There are a number of ways in which Alberta is (or at least was) distinct from the rest of Canada. Politically speaking, the decades-long dominance of the Social Credit Party in Alberta stands out as unusual compared to most of the country. The success of Social Credit points to a related phenomenon in the province, notably the religious distinctiveness of Alberta, at least for most of the 20th century. It was during the Social Credit years that Alberta was known as the “Bible Belt” of Canada..Due to Alberta’s unique political trajectory, during the 1950s the University of Toronto Press published a ten-volume series of academic books entitled “Social Credit in Alberta: Its Background and Development.” One of those volumes was Sect, Cult and Church in Alberta written by sociologist William E. Mann and published in 1955. .In this book, Mann provided an examination of Alberta’s religious uniqueness that contributed to the success of Social Credit in the province. Mann certainly considered Alberta to be different from the other provinces. .As he wrote, “The principal reason for selecting Alberta for this study was its exceptional history of religious non-conformity, a history without contemporary parallel among the provinces of Canada.”.At the time he wrote his book, the premier of Alberta was Ernest Manning. Manning had been the protégé of William “Bible Bill” Aberhart, the founder of the Alberta Social Credit Party and first Social Credit premier. Aberhart was a high school principal, but was best known as a popular Bible teacher in Calgary. He also pioneered the use of radio for evangelistic purposes and had a massive following throughout Alberta and into Saskatchewan. His radio preaching continued during his term as premier, making him both a political and religious leader at the same time..Upon Aberhart’s death in 1943, Manning assumed the premiership of the province as well as control of the radio ministry. In short, during the tenure of the two longest-serving Social Credit premiers, the demarcation between politics and religion wasn’t always clear. Judging by electoral success, most people in Alberta were comfortable with that sort of arrangement..With this in mind, Mann would justify Alberta as the subject of his study by writing that, “Alberta attracted attention not only by the variety of its religious groupings but also by the influential role which sectarian religion had played in political and social developments. In what other province of Canada had two successive premiers been active preachers and leaders in a fundamentalist evangelical movement? In what other province had the party in power maintained close, informal ties for, in 1947, twelve consecutive years with a small, little-known evangelical sect?”.In short, Alberta’s religious landscape was quite different from the rest of Canada, especially with regards to the strength of evangelical Christianity. Mann pointed out that Alberta was the leading province in terms of Bible college education. Furthermore, evangelical Christian influence over the electronic media of the time was even more remarkable: “In the field of religious broadcasting, the province’s sects and cults, together with certain independent ‘evangelical’ ministers, had secured control of air time in a way unparalleled in any other province. As early as the mid-thirties, two evangelical sects had achieved almost complete control of two of the province’s six radio stations. By 1946, in addition to numerous Sunday programmes, two independent evangelists beamed daily half-hour revivalist programmes into every corner of Alberta, winning thousands of listeners. Again, sectarian strength in proportion to the population was quite exceptional.”.To many, the “Bible Belt” descriptor fit. .Of course, not everyone appreciated the conservative religious influence in Alberta. For example, criticism of the relationship between conservative Christianity and the Social Credit government was published in a controversial literary and political journal called Edge which was edited by a University of Alberta (and later Concordia University, Montreal) English professor, Henry Beissel, from 1963 to 1969. .In 1964, Edge published an article arguing that Alberta was ruled by a theocracy. It was written by an American PhD student named Irwin Sperber who was at that time a sessional lecturer at the University of Alberta. .In his article, entitled “Sociological and Ethical Dimensions of Alberta, Part One,” Sperber wrote that, “To speak of ‘politics’ in Alberta is almost a misnomer. There is little serious opposition to the Social Crediters who, for all the ‘loyal oppositionist’ attacks, are entrenched in a monolithic system of theocracy.” .Sperber then went on to compare the Alberta Social Credit regime with the early Puritan settlements of New England and concluded that the “differences between Alberta today and the Calvinist theocracies in early American history are not easily discerned.”.Obviously, the accusation that Alberta was a theocracy was grossly exaggerated, but it helps to illustrate the perception of religious influence in Alberta society and politics at least until the mid-1960s. Alberta was culturally different from the rest of Canada, and the influence of religion in politics was an obvious manifestation of that difference..Clearly, the Alberta of 2020 is not the same as the Alberta of 1964. Conservative Christianity has declined here just as it has throughout Canada and the other Western countries. The days of provincial religious distinctiveness are probably over. .Yet the historical significance of past religious influence is one of the distinctive traits of Alberta. And there are those of us who look back and like much of what we see. Ernest Manning, for example, was a highly esteemed premier for good reason. Behind the scenes—among the current Alberta patriot movement—are a number of conservative Christians who are praying that the best elements of the past will re-emerge in the Alberta of the future..Michael Wagner is a columnist for the Western Standard. He has a PhD in political science from the University of Alberta. His books include ‘Alberta: Separatism Then and Now’ and ‘True Right: Genuine Conservative Leaders of Western Canada.’
