Joseph Henry Unwin (September 15, 1892 – January 4, 1987) was a politician from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. He served in 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 1935 to 1940 as a member of the Social Credit Party.

1935 election

Unwin ran in the

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farme ...

as the Social Credit candidate in the electoral district of Edson. He defeated incumbent Labor Party member Christopher Pattinson and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate J.S. Cowper. The Alternative Voting system was in use to ensure majority representation. No candidate received majority on the First Count in the three-way race. The elimination of third place Labour candidate Chris Pattinson meant that about 700 votes were exhausted as they did not bear any back-up preferences. Unwin then was found to have a majority of votes still in play to win the seat. Unwin's party formed the provincial government and he served as a backbencher in the Legislative Assembly.

The "Bankers' Toadies" leaflet

In 1937 the Social Credit government was having problems in trying to implement its

monetary policies Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability (normally interpreted as a low and stable rat ...

. Premier

William Aberhart William Aberhart (December 30, 1878 – May 23, 1943), also known as "Bible Bill" for his radio sermons about the Bible, was a Canadian politician and the seventh premier of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1943. He was the founder and first le ...

, frustrated over increasing newspaper criticism, attempted to enact legislation that would have forced newspapers to print rebuttals to stories that the government found objectionable. As frustration rose, Unwin and government advisor George Powell created what became known as the "Bankers' Toadies" leaflet. The leaflet, produced as an official publication of the Alberta government, urged members of the public to "exterminate" prominent bankers and politicians who were standing in the way of Social Credit monetary reform. Among those listed were

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

William Griesbach and Conservative Party leader

David Milwyn Duggan David Milwyn Duggan (May 5, 1879 – May 4, 1942) was a Welsh-born Canadian politician who was the Mayor of Edmonton from 1920 to 1923, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and a leader of the Conservative Party of Alberta. Early l ...

. Powell and Unwin were arrested and charged with libel and counseling murder. Their trial became known as the Bankers' Toadies trial. Unwin was convicted and sentenced to hard labor.

Defeat

After the highly publicized trial, Unwin ran for a second term in the 1940 general election. He was defeated by Labor candidate Angus James Morrison. He did not return to provincial politics.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unwin, Joseph Alberta Social Credit Party MLAs 1892 births 1987 deaths British emigrants to Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta