Arthur Johnson Dixon CM (December 1, 1919 – February 5, 2007) was a real estate and insurance agent, and a former member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

from 1952 to 1975 sitting with the Social Credit caucus in government and opposition. During his time in office Dixon served as the Speaker of the Alberta Legislature from 1963 to 1972.

Political career

Dixon ran for public office for the first time in the

1949 Canadian federal election The 1949 Canadian federal election was held June 27, 1949, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 21st Canadian Parliament, 21st Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Canada was re-elected with its fourth consecutive gove ...

. He stood as a federal

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

candidate in the electoral district of

Calgary West Calgary West was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, and from 1979 to 2015. It was in the western part of the City of Calgary. The electoral district was or ...

. Dixon was defeated finishing in third place in the three way race to incumbent

Arthur LeRoy Smith Arthur LeRoy Smith Sr. (February 13, 1886 – December 17, 1951) was a Canadian barrister, inventor and federal politician. He was born in Regina, Northwest Territories. Smith first ran for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as a C ...

. Three years later he tried again to win a seat in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

by contesting the by-election held on December 10, 1951. He again finished in third place losing to Progressive Conservative candidate

Carl Nickle Lieutenant Carl Olof Nickle (July 12, 1914 in Winnipeg, Manitoba – December 5, 1990) was an editor and publisher, oil baron, soldier in the Canadian Army and served as a Canadian federal politician from 1951 to 1957. Nickle served a nine-ye ...

. A year later Dixon attempt to win a seat to the Alberta Legislature. He stood as a candidate in the

1952 Alberta general election The 1952 Alberta general election was held on August 5, 1952, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ernest C. Manning in his third election as leader of the Social Credit Party, and its first election since the Social Credit ...

and won the third place seat as a provincial

candidate in the electoral district of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. Dixon ran for a second term in office in the 1955 provincial election. He held his seat winning the sixth and final seat in the district. The Calgary electoral district was abolished in the 1959 boundary redistribution. Dixon ran for his third term in office in the new single member electoral district of Calgary South East for the

1959 Alberta general election The 1959 Alberta general election was held on June 18, 1959, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ernest C. Manning, in his fifth election as party leader and provincial premier, led the Social Credit Party to its seventh c ...

. He defeated three other candidates including two Calgary Alderman Ernest Starr and

Peter Petrasuk Peter Petrasuk (July 12, 1926 – April 11, 2016) was a Canadian businessman, former lawyer, and former politician. Petrasuk changed his name to Peter Peterson following his criminal conviction. Early life Born in Ukraine in 1926, Petrasuk came ...

to pick up the district for his party. Dixon became Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, after the death of Peter Dawson. He ran for re-election in the

1963 Alberta general election The 1963 Alberta general election was held on June 17, 1963, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, won its eighth consecutive term in government, winning roughly the same nu ...

. Calgary South East was abolished, causing Dixon to run for re-election in the new district of Calgary South. He defeated two other candidates to easily hold his seat. After the election Dixon continued with the confidence of the Assembly to remain as Speaker. He ran for a fifth term in the

1967 Alberta general election The 1967 Alberta general election was held on May 23, 1967, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 16th Alberta Legislature. The election was called after the 15th Alberta Legislature was prorogued on April 11, 1967, an ...

. In that race he defeated three other candidates including future

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...

with under half the popular vote to hold his seat. Calgary South was abolished in the 1971 boundary re-distribution. Dixon ran for re-election in the new electoral district of

Calgary-Millican Calgary-Millican was a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1971 to 1993. History The Calgary-M ...

for the

1971 Alberta general election The 1971 Alberta general election was the seventeenth general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on August 30, 1971, to elect seventy-five members of the Alberta Legislature The Alberta Legislature is the unicameral legislatur ...

. He managed to easily hold his seat, defeating three other candidates including star candidate

Norman Kwong Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a Canadian professional Canadian football, football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks, Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football L ...

. As a result of the 1971 election the Social Credit government was swept out of power. Dixon was not returned as speaker of the Assembly when the legislature re-opened in 1972. Dixon remained a private member in opposition. He ran for re-election in the

1975 Alberta general election The 1975 Alberta general election was held on March 26, 1975, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 18th Alberta Legislature. The election was called on February 14, 1975 prorogued and dissolved of the 17th Alberta Leg ...

but was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Thomas Donnelly finishing a distant second place in the six way race. Dixon attempted to win his seat back in the

1979 Alberta general election The 1979 Alberta general election was held on March 14, 1979, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which had been expanded to 79 seats. The Progressive Conservative Party of Peter Lougheed won its third consecutive term in ...

. He once again finished a distant second place, this time to David Carter.

Late life

Dixon founded ''Dixon Real Estate Services Inc.'' while still working as an MLA in 1956. He managed the company until 1990 when his son Tom Dixon took over the business. Dixon was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

on June 25, 1979. In 2000, Dixon founded the William Aberhart Historical Foundation after being encouraged to do so by former Alberta Lieutenant Governor

Grant MacEwan John Walter Grant MacEwan (August 12, 1902 – June 15, 2000) was a Canadian farmer, professor at the University of Saskatchewan, dean (education), Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Membe ...

."Foundation Puts Bible Bill's Legacy Into Perspective" David Bly, Calgary Herald November 16, 2001. Dixon returned to the Alberta Legislature in 2006 with

Nick Dushenski Nick William Dushenski (September 4, 1920 – February 13, 2009) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1959 sitting as an MLA with the opposition Co-operative ...

and

Raymond Reierson Raymond Reierson (October 7, 1919 – January 30, 2020) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1952 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit caucus in government. Reierson held numerous portf ...

as the most senior members at the 100th Anniversary celebration of the Alberta Legislature. He died a year later on February 5, 2007. Dixon was a

Christian Scientist Activists, politicians, and military figures Activists *Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (1882-1985) – Native American singer and activist * Bonnie Carroll – President and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) *Henry ...

, and a long-time member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Calgary.

References

Bibliography

External links

Alberta Legislative Assembly Membership ListingWilliam Aberhart Historical Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Arthur 1919 births 2007 deaths Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Social Credit Party of Canada candidates in the 1949 Canadian federal election Members of the Order of Canada Alberta Social Credit Party MLAs Canadian Christian Scientists 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta