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 (not part of the cabinet) members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from his Social Credit League. The dissidents were unhappy with Aberhart's failure to provide Albertans with monthly dividends through social credit as he had promised before his 1935 election. When the government's 1937 budget made no move to implement the dividends, many MLAs revolted openly and threatened to defeat the government in a confidence vote.
The revolt took place in a period of turmoil for Aberhart and his government: besides the dissident backbenchers, half of the cabinet resigned or was fired over a period of less than a year. Aberhart also faced criticism for planning to attend the coronation of George VI at the province's expense and for stifling a recall attempt against him by the voters of his constituency.
After a stormy debate in which the survival of the government was called into question, a compromise was reached whereby Aberhart's government relinquished considerable power to a committee of backbenchers. This committee, dominated by insurgents, recruited two British social credit experts to come to Alberta and advise on the implementation of social credit. Among the experts' first moves was to require a loyalty pledge from Social Credit MLAs. Almost all signed, thus ending the crisis, though most of the legislation the experts proposed was ultimately disallowed or struck down as unconstitutional.
Background During the Great Depression, Calgary schoolteacher and radio evangelist William Aberhart converted to a British economic theory called social credit. He promoted the theory in Alberta, believing it could end the depression and restore prosperity to the province. When the provincial government resisted its adoption, Aberhart organised social credit candidates for the 1935 provincial election.Barr 71 These candidates won 56 of the province's 63 seats, and Aberhart became Premier of Alberta.Byrne 111
In the runup to the campaign, Aberhart promised to increase Albertans' purchasing power by providing monthly dividends to all citizens in the form of non-negotiable "credit certificates". While he did not commit to any specific dividend amount, he cited $20 and, later, $25 per month as reasonable figures.Elliott 110 Though he noted that these figures were given "only for illustrative purposes", he repeated them so often that, in the assessment of his biographers David Elliott and Iris Miller, "it would have been impossible for any regular listener not to have gained the impression that Aberhart was promising him $25 a month if Social Credit should come to power."Elliott 157
Aberhart was not concerned about fulfilling campaign promises once elected, stating a week after the election that he thought the majority of his voters supported his initiatives for an uncorrupted government. He focused on reforming the provincial political institutions instead of enacting social credit policies.Schultz 1–2 By the end of 1936, Aberhart's government had made no progress towards the promised dividends, leaving many Albertans disillusioned and frustrated. Aberhart's Social Credit MLAs, who had been elected on the promise of dividends, were angry at Aberhart's failure to follow through.Elliott 249 Some felt that Aberhart lacked a real understanding of Douglas's theory and could not implement it. These MLAs wanted Douglas or somebody from his British organization to come to Alberta and fulfil Aberhart's campaign promises.Elliott 251 One such MLA, Samuel Barnes, had been expelled from the Social Credit caucus and from the Social Credit League for voicing these views.Elliott 243
Genesis In December 1936, John Hargrave, the leader of the Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, visited Alberta. While he had been disowned by Douglas, many MLAs frustrated with Aberhart hoped he would help implement social credit policies in the province. Hargrave met with Aberhart and his cabinet, who told him that the Canadian constitution (which made banking a matter of federal, rather than provincial, jurisdiction) was an obstacle to introducing social credit. Hargrave proposed a plan for implementing social credit in Alberta; while he acknowledged that it was unconstitutional, he believed that the federal government would not dare enforce its jurisdiction in the face of broad popular support for the program.Elliott 252 After presenting his plan to a group of Social Credit MLAs, the news media reported that Aberhart intended to implement radical and unconstitutional laws. Aberhart disavowed implementing unconstitutional policies and announced that neither he nor his cabinet supported Hargrave's plan.Elliott 253
Despite this statement, the Social Credit caucus invited Hargrave to explain his plan, which he did to the approval of many caucus members. Attorney-General John Hugill pointed out that the plan was unconstitutional, to which Hargrave replied that he was "not interested in legal arguments." Two weeks later, Hargrave left the province, telling the press that he "found it impossible to co-operate with a government which [he considered] a mere vacillating machine."Elliott 255 In this message, some MLAs found confirmation of their misgivings about Aberhart. A group of them, reported as numbering anywhere from five ("soon joined by eight or ten others")Elliott 256 to 22,Brennan 48Barr 102 or 30Schultz 5 held meetings in Edmonton's Corona Hotel to discuss government policy and strategise their next political actions. Author Brian Brennan identifies their leader as Pembina MLA Harry Knowlton Brown, while the academic T. C. Byrne names Ronald Ansley, Joseph Unwin, and Albert Blue.Byrne 120
Minister of Lands and Mines Charles Cathmer Ross resigned late in 1936, followed by Provincial Treasurer Charles Cockroft on January 29, 1937. Neither minister's resignation was directly related to the dissidents' complaints, but the resignations were the public's first clue of dissent in Social Credit's ranks. Cockroft's resignation was followed by his deputy, J. F. Perceval, and there were rumours that Hugill and Minister of Agriculture and Trade and Industry William Chant would also resign.Barr 101 This left Minister of Health Wallace Warren Cross, Minister of Public Works and Railways and Telephones William Fallow, and Provincial Secretary Ernest Manning as Aberhart's only indisputably loyal ministers, and Manning was ill with tuberculosis and away from the legislature.Brennan 46 On February 19, William Carlos Ives of the Supreme Court of Alberta struck down a key provincial legislation, including an act that reduced the interest paid on the province's bonds by half (though this was only a technical defeat, since the government had been defaulting on its bond payments since the previous April).
On February 25, a new session of the legislature opened with the speech from the throne.Byrne 119 Its commitment to social credit was limited to a vaguely worded promise to pursue "a new economic order when social credit becomes effective."Brennan 49 Three days later, on his weekly radio program, Aberhart acknowledged that he had been unable to implement the monthly dividends during the eighteen-month period he had set as his deadline, and asked Social Credit constituency association presidents to convene meetings of all Social Credit members to decide whether he ought to resign. He suggested that, in light of poor spring road conditions in rural areas, these meetings be delayed until early June, during which time he would remain in office.
Open dissent The media objected to Aberhart's plan to place his government's future in the hands of the 10% of Albertans who were Social Credit members; the Calgary Herald called for an immediate election. To many Social Credit MLAs, Aberhart's greater offense was bypassing them, the people's elected representatives. This was especially irksome in view of social credit's political philosophy, which favoured technocratic rule and held that elected representatives' only legitimate function was channelling the public desire; by appealing directly to Social Credit members, Aberhart appeared to be denying the MLAs this role.MacPherson 170 In the legislature, Conservative leader David Duggan called for Aberhart's resignation; in a move that Brennan reports shocked the assembly, his call was endorsed by Social Credit backbencher Albert Blue.
On March 11 or 12,Elliott 257 Cockroft's replacement as Provincial Treasurer, Solon Low, introduced the government's budget. It included no implementation of social credit, and was attacked by the opposition parties as "the default budget" and by insurgent Social Crediters as a "banker's budget" (a harsh insult given Social Credit's dim view of the banking industry). Ronald Ansley, a Social Credit MLA, attacked it as containing "not one single item that even remotely resembled Social Credit." Blue, again echoing Duggan, threatened on March 16 to vote against the government's interim supply bill, the defeat of which, under the conventions of the Westminster parliamentary system, would force the government's resignation. In response, Aberhart praised Blue's courage in speaking his mind, and called him a worthy Social Crediter.Elliott 258
Surprised by Aberhart's refusal to be involved in open conflict, the insurgents needed time to reassess their strategy. On March 17, Lieutenant-Governor Primrose died, necessitating a five-day adjournment of the legislature while the federal government selected a replacement.Elliott 258–259 When the legislature reconvened on March 22Elliott 259 or 23, the dissidents filibustered against the budget. On March 24, Harry Knowlton Brown moved an adjournment, which was carried over the government's objections by a vote of 27 to 25. Though the insurgents considered this a vote of non-confidence in Aberhart's government, he refused to resign; he acknowledged, however, that he would do so if the budget itself was defeated.Brennan 50
Coronation and recall petition Though the bulk of the revolt took place in and around the legislature over the issue of social credit and government fiscal policy, Aberhart was also under attack on other fronts. He planned to attend the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, set for May 1937 in London. In the same speech in which he threatened to bring down the government on the supply motion, Blue attacked the trip as an extravagance that depression-ridden Alberta could ill afford. Faced with a political insurgency at home, Aberhart reluctantly decided at the end of March to cancel his trip, inaccurately claiming that he had never definitely decided to go.Elliott 261
In their first legislative act in 1935, the Social Credit government implemented the possibility of recall elections for MLAs.Elliott 273 As Aberhart's popularity fell, the residents of his Okotoks-High River riding began a petition for his recall. On April 9 their petition was endorsed by the riding's Social Credit constituency association,Barr 105 and by fall it had gathered the signatures of the required two-thirds of the electorate. In response, the Social Crediters repealed the Recall Act retroactive to its date of origin; Aberhart claimed that oil companies active in his riding had intimidated their workers into signing the petition, and that some of the signatories had moved to the area specifically to sign.Barr 111
Manoeuvring and negotiation