Social Credit Party of Canada leadership conventions
Encyclopedia
The Canadian social credit movement
first contested the 1935 federal election
in order to capitalize from the Alberta Social Credit League's surprise victory in Alberta's August 1935 provincial election
. Social Credit supporters ran as the Western Social Credit League and John Horne Blackmore
was appointed the movement's parliamentary leader following the election although Alberta Premier William Aberhart
was generally regarded as the unofficial national leader of the movement.
Aberhart and the Social Credit movement supported William Duncan Herridge
as leader of the national New Democracy
movement for the 1940 election
- Herridge failed to win a seat in Parliament, however, and Blackmore remained leader of the group in parliament. In 1944, at its first national convention, the Social Credit Association of Canada was officially formed and elected its first official national leader.
in Toronto. The party leader was elected on April 6, 1944.
First Ballot
Early in the convention MPs John Horne Blackmore
, Victor Quelch
and Rev. Ernest George Hansell
were all reported to be possible contenders for the party leadership. However, only Alberta Provincial Treasurer
Solon Low and Major Andrew Henry Jukes, the leader of the British Columbia Social Credit League
since 1937, were nominated for the leadership. Jukes withdrew before the vote was held and Low was acclaimed.
First Ballot
Alexander Bell Patterson
was also a candidate but withdrew before the first ballot.
Thompson, a chiropractor by profession, was the party's president and was a founding member of the Alberta party before moving to Africa to help re-establish the Ethiopian Air Force
. Thompson was a protegé of Alberta Premier Ernest Manning
. Caouette was a car salesman by trade and an MP for the Social Credit affiliated Union des electeurs in the 1940s. He founded Social Credit's Quebec wing, Ralliement des créditistes in the late 1950s and was its president. He was supported by British Columbia Premier W.A.C. Bennett
. Hahn was a former Social Credit MP from British Columbia
who had lost his seat in the 1958 federal election.
The actual count was not revealed and the ballots were burned. Officials would only tell reporters that Thompson had won by a "very close" margin over runner up Caouette. Caouette was chosen deputy leader. The secrecy surrounding the election subsequently fuelled rumours, voiced by Caouette himself, that Caouette had actually won and the leadership was denied him by Alberta Premier Ernest Manning
who believed a Quebecer and Catholic could not lead the national party. When the 1962
and 1963 federal elections
resulted in a breakthrough in Quebec under Caouette and Social Credit caucuses that were overwhelmingly made up of Quebec MPs, the party divided with Caouette's Ralliement des créditistes becoming a separate party and Thompson leading a Social Credit rump. The split would not be healed until the 1970s by which time Social Credit had been wiped out on the federal level in English Canada and its five remaining English Canadian MPs had either been defeated or crossed the floor to join other parties - including Thompson who joined the Progressive Conservatives
prior to the 1968 election after his attempt to negotiate a merger between Social Credit and the Tories failed. Patterson became acting leader of the remaining three man caucus and led it into the 1968 federal election
in which the remaining English Canadian Social Credit MPs were wiped out leaving Caouette's party as the sole representative of the Social Credit movement in parliament.
on October 9, 1971
First ballot
This convention saw the reunification of the Social Credit Party of Canada and the Caouette-led Ralliement créditiste
- healing a split that had occurred in 1963.
Réal Caouette, the only MP from the 15 member caucus in the contest, won the leadership on the first ballot over Phil Cossette, an advertising businessman from Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec
, Dr. James McGillivray, a surgeon from Collingwood, Ontario
, and Fernand Bourret, the party’s director of policy research and a former journalist. Cossette attracted younger delegates, and proposed recognizing the principle of self-determination for all provinces, and creating parallel civil services and government administrations in English and French. McGillivray spoke to the convention on social credit economics, and claimed that using social credit to wipe out poverty would eliminate socialism in Canada.
The convention attracted 979 delegates of which 655 (70%) were from Quebec, 149 from Ontario, 121 from Western Canada, 51 from the Atlantic provinces, and three form the United States.
on November 7, 1976.
First Ballot
Barker was eliminated after the first ballot. Philip Hele-Hambly and John H. Long both withdrew before the second ballot. Another announced candidate, Patricia Métivier
, a Montreal journalist and perennial candidate
, was denied accreditation to the convention.
Second Ballot
André-Gilles Fortin
, the 32-year-old MP for Lotbiniere
won the convention on the second ballot. Fortin presented a young, dynamic image, but campaigned on traditional social credit economic theory and supporting small business. The other candidates were:
Fortin was killed in an automobile accident the next year.
First ballot
Reznowski was an English Professor at the University of Manitoba and a former national secretary of the party and aide to former leader Robert N. Thompson
. Hattersley, an Edmonton lawyer, was the party's president, former director of research of the Social Credit Association of Canada and was also a former aide to and speechwriter for Thompson. Less doctrinaire than Reznowski on the issue of social credit
economic theory, Hattersley argued in favour of broadening the party's base and appealing to a wider spectrum of voters. Former British Columbia cabinet minister Philip Gaglardi
was also a candidate but dropped out days before the convention after his demands for $1 million and a jet plan to fight the next federal election were rejected. He supported Hattersley after withdrawing.
The convention was controversial because it was held in Winnipeg rather than in Quebec where most party members, and the entire parliamentary caucus, resided. Réal Caouette's son, Gilles Caouette
, who had been expected to be a candidate for the leadership resigned as interim party leader in protest over the party executive's decision to hold the convention outside of Quebec and before the federal election which was expected in 1978 (Caouette would have preferred to remain interim leader and lead the party through the election before having to face a convention). It was believed that the party executive wished to have an English Canadian leader in hopes of reviving the party's prospects in Western Canada while Caouette and much of the caucus, fearing the loss of their seats in an election, preferred to have a Quebec leader in hopes of retaining the party's existing support in that province.
Reznowski resigned as leader five months after being elected to the position after winning only 2.76% of the vote in an October 1978 federal by-election in Saint Boniface, Manitoba
.
Leaderless, the party appointed independent Quebec National Assembly member Fabien Roy
as party leader in the middle of the 1979 federal election
campaign. Roy was elected to parliament leading a six member Social Credit caucus. He led the party through the 1980 federal election
after the fall of Joe Clark
's minority government
. Every Social Credit MP was defeated. Seatless, Roy tried to re-enter parliament by running in a by-election
in Frontenac
on March 24, 1980 but he was defeated. He resigned the leadership on November 1, 1980. Martin Hattersley
was appointed acting leader of the party in 1981.
First ballot
Hattersley won on the first ballot; vote totals were not released.
Hattersley was an Edmonton lawyer, former party president and the party's interim leader since Roy's resignation. Sweigard of Alberta and McBride of Ontario were evangelical ministers. Meindl, of Vancouver, was a local activist who had run as a Socred candidate in the 1980 federal election and was known in the city for having campaigned against homosexuality. At the convention he distributed hundreds of copies of the Canadian Bill of Rights
, which he claimed was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth under duress and therefore was illegal, and would go on to run as a candidate for the Confederation of Regions Party in 1984 and as an independent candidate in Burnaby—Kingsway
against openly gay NDP MP Svend Robinson
in 1988 and 1993.
Hattersley resigned as leader in 1983 after the executive overturned his decision to expel Holocaust denier
Jim Keegstra and two other anti-Semites from the party. Sweigard, an evangelist, was appointed interim leader and led the party through the 1984 federal election
in which it failed to win any seats.
First ballot
A fourth candidate, retired grocer James Green of Bentley, Alberta, dropped out before the first ballot to support Keegstra.
Sweigard, an evangelical minister, had been the party's acting leader since Hattersley's resignation in 1983 and led the party through the 1984 federal election
in which it won only 16,659 votes with 51 candidates. Lainson, also an evangelical minister, was from Ontario. Keegstra, an Alberta car mechanic and former school teacher was best known for having been fired as a teacher and charged with hate speech
for promoting hatred of Jews
in the classroom. White supremacists Don Andrews
and Robert Smith along with Holocaust denier
Ernst Zundel
were at the convention supporting Keegstra.
Lainson declared his victory a win for the party's moderates and Keegstra's supporters vowed to continue the fight. Green said of Lainson after his victory, "We're going to stonewall this guy. There's no way we're going to do business with him. As far as we're concerned, this bunch is part of the conspiracy."
The party executive ousted Lainson as leader in July 1987 after he attempted to abandon the Social Credit name in favour of "Christian Freedom". The executive appointed Keegstra as leader. Lainson did not recognize the meeting as legitimate and refused to relinquish the leadership.
After an internal fight Keegstra was expelled in September and the party was renamed the Christian Freedom Social Credit Party though its nine candidates ran under its old name in the 1988 federal election
. Lainson resigned as the near-moribund party's leader in 1990 and evangelist Ken Campbell
was appointed leader by the party's national executive on February 16, 1990. The party was de-registered by Elections Canada
in 1993 when it failed to nominate at least 50 candidates in the federal election.
Canadian social credit movement
The Canadian social credit movement was a Canadian political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. H. Douglas. Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds...
first contested the 1935 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1935
The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...
in order to capitalize from the Alberta Social Credit League's surprise victory in Alberta's August 1935 provincial 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....
. Social Credit supporters ran as the Western Social Credit League and John Horne Blackmore
John Horne Blackmore
John Horne Blackmore , a school teacher and principal by training, was the first leader of what became the Social Credit Party of Canada, a political party in Canada that promoted the social credit theories of monetary reform....
was appointed the movement's parliamentary leader following the election although Alberta Premier William Aberhart
William 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...
was generally regarded as the unofficial national leader of the movement.
Aberhart and the Social Credit movement supported William Duncan Herridge
William Duncan Herridge
William Duncan Herridge, PC, KC, MC, DSO was a Canadian politician and diplomat.He was the son of Reverend William T...
as leader of the national New Democracy
New Democracy (Canada)
New Democracy was a political party in Canada founded by William Duncan Herridge in 1939. Herridge, a former Conservative party adviser who was Canada's Envoy to the United States from 1931-35 during the government of R. B. Bennett....
movement for the 1940 election
Canadian federal election, 1940
The Canadian federal election of 1940 was the 19th general election in Canadian history. It was held March 26, 1940 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 19th Parliament of Canada...
- Herridge failed to win a seat in Parliament, however, and Blackmore remained leader of the group in parliament. In 1944, at its first national convention, the Social Credit Association of Canada was officially formed and elected its first official national leader.
1944 founding convention
The convention was held at the Royal York HotelFairmont Royal York
The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
in Toronto. The party leader was elected on April 6, 1944.
First Ballot
- LOW, Solon EarlSolon Earl LowSolon Earl Low was a Canadian politician in the 20th century.Low was born in Cardston, Alberta, and was a farmer, school teacher and school principal. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1935 provincial that swept the Social Credit Party of Alberta to power...
acclaimed
Early in the convention MPs John Horne Blackmore
John Horne Blackmore
John Horne Blackmore , a school teacher and principal by training, was the first leader of what became the Social Credit Party of Canada, a political party in Canada that promoted the social credit theories of monetary reform....
, Victor Quelch
Victor Quelch
Captain Victor Quelch was a farmer, a soldier in the Canadian Army, and was also a long serving Canadian federal politician.-Military service:...
and Rev. Ernest George Hansell
Ernest George Hansell
Rev. Ernest George Hansell was an ordained minister as well as a Canadian federal and provincial politician.-Federal politics:Hansell ran as a Social Credit candidate in the 1935 federal election...
were all reported to be possible contenders for the party leadership. However, only Alberta Provincial Treasurer
Provincial Treasurer
In Canadian politics the Provincial Treasurer is a senior protfolio in the Executive Council of provincial governments. The position is the provincial equivalent of the Minister of Finance and is responsible for setting the provincial budget. In most provinces the title of the position has changed...
Solon Low and Major Andrew Henry Jukes, the leader of the British Columbia Social Credit League
British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...
since 1937, were nominated for the leadership. Jukes withdrew before the vote was held and Low was acclaimed.
1961 leadership convention
The convention was held in the Cow Palace in Ottawa, Ontario, July 4 to 7, 1961First Ballot
- THOMPSON, Robert N.Robert N. ThompsonRobert Norman Thompson was a Canadian politician, chiropractor, and educator. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota, to Canadian parents and moved to Canada in 1918 with his family...
- CAOUETTE, RéalRéal CaouetteDavid Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes...
- HAHN, GeorgeGeorge Hahn (politician)Frederick George Hahn was a Social Credit party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Killaly, Saskatchewan and became a business executive, merchant, principal and teacher by career....
Alexander Bell Patterson
Alexander Bell Patterson
Alexander Bell Patterson was a long time Canadian Member of Parliament and was briefly leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada. Patterson, a minister by profession, was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1953 election from the riding of Fraser Valley, British Columbia. He...
was also a candidate but withdrew before the first ballot.
Thompson, a chiropractor by profession, was the party's president and was a founding member of the Alberta party before moving to Africa to help re-establish the Ethiopian Air Force
Ethiopian Air Force
The Ethiopian Air Force is the air arm of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and is tasked with protecting the air space, providing support to the ground forces as well as assisting during national emergencies.- Early years :...
. Thompson was a protegé of Alberta Premier 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...
. Caouette was a car salesman by trade and an MP for the Social Credit affiliated Union des electeurs in the 1940s. He founded Social Credit's Quebec wing, Ralliement des créditistes in the late 1950s and was its president. He was supported by British Columbia Premier W.A.C. Bennett
W.A.C. Bennett
William Andrew Cecil Bennett, PC, OC was the 25th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-serving premier in British Columbia history. He was usually referred to as W.A.C...
. Hahn was a former Social Credit MP from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
who had lost his seat in the 1958 federal election.
The actual count was not revealed and the ballots were burned. Officials would only tell reporters that Thompson had won by a "very close" margin over runner up Caouette. Caouette was chosen deputy leader. The secrecy surrounding the election subsequently fuelled rumours, voiced by Caouette himself, that Caouette had actually won and the leadership was denied him by Alberta Premier 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 believed a Quebecer and Catholic could not lead the national party. When the 1962
Canadian federal election, 1962
The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...
and 1963 federal elections
Canadian federal election, 1963
The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...
resulted in a breakthrough in Quebec under Caouette and Social Credit caucuses that were overwhelmingly made up of Quebec MPs, the party divided with Caouette's Ralliement des créditistes becoming a separate party and Thompson leading a Social Credit rump. The split would not be healed until the 1970s by which time Social Credit had been wiped out on the federal level in English Canada and its five remaining English Canadian MPs had either been defeated or crossed the floor to join other parties - including Thompson who joined the Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
prior to the 1968 election after his attempt to negotiate a merger between Social Credit and the Tories failed. Patterson became acting leader of the remaining three man caucus and led it into the 1968 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
in which the remaining English Canadian Social Credit MPs were wiped out leaving Caouette's party as the sole representative of the Social Credit movement in parliament.
1971 leadership convention
The convention was held in Hull, QuebecHull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
on October 9, 1971
First ballot
- CAOUETTE, RéalRéal CaouetteDavid Réal Caouette was a Canadian politician from Quebec. He was a Member of Parliament and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada and founder of the Ralliement des créditistes...
510 - COSSETTE, Phil 104
- MCGILLIVRAY, James 69
- BOURET, Fernard 9
This convention saw the reunification of the Social Credit Party of Canada and the Caouette-led Ralliement créditiste
Ralliement créditiste
Historically in Quebec, Canada, there was a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the social credit philosophy; at various times they had...
- healing a split that had occurred in 1963.
Réal Caouette, the only MP from the 15 member caucus in the contest, won the leadership on the first ballot over Phil Cossette, an advertising businessman from Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec
Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec
Cap-de-la-Madeleine is a former city in Quebec, Canada at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and the St. Lawrence River. It was amalgamated into the City of Trois-Rivières in 2002. Population 33,022.- History :...
, Dr. James McGillivray, a surgeon from Collingwood, Ontario
Collingwood, Ontario
Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay.-History:...
, and Fernand Bourret, the party’s director of policy research and a former journalist. Cossette attracted younger delegates, and proposed recognizing the principle of self-determination for all provinces, and creating parallel civil services and government administrations in English and French. McGillivray spoke to the convention on social credit economics, and claimed that using social credit to wipe out poverty would eliminate socialism in Canada.
The convention attracted 979 delegates of which 655 (70%) were from Quebec, 149 from Ontario, 121 from Western Canada, 51 from the Atlantic provinces, and three form the United States.
1976 leadership convention
The convention was held at the Ottawa Civic CentreOttawa Civic Centre
The Ottawa Civic Centre, also known as the J. Benson Cartage Centre for 2011–2012, is an indoor arena located in Ottawa, Ontario, seating 9,862. With temporary seating and standing room it can hold 10,585. Opened in December 1967, it is used primarily for sports, including curling, figure skating,...
on November 7, 1976.
First Ballot
- FORTIN, André-GillesAndré-Gilles FortinAndré-Gilles Fortin was a Canadian politician in the 1970s. Fortin was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Social Credit Party of Canada....
532 (46.54%) - MATTE, RenéRené MatteRené Matte was a Canadian politician and a Member of the House of Commons.-Political career:...
317 (27.73%) - HATTERSLEY, MartinMartin HattersleyJ. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
194 (16.97%) - CAMERON, Ralph 48 (4.2%)
- LONG, JohnJohn H. LongJohn H. Long is a Canadian political figure. He has sought election to the Canadian House of Commons and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on five occasions and has run for the leadership of the Social Credit Party of Canada, the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and the Canadian Alliance...
31 (2.71%) - HELE-HAMBLY, Philip 18 (1.58%)
- BARKER, Alex 3 (0.26%)
Barker was eliminated after the first ballot. Philip Hele-Hambly and John H. Long both withdrew before the second ballot. Another announced candidate, Patricia Métivier
Patricia Métivier
Patricia Métivier is a resident of Montreal and an obscure perennial candidate in Canadian politics.-Background:Listed over the years as an accountant, a researcher or a TV announcer, she ran in at least 25 elections from 1972 to 2001. Most of the time, she would not get more than 2.5% of the vote...
, a Montreal journalist and perennial candidate
Perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...
, was denied accreditation to the convention.
Second Ballot
- FORTIN, André-GillesAndré-Gilles FortinAndré-Gilles Fortin was a Canadian politician in the 1970s. Fortin was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Social Credit Party of Canada....
610 (55.35%) - MATTE, RenéRené MatteRené Matte was a Canadian politician and a Member of the House of Commons.-Political career:...
317 (28.77%) - HATTERSLEY, MartinMartin HattersleyJ. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
165 (14.97%) - CAMERON, Ralph 10 (0.91%)
André-Gilles Fortin
André-Gilles Fortin
André-Gilles Fortin was a Canadian politician in the 1970s. Fortin was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Social Credit Party of Canada....
, the 32-year-old MP for Lotbiniere
Lotbinière (electoral district)
Lotbinière was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 2004.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867...
won the convention on the second ballot. Fortin presented a young, dynamic image, but campaigned on traditional social credit economic theory and supporting small business. The other candidates were:
- René Matte, MP for ChamplainChamplain (electoral district)Champlain was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 2004.It was created in 1867 as part of the British North America Act...
, who proposed splitting Canada into five sovereign regions within a loose confederation, and complained that the party executive had changed the rules for accrediting delegates to favour Fortin, leading to the disqualification of 150 party members, and the accreditation of extra delegates from some ridings; - Martin HattersleyMartin HattersleyJ. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
of Edmonton, Alberta, the party’s national president; - Alex Barker, a contractor from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan;
- Ralph Cameron, a contractor from Calgary, Alberta;
- Philp Hele-Hambly, a teacher from MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec; - John R. Long, a manufacturer from Cambridge, OntarioCambridge, OntarioCambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
:
Fortin was killed in an automobile accident the next year.
1978 leadership convention
The convention was held in Winnipeg, May 6-7, 1978First ballot
- REZNOWSKI, LorneLorne ReznowskiLorne Reznowski was a professor of English at the University of Manitoba and leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada.A one-time national secretary of the Social Credit Party, Reznowski once worked for former Socred leader Robert N...
356 (75.58%) - HATTERSLEY, MartinMartin HattersleyJ. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
115 (24.42%)
Reznowski was an English Professor at the University of Manitoba and a former national secretary of the party and aide to former leader Robert N. Thompson
Robert N. Thompson
Robert Norman Thompson was a Canadian politician, chiropractor, and educator. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota, to Canadian parents and moved to Canada in 1918 with his family...
. Hattersley, an Edmonton lawyer, was the party's president, former director of research of the Social Credit Association of Canada and was also a former aide to and speechwriter for Thompson. Less doctrinaire than Reznowski on the issue 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"...
economic theory, Hattersley argued in favour of broadening the party's base and appealing to a wider spectrum of voters. Former British Columbia cabinet minister Philip Gaglardi
Philip Gaglardi
Philip Arthur Gaglardi , sometimes known as Flying Phil or even Sorry Phil, was a politician in the Canadian province of British Columbia...
was also a candidate but dropped out days before the convention after his demands for $1 million and a jet plan to fight the next federal election were rejected. He supported Hattersley after withdrawing.
The convention was controversial because it was held in Winnipeg rather than in Quebec where most party members, and the entire parliamentary caucus, resided. Réal Caouette's son, Gilles Caouette
Gilles Caouette
Gilles Caouette was a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament.Caouette was born in Rouyn, Quebec. His father, Réal Caouette, was a prominent Social Credit politician, and leader of the Ralliement créditiste and later the Social Credit Party of Canada.Gilles followed in his father’s...
, who had been expected to be a candidate for the leadership resigned as interim party leader in protest over the party executive's decision to hold the convention outside of Quebec and before the federal election which was expected in 1978 (Caouette would have preferred to remain interim leader and lead the party through the election before having to face a convention). It was believed that the party executive wished to have an English Canadian leader in hopes of reviving the party's prospects in Western Canada while Caouette and much of the caucus, fearing the loss of their seats in an election, preferred to have a Quebec leader in hopes of retaining the party's existing support in that province.
Reznowski resigned as leader five months after being elected to the position after winning only 2.76% of the vote in an October 1978 federal by-election in Saint Boniface, Manitoba
Saint Boniface (electoral district)
Saint Boniface is a federal electoral district that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925. It is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.In 1996, its English name was changed from "St. Boniface" to "Saint Boniface"....
.
Leaderless, the party appointed independent Quebec National Assembly member Fabien Roy
Fabien Roy
Fabien Roy was a politician in Quebec, Canada, in the 1970s. Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec and the Canadian House of Commons, and advocated social credit theories of monetary reform.-Background:...
as party leader in the middle of the 1979 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
campaign. Roy was elected to parliament leading a six member Social Credit caucus. He led the party through the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
after the fall of Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
's minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
. Every Social Credit MP was defeated. Seatless, Roy tried to re-enter parliament by running in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Frontenac
Frontenac (Quebec electoral district)
Frontenac was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997.This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Lotbinière and Mégantic ridings...
on March 24, 1980 but he was defeated. He resigned the leadership on November 1, 1980. Martin Hattersley
Martin Hattersley
J. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
was appointed acting leader of the party in 1981.
1982 leadership convention
The convention was held on July 3, 1982 in Regina, SaskatchewanFirst ballot
- HATTERSLEY, MartinMartin HattersleyJ. Martin Hattersley is an Edmonton lawyer and a long-time activist in the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law from Cambridge University before moving to Alberta in 1956 where he worked as a lawyer...
- SWEIGARD, KenKen SweigardKen Sweigard was a Pentecostal evangelist from Grande Prairie, Alberta, and politician who led the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1983 to 1986....
- MCBRIDE, AnneAnne McBrideAnne C. McBride was a perennial candidate in Canadian federal and provincial elections and by-elections in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s...
- MEINDL, Poldi
Hattersley won on the first ballot; vote totals were not released.
Hattersley was an Edmonton lawyer, former party president and the party's interim leader since Roy's resignation. Sweigard of Alberta and McBride of Ontario were evangelical ministers. Meindl, of Vancouver, was a local activist who had run as a Socred candidate in the 1980 federal election and was known in the city for having campaigned against homosexuality. At the convention he distributed hundreds of copies of the Canadian Bill of Rights
Canadian Bill of Rights
The Canadian Bill of Rights is a federal statute and bill of rights enacted by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's government on August 10, 1960. It provides Canadians with certain quasi-constitutional rights in relation to other federal statutes...
, which he claimed was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth under duress and therefore was illegal, and would go on to run as a candidate for the Confederation of Regions Party in 1984 and as an independent candidate in Burnaby—Kingsway
Burnaby—Kingsway
Burnaby—Kingsway was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997....
against openly gay NDP MP Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson is a former Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004, representing the suburban Vancouver-area constituency of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party...
in 1988 and 1993.
Hattersley resigned as leader in 1983 after the executive overturned his decision to expel Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Jim Keegstra and two other anti-Semites from the party. Sweigard, an evangelist, was appointed interim leader and led the party through the 1984 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
in which it failed to win any seats.
1986 leadership convention
The convention was held on June 21, 1986 in Toronto..First ballot
- LAINSON, HarveyHarvey LainsonHarvey George Lainson was a Christian evangelical minister based in the Cambridge, Ontario region and was leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1986 to 1990 during which time he led a successful effort to expel an anti-Semitic faction from the party led by Jim Keegstra.Lainson was a...
67 (58.77%) - KEEGSTRA, Jim 38 (33.33%)
- SWEIGARD, KenKen SweigardKen Sweigard was a Pentecostal evangelist from Grande Prairie, Alberta, and politician who led the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1983 to 1986....
9 (7.9%)
A fourth candidate, retired grocer James Green of Bentley, Alberta, dropped out before the first ballot to support Keegstra.
Sweigard, an evangelical minister, had been the party's acting leader since Hattersley's resignation in 1983 and led the party through the 1984 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
in which it won only 16,659 votes with 51 candidates. Lainson, also an evangelical minister, was from Ontario. Keegstra, an Alberta car mechanic and former school teacher was best known for having been fired as a teacher and charged with hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
for promoting hatred of Jews
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
in the classroom. White supremacists Don Andrews
Don Andrews
Donald Clarke Andrews is a Canadian white supremacist. He is also the leader of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Party of Canada and a perennial candidate for mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Early years:...
and Robert Smith along with Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Ernst Zundel
Ernst Zündel
Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel is a German Holocaust denier and pamphleteer who was jailed several times in Canada for publishing literature which "is likely to incite hatred against an identifiable group" and for being a threat to national security, in the United States for overstaying his visa,...
were at the convention supporting Keegstra.
Lainson declared his victory a win for the party's moderates and Keegstra's supporters vowed to continue the fight. Green said of Lainson after his victory, "We're going to stonewall this guy. There's no way we're going to do business with him. As far as we're concerned, this bunch is part of the conspiracy."
The party executive ousted Lainson as leader in July 1987 after he attempted to abandon the Social Credit name in favour of "Christian Freedom". The executive appointed Keegstra as leader. Lainson did not recognize the meeting as legitimate and refused to relinquish the leadership.
After an internal fight Keegstra was expelled in September and the party was renamed the Christian Freedom Social Credit Party though its nine candidates ran under its old name in the 1988 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
. Lainson resigned as the near-moribund party's leader in 1990 and evangelist Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (evangelist)
Kenneth Livingstone Campbell was a Canadian fundamentalist Baptist evangelist and political figure. He was the final leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada from 1990 to 1993....
was appointed leader by the party's national executive on February 16, 1990. The party was de-registered by Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
in 1993 when it failed to nominate at least 50 candidates in the federal election.