Albert Edward Smith

Rev. Albert Edward Smith (October 20, 1871—1947) was a Canadian religious leader and politician. A social gospeller, Smith was for many years a minister in the Canadian Methodist Church before starting his own "People's Church". He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1920 to 1922 as a Labour representative. In 1925, he became a member of the Communist Party of Canada.

Smith was born in Guelph, Ontario, the son of William George Smith and Elizabeth Bildson,working-class immigrants from England. His family later moved to Hamilton, where he developed an interest in religion after joining the Gore Street Methodist Church. After passing an oral examination to become a preacher, Smith was transferred to MacGregor, Manitoba in 1890 to begin field work. His appointment came from James Woodsworth, superintendent of Methodist missions for western Canada and father of J.S. Woodsworth.

Smith was a vocal supporter of Thomas Greenway's Liberal government in Manitoba during the 1890s. During the Manitoba Schools Question, he defended the Greenway government's decision to remove funding from French-language denominational schools.

After three years' work as a probationer, Smith enrolled as a student for the ministry at Wesley College in Winnipeg in 1893. He was formally ordained to the ministry in 1897. He married Maude Mercy Rogers in 1898. After working in Dauphin and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Smith was stationed at the MacDougall Memorial Methodist Church in north-end Winnipeg in 1902.

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