John Horne Blackmore
John Horne Blackmore | |
---|---|
![]() Blackmore in the 1940s | |
Leader of the Social Credit Party of Canada | |
In office October 14, 1935 – April 6, 1944 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Solon Earl Low |
Member of Parliament for Lethbridge | |
In office October 14, 1935 – March 31, 1958 | |
Preceded by | John Smith Stewart |
Succeeded by | Deane Gundlock |
Personal details | |
Born | Sublett, Idaho, U.S. | March 27, 1890
Died | May 2, 1971 Cardston, Alberta | (aged 81)
Political party | Social Credit Party |
Profession | Teacher, principal |
John Horne Blackmore (March 27, 1890 – May 2, 1971) was a Canadian school teacher and
Life and career
Born in
He attended Calgary Normal School and the University of Alberta.
Blackmore was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1935 election as Member of Parliament representing Lethbridge, Alberta. The Social Credit movement had swept to power in Alberta in the 1935 provincial election just weeks earlier. He was chosen the party's parliamentary leader, since its most famous spokesperson, William Aberhart, had just become the premier of Alberta.
He formed the material he was saying in speeches into book form, and Money the Master Key was published in 1939. The book describes "Money Power," "the Designing Will that pulls hidden strings."[2][3]
In 1939, Social Credit merged into
Blackmore served as party leader until 1944, when Social Credit held its first national convention and acclaimed as leader Solon Earl Low, the provincial treasurer at the time. Blackmore retained his Lethbridge seat until he was defeated in the 1958 election in which Social Credit lost all of its MPs. (The Progressive Conservatives won all seventeen Alberta seats although they got less than 60 percent of the votes cast in Alberta.)
Blackmore was the first Mormon to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons.
He was excommunicated in 1947 for "teaching and advocating the doctrine of
Blackmore was criticized for his views on Jews, and the
Blackmore is a relative of the author Flora Jessop and her sister, Ruby Jessop.[7]
References
- ^ Mardon, Who's Who in Federal Politics from Alberta
- ^ Alberta Legislature Library
- ^ The book is available online through the Glenbow Archives website.
- ^ "Polygamy issue runs deep in the Blackmore family" by Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, February 17, 2009
- ^ "Jews in Canada". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
- ^ "Beyond the purge: Reviewing the social credit movement's legacy of in…". Archived from the original on July 8, 2012.
- ^ Bramham, Daphne (03/12/2005). "Escape from Polygamy". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved February 8, 2013.