Social Credit Board
Encyclopedia
The Social Credit Board was a committee in Alberta
, Canada from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit
backbencher
s in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
, it was created in the aftermath of the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
. Its mandate was to oversee the implementation of social credit
in Alberta. To this end, it secured the services of L. Dennis Byrne and George Powell, two lieutenants of social credit's British founder, C. H. Douglas
.
After requiring all Social Credit Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to sign loyalty oaths to it, the Social Credit Board proceeded to recommend radical legislation regulating banking, taxing banks, and restricting freedom of the press and access to courts. Most of this legislation was either disallowed by the federal government
or ruled ultra vires
(beyond the powers of) the province by the Supreme Court of Canada
; these defeats and the advent of World War II
made the Social Credit Board increasingly irrelevant. In its later years it became highly anti-Semitic, and it was dissolved by the government of Ernest Manning
in 1948.
's Social Credit League
won the 1935 Alberta general election
on a platform of ending the Great Depression
by implementing social credit, a new economic theory that posited that poverty could be ended by increasing citizens' purchasing power. By 1937, many Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
were becoming frustrated with the government's lack of progress. This frustration became the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. As a condition of regaining the rebels' support, Aberhart agreed to create the Social Credit Board, to be composed of five Social Credit MLAs and responsible for the implementation of social credit in Alberta. The chair of the Social Credit Board was Glenville MacLachlan; he and three other members had been insurgents during the revolt, while the fifth member, Floyd Baker, had remained loyal to Aberhart.
The Social Credit Board was tasked with the appointment of a Social Credit commission, composed of experts on social credit, to advise on the implementation of social credit in Alberta. Most Social Crediters hoped that C. H. Douglas, the British founder of the social credit movement, would agree to head this commission. Douglas refused MacLachlan's entreaties to do so, but sent two representatives, George Frederick Powell and L. Dennis Byrne, in his stead. One of Powell's first acts was to demand that all Social Credit MLAs sign an oath of loyalty to the Social Credit Board, which almost all did.
to these bills, asked Attorney-General John Hugill
if he considered them to be valid under the Canadian constitution. Hugill responded in the negative and, after being asked to do so by Aberhart, resigned. Aberhart appointed himself Attorney-General and told Bowen that it was his opinion that the laws were constitutional. Bowen provided royal assent, but all three acts were subsequently disallowed by the federal government.
In 1937's Bankers' Toadies incident
, Powell (along with Social Credit whip
Joe Unwin) was convicted of criminal libel
, sentenced to six months hard labour, and deported to the United Kingdom. The charges stemmed from a pamphlet listing nine men as "bankers' toadies" and advocating their "extermination".
The Social Credit Board's second round of bills included a rewritten version of the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act. The previous version had been disallowed partly on the basis that, under the British North America Act, 1867, banking was a responsibility of the federal government, and the government of Alberta therefore lacked the authority to regulate it. In an attempt to address this concern, the new version substituted the words "credit institutions" for "banks". The Social Credit Board's proposals also included the Bank Taxation Act, which imposed extremely high taxes on banks operating in Alberta, and the Accurate News and Information Act
, which severely restricted freedom of the press
. All of these bills were passed by the legislature. Bowen, not wishing to have more laws to which he had assented disallowed, reserved assent from all three until the Supreme Court of Canada
could comment on their constitutional validity. It did so in 1938's Reference re Alberta Statutes
, which found all three to be unconstitutional. The Social Credit Board's major initiatives had failed.
further reduced the Social Credit Board's importance, as implementation of social credit took a backseat to the war effort. Instead of proposing new policy, the board devoted itself to propaganda
; its members spoke across the province about social credit, and it distributed vast numbers of pamphlets and leaflets (272,900 in 1939). When Aberhart died in 1943, he was replaced by Ernest Manning
, who was by this time considerably less open to radical social credit proposals than Aberhart had been. He soon transferred many of the Social Credit Board's responsibilities to the new department of Economic Affairs, of which L. D. Byrne was the deputy minister.
Byrne, the remaining Douglas lieutenant after Powell's deportation, shared both Douglas's economic theories and his antisemitism. Under his influence, the Social Credit Board began to propagate anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, including those espoused by the Russian forgery
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
. Its 1943 report alleged "a plot, world-wide in scope, deliberately engineered by a small number of ruthless international financiers", most of whom were Jewish. Its 1947 report repeated these allegations, and also proposed a new voting system in which voters would state their choices publicly, and be taxed only for those government programs they supported during the election. Political parties were to be abolished in favour of "leagues of electors", and all farmland was to be appropriated by the government. Manning, benignly neglectful of the Social Credit Board to this point, took this as "a direct challenge to his leadership, a shot across the bow". He quickly introduced a resolution in the legislature to "condemn, repudiate, and completely dissociate" the legislature from "any statements or publications which are incompatible with the established British ideals of democratic freedom, or which endorse, excuse, or incite anti-Semitism or racial or religious intolerance in any form". In November 1947 he announced that the Social Credit Board would cease to exist effective March 1948, and in February 1948 he asked for and received Byrne's resignation as deputy minister of Economic Affairs.
Despite its beginnings as a vehicle of intended economic revolution, the board achieved nothing of lasting importance. Once its early efforts were foiled by the federal government and the courts, it ceased to have much influence. By 1948, the dire conditions that had sparked Albertans' enthusiasm for radical economic reform had vanished, and with it their interest in social credit. While the Social Crediters remained in government until 1971, the revolutionary spirit of the 1930s was all but forgotten: as Athabasca University
historian Alvin Finkel notes, post-war Social Credit "had been transformed from a mass, eclectic movement for social reform led by monetary reformers to a relatively small government party that enjoyed considerable support from various sectors of the Alberta population for its judicious combination of right-wing rhetoric and social service and road-building programs." The Social Credit Board, with its reform mandate and its direct pipeline to Douglas, was no longer needed.
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 from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
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...
, it was created in the aftermath of 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...
. Its mandate was to oversee the implementation of 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"...
in Alberta. To this end, it secured the services of L. Dennis Byrne and George Powell, two lieutenants of social credit's British founder, C. H. Douglas
C. H. Douglas
Major C. H. Douglas MIMechE, MIEE, , was a British engineer and pioneer of the Social Credit economic reform movement.-Education and engineering career:...
.
After requiring all Social Credit Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to sign loyalty oaths to it, the Social Credit Board proceeded to recommend radical legislation regulating banking, taxing banks, and restricting freedom of the press and access to courts. Most of this legislation was either disallowed by the federal government
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
or ruled ultra vires
Ultra vires
Ultra vires is a Latin phrase meaning literally "beyond the powers", although its standard legal translation and substitute is "beyond power". If an act requires legal authority and it is done with such authority, it is...
(beyond the powers of) the province by 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...
; these defeats and the advent of 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...
made the Social Credit Board increasingly irrelevant. In its later years it became highly anti-Semitic, and it was dissolved by the government of 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...
in 1948.
Beginnings
William AberhartWilliam 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...
's Social Credit League
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
won the 1935 Alberta general 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....
on a platform of ending 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...
by implementing social credit, a new economic theory that posited that poverty could be ended by increasing citizens' purchasing power. By 1937, many Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
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...
were becoming frustrated with the government's lack of progress. This frustration became the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. As a condition of regaining the rebels' support, Aberhart agreed to create the Social Credit Board, to be composed of five Social Credit MLAs and responsible for the implementation of social credit in Alberta. The chair of the Social Credit Board was Glenville MacLachlan; he and three other members had been insurgents during the revolt, while the fifth member, Floyd Baker, had remained loyal to Aberhart.
The Social Credit Board was tasked with the appointment of a Social Credit commission, composed of experts on social credit, to advise on the implementation of social credit in Alberta. Most Social Crediters hoped that C. H. Douglas, the British founder of the social credit movement, would agree to head this commission. Douglas refused MacLachlan's entreaties to do so, but sent two representatives, George Frederick Powell and L. Dennis Byrne, in his stead. One of Powell's first acts was to demand that all Social Credit MLAs sign an oath of loyalty to the Social Credit Board, which almost all did.
Proposals, disallowance, and judicial defeat (1937–1938)
The first round of legislation recommended by the commission and subsequently passed by the legislature included the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, which required every bank and all their employees to be licensed by the provincial government and to be overseen by a Social Credit Board-appointed directorate, the Bank Employees Civil Rights Act, which prohibited unlicensed banks and their employees from initiating legal proceedings, and amendments to the Judicature Act prohibiting court actions alleging that any of Alberta's legislation was unconstitutional. Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta John Campbell Bowen, asked to give royal assentRoyal 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 these bills, asked Attorney-General John Hugill
John Hugill
John William Hugill was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of the province of Alberta from 1935 until 1937. Born in England, he came to Canada and studied law before setting up a practice in Calgary. He became a prominent resident of that city, and served two years...
if he considered them to be valid under the Canadian constitution. Hugill responded in the negative and, after being asked to do so by Aberhart, resigned. Aberhart appointed himself Attorney-General and told Bowen that it was his opinion that the laws were constitutional. Bowen provided royal assent, but all three acts were subsequently disallowed by the federal government.
In 1937's Bankers' Toadies incident
Bankers' Toadies incident
The Bankers' Toadies incident took place in 1937 in Alberta, Canada when a pamphlet was discovered advocating the "extermination" of nine men identified as "Bankers' Toadies"...
, Powell (along with Social Credit whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
Joe Unwin) was convicted of criminal libel
Criminal libel
Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used....
, sentenced to six months hard labour, and deported to the United Kingdom. The charges stemmed from a pamphlet listing nine men as "bankers' toadies" and advocating their "extermination".
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 severely restricted freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
. All of these bills were passed by the legislature. Bowen, not wishing to have more laws to which he had assented disallowed, reserved assent from all three until 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...
could comment on their constitutional validity. It did so in 1938's Reference re Alberta Statutes
Reference re Alberta Statutes
Reference re Alberta Statutes [1938] S.C.R. 100, also known as the Alberta Press case and the Alberta Press Act Reference, is a landmark reference of the Supreme Court of Canada where several provincial laws restricting the press were struck down and the existence of an implied bill of rights...
, which found all three to be unconstitutional. The Social Credit Board's major initiatives had failed.
Decline and dissolution (1939–1948)
World War IIWorld 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...
further reduced the Social Credit Board's importance, as implementation of social credit took a backseat to the war effort. Instead of proposing new policy, the board devoted itself to propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
; its members spoke across the province about social credit, and it distributed vast numbers of pamphlets and leaflets (272,900 in 1939). When Aberhart died in 1943, he was replaced by 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...
, who was by this time considerably less open to radical social credit proposals than Aberhart had been. He soon transferred many of the Social Credit Board's responsibilities to the new department of Economic Affairs, of which L. D. Byrne was the deputy minister.
Byrne, the remaining Douglas lieutenant after Powell's deportation, shared both Douglas's economic theories and his antisemitism. Under his influence, the Social Credit Board began to propagate anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, including those espoused by the Russian forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraudulent, antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for achieving global domination. It was first published in Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the twentieth century...
. Its 1943 report alleged "a plot, world-wide in scope, deliberately engineered by a small number of ruthless international financiers", most of whom were Jewish. Its 1947 report repeated these allegations, and also proposed a new voting system in which voters would state their choices publicly, and be taxed only for those government programs they supported during the election. Political parties were to be abolished in favour of "leagues of electors", and all farmland was to be appropriated by the government. Manning, benignly neglectful of the Social Credit Board to this point, took this as "a direct challenge to his leadership, a shot across the bow". He quickly introduced a resolution in the legislature to "condemn, repudiate, and completely dissociate" the legislature from "any statements or publications which are incompatible with the established British ideals of democratic freedom, or which endorse, excuse, or incite anti-Semitism or racial or religious intolerance in any form". In November 1947 he announced that the Social Credit Board would cease to exist effective March 1948, and in February 1948 he asked for and received Byrne's resignation as deputy minister of Economic Affairs.
Despite its beginnings as a vehicle of intended economic revolution, the board achieved nothing of lasting importance. Once its early efforts were foiled by the federal government and the courts, it ceased to have much influence. By 1948, the dire conditions that had sparked Albertans' enthusiasm for radical economic reform had vanished, and with it their interest in social credit. While the Social Crediters remained in government until 1971, the revolutionary spirit of the 1930s was all but forgotten: as Athabasca University
Athabasca University
Athabasca University is a Canadian university in Athabasca, Alberta. It is an accredited research institution which also offers distance education courses and programs. Courses are offered primarily in English with some French offerings. Each year, 32,000 students attend the university. It offers...
historian Alvin Finkel notes, post-war Social Credit "had been transformed from a mass, eclectic movement for social reform led by monetary reformers to a relatively small government party that enjoyed considerable support from various sectors of the Alberta population for its judicious combination of right-wing rhetoric and social service and road-building programs." The Social Credit Board, with its reform mandate and its direct pipeline to Douglas, was no longer needed.