John Hugill
John Hugill | |
---|---|
Attorney General of Alberta | |
In office September 3, 1935 – August 6, 1937 | |
Preceded by | John Lymburn |
Succeeded by | William Aberhart |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
In office August 22, 1935 – March 21, 1940 | |
Preceded by | John J. Bowlen Hugh Farthing Norman Hindsley John Irwin William Henry Ross Fred J. White |
Succeeded by | William Aberhart Fred Anderson John J. Bowlen Andrew Davison James Mahaffy |
Constituency | Calgary |
Personal details | |
Born | John William Hugill October 3, 1881 Independent |
Spouse | Eelen Cameron Templeton |
Children | John, Eelen, and Jean |
Alma mater | University of King's College University of Manitoba |
Profession | Lawyer |
John William Hugill (October 3, 1881 – January 13, 1971) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of
Hugill's time as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) was dominated by differences of opinion with Aberhart. Hugill did not believe that
Early life
John Hugill was born in
After being called to the bar, Hugill worked for several years as a lawyer for the
Political career
Hugill served as Calgary alderman from 1921 until 1923.
In the early 1930s, Hugill was one of the few members of Calgary's social and business elite to support
If Hugill's allegiance to Social Credit was incongruous, his allegiance to Aberhart was even more so. Aberhart, a radio evangelist, did not share Hugill's taste for fine wines, cigars, or flippant humour.[5] Hugill, for his part, objected to Aberhart's belief in the occult, and in particular to his practice of numerology.[10][Note 2] About his eventual presence in cabinet, McGill University's J. R. Mallory said "one can imagine the discomfort of an experienced barrister...moderate in his political views and absorbed principally in his departmental duties, confronted by a cabinet of hot gospellers, presided over by the Messianic Mr. Aberhart."[11]
Election as MLA
Whatever the surface incompatibilities between Hugill and the Social Credit movement, in the runup to the
On August 22, Hugill was elected one of Calgary's six Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). On the initial ballot count he was in fifth place of twenty candidates, but after the redistribution of votes in accordance with the single transferable vote system in use in Calgary at the time, he fell to sixth place, and was not elected until the eighteenth and final count.[15] Aberhart named him Attorney General several days later, and he was sworn in with the rest of Aberhart's cabinet on September 3, 1935.[16]
Attorney General
Hugill's service as Attorney General was brief and eventful. Three days after their swearing-in, he and Aberhart embarked for
Magor's financial advice led to the government tabling a very conservative 1936 budget that was decidedly not in keeping with social credit ideals.
Hugill: You realise, Mr. Hargrave, that this scheme you are putting forward would not be legal?
Hargrave: I am not interested in legal arguments.
Hugill: What would you do if your legislation was disallowed and your parliament dissolved?
Hargrave: There is only one way in which such a government could be "dissolved", and that is by sending in troops to throw it out, physically, neck and crop, down the steps of this parliament house. Does the Attorney-General suggest that any authority anywhere in Ottawa or elsewhere would, in those circumstances, march troops into Alberta?[22]
Much of the caucus, frustrated by the government's failure to implement social credit or even take tangible steps towards doing so, sided with Hargrave, and Hugill's cabinet colleagues did not come to his defense. Hargrave's presentation to Social Credit MLAs precipitated the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt, in which much of the Social Credit caucus threatened to bring down the government over its failure to introduce social credit. The revolt was muted with the creation of the Social Credit Board, which was to oversee the introduction of social credit.[23]
The first legislation recommended by the Social Credit Board included the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, which provided for provincial licensing and supervision of banks, the Bank Employees Civil Rights Act, which prohibited unlicensed banks and their employees from instigating legal proceedings, and the Judicature Act, which prohibited challenges to the constitutionality of Alberta legislation.
On August 6, 1937, after the three acts were approved by the legislature,
Historians have debated the propriety of Hugill's actions in undercutting his own government's legislation to Bowen. Elliott and Miller believe that he could have refused to answer Bowen's question, but that by not doing so he "obeyed the letter of the Alberta law that set out his duties".
Post-resignation
Having left the government, Hugill also left the Social Credit caucus, and served the rest of his term as MLA as an
One of Hugill's last acts as Attorney General had been attending a Toronto meeting of the Canadian Bar Association. In response to Hugill's comments about his government, Aberhart refused reimbursement of Hugill's expenses from that trip. Later, when Aberhart received word that Ryerson Press was going to publish an exposé of his government authored by Hugill, he threatened to cancel Ryerson's contracts to print Alberta's school textbooks unless the company reconsidered. The exposé was not published.[28]
Later life
At the expiration of his term as MLA in 1940, Hugill returned to practicing law in Edmonton and Calgary.
Notes
- Dalhousie Law School.[5]
- ^ Aberhart named a seven-member cabinet because he considered seven to be the "perfect" number, numerologically speaking.[10]
- ^ All three acts were later disallowed by the federal government.
References
- ^ Blue 108, 111
- ^ a b c d e f "Historical Aldermanic Gallery" (PDF). City of Calgary. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ Blue 108
- ^ a b c d Blue 111
- ^ a b Elliott & Miller 211
- ^ a b "John W. Hugill fonds". Glenbow Archives. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
- ^ Elliott & Miller 206
- ^ Mallory 130
- ^ a b Finkel 61
- ^ a b Elliott & Miller 215
- ^ a b Mallory 74
- ^ Finkel 61–62
- ^ Barr 80
- ^ Irving 312
- ^ "Calgary results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ Elliott & Miller 205
- ^ Elliott & Miller 207–209
- ^ Elliott & Miller 210
- ^ Elliott & Miller 211–212
- ^ Barr 86, Elliott & Miller 216, 219, 223
- ^ Elliott & Miller 252–253
- ^ Elliott & Miller 253
- ^ Barr 102–104, Elliott & Miller 252–261
- ^ Elliott & Miller 267
- ^ Barr 107
- ^ a b c d Elliott & Miller 268
- ^ Mallory 75–76
- ^ a b Elliott & Miller 270
- ^ "Last rites held for former A-G". Vancouver Province. January 16, 1971. p. 31. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
Works cited
- Barr, John J. (1974). The Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Social Credit in Alberta. ISBN 0-7710-1015-X.
- Blue, John (1924). Alberta, past and present : historical and biographical (PDF). Vol. 2. Chicago, Illinois: Pioneer Historical. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
- Elliott, David R.; Miller, Iris (1987). Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart. Edmonton: Reidmore Books. ISBN 0-919091-44-X.
- Finkel, Alvin (1989). The Social Credit Phenomenon in Alberta. ISBN 0-8020-6731-X.
- Irving, John A. (1959). The Social Credit Movement in Alberta. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Mallory, J. R. (1954). Social Credit and the Federal Power in Canada. Toronto: ISBN 0-8020-6301-2.
External links