"The BC Legislature did not have a Hansard in the
WAC
Bennett era, so likely the only record of what
Chant
was trying to put across in his annual 'A+B'
lecture
might be found in the archives of one of the
newspapers that had correspondents in the
Legislative
press gallery."
------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
But surely there would have been transcripts
and
records of the proceedings? Here in Texas we have
them for the state legislature going back to when
it
was the Congress of the Republic of Texas,
1836-1845.
Not always in neat published volumes, but in
archives
somewhere, available to researchers. The WAC Bennett
era was not that long ago. Legislatures have always
been filled with lawyers and lawyers love
transcripts.
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message---------------------
Bill,
William Chant had the unique distinction of
having
been a MLA and Cabinet Minister in Premier
Aberhart's
first Alberta Social Credit government, and then,
much
later on, a MLA and Cabinet Minister for many years
in
WAC Bennett's BC Social Credit League
government.
In the second Appendix to Douglas's "The
Alberta
Experiment" he is listed as Aberhart's Minister
of
Agriculture. I believe there was some
'dissention in
the ranks' during Aberhart's first term in office,
and
he resigned from Cabinet, and possibly his seat in
the
Alberta Legislature, too.
Whether this was over the 'progress', (or lack
of
same), towards trying to bring in Douglas
'social
credit' in Alberta, (before Byrne came out
from
England), or over some other matter, I really
don't
know.
Wally may have more information on that. Chant
subsequently left Alberta and moved to BC in any
case.
In BC, Chant was Bennett's Minister of Public
Works
for many years. This became a somewhat minor
portfolio in that era, the responsibilities for
public
highways having been transferred by Bennett to
a
separate Ministry of Highways, long under the
control
of the Rev. Philip A Gaglardi. Who was an exteremly
effective Minister, easily the most popular in
WAC
Bennett's Cabinet, until one scandal too many
caught
up with him. Gaglardi wouldn't have known the
first
thing about Douglas 'social credit', but he built
some
tremendous highways and was a tremendous
'populist'
and orator.
Chant, along with a number of other Ministers in
the
WAC Bennett regime, ones who may well have had a
much
better understanding of 'social credit',
(Eric Martin, Lyle Wicks, and a few others),
were
often regarded as sort of political
'seat-warmers'.
The real 'power' in the running of their
respective
Ministries resided with Premier WAC Bennett.
The BC Legislature did not have a Hansard in the
WAC
Bennett era, so likely the only record of what
Chant
was
trying to put across in his annual 'A+B' lecture
might be found in the archives of one of the
newspapers that had correspondents in the
Legislative
press gallery. If any of them qouted correctly
and
printed at any length what he was actually on
about.
Which, considering the attitude of the press
towards
'Social Credit' here at that time, I seriously
doubt.
David Mitchell wrote a comprehensive biography
and
history of the WAC Bennett era, and was, long
after
WAC had passed from the scene, briefly a BC MLA
(BC
Liberal Party) himself.
Joe
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