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62-722: Although founded as part of the Canadian social credit movement , promoting social credit policies of monetary reform , the BC Social Credit Party later discarded the ideology and became a political vehicle for fiscal conservatives and later social conservatives in British Columbia. The party collapsed within one term of its 1991 defeat. It was not represented in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia after 1996, and only existed in

124-481: A conflict of interest scandal in 1991, and was succeeded as party leader and premier by Deputy Premier Rita Johnston , who became the first female head of government at the provincial or federal level in Canada. Johnston then defeated McCarthy in the subsequent leadership election and continued as premier. Johnston had been close to Vander Zalm for several years, leading many to believe her selection as leader had been

186-625: A free market party, the Bennett government formed BC Hydro in 1961 by nationalizing the province's largest private hydroelectric concern to make sure that it could not oppose the government's hydroelectric dam construction program. It also formed BC Ferries in 1958, and established the Bank of British Columbia , which was 25% owned by the provincial government. The Social Credit Party would win five more terms in government, each time with fairly large majorities. However, this streak ended in 1972 amid

248-687: A lay Christian group called the " Pilgrims of Saint Michael ", based in Rougemont, Quebec, that promotes social credit monetary policy coupled with conservative Catholicism. The Pilgrims publish The Michael Journal in English and Vers Demain in French. The group is nicknamed "the White Berets" for the headgear worn by members. Even and Côté-Mercier also founded the Union des électeurs in 1939 as

310-621: A Conservative in 1968.) In the 1960s, the Québécois wing of the party split off to form the Ralliement créditiste . The two wings reunited in 1971. The party was left without any parliamentary seats following the 1980 federal election , and thereafter declined into irrelevance, though it nominally continued to exist until 1993. The ideology was embraced by the Reverend William Aberhart ("Bible Bill"), who formed

372-488: A distant third. This left only one Socred in the legislature-- Cliff Serwa from Okanagan West, which contained much of the Bennetts' former territory. Social Credit went into the 1996 provincial election in an extremely precarious position. It had been unable to get its leader into the legislature at any point during the previous session. Even worse, Serwa had announced his retirement, leaving it without any incumbents for

434-609: A gaffe-prone campaign. For instance, Gagliardi suggested that Bennett would stand down after the election, accusing him of being out of touch with "the young people of this province." This led to questions about whether the party had become tired and complacent after 20 years in power. Nonetheless, it came as a shock when Social Credit was heavily defeated by the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) under Dave Barrett , falling to only 10 seats. W. A. C. Bennett's son, Bill Bennett , took over

496-569: A major breakthrough in the 1962 federal election , and remained in the House of Commons under various names until 1980. Social Credit was never able to form a provincial government in Quebec due to the near dominance of social conservative votes by the Union Nationale party from the 1930s into the 1960s. The Social Credit Party, however, soon became a major contender in Quebec for seats to

558-613: A majority a year later. After the minority, and 20 years of majority government, the party was defeated by the New Democratic Party of British Columbia . The NDP served only one term in Government, before the Social Credit Party was returned to office for four more terms of majority government under W. A. C. Bennett's son, Bill Bennett . Bennett was succeeded by Bill Vander Zalm in 1986, but Vander Zalm

620-590: A mistake. Even BC NDP opposition leader Mike Harcourt admitted later that he preferred Johnston over McCarthy, as McCarthy would likely have been a much tougher opponent in an election. Facing a statutory general election in 1991 , Johnston was unable to make up any ground. She also had little time to reunite the party following the bruising leadership contest with McCarthy. Social Credit was roundly defeated, losing almost half of its vote from 1986. Johnston herself lost her own seat to BC NDP challenger Penny Priddy . Furthermore, many moderate Socred supporters defected to

682-532: A nominal fashion after 2001. In 2013, the party was deregistered for failing to nominate more than two candidates in two consecutive provincial elections. The party re-registered in June 2016 to participate in the 2017 election , but only nominated the minimum of two candidates. It did not nominate any candidates in the 2020 election , and was again deregistered as a party on February 1, 2023. Former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell started her political career in

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744-459: A provincial party based on social credit theories and recruited Réal Caouette to the movement. Even and Armand Turpin ran federally as New Democracy candidates in the 1940 federal election , but none was elected. The movement was able to win a post World War II by-election under the Union des électeurs label, with Caouette being sent to the House of Commons of Canada . The Union broke with

806-566: Is a political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. H. Douglas . Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds in English and créditistes in French. It gained popularity and its own political party in the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression . The Western Social Credit League , an outgrowth of Alberta Social Credit, ran candidates in the 1935 federal election taking many votes from

868-571: The 1941 election , no candidates ran under the social credit banner. In the 1945 election, an alliance of social credit groups nominated candidates. None were elected. In the 1949 election, three different social credit groups nominated candidates. None were successful. candidates In subsequent elections, the Social Credit Party of British Columbia emerged as the only social credit party; however, it quickly abandoned social credit theories. Canadian social credit movement Provincial Provincial The Canadian social credit movement

930-770: The 2009 general election . In the 2013 election , Woolsey was the only Socred candidate, again in Vancouver-Hastings, receiving 355 votes. Since British Columbia election law mandates de-registration of parties that run fewer than two candidates in two consecutive elections, the party was deregistered by Election BC on June 7, 2013. However, it had existed in name only since at least 2001. In addition to nominating few or no candidates at all in recent years, its Website had been updated only sporadically since 2005, and hadn't been updated at all since February 2012. Most of its constituency associations had been de-registered in 2008. The Social Credit Party nominated two candidates in

992-689: The 2017 provincial election . Neither were elected, and they only tallied 896 votes between them. It did not field any candidates in the 2020 British Columbia general election and was deregistered in 2023. Eric Buckley left Social Credit in October 2000 to join the British Columbia Party . The party has not had an official leader since then. In the 1937 election, the British Columbia Social Credit League endorsed candidates, but none were elected. In

1054-531: The Alberta Social Credit League in 1934. He added a heavy dose of fundamentalist Christianity to Douglas' social credit theory. Social Credit won the 1935 provincial election in a massive landslide, and Aberhart became Premier of Alberta . His government was probably the only one in the world known to have adhered to the social credit ideology. In fact, following the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt in which Aberhart's government

1116-630: The British Columbia Liberal Party , continuing a trend that dated back to Vander Zalm's tenure. The BC Liberals vaulted from no seats in the legislature to the Official Opposition. The combined effect was to decimate the Socreds, who plunged from a strong majority government to third place with only seven seats–including only five surviving members from Johnston's cabinet. More party infighting occurred as McCarthy

1178-578: The British Columbia Reform Party , leaving Social Credit without official status in the legislature. McCarthy resigned as leader shortly thereafter, and Larry Gillanders was elected to succeed her. After that, Abbotsford MLA Harry de Jong resigned (and briefly contemplated taking up the leadership of the Family Coalition Party ). The BC Liberals took the riding in the ensuing by-election, with Social Credit in

1240-475: The Liberals , a trend that would come back to haunt the party later. This process was exacerbated by Vander Zalm's eccentricity, and the constant scandals that plagued his government. Also, Vander Zalm allowed his principal secretary, David Poole, to amass a substantial amount of power, despite his being unelected. Longtime cabinet minister Grace McCarthy resigned in protest. Vander Zalm was forced to resign in

1302-618: The New Brunswick Legislature, it won 3.1% of the vote in the 1948 provincial election , the party's first. Social Credit also ran candidates in 1952 and 1956 winning 0.5% and 1.6% of the vote respectively. In Manitoba , the party was able to win a few seats in the Legislature, and was the third party in each at various times. From 1936 to 1940, the party supported John Bracken 's minority government , and in 1940 it joined Bracken's coalition government . Of

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1364-625: The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party . It never became a major political apparatus like the Big Blue Machine in Ontario did, as Bennett decided to retire in 1986. All Socred governments attempted to curb the power of trade unions and also limited social welfare spending. Bennett retired in 1986 and was succeeded by Bill Vander Zalm . Under his watch, social conservatives took control of

1426-831: The Progressive Party of Canada and the United Farmers movement. In the 1940 federal election , Socreds ran with supporters of William Duncan Herridge as New Democracy , but reverted to the Social Credit name in subsequent elections with the Social Credit Association of Canada being officially formed in 1944. The party was generally fairly small, and gradually declined. The party won its last federal seats in Alberta in 1965. (SC MP Robert Norman Thompson (Red Deer) went on to be elected as

1488-527: The Social Credit Party of Canada in 1947 over Ernest Manning 's rejection of more orthodox social credit economic theory and his purge of anti-Semites from the social credit movement. The Union held more orthodox views in line with C.H. Douglas 's original economic and political philosophy including a rejection of party politics in the belief that it should be replaced by a non-partisan "union of electors" in which elected officials would implement

1550-517: The Union Nationale in provincial elections. The party formed a provincial wing in 1970, the Ralliement créditiste du Québec , which benefited as the UN declined after the death of Premier Daniel Johnson in 1968. The growth of Quebec separatism stymied the rise of the provincial Créditistes. Although Parti Québécois is a social democratic party, it drew nationalist voters away from

1612-619: The Unity Party , but soon left due to dissatisfaction with the way the party was run. In the 2001 provincial election , what remained of the party ran only two candidates. Grant Mitton achieved a respectable showing in Peace River South , placing second with 1,726 votes (17.4%). The other candidate, party president Carrol Barbara Woolsey, in Vancouver-Hastings , placed 5th of 6 candidates with 222 votes (1.15% of

1674-403: The official opposition with the only significant opposition caucus (14 seats). The British Columbia Liberal Party had a net loss of two of its six seats despite maintaining its 23% share of the popular vote. They lost five of the six seats they had won in 1952, but picked up three new seats. The Progressive Conservative Party lost three of its four seats in the legislature, as its share of

1736-405: The BC Social Credit Party. Prior to 1952, the social credit movement in British Columbia was divided between various factions. The Social Credit League of British Columbia nominated candidates for the first time in the 1937 election , but did not do so in the 1941 election . In the 1945 election , these factions formed an alliance to field 16 candidates, who won a total of 6,627 votes (1.42% of

1798-591: The Canadian Social Credit movement, the Canadian social credit movement developed a strong social conservative tint. The party lost its last MLAs in 1982 and never elected a member again. Although the party was no longer a significant force in Alberta politics, it had some support and briefly experienced a revival around 2005. However, in 2008, the party collapsed to only 0.2 percent of the vote, its worst showing since its founding in 1934. In 2017 it

1860-703: The Créditistes. In the 1970 provincial election , the Liberals took 72 seats, followed by the Union Nationale with 17, and Ralliement créditiste du Québec with 12. The party was riven by internal dissent for the remainder of its history, capturing two seats in the 1973 election , and only one in the 1976 election , the last time a créditiste was elected to the Quebec National Assembly . While Social Credit never won any seats in

1922-509: The Liberals. The collapse of the British Columbia Socreds within only one term of losing power was especially remarkable considering their Alberta counterparts managed to maintain at least a nominal presence in the legislature for a decade after their defeat in 1971. In 2001, at the behest of former leader Vander Zalm–now leader of Reform BC–the Social Credit Party merged with other minor provincial right-wing parties to form

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1984-715: The Social Credit League went into the election under the interim leadership of the Reverend Ernest George Hansell , Member of the federal Parliament for the Alberta riding of Macleod since 1935. Hansell was hand-picked by Alberta premier Ernest Manning , as the Alberta Social Credit Party still dominated their BC sister. However, much to the BC Socreds' own surprise, the party received 200,000 more votes than in

2046-515: The Socreds only in December, doing so with the tacit support of the federal Conservative caucus . The federal Conservatives were displeased that their provincial counterparts had sat out the previous two elections so as not to embarrass their Liberal partners. Nine months into the new term, Bennett deliberately lost a confidence vote in order to force a snap general election in 1953 . At this election, Social Credit won an outright majority. Although

2108-564: The early 1990s as the new "free enterprise" coalition opposing the NDP. The party quickly dwindled into fringe status, and since then has only existed in desultory fashion. It ran only two candidates in the 2001 election . The strongest candidate of the two, Grant Mitton, a former radio talk show host who received 17% of the vote in his riding , later left the party to form the British Columbia Party . The Social Credit party only ran two candidates in 2005 , none in 2009 , and one in 2013 . The party

2170-452: The election, they now found themselves with the task of electing a leader who would become the province's new Premier. Party president Lyle Wicks called a leadership convention at which only elected MLAs could vote. The 19 newly elected Social Credit MLAs chose former BC Conservative MLA W. A. C. Bennett , one of only three Socreds with previous experience in the legislature, to lead the new government over Philip Gaglardi . Bennett had joined

2232-506: The electoral system from first past the post to the alternative vote . The coalition was nervous about the growing popularity of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the forerunner of the NDP. With the expectation that Conservative voters would list the Liberals as their second choice and vice versa, the two parties believed they'd garner enough votes between them to stay in power. Meanwhile,

2294-611: The federal Parliament in the 1960s. Although BC and Alberta would elect a few Social Credit Members of Parliament (MPs) in that decade, it would be Quebec that maintained the party's national presence after 1962. Social Credit remained dominant in the other two provinces in provincial elections. In the 1962 election , Social Credit won 26 of 75 seats in Quebec, beating the Progressive Conservative Party . They continued to finish in second place in terms of federal seats from Quebec until their last MPs fell with

2356-406: The federal Social Credit Party as many supporters of the federal Liberals and Conservatives joined it. While Bennett made sporadic appearances for the federal Socreds, their relationship was tenuous at best. Finally, in 1971, the BC Socreds formally severed their ties to the federal Socreds in order to make it easier for staunch Tories and Liberals to support it at the provincial level. Despite being

2418-461: The federal party in 1972 when the fascist Western Guard succeeded in taking control. The party continued as a registered party into the 1980s, not running candidates in the 1977 election and running only 5 candidates with interim leader John Turmel in the 1981 election. It was defunct by 1985. Other political parties have also promoted social credit principles, including John Turmel 's Christian Credit Party and Abolitionist Party of Canada , and

2480-415: The first time on September 15, 1953. The minority government formed in 1952 by the conservative Social Credit party of Premier W.A.C. Bennett lasted only nine months before new elections were called. Social Credit was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a second term in government with almost 38% of the popular vote. The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation formed

2542-545: The first time since 1952. Gillanders took part in the leaders' debate, but pulled out of the campaign just before the vote and urged all non-socialist parties to present a united front against the BC NDP. The Social Credit Party was completely shut out of the legislature, garnering only 0.6 percent of the vote. At this point, the party was largely considered a dead force in BC politics, with most of its remaining members joining Reform or

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2604-703: The largest conservative party in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 on. In 2000 Reform dissolved to rebrand as the Canadian Alliance . In 2003 the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the modern Conservative Party of Canada . This series of parties shared some conservative and populist appeal with the Social Credit parties but never adopted social credit monetary policies. The Canadian Action Party had monetary reform policies in its platform, but

2666-458: The leadership of the party in 1973. The younger Bennett modernized the party and abandoned populism. Instead, the party became a coalition of federal Liberals , Christian conservatives from the province's Bible Belt, and fiscal conservatives from the corporate sector with the latter firmly in control. Bill Bennett led the Socreds back to power at the 1975 election , mainly by dominating the province outside of Vancouver. The younger Bennett, for

2728-419: The minority government of Joe Clark in 1980. The most Social Credit ever captured in terms of the Quebec popular vote was 27.3% federally, and 11.2% provincially. The Quebec wing of the movement broke from the rest of the party in 1963 to form its own Quebec-only federal Social Credit party, the Ralliement des créditistes . As a social conservative party, the party generally attracted voters who supported of

2790-534: The most part, eschewed the megaprojects of the elder Bennett (with the exception of Expo 86 and the Coquihalla Highway ), and embraced a fiscally conservative program. As a result, the party built up a small political engine that managed to win two more terms in 1979 and 1983 general elections , in spite of Bennett's controversial "Restraint" program. This was nicknamed the "Baby Blue Machine", and consisted of political advisors primarily imported from

2852-464: The movement came when former Tory W. A. C. Bennett was elected leader of the League in 1951. Bennett joined in order to use the party as a political vehicle. He quickly jettisoned the original ideology, and reorganized the party into the conservative populist British Columbia Social Credit Party . Social Credit's first government in British Columbia was a very small minority , but they were elected to

2914-423: The party held third party status. Social Credit was never able to win more than 16% of the popular vote. In Ontario , the party unsuccessfully ran candidates in most provincial elections from 1945 until 1975, never obtaining electoral support beyond a negligible level. The party faced serious divisions in the 1940s, 1960s and early 1970s due to attempted takeovers by fascist groups and was put in trusteeship by

2976-611: The party was ostensibly the British Columbia wing of the Canadian social credit movement , Bennett jettisoned the old ideology, remembering that the Alberta Socreds had tried and failed to implement it soon after winning their first term in government. Instead, he converted it into a populist conservative party. It became a political vehicle to unite opponents of the CCF in hopes of shutting it out of power. The BC Social Credit Party drifted away from both social credit theories and from

3038-421: The party; Vander Zalm himself was a member of the social conservative wing. Vander Zalm easily led the Socreds to a fourth consecutive term in government in the election later that year . Although it was not apparent at the time, the downfall of the party began almost as soon as Vander Zalm took the premiership. Many moderate Socreds were dissatisfied at the party's social conservative turn. They began drifting to

3100-421: The popular will. Caouette ran for re-election as a union des electeurs candidate and lost his seat in the 1949 federal election . Caouette continued to run in elections unsuccessfully through the 1950s over the objections of Even and Côté-Mercier and split with them on May 4, 1958 to form Ralliement des créditistes as the Quebec wing of the Social Credit Party of Canada with himself as leader. It achieved

3162-475: The previous election and garnered enough vote transfers to become the largest party in the legislature. It took 19 seats, one more than the CCF, while the Liberals and Conservatives were practically wiped out. The Socreds persuaded an independent Labour Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to support them, allowing them to form a minority government . As not even the Socreds expected to win

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3224-407: The provincial total). This alliance broke down before the 1949 election , and three separate groups nominated candidates: Collectively, they nominated 28 candidates, who won a total of 14,326 votes, 2.05% of the popular vote in that election. For the 1952 provincial election , the coalition government between the British Columbia Liberal Party and British Columbia Conservative Party reformed

3286-447: The short-lived Canada Party . The Global Party of Canada also appears to promote social credit economic policies. The Reform Party of Canada was founded in 1987 originally as a populist political vehicle for Western Canadian alienation with the federal government and national parties. Reform Party founder and leader Preston Manning was the son of former Alberta Social Credit Party leader Ernest Manning . The Reform Party became

3348-408: The ten elections from 1936–1973, the party won seats in seven. In the 1936 provincial election , Social Credit finished third, and in the 1941 provincial election , it tied for third. However, Social Credit never won more than 14% of the popular vote. In Saskatchewan , Social Credit won seats in the Legislature in two elections – 2 seats in the 1938 election , and 3 in the 1956 election . In 1956,

3410-455: The theory while keeping the Social Credit name. He also purged the party of anti-Semites; although antisemitism had long been part of the party's populist rhetoric, it fell out of fashion after World War II . The Alberta Socreds formed nine consecutive majority governments spanning 36 years, the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial level at the time. Largely due to Manning's leadership and to Alberta's powerful influence within

3472-563: The total). The party hadn't had a full-time leader since 2000; Mitton was the de facto leader during the campaign. Mitton left to become leader of the British Columbia Party , leaving Woolsey as de facto party leader. In the 2005 election , only two Socreds filed: Woolsey, who won 254 votes (1.28% of the total) in Vancouver-Hastings, and Anthony Yao, who won 225 votes (0.95% of the total) in Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain . The party did not field any candidates in

3534-558: Was de-registered shortly afterward. It regained its registration in 2016, but after running only two candidates in the 2017 provincial election and none in 2020 , the party lost its registration again in 2023. The movement also caught on in Quebec in part because of the work of Louis Even who translated social credit literature into French, wrote his own articles on the subject and published and circulated periodicals to promote social credit theories. He and Gilberte Côté-Mercier founded

3596-403: Was elected to replace Johnston. McCarthy didn't get a chance to get into the legislature until February 1994, when she ran in a by-election for Matsqui , a longtime Socred stronghold. She lost to Liberal Mike de Jong by fewer than 100 votes. After McCarthy's by-election loss, Social Credit collapsed with dramatic speed. Four of the seven Social Credit MLAs elected in 1991 left the party to join

3658-419: Was forced to resign in 1991 in favour of Rita Johnston . The Social Credit government was defeated by the NDP in the 1991 election , and was knocked down to third place. The party collapsed in the 1996 election when it failed to win a single seat in the legislature, and received only 0.4% of votes cast. Many of the party's mainstream members left to join the British Columbia Liberal Party , which emerged in

3720-534: Was not considered to be a social credit party. 1953 British Columbia general election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit The 1953 British Columbia general election was the 24th general election in the Province of British Columbia , Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia . The election was called on April 10, 1953, and held on June 9, 1953. The new legislature met for

3782-500: Was pressured to implement its fiscal program, he once tried to implement social credit by issuing " prosperity certificates " to Albertans. This measure was disallowed by the Supreme Court of Canada on the basis that only the federal government was authorized to issue currency. Aberhart died in office in 1943, and was replaced by Ernest Manning . Although Manning had been an early supporter of Social Credit, he largely abandoned

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3844-704: Was renamed to the Pro-Life Alberta Political Association, which has only tenuous connections to its social credit heritage. In the 1930s and 1940s, the social credit movement in British Columbia was largely fractious, and made up of various small groups, the largest of which being the Social Credit League. The British Columbian movement was largely at odds with the Albertan wing and sought to distance itself from William Aberhart's religious preaching. The effective death of

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