1942: Alberta

Wartime prosperity and another bumper wheat crop reduced political squabbling in Alberta to a minimum in 1942, and the province enjoyed the quietest year since the advent of its Social Credit government in the midst of the depression. The only incident of consequence to disturb the year's political peace was the voiding on Mar. 27 of three provincial acts by the Governor-in-Council on the advice of Justice Minister Louis St. Laurent. These acts were: the Debt Proceedings Suspension Act, 1941, the Orderly Payment of Land Debts Act, and the Limitations of Actions Act, 1935 (Amendment Act, 1941). A fourth act amending the Municipal District Act, was referred to the Supreme Court of Canada for consideration of whether a section dealing with the first and preferential lien on crops and the proceeds of sale thereof was beyond the power of the provincial legislature. Immediately after the action, Premier William Aberhart of the Social Credit government issued a statement declaring that the Alberta government was 'being forced into a position where two courses are open to it: a new moratorium on all debts for the duration of the war or cancellation of the principal of all debts contracted before a certain date.'

Actually, no such action proved necessary. The increase in revenue resulting from the war boom gave the province an over-all surplus of $4,176,166 for the fiscal year ending Mar. 31, 1942. Revenues were $27,213,545 and expenditures $19,965,125. The surplus was applied to meeting the deficits of former governments. Interest was continued at 50 per cent of contractual interest rates, and one more default was made on this basis. Debt charges totalled $3,791,693.

Alberta benefited materially by the opening of the new United States-Alaska highway late in November. The highway makes possible the tapping of new areas of Alberta's vast oil sands which are believed to cover more than 10,000 square miles in the northeastern section of the province. It is estimated that these deposits contain enough oil of high ductility to supply the needs of the world for one hundred years. Several new refineries are being built, and the Dominion Government Mines and Resources Department assigned ten geological parties to map structures in search for oil, principally in Alberta.

The exceptionally lean years of the depression in Alberta were reflected in figures of the decennial census for 1941. In contrast with a general gain of 10 per cent in the population of Canada as a whole, the population of Alberta rose only from 731,605 in 1931 to 788,393 for 1941.