| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Brownlee became the lawyer for the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) in the early part of the last century. When the UFA entered electoral politics and unexpectedly won the 1921 general election he was recruited to serve in the new government as Attorney-General. In 1925, due to dissatisfaction with the leadership of Premier Herbert Greenfield, Brownlee was recruited to become the new Premier and UFA leader.
Brownlee's government was successful in negotiating a degree of control of Alberta's natural resources from the federal government, an achievement that became historically significant when oil was discovered at Leduc in 1947.
The Brownlee government faced its most serious challenge during the Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in the United States following Black Thursday, the Wall Street panic of October 1929. On October 24, 1929, share prices on Wall Street collapsed catastrophically, setting off a chain of bankruptc when the dust bowl impoverished the province's largely agrarian population. The government's policies of continued fiscal restraint in the face of widespread demands for relief led to the UFA's increasing unpopularity as Albertans began to look to the radical solutions offered by Social CreditThe Canadian social credit movement was a Canadian political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds . It reached its height of popularity in the 1930s, as a result of the Great D and the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.
Brownlee's personal reputation was destroyed by a sex scandal in which he was sued for seduction of a young woman and found guilty forcing him to resign in July 1934. The UFA's economic policies as well as the scandalizing of Alberta's conservative population, led to the party's downfall in 1935 when it failed to win one seat in the legislatureA legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. Legislatures are known by many names, including: parliament congress diet and national assembly . In parliamentary systems of government, the legislature is formally supreme a in the face of a sweep by William AberhartThe Honourable William Aberhart ( December 30, 1878 May 23, 1943), also known as Bible Bill for his religious preaching, was a Canadian politician and Social Credit Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. William Aberhart was born on a farm near Kippen, and his Social Credit party.
|
Preceded by: | List of Alberta Premiers |
Succeeded by: |