1939: Alberta

Politically, 1939 was a relatively quiet year for Alberta. Set back by Supreme Court rulings in each of its previous attempts to enact Social Credit legislation, the Aberhart Government confined its activities during the year to routine matters. Interest in Social Credit was unquestionably on the decline. Membership in the Social Credit Party which numbered 27,000 at the beginning of 1938, and 42,000 a year earlier, dropped to 9,603 by the beginning of 1939.

The protracted dispute between Premier Aberhart and Lieutenant Governor J. C. Bowen caused a minor rift in the otherwise brilliant reception given to King George and Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of the royal visit to Edmonton on June 2. Since the Social Credit government had refused to support a residence for the Lieutenant Governor, it was necessary to hold the official dinner in a hotel.

During the year the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Service opened up a new settlement at 'The Hills,' in eastern Alberta. Fifty families were settled on this subsistence homestead project, operating on 25,000 acres of newly irrigated land, during the early months of 1939.

Oil production in Alberta during the first six months of 1939 was at a new peak of 3,254,269 barrels as compared with 2,892,370 in the corresponding period of 1938, according to figures issued by the Department of Lands and Mines.

Despite the fact that many parts of Canada are observing a political truce during the war, President A. E. Goodwin of the Alberta Social Credit League indicated, on Nov. 13, that the regular provincial election would be held in 1940 and that the Social Credit government would campaign for reelection. Previously, Chester A. Ronning, leader of the Alberta Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, had declared that his party would not observe a political truce, but would 'carry on its fight against social injustice and inequality.' W. D. Herridge, leader of the 'New Democracy' movement, also ignored truce talk in launching a campaign in northern Alberta.