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One of the first matters that Premier John Edward
Brownlee’s government tackled was the creation of programs
that would help farmers recover from the recession and the
severe drought that plagued Alberta in the early 1920s.
Hundreds of farms had been abandoned. Many farmers moved up
to the Peace River district because the drought was less
severe in that area. Peace River communities were relatively
isolated by forests, muskeg, and poor road conditions. The
arable land, however, was fertile and a wonder to those who
suffered through the dust bowl conditions to the south.
Whether Albertan-born or immigrant, settlers made the Peace
country their home by planting crops, building churches,
houses and farm buildings, establishing businesses, forming
organizations and clubs, and volunteering in various events.
Other frustrated farmers moved into urban areas or headed
south to the United States. Anglo-Alberta still preferred
British, American and northern European immigrants but they
were not coming in sufficient numbers. The Canadian
government and the CPR and the CNR entered into a 1925
Railway Agreement that would attract central and eastern
European immigrants. This task was not difficult because
post-war Europe was in political and cultural chaos.
Approximately half of the 72,000 immigrants who arrived in
Alberta from 1926 to 1930 were from Central and Eastern
Europe. Most newcomers settled in rural Alberta with
relatives, friends, or fellow countrymen. This trend
reinforced Alberta’s pluralistic ethnic communities. Life
was hard for new immigrants. Many were isolated from
mainstream Alberta by religion and language. They came to
Alberta poor, were often used as cheap labour, and were
ineligible for government relief. Obtaining their own farms
was just an impossible dream for many.
Generally, non-Anglo immigrants who chose to settle in
urban areas were cast into low paying occupations such as
seasonal labour and domestic work. Not all newcomers,
however, were farmers, domestics, or labourers. Immigrants
were also trades people, merchants, and artisans. There are
numerous urban and rural success stories about how Alberta’s
immigrant groups depended upon each other and developed a
network of community initiatives that included
co-operatives, schools, clubs, sports, dances, music,
businesses, churches, community halls, and agricultural
societies.
The inception of the Alberta Wheat Pool and a 1925 bumper
crop created a sense of confidence and prosperity. Some
farmers enlarged their holdings, took advantage of farm
mechanization, and in some instances increased their debts
to banks and mortgage companies at an alarming rate. Urban
land developers, business owners, and professionals –
usually of Anglo origins – enjoyed comfortable, sometimes
prosperous lifestyles.
A group of Alberta women who made the headlines and
became known as the "Famous Five" changed women’s rights
throughout Canada in the late 1920s. Judge Emily Murphy was
the first woman magistrate in the British Empire. As
magistrate of the newly-created Women’s Court in Edmonton,
she became aware that women could not be appointed to the
Senate because The British North America (BNA) Act declared,
"Women are persons in matters of pain and penalties, but are
not persons in matters of rights and privileges." In
consultation with several lawyers, Emily Murphy learned that
any five persons could initiate an appeal to the Supreme
Court of Canada for clarification on any part of The British
North America Act. In 1927, Emily Murphy joined forces with
four other prominent Alberta women: Henrietta Edwards,
Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby. The
"Persons Case" came before the Supreme Court of Canada on
April 24, 1928. These five women asked the Court: "Does the
word ‘person’ in Section 24 of The British North America Act
include female persons?" The Court’s answer was that
individuals must be "fit and qualified" to be appointed to a
public office and therefore only men were eligible. The
"Famous Five" then took their case to the Privy Council of
England, which at that time was Canada's highest court of
appeal. On October 18, 1929, the Lord Chancellor of the
Privy Council declared, "Women are eligible to be summoned
and may become Members of the Senate of Canada."
The Great Depression or the "Dirty Thirties" had a
devastating impact on urban and rural Albertans. The New
York Stock Exchange crash in 1929 was a contributing factor
that led to Alberta’s deepening economic and social woes.
The 1920s were different from any other decade in human
history because mass production, consumption, and media
linked and created interdependence between nations. The
"crash" set off a global chain reaction. Investment capital
dried up. Banks called in loans and foreclosed mortgages.
World trade was inhibited.
Alberta production took a nose dive. Wheat pools in
particular suffered from plummeting prices. In 1930, Premier
Brownlee’s government rescued the Alberta Wheat Pool from
bankruptcy and garnered the UFA another election victory.
Railways and coal mines cut back operations. Masses of
workers were laid off. Protest marches, communist-organized
demonstrations, boycotts, labour unrest, hunger marches,
family breakdowns, suicides, bankruptcies, riots, police
conflict, and violence between strikers and supporters were
living manifestations of a society that was in deep trouble.
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