Adventurers and Opportunists: The Social Credit Party in the Saskatchewan election of 1938
Date
2016-12-14
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0000-0002-3288-0095
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Throughout the course of Canadian political history, many prairie populist movements have developed in an attempt to address the concerns of western Canadians. Two examples of these populist movements are the Social Credit Party, which was predominantly successful in forming government in Alberta, and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the precursor of today’s New Democratic Party and well-known for its implementation of Medicare under Saskatchewan CCF premier Tommy Douglas.
However, there are elements of western populist movements that are not well known and have not been documented to a significant extent. The Social Credit Party, for example, is known for its charismatic leader, William Aberhart, and his landslide victory in Alberta’s 1935 election; however, Social Credit’s appeal beyond Alberta has not been well documented. In the Saskatchewan general election of 1938, Social Credit swept into the province in an attempt to gain power and implement its monetary reform policies, believing that Saskatchewan, like Alberta, would be a good fit for Social Credit as both provinces were suffering from the Great Depression. This thesis will examine Social Credit and the 1938 Saskatchewan provincial election. It will also discuss why Social Credit did not have success in this election, and the factors that contributed to this lack of victory. It will also examine the other political actors during this election campaign, and why the Liberal Party was able to achieve re-election.
Description
Keywords
A Master's thesis which relates to Canadian political history.
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Program
History