Alberta general election, 1944

Alberta general election, 1944

August 8, 1944 (1944-08-08)

60 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 31 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Ernest Manning James H. Walker Party Social Credit Independent Movement Leader since May 31, 1943 1944 Leader's seat Edmonton ran in Warner Last election 36 seats, 42.9% 19 seats, 42.5% Seats before 35 15 Seats won 51 3 Seat change 16 12 Popular vote 146,367 47,239 Percentage 50.5% 16.3% Swing 7.6% 26.2%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Elmer E. Roper William J. Williams Party Co-operative Commonwealth V&AF Leader since 1942 1944 Leader's seat Edmonton Edmonton Last election 0 seats, 11.1% pre-creation Seats before 1 0 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 70,307 3,532 Percentage 24.2% 1.2% Swing 13.1% —

Premier before election Ernest Manning Social Credit Premier-designate Ernest Manning Social Credit

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 was held on August 8, 1944, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Overview

The election was the first contested by leader Ernest C. Manning. He became leader after the death of Social Credit Party founder and premier William Aberhart in 1943. Manning steered the party down a more moderate path, largely dispensing with the party's social credit policies of monetary reform that it had been unable to implement.

Manning led Social Credit to a third term in government with a resounding victory in the 1944 election, winning over 50% of the popular vote on the first count of ballots. The Conservative party and former United Farmers continued their strategy of running joint candidates as independents. They were not supported by the Liberals who left the coalition and lost a significant share of the popular vote.

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation entered the election with only one seat in the legislature belonging to party leader Elmer Roper who had won a 1942 by-election. Despite winning almost a quarter of the popular vote the party won only two seats in the general election.

Servicemen and veterans from World War II voted in the first phase of the election on August 4, 1944. There was also a second vote held to elect three Canadian Armed Forces representatives from amongst the Albertans who were in active service overseas, or those who missed the first vote.

Results

Notes:

¹ Compared to the Communist Party results from the previous election.

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

The campaign

The 1944 election, was the first general election contested by Premier Ernest Manning. Manning had taken over the Social Credit Party from William Aberhart who died unexpectedly a year earlier. Social Credit faced opposition from the Independents led by James Walker who had also just been elected leader and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation who had just managed to win a seat in a by-election in Edmonton and win a majority in the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Like Social Credit and the Independents they were also contesting their first general election with new leader Elmer Roper.

The stage for the general election was set when Social Credit won a critical by-election in Red Deer in December 1943. The by-election win gave momentum to Social Credit as they picked it up from the Independents. After the election they decided to speed up their plans and hold the election in the summer time.^[1]

Two major changes occurred this election with the way that votes were to be counted and who could vote. Ballots in single member electoral districts were now allowed to be marked with an "X" to indicate a first choice preference. Prior to this election high numbers of ballots had been declared as spoiled because they were not marked with a "1". Preferences beyond the first choice still had to be marked with a number indicating that preference.^[2] The 1944 election also marked the first time that Japanese Canadians were eligible to vote in a provincial election. There were two thousand Japanese who had previously been evacuated from British Columbia to Alberta under war time provisions who were qualified to vote under the eligibility rules.^[3]

After the writ was dropped the single biggest issue of the campaign turned out to be a referendum on the future of the Cooperative Commonwealth. The Independents and Social Credit were each asking their supporters to vote "1" and "2" for their respective parties to ensure the Commonwealth is defeated.^[4]

Social Credit

Social Credit had been re-elected to with a thin majority government in 1940 after failing to implement its monetary theory policy that had allowed it to sweep to power in the 1935 election. The party was also rebounding in popularity since Ernest Manning became Premier in 1943 after the death of William Aberhart. Manning steered the party away from its previous policies that included Social Credit monetary theory and media control.

The centre piece of Social Credit's policy in this election was a plan on refunding Alberta's large debt that had been built up under the Liberal and United Farmer administrations.

Independents

The Independents led into the election by James Walker had been organized as a coalition of Conservatives, Liberals and United Farmers who grouped together to defeat the Social Credit government in 1937. The coalition which was organized under the parent group, the Independent Citizen's Association. Despite being an organized party all candidates ran and those who were elected did so as Independents. The coalition started falling apart when the Alberta Liberal Party left just before the 4th Legislative Session opened in February 1944.^[5]

Walker was elected leader of the Independent Citizens Association at a convention held in Calgary on January 23, 1944. He defeated David Elton in a two way contest.^[6] There was considerable interest in the convention as over 300 delegates from across Alberta showed up to vote. Walker was elected on the first ballot winning a decisive victory. This was the first time since the Association had been created that a permanent leader was selected.^[7]

Cooperative Commonwealth

The Cooperative Commonwealth federation had enjoyed tremendous growth over the past couple of years. In 1942 the provincial branch reorganized at a convention in Edmonton and merged the provincial branch of the Canadian Labor Party into the Cooperative Commonwealth. Prior to that date the two parties had been an affiliated but operated separately.^[8] After the merger the party won a by-election to elect their leader to the Assembly in Edmonton on September 22, 1942.^[9] Shortly before the writs were dropped in this election the Saskatchewan C.C.F had just swept the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Manning had called the general election to defuse a possible surge in support for the CCF.^[5]

The Cooperative Commonwealth provincially had struck a deal with the Labor Progressive to run fusion candidates some electoral districts. The first time this agreement was put to work was in the December 1943 Red Deer by-election where James MacPherson Labor Progressive leader came out and endorsed C.C.F. candidate E.J. Johns. This was the first provincial election to date where the C.C.F. had managed to field a full slate of candidates. They were the only other party in 1944 to do so other than Social Credit.

Labor Progressive

The Labor Progressive party led by James MacPherson had aimed to run candidates in the major cities and in mining communities.^[5] The party had contested elections previously under the Communist banner, but had changed names to be in line with the federal party. In electoral districts where Labor Progressive candidates did not run, the party ran fusion candidates with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.^[10] A proposal by the Labor Progressive party to run fusion candidates at the federal level with the Cooperative Commonwealth and rejected by the national council.

Farmer-Labor

Victor Johanson Farmer-Labor Leader

The Farmer-Labor election committee was a minor political party created by Victor Johanson. He was a farmer residing near the small town of Bentley, Alberta. Johanson was originally selected as a fusion candidate for the Labor Progressive and Cooperative Commonwealth to contest the Rocky Mountain House electoral district. Shortly before the general election was called the Rocky Mountain House Cooperative Commonwealth electoral district association broke away and voted not to support Johanson and nominate their own candidate instead. Johanson decided to create his own Farmer-Labor banner that he and his supporters operated under.^[11]

Johanson's Farmer-Labor banner was the least successful of the four single candidate banners that operated in the general election. Johanson would finish last in his district and the provincial standings winning just 0.13% of the total popular vote in the province. After the election Johanson did not return to contest another provincial election and effectively ending the party.

The Farmer-Labor 1944 general election platform consisted of seven policy planks. These planks covered primarily local issues to appeal to coal miners working and living at Nordegg, Alberta. Crop insurance and raised commodity prices was also promised to appeal to area farmers. Policy planks were also added to help veterans returning from the war. Improvements for local transportation infrastructure issues rounded out the rest of the Farmer-Labor platform.^[12]

Farmer-Labor Platform

• Adequate prices for all farm produce.
• Better system for providing for crop losses and improvement in the Prairie Farmers' Assistance Act.
• More liberal grants for roads in rural areas, based on funds collected from car and truck licenses and taxes collected from gasoline sales in each district.
• A hard-surfaced road to the company town of Nordegg. Labor Legislation and a Labor Code of Rights to be administered by the Minister of Labor.
• Old age pensions at a younger age, regardless of property owned. A more liberal monthly pay so that the pensioners can enjoy a better life then at present.
• Rehabilitation of the Armed Forces in Peacetime Production and a higher standard of living than in the past.
• Better opportunities for the youth in the post-war years.

Election night

On election night Manning's Social Credit party won a landslide majority with many rural districts being decided on first ballot results. The opposition was contained in Calgary and Edmonton as Social Credit swept the rural districts. The Independents failing to run a candidate in every riding were seen by the voters as lacking credibility, most of their voters swung to Social Credit as a strategic vote to prevent the Cooperative Commonwealth from electing members.^[13] The opposition conceded defeat just twenty six minutes after the polls closed.^[14]

Soldiers' vote

The second phase of the general election took place beginning in November 1944 and ending January 1945. Three members of the armed forces commissioned in World War II were elected to represent Alberta service men and women fighting or stationed overseas. In addition those who were in veterans hospitals at the time of the vote and retired service personnel who already returned from duty but missed the August 4, 1944 vote. This election was not run under the Elections Act and was instead run from an executive council order. This meant that the laws regarding eligibility by age and the Single Transferable Vote system did not apply to the soldiers' vote. Saskatchewan was the only other province or state to implement an election for service men in World War II.^[15]

The service men vote had been pushed for by the Cooperative Commonwealth opposition. Elmer Roper harshly criticized the Social Credit government for having no plans to make voting options available for men serving overseas. The Social Credit government responded by announcing that there would be an election of the soldiers' representatives, but it had not decided the date of the vote prior to the first phase of general election being completed.^[16] The soldiers' Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were meant to be non-partisan and sat on the opposition side of the Assembly. The order in council forebode any candidate running in the election from contesting it along party lines. The vote also temporarily increased the number of seats in the Assembly from 57 to 60. One member represented each branch of the service: Army, Navy and Air Force. This was the second at-large soldiers' war time vote held in the province's history, the first being the soldiers' and nurses vote held as the second part of the 1917 Alberta general election.

The writ period began in late November 1944. A total of 32 candidates registered to run in the election. The seat provided for the Army was hotly contested with 22 candidates, the Navy had three candidates and the Air Force had 7 candidates. The polls were open a record length of time as the voting was conducted from January 8, 1945, to January 20, 1945. Polling stations were set up on the front lines and at army bases where Albertans were stationed around the world. Four Chief Returning Officers were appointed to conduct the vote, a record that stands to this day. The vote was conducted under First Past the Post rules with no ballot transfers. The official results from the vote conducted in Alberta were released on January 31, 1945. The votes for the rest of the world were released on January 6, 1945.

An oddity of this vote is that the Government of Alberta did not print an official document detailing the election results or expenses of operating the election for the general public as it did with the rest of the general election that year. This was because the executive council order made by the Social Credit government did not require it. Full printing of the official results did appear in both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Albertan as they were announced by the Chief Electoral Officer at a press conference held in Edmonton on February 5, 1945. The Herald was the only newspaper to break down the results by counting station.^[17]

Turnout for this election was generally low; the election came during the closing months of World War II when Germany was on its heels and starting to collapse. In addition to the heavy fighting there were also large numbers of troops in transit during the voting period. Chief Returning Officer Robert Addison estimated that almost 3,300 Alberta soldiers eligible were unable to vote because of being in transit to various fronts. The returns themselves were counted in four places, voting conducted in Alberta was counted and released in Edmonton first, while voting conducted overseas was counted in London and sent to Edmonton by telegraph. The highest turnout came by Army soldiers fighting in Italy and the lowest turnout was in the Mediterranean with only five service-men voting. No statistics were released on how many service men and woman were eligible to vote in total.

Voters for this election were eligible to cast a ballot if they were residents of Alberta for one full calendar year prior to enlisting in the military. The only other eligibility requirement was that they missed casting a ballot in their home electoral district during the first phase of the election.

The Government of Alberta commissioned four Chief Electoral Officers to help run the election. The election proved to be a logistical challenge as no similar election had ever been conducted on a worldwide scale. Robert Addison was in charge of overseeing the election in Edmonton and coordination operations around the world. James Thompson was Chief Returning Office in charge of overseeing the vote in the Mediterranean and the Franco-Belgian Fighting Fronts. A.P. Van Buren was in charge of Canada, United States and Alaska, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Nassau and Jamaica. L.P. Danis was the Chief Returning Officer for France, Belgium and Holland. The jobs of the Chief Electoral Officers included finding out where Albertans were stationed, setting up polling stations, and overseeing collection of ballots. In some cases polling stations were set up directly in the trenches causing delays to the election as election staff came under hostile fire.^[18]

Not much is known about the election campaigns, as there was very little information published in the press about the election. The results showed there were no clear front runners in all three races. The Navy vote saw Loftus Dudley Ward hold a lead when the first votes for Alberta were released by the Chief Electoral Officer on January 31, 1945. Ward managed to hang on to win despite getting very few overseas votes. In the Air Force vote, Joseph Roy Burton was marginally leading the field after the Alberta votes were released. On the final total Frederick Colbourne won with a surge of overseas votes. James Harper Prowse was the biggest surprise in the Army race as he had only 34 votes before surging to win with 1,050 after the final totals were released.

Results

Key races

Edmonton

The Edmonton electoral district returned five members by single transferable vote on election night. There were twenty candidates in place in the district including four party leaders. Social Credit leader Ernest Manning, who had been appointed Premier in 1943 was easily the most recognizable candidate in the field. Elmer Roper Cooperative Commonwealth leader had won a seat in Edmonton almost two years earlier in a by-election. The other party leaders were James MacPherson Labor Progressive leader and William J. Williams, leader of the Veterans' and Active Force.

Red Deer

The results of the December 1943 by-election in Red Deer had led Social Credit government to speed up plans for the general election. Incumbent Social Credit MLA David Ure was running for his second term in office.

Rocky Mountain House

Farmer-Labor candidate and leader Victor Johanson was nominated at a joint Cooperative Commonwealth Labor Progressive convention on February 17, 1944. Shortly before the election the Cooperative Commonwealth riding association broke off and nominated candidate George Morrison to run under their banner.^[11] Incumbent Social Credit MLA Alfred Hooke had just been appointed by Premier Manning as Provincial Secretary, when he formed his government in 1943. The Independents did not nominate a candidate in this riding. On election night Hooke was easily re-elected winning on the first ballot.^[20]

Warner

The Warner electoral district was hotly contested by Independent leader James Walker and Provincial Treasurer Solon Low. Low had been defeated by Walker in the 1940 general election and won a by-election held in the Vegreville electoral district on June 20, 1940. The field of candidates was rounded out by W.M. Madge who ran under the Single Tax banner and R.B. Eshorn of the Cooperative Commonwealth. On election night, Low won a stunning first ballot victory defeating Walker.

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

References

External links

• Elections Alberta

Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 next
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971
See also: List of Alberta by-elections