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Tom Monto

2021 -- 100th anniversary of UFA election

One hundred years ago, one of Alberta's longest-lived governments was elected. Now little remembered, the UFA, elected in 1921, was the first leftist government in Alberta. It was also the longest-lived of the farmer governments elected to provincial legislatures in the post-WWI era.


The UFO in Ontario ruled for just two years and was not re-elected.


The UFM in Manitoba governed the province for just nine years, under the label "Progressive Party of Manitoba." In 1931, it merged with the Liberal Party. The UFA was re-elected twice, holding power for 14 years.


Even before 1921, the UFA was a powerful force in Alberta politics.


The UFA was formed in 1909 through the merger of two Alberta farmer organizations.

It was a powerful farmers' lobby group.

grassroots

farmer-based

co-operative-minded, anti-capitalist

It pushed Liberal government to support Alberta co-op grain elevators, direct legislation, women's suffrage, prohibition.

But farmers unsatisfied with Liberal government


There was a wave of farmer and labour unrest at end of WWI

United Farmers of Ontario elected in Ontario in 1919,

United Farmers would be elected in Manitoba in 1922.

general strikes in Winnipeg and other cities from Nova Scotia to BC in 1919


Alberta first general provincial election after WWI was not until 1921


Alberta's 1921 election produced great change

The Liberals who had ruled since 1905 lost most of their seats. winning only 15, five of them in Edmonton.

1917 Conservative had won all three Edmonton seats, but in 1921 Liberal refigured Edmonton into a multi-set district and then through Block voting elected Liberals to all five seats.


UFA took most of the rest of the seats, to form majority government. The UFA received 29 percent of the vote and took about 66 percent of the seats. But the system was not balanced.

The UFA ran only one candidate in Edmonton and Calgary and each city voter had more votes than a rural voter.

UFA received 86,000 votes, Liberals overall received 15,000 more than that. But it was not a matter of one man - one vote. Liberals received 23,000 more votes than the UFA in Edmonton. In Edmonton each voter had up to five votes.

Edmonton: Liberal candidates took 28,000 votes; the one UFA candidate took 5,000 votes.

Elsewhere the UFA was very popular. UFA won almost all its seats in 1921 by majority, even though under FPTP being the leading candidate was all that is required to win. under FPTP, you do not need majority to win.

Only in Pincer Creek did UFA candidate win with less than a majority of the votes.


UFA's success was a surprise.

Who would be premier?

its leader, Henry Wise Wood, had not run in the election and had no interest in sitting in the legislature. did not want to be premier. Herbert Greenfield agreed to take on the duty. his wife passed away just after the election and he lost most of his energy.

replaced by UFA MLA, lawyer John Brownlee.

most of the UFA MLAs had no legislative experience. Some had not even set foot in the Legislature prior to election.

first session almost saw end to the government. some UFA backbenchers did not support government legislation and only through support of the Labour MlAs and Liberal MLAs was the bill passed and the government not forced out of office.


UFA government balanced the books and abolished many government extravagances. Each MLA had been given government car under the liberals but the UFA limited that to just cabinet minsters.

the UFA extended educational and health services, especially in rural areas, and supported Alberta wheat pool in 1923

protected struggling farmers from credit companies but perhaps no more than the Liberal government would have done.

published its own newspaper The UFA. This later became the Western Farm Leader.


found common cause with city workers.

named a Labour MLA to its cabinet, forming almost a coalition government

made improvements to the workers' compensation board and more often awarded government contracts to unionized contractors


Irene Parlby who had been elected in Alix was named to the cabinet.

established minimum wage for women, This law brought an increase of 25 percent to some workers' pay.


Nellie McClung one of the Edmonton Liberal MLAs, was supportive of the UFA government.

McClung and Parlby were among the Famous Five women who won the Persons Case in 1929 to allow women to be named to the Senate.


despite calls made by UFA local branches, the UFA government did not start a government-owned bank


1923 replaced Prohibition with government sale of liquor and re-opened the bars.


1924 brought in electoral reform

PR in Edmonton and Calgary, AV everywhere else


This did not alter the UFA's dominance in most of the province.


UFA would be re-elected two more times

1926 UFA won 43 of Alberta's 60 seats with 40 percent of the vote

1930 UFA won 39 of Alberta's 63 seats with 39 percent of the vote

Each time, all but one of these seats were won by the candidate taking more than half the vote in the district. That was required under the Alternative Voting system that the UFA had adopted for elections outside Edmonton and Calgary.


1926 it won all its seats by majority under AV except the one in Edmonton where it won with more than 1/6th of the city vote.


The UFA government secured provincial control of resources and sold off money-losing provincially owned railways.

The UFA government dismantled the Alberta Provincial Police in 1931, replacing it with the RCMP.


in Depression UFA helped launch a national labour party, the CCF.

Depression deepened calls for financial reform but UFA government stayed strong against provincial banks and any "funny money" proposals

Aberhart Social Credit movement then went into politics on its own and was elected in 1935.

1935 UFA won no seats with 11 percent of the vote

The SC government then started its own provincial banks, Alberta Treasury Branches, today's ATB, and issued its own money.


UFA survives today as a farm co-op retail chain.



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