No description available.

The centrist theory of the lower middle class is widely used to explain the Social Credit movement in Alberta. The theory assumes that members of this class are ultimately conservative, if not reactionary, in both outlook and behaviour. However, the application of the theory to the Alberta movement is shown to be problematic for several reasons. Those offering this explanation do not back up their claims with evidence. Empirical analyses of the provincial elections of 1935 and 1940 present findings which are at odds with the conventional interpretation. A review of the Social Credit philosophy and the party's first term of office also reveals that the standard class analysis has some serious shortcomings. An alternative interpretation is provided.

Historians and political scientists have explained the pre-eminence of Social Credit in British Columbia during the last half of this century as an institutionalized protest against the seeming inactivity of partisan governments and as a reaction to the strength of the social democratic element in the province's political culture. This thesis examines the period from 1932 up to and including the BC Social Credit movement's electoral breakthrough in 1952 and suggests that economic and political conditions during that time affected the way that Social Crediters organized and changed the focus of Social Credit ideology in BC from monetary reform to a call for good government and conservative values. It also suggests that some previous conclusions about BC's Social Credit movement - that it was an outgrowth of Alberta Social Credit, that it was a populist organization, that it was too small to be intellectually significant - should be modified in the light of new evidence. This thesis should serve as a starting point for more specialized studies of the Social Credit movement in British Columbia.

This thesis examines anti-Semitism in the Alberta Social Credit Party under the Aberhart and Manning regimes. It is based on various archival sources from the Glenbow Archives-Institute in Calgary, Alberta, the Premiers' Papers at the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton, contemporary press reports, and the Social Credit Party's national organ, the Canadian Social Crediter. It argues that anti-Semitism in the Alberta Social Credit Party was not the purview of a marginal, extreme wing of the Party, but that it was an integral element of Social Credit ideology. This ideology was espoused by most Social Crediters, including premiers Aberhart and Manning. When Ernest Manning purged the Movement of its anti-Semites in 1947-1948, he was attempting, unsuccessfully, to eradicate the very essence of Social Credit ideology. The consequence of thirty-six years of Social Credit rule is the persistence of an Albertan political culture which breeds provincialism and intolerance.

Social welfare attitudes and policies are rooted in philosophical approaches. The attitudes and policies of political parties to social welfare are to be sought in the political philosophies of these parties. It has been the purpose of this thesis to explore the political philosophy of the Social Credit League and Government of British Columbia in order to ascertain how this is reflected in matters of social welfare. The theoretical father of Social Credit was Major Douglas of England. His economic and monetary theories were formulated in the 1920s. In 1935 these theories found an opportunity of being put to the test when, under the leadership of Premier Aberhart, the Social Credit Party came to power in Alberta. In British Columbia Social Credit was elected to power in 1952 and has since held the reigns of power continuously. An exploration of the welfare policies of the British Columbia Social Credit Party required an investigation of the genesis of this movement. Thus it was necessary to delve into the literature of and about Major Douglas. The development of the Social Credit movement of Alberta and a study of its relationship to the economic theories on which it was created proved to be a helpful approach in understanding thinking on social welfare issues. Finally, this thesis turns to the scene in British Columbia and traces the rise to power of the Social Credit party. Power is expressed in policy. Thus it was necessary to focus on the possible policy-making sources. The British Columbia Social Credit League represents one such source. The other is, of course, the government itself. Prom the accumulated evidence there emerges a picture of Social Credit social welfare philosophy. Douglas placed emphasis on the provision of a basic dividend. He maintained that the problems confronting people stemmed from their inability to purchase the product of an ever-growing ability to produce. Douglas argued that if his economic theory was linked to the growing leisure imposed by the industrial system, then the welfare of the individual would be assured. Aberhart's understanding of the Douglas theory appears to be confused. A strong religious component is evident in the Aberhart approach. Individualism and self-reliance, these are the ingredients of the Aberhart thesis. Coupled with this is to be found a concern for the blind, the widowed and the sick. The biblical injunction is preserved both in word and content so that social welfare might well be said to be understood in just this way. Aberhart's attempt to undertake elements of Douglas' ideas were frustrated and so the testing ground for this economic theory was tested in court rather than in practice. In British Columbia we note that the Social Credit League demonstrates adherance both to the Douglas theory and the religious conviction of Aberhart. Both the League and the Government are strong adherants of the free enterprise system. Both emphasise the virtue of work and stress the idea of self reliance. While important segments of the League advocate monetary reform a la Douglas, the Government has avoided this issue. The evidence shows that the Social Credit movement makes a distinction between those who are worthy of help and those who are not. This, to a large extent, creates the base upon which social welfare policy is created. At a governmental level the emphasis is placed on economic stimulation, vocational training and rehabilitation. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Shillington, John David; Steidle, Utho Charles; Thomlison, Raymond John / Graduate

Historians and political scientists have explained the pre-eminence of Social Credit in British Columbia during the last half of this century as an institutionalized protest against the seeming inactivity of partisan governments and as a reaction to the strength of the social democratic element in the province's political culture. This thesis examines the period from 1932 up to and including the BC Social Credit movement's electoral breakthrough in 1952 and suggests that economic and political conditions during that time affected the way that Social Crediters organized and changed the focus of Social Credit ideology in BC from monetary reform to a call for good government and conservative values. It also suggests that some previous conclusions about BC's Social Credit movement - that it was an outgrowth of Alberta Social Credit, that it was a populist organization, that it was too small to be intellectually significant - should be modified in the light of new evidence. This thesis should serve as a starting point for more specialized studies of the Social Credit movement in British Columbia. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the anti-Semitic propaganda of Social Credit movement in the 1930s and 1940s and its impact on organized Canadian Jewry. During World War Two, the Alberta Social Credit government and its provincial land national parties engaged in the dissemination of anti-Semitic propaganda, which greatly concerned the Canadian Jewish Congress, the national representative organization for Canadian Jewry. The Canadian Jewish Congress responded by attempting to confront and end this propaganda; however, it lacked a public relations philosophy effective and assertive enough to do so. Eventually the Social Credit movement realized the political liabilities of engaging in anti-Semitic propaganda; yet despite Congress's years of efforts, it could take little credit for Social Credit's purge of anti-Semitism. An examination of the relationship between the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Social Credit movement adds a new perspective on the history of both organizations, and reveals much about ethnic organization in Canada and the nation's political culture of intolerance. / The sources for this thesis come from the Canadian Jewish Congress National Archives in Montreal, the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, the Provincial Archives of Manitoba in Winnipeg, the Glenbow Archives-Institute in Calgary, and the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton. The Canadian Social Crediter, Vers Demain, and other Canadian newspapers were used extensively. The sources on the Social Credit movement held at the Canadian Jewish Congress National Archives have not been used before, which makes this thesis a significant departure from previous works.

No description available.

Common knowledge regarding the rise of the Social Credit movement in Alberta and the nature of its leadership in the ensuing years has led to the frequent identification of Alberta Social Credit with fundamentalist Protestantism. It was then supposed that there must have been an intricate relation between religion and politics in Alberta during the Social Credit administration. The veracity of this assumption was tested by the construction of hypotheses that would test the conservative 3nd radical contributions of religion to socio-political change, determine why the movement with its religious overtones failed to spread to other provinces, and explain the new role of religion with the advent of increasing secularization in the movements later existence. Attention was also devoted to a descriptive analysis of Social Credit in England, the land of its origin, to determine whether this perceived relationship in Alberta was indigenous to the province or an integral part of the British movement. In spite of some religious interests within English Social Credit, it was concluded that Aberhart's adaptation was his own and the movement he moulded assumed its own characteristics as a result of Alberta's own needs. It was determined that religion was an important variable within the early movement because it helped solve the multidimensional crises that the largely unorganized residents were facing. Aberhart's emphasis on the Bible particularly provided not only a source of legitimation but became a rallying point and a source of cohesion for a recently-migrated population by transcending traditional institutions and customs. The Social Credit movement fused social, political, economic, and religious goals into a special social phenomenon -- a crusade, whose compelling demands made life-long converts. The fact that the crusade failed to take root elsewhere in Canada was explained as a result of the movement being a specific and unique response to Alberta's own efforts to create meaning and order out of her environmental problems. Furthermore, as the pressures towards secularization increased, religion per se was compartmentalized from the political sphere but was indirectly linked through moral commitments. It was concluded that in Alberta Social Credit, religion functioned as an anchor amidst change, served as a vehicle for change, provided a framework of meaning to interpret change, and finally,furnished a basis for morality to ensure orderly change. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)