. Upon the sale they became possessions of Canada. They were not, and were not intended to be, free and equal people of Canada. They were not included in the discussions nor the subsequent governing body and this new territory, which became the North West Territories, was intended to be a colony only of Canada.

Western Canada was a tinderbox of unrest in the period from 1869 to 1905. The Territorial Council was appointed by Ottawa to impose the dictates of the Canadian government on the residents. The United States wanted Western Canada and the immigrant settlers fought with Louis Real and Gabriel Dumont in the rebellion of the Red River and the North West.

At the same time as the Province of Alberta was established in 1905, the farmers, who made up about 80% of the population, created the two farmer organizations, the Society of Equity and the Alberta Farmers Association, which became the United Farmers of Alberta in 1909 (UFA). The Co-operatives fought to combat the abuse of farmers at the hands of the corporate establishment, and to reduce speculation, waste and market manipulation, with the help of leaders like Henry Wise Wood. Wise Wood taught the farmers how the Co-operative Movement had been established to prevent people from being exploited by the industrialists and business community and to develop enterprises that would benefit the owner/members. These Alberta co-ops worked to improve conditions and to serve the people.

In 1913 the UFA and its members were studying such researchers, philosophers and theoreticians as Henry George, Alexander Del Mar, Sir Arthur Kitson, John Ruskin and later the very qualified work of Professor Frederick Soddy and C.H. Douglas.

After working very hard to influence the Liberal government of 1905 to 1921, under great and constant pressure from the membership, Henry Wise Wood and the UFA gave in to the pressure of the members wishing the UFA to become political. The UFA ran candidates in the election of 1921 and swept the province. In 1923, the UFA government struck a committee, headed by George Bevington, then a member of the Board of the UFA farmers co-operative, to study Monetary Reform. Bevington and his committee brought C.H. Douglas to speak to the Alberta Legislature and the House of Commons. Then in 1927, Douglas was contracted by the UFA government to act as a financial consultant to the government.

Bevington was constantly in search for someone with a public profile to lead in educating the public on the problems of the relationship with the federal government, the eastern and business establishment, the monetary system and the potential of monetary reform. In 1932 Bevington found just such a vulnerable, high profile candidate.

William Aberhart had been preaching the gospel on the radio since 1925. He was dedicated to the people of Alberta, he knew the devastation the depression was inflicting and he knew they needed more than nourishment for the soul. Aberhart was also a High School Principal at Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. When Aberhart found that one of his star pupils and valedictorian had committed suicide because he could not find a job, he was heart struck. Bevington had a friend, another Principal, then in Edmonton to mark Provincial exams, give Aberhart a book on Social Credit. After reading it twice, Aberhart said, "I think there are answers here."

Aberhart started talking about Social Credit on the radio in November of 1932. The request for information came so quickly that the Social Credit League of Alberta was established. Educators and discussion groups were set up all across Alberta. Aberhart still had no intention of going into politics and was dedicated to the UFA government. In 1934 Aberhart and Douglas made another presentation to the UFA government Committee on Agriculture. Based on the Legislation passed in the House of Commons in England in 1931, the Statutes of Westminster, it was thought that Alberta and the other provinces were considered "sovereign entities" and therefore had the right to create and control their own credit and possibly their own currency.

The Province of Alberta had existed in a state of bankruptcy for quite some time, R.G. Reid had replaced Premier Brownlee in 1934 because of Brownlee's indiscretions and in 1935 the UFA was facing yet another election. Because the UFA could not gauge the mood of the public, in a radical and unprecedented move, they decided to "test the waters" of the public reaction to "monetary reform" and run Social Credit candidates. The UFA supplied the literature and most Social Credit Candidates campaigned from the UFA locals or campaign offices.

To kick off the campaign Aberhart declared war on the existing "Poverty in the midst of plenty." Aberhart did not pull any punches and told the people straight, "if you have not suffered enough, it is your god given right to suffer some more."

In keeping with the Douglas Social Credit, Aberhart promised a dividend to all adult citizens of $25.00 each month. (The very next day after the election people lined up at city hall in Calgary to collect their dividends. This was not feasible so soon after the election of course because the Province was bankrupt and the new government had to have time to get established. The dividend cheques did not come until much later and because the Heritage fund had not been properly established it did not last long.)

The result was a sweep for the Social Credit candidates. Aberhart now had a dilemma. He was under great pressure to stand for office. The MLAs wanted him to be Premier but he did not want to be in politics. In 1936 Aberhart succumbed to the pressure and when the MLA from Okotoks stepped aside, Aberhart stood for the office and was uncontested and therefore acclaimed.

The war was on with Ottawa for the "Provincial Rights" guaranteed to each Province under the British North America Act, and the banking and corporate community. The people of Alberta were destitute and poverty stricken and Ottawa was not forthcoming with any assistance. Alberta could not get money to get rolling again and the visits to the New York Bankers had insignificant results. Of the first pieces of legislation upon the return was to "stop borrowing money." The new government also floated a debt bond to pay down the debt. Thirteen pieces of Legislation that were passed by Alberta were declared "ultra vires" (illegal) by either the House of Commons or by the Supreme Court of Canada. All thirteen bills were directed at helping the poor by putting "purchasing power into the hands of the people," preventing the foreclosures of the homes, farms and small businesses, and developing a Constitution for the People of Albert, which included property rights protection.

The Liberal Government in Ottawa built a very strong campaign against the province of Alberta because it had elected populist governments, first the UFA and then Social Credit, and destroyed the party system in the province. This campaign was extremely evident in Ottawa's refusal to extend Alberta's bond payment in 1936 causing Alberta to fail to make its payment. Alberta was the only province that this was allowed to happen.

The banks had closed branches in over 137 communities across Alberta, leaving the people without banking facilities and the Provincial legislation putting a moratorium on foreclosures was declared illegal. In 1937 the government introduced the Prosperity Certificates which were declared illegal because the issue of currency was federal jurisdiction. The Prosperity Certificates were all honoured but they were dubbed "funny money" by the establishment and the news media.

After two and a half years of fighting Ottawa, the Alberta Legislature passed the Credit Union Act in March of 1938. Credit Unions, however, required people and real money to get established. Using the concept of the Social Credit, credit houses, based on a system proposed by Alma Hancock, the Alberta Treasury Branches was established in September of 1938 and working with the Credit Union and Co-operative system to keep capital circulating in Alberta communities. Between March of 1938 and Aberhart's death in 1943 he had seen 151 Credit Unions established.

By 1949 the Province of Alberta had paid off all debt and remained debt free for the next twenty-two years. Throughout those years the Social Credit government established what later became the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund. The intention of the fund was to see the people of Alberta receive a dividend each year based on the revenue from the natural resources of the Province. This precept was also the purpose for The Alaska Fund in the state of Alaska that was established with the help of Alberta, Social Credit Treasurer, Ted Hinman. The Alaska Fund still pays yearly dividends to all Alaska adult residents and holds the honours for having the lowest consumer debt in the union and is a debt free state.

The Alberta Social Credit Party, never was, and could not be, C. H. Douglas Social Credit. Alberta Social Credit or Provincial Social Credit was more of a hybrid or custom built party that attempted to bring the best aspects of all philosophies to the administration of Alberta's society. The Alberta Treasury Branches and The Alberta Heritage Trust Fund are really the only two aspects of Douglas's Social Credit Proposals that could be used because of the difference between federal and provincial jurisdiction.

(It does seem rather strange that the Province of Alberta operated debt free for twenty-two years and when the Tories took over in 1971 there was eight billion dollars in the bank. Twenty-five years later the Province had roughly twelve and a half billion dollars in the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund, a thirty eight billion dollar debt and they had absolutely squandered hundreds of billions of dollars. Through that time the people had to contend with high inflation and high interest rates and then massive job losses, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and destroyed families. Then as a reward for the suffering the Tories introduced the sadistic, slash and burn philosophy of pay down the debt and balancing the budget. In return for this we, the people are supposed to consider this present government "great" and somehow the Premier is a hero, and they called Social Credit, "funny money.")

It is important to point out that all of the political and economic theories that have been created in opposition to the established status quo originated in the oppression, privation and desperation of the authoritarian monarchies, and despotic regimes of the romantic period of the nineteenth century. The books of Charles Dickens, such as Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, give excellent descriptions of the conditions of the time period. Although these concepts did originate at that time, they were popularized through and after that period. Social Credit, Socialism, Communism, and the Co-operative movements understood the real reasons for the social and economic problems, the burdensome, dictatorial and enslaving power and policies of the banking and business establishments, and the injustice that faced the people, but they differed in their solutions.

Socialism and Communism pushed for the centralized authoritarianism and the degrading and dehumanizing concept of a "hand out" and the dictatorial control by the new governmental bodies, explaining that people were not intelligent enough to be free to decide anything on their own.

Social Credit and the Co-operative movement believed in the rights, freedoms and capabilities of the people, democracy, autonomy, local ownership and control, and open and voluntary participation. These philosophies also believed in and propagated the values of self-help, self-responsibility, equality, and the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. Both Social Credit and the Co-operative movement believed in the power of people working together and the empowering concept of a "hand up."

The Social Credit Party established the four basic principles of the constitution to govern itself and to give it direction in developing its policies and legislation.

These principles combined with the values, principles and philosophies of the Co-operative movement dictated legislation and a philosophy of "community building." The Social Credit government of Alberta passed legislation that encouraged the development of towns and guaranteed the people that when the town population was adequate the financing would be available to build the necessary schools. The Social Credit philosophy was also dedicated to developing the very best education and education system the world had to offer and it was considered of the best in the world.

The Social Credit government developed a program that was promoted by the Alberta Treasury Branch to develop Alberta made products with a campaign "What Alberta makes, makes Alberta." A system of credits of 3% to 5% dividends or discounts were paid by the ATB to anyone who bought an Alberta made product or service. Even the MLAs had part of their salaries paid in credits and if they did not buy Alberta made they could not make use of that portion of their pay.

From the very beginning in 1935 Social Credit was committed to developing a public health care system, some of which was introduced in 1935.

Above all Social Credit was committed to the fight against "Poverty in the midst of Plenty." Art Dixon, long time Social Credit MLA and Speaker of the House, always said "Social Credit has always fought for the little guy and stood up to Ottawa for Provincial Rights. Social Credit was the heart and soul of the farmer, the small business people, the working people, the ordinary Joe, and the community, and was very concerned about the well being of the seniors who built Alberta and the young people who will continue to build Alberta."

William Aberhart asked, "Should a worm starve to death because the apple is too big?"

Ernest Manning resigned from politics in 1968 and wrote a book called "Political Realignment" in which he strongly indicated that he felt the Progressive Conservative Party should carry on the work that Social Credit started. The election of 1971 found an old, tired and dejected Social Credit Party with no strong contingent of young people eager to continue the fight to stand up to Ottawa, eradicate poverty and stand up for the "ordinary Joe." Social Credit lost the election to Conservatives who claimed that Social Credit had lied about how much money was in the bank and that in fact there was an enormous debt. One year later after a thorough and independent audit was completed, it was discovered in fact that Social Credit had not lied, but the deed was done.

Social Credit stayed as Official Opposition until 1982 and then disappeared from the face of Alberta politics until 1993. In 1986 a number of smaller parties, including Social Credit, joined together to form the Alberta Political Alliance. Rekindled and under new leadership Social Credit made a showing in 1993 and in 1997 took better than 7% of the popular vote.

Now in 2002 The Alberta Social Credit Party is growing in members and gaining support because of the political vacuum in the province of Alberta. The people have proven unable to elect neither a Liberal nor NDP government and neither have these parties elected a strong opposition.

Nowadays, it is difficult to appreciate what the early residents of Alberta had to face but we do know that people starved while there were bumper crops. There was just not enough money to buy the food and the producers could not get enough money to pay for the cost of production. Today, we are living in the rich heartland of one of the greatest land masses in all of creation, and we have homeless people by the thousands, bankruptcies by the hundreds, and working people depending on the Food Bank industry just to survive.

As caring and concerned people, you and I have a responsibility to do what we can to make a difference. Albert Einstein said, "The significant problems we face can not be solved by the level of thinking which created them." We must try another way.

The choice is ours. We, you and I, have the opportunity to help our fellow man. William Aberhart's most famous slogan was; "If you have not suffered enough, it is your God given right to suffer some more."

If our community suffers from any social, economic or political problem, the problem belongs to you and me.

"There is no limit to what accumulated power can lift. What ever is done by the knowledge of many succeeds." (Lao Tzu)

Social Credit has been in Alberta for a very long time and it has given the People of Alberta and Alberta's history a great and positive legacy. We, the people of Alberta and we, the members of the Alberta Social Credit Party owe it to that legacy to protect that legacy by either folding the tent or making Social Credit what it was intended to be and will be.

"The penalty a good person pays for non-involvement is to be ruled by bad people." (Plato)

Margaret Mead wrote, "Do not underestimate the power of a small group of dedicated and committed people to change the world, in fact, it is the only thing that has."

We in Social Credit are truly committed to the people of Alberta and to the excellent values of Social Credit, and to the commitment, to family and community building that Social Credit has worked for. The only thing that prevents our success is us.

" When a society is orderly, a fool alone can not disturb it; when society is chaotic, a sage alone can not bring order."(Lao Tzu)