Choosing A Social Credit Candidate

Alberta was heading towards one of its most impactful elections in 1935. For the previous three decades, the province had been governed by the Liberals from 1905 to 1921 and then the United Farmers from 1921 onwards.

Vermilion was in a unique position because during that time, two premiers had represented the riding. Arthur Sifton, the second premier in Alberta’s history, represented the riding from 1910 to 1917 when he resigned to become a Member of Parliament. Sifton was not from the area, but was parachuted in after the resignation of Alexander Rutherford in 1910 due to a railway scandal.

Four years Sifton resigned, Richard Gavin Reid was elected as the United Farmers of Alberta representative for the riding. Unlike Sifton, he was from the area and had served as Reeve of Buffalo Coulee for two years. He was also instrumental in founding the Vermilion Municipal Hospital District.

He served in many cabinet positions but on July 10, 1934, he became the premier of Alberta after the resignation of John Brownlee. Brownlee resigned over a sensational sex scandal.

Unfortunately for Reid, the Social Credit Party was rising in power and with the 1935 election, many expected the party to win.

On May 17, 1935, four men put their names forward to become the candidate for the Social Credit Party in the Vermilion riding. There was D. Mark, a local miller, William A. Fallow, the mayor of Vermilion, W. Cornish, a local farmer, and C.J. Kwasnicy, a school teacher.

Of the four, William Fallow was selected as the Social Credit candidate for the riding.

When the 1935 Alberta election came along on Aug. 22, 1935, the United Farmers of Alberta lost every single seat they had in the province. The Social Credit Party, which had no seats before the election, won 56 seats to become the ruling party of Alberta. The party would govern Alberta until 1971.

In the Vermilion Riding, William Fallow won a landslide victory by taking 44.81 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Liberal Arthur Hunter who had 1,062 votes. Reid, the former premier, finished third with only 876 votes and 16.01 per cent of the vote. In 1930, he had won with 2,551 votes but saw a 60 per cent decrease in his share of the vote five years later.

Fallow served as MLA for the area until his death in 1944.

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