The 1944 Alberta general election was held on August 8, 1944, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
As well, in late 1944 and early 1945, Albertans serving in the military voted for separate representation - by electing an Army, an Air Force and a Navy representative (see "Soldiers' vote" below).A Century of Democracy (Centennial series)
The election was the first contested by leader Ernest C. Manning. Previously Provincial Secretary, he became leader of the Social Credit Party and premier after party founder, Premier William Aberhart, died in 1943. Manning steered the party down a more moderate path, largely dispensing with the party's social credit policies of monetary reform that it had been mostly unable to implement. The provinces's improved economic position meanwhile made such reforms less pressing.
Manning led Social Credit to a third term in government with a resounding victory in the 1944 election, winning 85 per cent of the seats with just over 50 per cent of the popular vote on the first count of ballots. Preferential voting was used, under Single transferable voting in the cities and Instant-runoff voting elsewhere.
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation entered the election with only one seat in the legislature belonging to party leader Elmer Roper who had won a 1942 by-election. Despite winning almost a quarter of the popular vote the party won only two seats in the general election.
The Conservative party and former United Farmers continued their strategy of running joint candidates as Independents. Not supported by the Liberals, who left the coalition, the anti-SC joint effort lost much of its previous share of the popular vote. The Liberal Party though did not run candidate under its own banner in this election.
Albertan servicemen and veterans from World War II were able to vote in the first phase of the election on August 4, 1944. There was also a second vote held to elect three Canadian Armed Forces representatives from amongst the Albertans who were in active service overseas, or those who missed the first vote.
This provincial election, like the previous four, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting. All voters in the province had the opportunity to cast ranked ballots. The Army, Navy and Air Force members were elected through single-winner first-past-the-post voting.
The campaign The 1944 election, was the first general election contested by Premier Ernest Manning. Manning had taken over the Social Credit Party from William Aberhart who died unexpectedly a year earlier. Social Credit faced opposition from the Independents led by James Walker who had also just been elected leader and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation who had just managed to win a seat in a by-election in Edmonton and win a majority in the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Like Social Credit and the Independents they were also contesting their first general election with new leader Elmer Roper.
The stage for the general election was set when Social Credit won a critical by-election in Red Deer in December 1943. The by-election win gave momentum to Social Credit as they picked it up from the Independents. After the election they decided to speed up their plans and hold the election in the summer time.
Two major changes occurred this election with the way that votes were to be counted and who could vote. Ballots in single member electoral districts were now allowed to be marked with an "X" to indicate a first choice preference. Prior to this election high numbers of ballots had been declared as spoiled because they were not marked with a "1". Preferences beyond the first choice still had to be marked with a number indicating that preference. The 1944 election also marked the first time that Japanese Canadians resident in Alberta were eligible to vote in a provincial election. There were two thousand Japanese who had previously been moved from British Columbia to Alberta under wartime provisions. Although they had been here (involuntarily in some cases) more than a year and were not barred on racial grounds from voting, they were denied the right to vote because the status of their residency was of a temporary nature according to election officials."2000 Japanese will be barred from balloting", Edmonton Bulletin, August 7, 1944, p. 2
After the writ was dropped, Manning pushed the election as a referendum on the future of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party. Independent candidates (pushed forward by the Conservative and Liberal parties who were absent from the election) and Social Credit asked their supporters to mark their first and second preferences for candidates of their parties to try to ensure the CCF was not elected.
Social Credit The Social Credit government had been re-elected with a thin majority government in 1940 after failing to fulfill many of its promises of monetary reform whose popularity had allowed it to sweep to power in the 1935 election. The party was also rising in popularity since Ernest Manning became Premier in 1943 after the death of William Aberhart. Manning steered the party away from its previous policies that included Social Credit monetary theory and media control.
The centrepiece of Social Credit's policy in this election was a plan on refunding Alberta's large debt that had been built up under the Liberal and by the United Farmer and Social Credit governments during the Depression.
Independent Movement The Independent Citizen's Association, led into the election by James Walker, had been organized as a coalition of Conservatives, Liberals and United Farmers who grouped together to try to defeat the Social Credit government in late 1930s and in the 1940 election. Despite being an organized party, its candidates are often identified as Independents. The coalition weakened when the Alberta Liberal Party left just before the 4th Legislative Session opened in February 1944. Despite the split, the Liberal party did not run candidates under its own name in the 1944 election."Think and vote" Edmonton Bulletin, August 5, 1944, p. 1
Walker was elected leader of the Independent Citizens Association at a convention held in Calgary on January 23, 1944. He defeated David Elton in a two-way contest. There was considerable interest in the convention as over 300 delegates from across Alberta showed up to vote. Walker was elected on the first ballot winning a decisive victory. This was the first time since the Association had been created that a permanent leader was selected.
In 1944, four ICA candidates ran in Edmonton; three in Calgary.
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) The left-leaning Cooperative Commonwealth Federation had enjoyed tremendous growth over the previous couple of years. In 1942 the provincial branch reorganized at a convention in Edmonton and merged the provincial branch of the Canadian Labor Party into the CCF. Prior to that date the two parties had been affiliated but had operated separately. After the merger the party won an Edmonton by-election on September 22, 1942, to elect their leader Elmer Roper to the Assembly. Shortly before the writs were dropped in this election the Saskatchewan CCF swept the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Manning called the general election to defuse a possible surge in support for the CCF.
The CCF provincially had struck a deal with the Labor Progressive Party (the Communist Party) to run fusion candidates in some electoral districts. The first time this agreement was put to work was in the December 1943 Red Deer by-election where James MacPherson, LPP leader, endorsed CCF candidate E.P. Johns.
The 1944 election was the first provincial election where the CCF fielded a full slate of candidates. It was the only party in 1944 to do so other than Social Credit. (There was no need for fusion candidates or restriction on running too many candidates as transferable votes used at that time in all districts in Alberta avoided the harmful effects of vote splitting.) Newly elected Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas came to Calgary and Edmonton to speak during the campaign."CCF plans tax on interest...", Edmonton Bulletin, August 5. 1944, p. 1
CCF leader Elmer Roper was quoted in Edmonton Bulletin that if elected, the first thing a CCF government would do is take over Calgary Power."CCF planning to take over Calgary Power", Edmonton Bulletin, August 3. 1944, p. 3
Labor-Progressive Party
The LPP had contested elections previously under the Communist banner, but had changed its name to be in line with the federal party, after they had all been outlawed.
The Labor-Progressive Party, led by James MacPherson, aimed to run candidates in the major cities and in mining communities. They did run 30 candidates.
In some electoral districts where LPP candidates did not run, the LPP and the CCF ran fusion candidates. A proposal by the Labor Progressive Party to run fusion candidates with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation at the federal level was rejected by the national council.
Farmer-Labor
The Farmer-Labor election committee was a minor political party created by Victor Johanson. He was a farmer residing near the small town of Bentley, Alberta. Johanson was originally selected as a fusion candidate for the Labor Progressive Party and Cooperative Commonwealth Federation to contest the Rocky Mountain House electoral district.
Shortly before the general election was called, the Rocky Mountain House CCF constituency association broke away and voted not to support Johanson and to nominate its own candidate instead.
Johanson then created his own Farmer-Labor banner that he and his supporters operated under.
Johanson's Farmer-Labor banner was the least successful of the four single-candidate parties that operated in the general election (the other three were the Veterans' and Active Force party; the Single Tax party; and Labour United). Johanson finished last in his district and in the provincial standings, winning just 0.13% of the total vote in the province. After the election Johanson did not contest another provincial election, effectively ending the party.
Farmer-Labor's 1944 election platform had seven policy planks. These planks covered primarily local issues to appeal to coal miners working and living at Nordegg, Alberta. Crop insurance and raised commodity prices was also promised to appeal to area farmers. Other policy planks promised help to veterans returning from the war and improvements for local transportation infrastructure. Farmer-Labor Platform Adequate prices for all farm produce. Better system for providing for crop losses and improvement in the Prairie Farmers' Assistance Act. More liberal grants for roads in rural areas, based on funds collected from car and truck licenses and taxes collected from gasoline sales in each district. A hard-surfaced road to the company town of Nordegg. Labor Legislation and a Labor Code of Rights to be administered by the Minister of Labor. Old age pensions at a younger age, regardless of property owned. A more liberal monthly pay so that the pensioners can enjoy a better life then at present. Rehabilitation of the Armed Forces in Peacetime Production and a higher standard of living than in the past. Better opportunities for the youth in the post-war years.
Election night On election night Manning's Social Credit party won a landslide victory with 52 per cent of the first preference vote.