United Farmers of Alberta
Agricultural supply cooperative | |
| Founded | 1909 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Scott Bolton, President & CEO |
| Products | Agriculture, Retail, Petroleum, Construction |
| Revenue | 1.8 billion CAD (2018) |
| 77 million CAD (2018) | |
| Members | 120,000 |
Number of employees | 950 (2018) |
| Subsidiaries | Spruceland Lumber, Bar-W Petroleum and Electric, Stirdon Betker, Maple Leaf Petroleum |
| Website | Official website |
The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of
Since 1935, it has primarily been an
Founding as lobby group
UFA was founded in 1909 as a government
The UFA was a believer in the co-operative movement and supported women's suffrage. In 1912 women founded the parallel United Farm Women of Alberta, and in 1914, women were granted full membership rights in UFA itself.
By 1920, UFA had become the most influential lobby group in Alberta with over 30,000 registered members.
Political history
United Farmers of Alberta | |
|---|---|
| President | Elections |
Entry into politics
Under pressure of losing influence to the upstart Alberta Non-Partisan League – which ran in four rural constituencies in the 1917 provincial election, winning two – and dissatisfied with the existing political parties, UFA entered the political arena in 1919. Some prominent UFA members (including its president, Henry Wise Wood) at first opposed entering into direct politics, as opposed to lobbying, however, because they thought abandoning the UFA's non-partisan policy would cause the UFA to break up.
In 1919, the UFA won a by-election in the
Majority governments
As was the case with other United Farmer governments in
The United Farmers government initiated several reforms, including improving medical care, broadening labour rights and making the tax system fairer. It made good on its promise of electoral reform, bringing in a measure of proportional representation through the STV.[4] In 1923, the government formed the Alberta Wheat Pool and upset some of its support base by ending Prohibition, replacing it with open sale of alcohol through government-owned liquor stores and carefully regulated beer parlours, and refusing to establish a provincial bank, a bank owned by the provincial government, despite UFA conventions calling for it.
In 1925, John E. Brownlee, who was already widely believed to be the "true" leader of the United Farmers, succeeded Greenfield as Premier. Brownlee led the party to a second majority government in the 1926 election.
In 1929, after years of negotiating, Brownlee gained control over Alberta's natural resources. This was a right other provinces were granted at Confederation or upon entry into Confederation, but which Alberta and Saskatchewan were denied when they became provinces in 1905, instead receiving a yearly cash subsidy from the federal government. This deal would later become a critical factor in Alberta's economic success as the province's oil deposits were exploited.
Riding a wave of popularity resulting from this agreement, Brownlee led the United Farmers to a third majority government in the 1930 election, despite alienating socialists and labour groups as he led the party in a conservative fashion, and despite the quickly deteriorating financial conditions.
Decline
The
Henry Wise Wood retired as president of the UFA, more-radical-minded UFA MP
Of the nine UFA MPs elected in the
Two years after the UFA government was defeated, the organization withdrew from electoral politics.[5] In 1938, the CCF committed itself to run candidates in the next provincial and elections, setting up local riding clubs for that purpose.[5] In 1939, UFA officially disbanded its political arm, still continuing as a farmers supply co-operative. Many of the left-wing members of the UFA organization joined the CCF, though that party would not win the support of most former UFA voters. Many right-wing and centrist members of the UFA joined the Alberta Unity Movement, an attempt to form a coalition between United Farmers, Liberals and Conservatives to defeat Social Credit in the 1940 provincial election.
The CCF was folded into the New Democratic Party in 1961. Its Alberta wing claims the Alberta CCF's history as its own, thus making it a linear descendant of the UFA.
Federal politics
The United Farmers of Alberta ran candidates in several federal elections in alignment with, but usually to the left of, the Progressive Party of Canada with a number of UFA MPs sitting in the House of Commons with the Ginger Group of left wing MPs.
Following Robert Gardiner's election in a federal by-election prior to the 1921 election, Alberta farmer ran 14 candidates (some as UFA, some as Progressive Party candidates) in the 1921 federal election, not running in two Calgary ridings where strong Labour candidates carried the farmer-worker banner. All the UFA candidates (and the two Calgary Labour candidates) were elected, the incumbent Liberal MPs and Conservative contenders not getting one seat. In 1926, the province's Progressive MPs ran for re-election as UFA candidates. Eight of the UFA's 9 remaining MPs joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation when it was formed in 1932. All eight ran as CCF candidates in the 1935 federal election and were defeated. The ninth, William Thomas Lucas, ran as a Conservative in 1935 and was also defeated by the Social Credit landslide that were elections in Alberta that year.
Federal election results
| Election | # of candidates nominated | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of national popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 2
|
2
|
22,251
|
0.71%
|
| 1925 | 2
|
2
|
8,053
|
0.26%
|
| 1926 | 12
|
11
|
60,740
|
1.837%
|
| 1930 | 10
|
9
|
56,968
|
1.46%
|
UFA MPs
- George Gibson Coote – accountant, Macleod, Alberta – elected as Progressive 1921, 1925, UFA 1926, 1930, (def as CCF 1935)
- Robert Gardiner– farmer, Acadia, Alberta – elected as Progressive 1921, 1925, UFA 1926, 1930, (def as CCF 1935)
- Ted Garland – farmer, Bow River, Alberta – elected as Progressive 1921–1925, UFA 1926–1930, (def as CCF 1935)
- William Irvine – author, clergyman, farmer, worker – elected in East Calgary as Labour 1921, (def 1925), elected as UFA in Wetaskiwin, Alberta 1926, 1930, (def as CCF 1935)
- Lincoln Henry Jelliff, Lethbridge, AB, elected as Progressive 1921, 1925, UFA 1926
- Donald Ferdinand Kellner, Edmonton East, AB, elected as Progressive 1921, (def 1925), UFA 1926 (def. 1930)
- Donald MacBeth Kennedy – farmer, Peace River, Alberta – elected as Progressive 1921, 1925, UFA 1926, 1930 (def as CCF 1935)
- William Thomas Lucas – farmer, Victoria – elected as UFA 1921 Camrose 1925, 1926, 1930 (def as Conservative 1935)
- Michael Luchkovich – teacher, Vegreville, Alberta – elected as UFA 1926, 1930, (def as CCF 1935)
- Alfred Speakman – farmer, Red Deer, Alberta – elected as UFA 1921, 1925, 1926, 1930 (def as CCF 1935)
- Henry Elvins Spencer – farmer, printer, publisher, Battle River, Alberta – elected as Progressive 1921, 1925, UFA 1926, 1930 (def as CCF 1935)
The modern cooperative
Following the dissolution of its political wing, UFA focused on its commercial operations. UFA entered into a partnership with Maple Leaf Fuels, a subsidiary of Imperial Oil in 1935 to distribute fuel to its members. The next year it began to open retail stations under the Maple Leaf brand across the province.
The first farm supply store opened in Calgary in 1954, and a second in Edmonton in 1957. That same year, UFA bought the assets of Maple Leaf Fuels, giving the co-op greater control over the business.
In 1984, UFA opened its first
UFA has over 120,000 members and with 2007 revenues of over $1.8 billion, UFA is ranked as the 37th largest business in Alberta by revenue according to Alberta Venture magazine.[6]
In March 2009, UFA purchased Wholesale Sports in western Canada, and 15 Sportsman's Warehouse locations throughout the Northwest United States, which it then re-branded as Wholesale Sports.
Locations
F/S = Farm & Ranch Supply
P = Petroleum Agency / Cardlock
Alberta
106: Petro Locations (P) / 34: Farm & Ranch Supply (F/S) / 5: Fertilizer Plants (F/P)
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British Columbia
2: Petro Locations (P) / 0: Farm & Ranch Supply (F/S):
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Saskatchewan
4: Petro Locations (P) / 0: Farm & Ranch Supply (F/S):
See also
Notes
ReferencesExternal links |