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

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, 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. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from sing ...

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 Christopher Pattinson (January 16, 1885 – January 17, 1958) was a Canadian provincial politician from Alberta. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1926 to 1935 sitting with the Dominion Labor Party caucus in oppos ...

and Liberal 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 control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, ofte ...

. Premier

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

, 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 chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

William Griesbach and Conservative Party leader David Milwyn Duggan. 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 Angus James Morrison (August 30, 1900 – October 26, 1952) was provincial-level politician in Alberta, Canada. Morrison was an active trade unionist and president of District 18 of the United Mine Workers.http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/ ...

. 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