John Edward Brownlee

John Edward Brownlee

John Edward Brownlee (born August 27, 1884 in Port Ryerse, Norfolk County , Ontario , † July 15, 1961 in Calgary ) was a Canadian politician and lawyer . He was Prime Minister of the Province of Alberta from November 23, 1925 to July 10, 1934 and leader of the political wing of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) farmers' cooperative . The UFA government failed to alleviate the effects of the global economic crisis and the dust bowl . The movement increasingly lost support in the predominantly rural population of the province and Brownlee had to resign after a staged scandal .

Study and job

Brownlee attended the teachers' college in Sarnia and worked as a teacher for two years . He then studied law at the University of Toronto and graduated in 1908 with a Bachelor of Arts . He moved to Calgary and worked in two law firms. He was admitted to the bar in 1912 and two years later became a junior partner in the law firm of Muir, Jephson, and Adams .

His major clients included the silo -Genossenschaft Alberta Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Company (later United Grain Growers ). Brownlee became the cooperative's legal advisor and manager of its insurance division in 1919. He also advised the United Farmers of Alberta on legal matters and played an important role in establishing the State Grain Fund.

politics

In July 1921, the UFA surprisingly won the most seats in the elections for the Alberta Legislative Assembly . Brownlee himself had not run, but Prime Minister Herbert Greenfield appointed him to the government as Attorney General . On December 9, 1921, Brownlee was elected by acclamation in a by-election in the Ponoka constituency. Greenfield was often unable to perform its duties for health reasons and the government was increasingly seen as ineffective. Lieutenant Governor William Egbert appointed Brownlee on November 23, 1925 as the new head of government, who was thus also the new leader of the political wing of the UFA.

After years of negotiations, Brownlee succeeded in 1929 in transferring control of the natural resources from the federal government to the province. The eastern provinces had already been granted this right when the Canadian Confederation was founded in 1867 , while the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan formed in 1905 had to do without it. This regulation, which came into force in 1930, was to prove to be economically significant when oil was first found in Leduc in 1947 . In the provincial elections in 1926 and 1930, the UFA was able to defend its absolute majority.

Brownlee government was addressing the social consequences of the global economic crisis put to a severe test. In addition, the predominantly rural population became impoverished when the dust bowl caused increased crop failures , especially in the southeast of the province. Despite numerous calls for support, the government pursued a restrictive financial policy and became increasingly unpopular as a result. Many UFA members turned away disappointed and switched to the conservative Social Credit Party of Alberta or the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation .

scandal

Brownlee's reputation was shattered by a scandal. In July 1933 he drove home in his car by Vivian MacMillan, who was then employed as a secretary in the Attorney General's office. Brownlee was then charged by MacMillan's fiancé for seducing a woman in employment - an offense that went back to an old law and was hardly prosecuted at the time. Brownlee denied all allegations and filed a contraindication accusing MacMillan, her father, and her fiancé of staging the whole affair to get rich.

The jury found Brownlee guilty, but the judge in charge overturned the verdict. The political consequences of the process were so serious that Brownlee had to resign on July 10, 1934 and Richard Gavin Reid took over the office of Prime Minister. The failed economic policy of the government and the scandalization of the conservative population of Alberta led to the decline of the UFA as a political movement. In the elections in August 1935, not a single UFA candidate was elected. In 1937, MacMillan and her family successfully appealed the court ruling and Brownlee had to pay $ 10,000 in compensation. Whether he actually seduced MacMillan or whether he was just the victim of a conspiracy remains unclear to this day.

Brownlee turned away from politics, disappointed, and resumed working as a lawyer in Edmonton . In 1935 he was again legal advisor to the United Grain Growers . From 1948 until his death in 1961 he was its president and managing director.

Web links

• John Edward Brownlee ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• Biography on the Alberta Legislative Assembly website
• Brownlee and the Seduction Scandal