1941: Alberta

As a by-product of the war, the political dissension which has torn Alberta in the years since its Social Credit government was first elected has largely disappeared. In contrast to its attitude a few years ago, the Alberta government cooperated fully with the Dominion Government during 1941 without regard to partisan differences. Alberta participated, for example, in the discussions held in Ottawa at the end of September at which the provinces agreed to withdraw from the corporation and income tax field. The agreement was a wartime arrangement, and it is assumed that the Province reserved its rights to oppose the centralization of finance proposed in the report of the Sirois Conference.

The only elements of Dominion-provincial conflict to appear during the year were in connection with efforts of the Dominion Government to invalidate the Alberta Debt Adjustment Act of 1937 and the controversy over wheat policy. After nearly six months of deliberation, the Supreme Court rendered a decision in December declaring the Debt Adjustment Act to be invalid. The Alberta wheat pool joined with the pools of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in seeking a $1-a-bushel minimum price for wheat and a 'freezing' of the 480,000,000 bu. carryover from the 1940 crop. Both these demands were turned down by James S. Gardiner, Federal Minister of Agriculture. A relatively poor 1941 crop and a general increase in living costs combined to make for considerable opposition to Mr. Gardiner's ruling. In November a new plan of acreage bonuses for wheat growers was announced by the Government.

In contrast to agriculture, Alberta's oil industry continued to flourish. From Jan. 1 to June 30, 1941, the production of oil rose to approximately 4,700,000 barrels as compared with 3,378,852 in the corresponding period of 1940 and 3,040,000 barrels in the first six months of 1939. The most important development of the year in this connection was the strike of crude oil in commercial quantities at the Standard Oil's Princess No. 2 well in the Steveville field, 125 miles east of Calgary.

The province of Alberta defaulted on the payment of a $2,250,000 bond maturity due Sept. 1. This brought the total of defaults under the Social Credit government to approximately $15,000,000 since April 1936.

The 57th annual convention of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada met at Calgary in September. It went on record in favor of Dominion legislation similar to the Wagner Act in the United States to give full protection to wage earners in their right to join labor unions of their own choosing.