Alberta Social Credit Party
|
|
---|---|
Leader | Len Skowronski |
President | Earl Solberg |
Founded | 1934 |
Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta |
Ideology |
Conservatism, Social credit: Albertan |
Political position | Right-wing |
Colours | Green, blue |
Legislature |
0 / 87
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on social credit monetary policy put forward by Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christian social values. The Canadian social credit movement was largely an out-growth of the Alberta Social Credit Party. The Social Credit Party of Canada was strongest in Alberta, before developing a base in Quebec when Réal Caouette agreed to merge his Ralliement créditiste movement into the federal party. The British Columbia Social Credit Party formed the government for many years in neighbouring British Columbia, although this was effectively a coalition of centre-right forces in the province that had no interest in social credit monetary policies.
The Alberta Social Credit party won a majority government in 1935, in the first election it contested, barely months after its formation. During its first years, when led by William Aberhart, it was a radical monetary reform party, at least in theory if not in effect. After Aberhart's death in 1943 and the rise to leadership of Ernest Manning, followed quickly by the discovery of oil in north-central Alberta and its accompanying wealth for many, Social Credit changed to a pro-business, anti-union, anti-government-interventionist style of governing. It stayed in power until 1971, one of the longest unbroken runs in government at the provincial level in Canada. However, it has held no seats since 1982, and finished a distant seventh in the 2012 and 2015 general elections.