Richard Gavin Reid
Richard Gavin Reid (born January 17, 1879 in Glasgow , Scotland , † October 17, 1980 in Edmonton ) was a Canadian politician and farmer . He was from July 10, 1934 to September 3, 1935 Prime Minister of the Province of Alberta and leader of the political wing of the farmers' cooperative United Farmers of Alberta (UFA). Under Reid's leadership, the movement increasingly lost support among the rural population and was politically insignificant after the provincial elections in 1935.
Life
Reid served as a medic in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Boer War in South Africa from 1900 to 1902 . In 1903 he emigrated to Canada and worked on a farm in Manitoba and in a logging camp in Ontario . In 1904 he built a farm in Mannville , eastern Alberta, and became politically active at the local level. In July 1921, Reid was elected as a UFA candidate in the Alberta legislative assembly elections in the Vermilion constituency. He held several ministerial posts: Health (1921–1923), Municipalities (1921–1923 and 1925–1934), Treasurer (1923–1934), and Land and Mining (1930–1934).
After John Edward Brownlee had to resign because of a scandal, Reid was appointed on July 10, 1934 by Lieutenant Governor William Walsh as the new Prime Minister. By the time Reid took office, the UFA government had become very conservative and thus contradicted the leadership of the cooperative part of the UFA, which supported the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation . A large part of the conservative rural electorate sympathized with the ideas of Social Credit due to the consequences of the global economic crisis . In the elections in August 1935, the UFA lost almost three quarters of its voters and all seats. Reid had to give up his office on September 3, 1935 to William Aberhart of the Social Credit Party of Alberta .
Reid retired from politics and worked as a commercial agent. During World War II , he held a senior position in the Canadian Army's Mobilization Department. Later he was also archive manager for the energy company Canadian Utilities.
Web links
- Richard Gavin Reid ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
- Biography on the Alberta Legislative Assembly website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Reid, Richard Gavin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 17, 1879 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow , Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th October 1980 |
| Place of death | Edmonton , Canada |