7th Alberta Legislature
The 7th Alberta Legislative Assembly lasted from 1930 to 1935. The United Farmers of Alberta government had been re-elected to their third term in power under Premier John Brownlee.
Contents
Scandals
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Premier John Brownlee's personal reputation was destroyed by a sex scandal in which he was successfully sued for the ancient and rarely litigated civil tort of seduction by a young woman in his employ.
In July 1933 Brownlee gave a car ride to Vivian MacMillan, then employed as a clerk in the office of the attorney general. MacMillan's fiancé filed a seduction suit against Brownlee, who denied all charges and launched a countersuit alleging that MacMillan, her father, and her fiancé had planned the entire affair for their own financial gain.[1]
The jury found Brownlee guilty of seduction, but the presiding judge overturned its verdict. Nevertheless, the circumstances were damaging enough that Brownlee resigned from the provincial ministry in July 1934.[1]
Little Bow MLA Oran McPherson also had a high profile divorce scandal that made big headlines after Cora McPherson took him to court.[2]
The UFA's economic policies as well as the scandalizing of Alberta's conservative population led to the party's downfall in the 1935 election when it failed to win one seat in the legislature. William Aberhart and his Social Credit Party swept the province.
Floor crossings
A sensational week occurred in the Assembly just prior to the opening of the 4th Legislative Session. Victoria MLA Peter Miskew decided to cross the floor from the United Farmers to the Liberals. The floor crossing did terrific damage to John Brownlee's government as the Premier had announced three days prior that Miskew would be moving the governments reply to the throne speech.[3]
Miskew's reasoned after crossing the floor that moving the reply to the speech from the throne would mean that he would support the governments policies which he no longer believed in. He sent notice by memo to the Premier deciding not to inform him in person.[3]
Three day's later St. Albert MLA Omer St. Germain crossed the floor to join Miskew in the Liberal benches.[4] David Duggan the leader of the Conservatives applauded Miskew crossing the floor. He stated that it was the beginning of the end for the United Farmers and that the conservative minded elements in the United Farmers will oppose the radical elements that were allowing the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation to pull the United Farmers to the left.[3]
Standings changes since the 7th general election
| Number of members per party by date |
1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19 | Aug 21 | Oct 1 | Jan 9 | Aug 1 | Nov 16 | Jul 19 | Oct 25 | Oct 14 | Jan 19 | Nov 10 | Jan 15 | Feb 3 | Feb 6 | ||
| United Farmers | 40 | 39 | 38 | 37 | 38 | 37 | 36 | ||||||||
| Liberal | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |||||||||
| Conservative | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Dominion Labor | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Independent | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Total members | 63 | 62 | 63 | 62 | 63 | 62 | 63 | 62 | 63 | 62 | 63 | ||||
| Vacant | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Government Majority | 17 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 9 | |
| Membership changes in the 7th Assembly | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Name | District | Party | Reason | |
| June 1930 | Hugh Allen | Grande Prairie | United Farmers | Acclaimed in the 1926 general election | |
| June 19, 1930 | See List of Members | Election day of the 7th Alberta general election | |||
| August 21, 1930 | John Delisle | Beaver River | United Farmers | Lost seat after election was overturned in judicial recount.[5] | |
| August 21, 1930 | Henry Dakin | Beaver River | Liberal | Won seat after election was overturned in judicial recount.[5] | |
| October 1, 1930 | Charles Weaver | Edmonton | Conservative | Died of a heart attack[6] | |
| January 9, 1931 | Frederick Jamieson | Edmonton | Conservative | Elected in a by-election | |
| August 1, 1931 | George Smith | Red Deer | United Farmers | Died from a heart seizure[7] | |
| November 16, 1931 | William Payne | Red Deer | Conservative | Elected in a by-election | |
| July 19, 1932 | Vernor Smith | Camrose | United Farmers | Died from angina pectoris.[8] | |
| October 25, 1932 | Chester Ronning | Camrose | United Farmers | Elected in a by-election | |
| October 14, 1932 | Harold McGill | Calgary | Conservative | Appointed Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs.[9] | |
| January 19, 1933 | Norman Hindsley | Calgary | Independent | Elected in a by-election | |
| November 10, 1933 | George Webster | Calgary | Liberal | Died | |
| January 15, 1934 | William Ross | Calgary | Liberal | Elected in a by-election | |
| February 3, 1934 | Peter Miskew | Victoria | Liberal | Crossed the floor from the United Farmers caucus[3] | |
| February 6, 1934 | Omer St. Germain | St. Albert | Liberal | Crossed the floor from the United Farmers caucus[4] | |
References
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External links
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