John Brownlee - John Edward Brownlee, Premiership of John Brownlee, John Brownlee Sex Scandal, John Brownlee as Attorney-General of Alberta (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 32. Chapters: John Edward Brownlee, Premiership of John Brownlee, John Brownlee sex scandal, John Brownlee as Attorney-General of Alberta. Excerpt: John Edward Brownlee (August 27, 1883 - July 15, 1961) was the fifth Premier of Alberta, Canada from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's Victoria College before moving west to Calgary to become a lawyer. His clients included the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA); through his connection with that lobby group, he was involved in the founding of the United Grain Growers (UGG). After the UFA became politicized and won the 1921 election, new premier Herbert Greenfield asked Brownlee to serve as his attorney-general. Brownlee agreed, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in a by-election in the riding of Ponoka. As attorney-general, he was an important advisor to Greenfield and the rest of government. He was closely involved in the government's most important activities, including its efforts to better the lot of farmers living in Alberta's drought-ridden south, divest itself of money-losing railways, and have authority over natural resources transferred to it from the federal government. When a group of UFA backbenchers grew frustrated with Greenfield's weak leadership, they asked Brownlee to replace him. Brownlee eventually reluctantly agreed, and became premier in 1925. Brownlee enjoyed considerable early success as premier: he handily won the 1926 election, signed an agreement with the federal government that transferred control over Alberta's natural resources to its provincial government, sold the railways to the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railway companies, and ran a series of balanced budgets. Things became more difficult with the advent of the Great Depression. Brownlee fou...