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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-03-04, Page 5Wednesday, March 4, 2015 • Huron Expositor 5 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com 'Bible Bill' Aberhart: rural radical, Seaforth grad Stolid, staid and traditional Huron County has been home to some of the most radical figures in Canadian his- tory. In 1837, Colonel Anthony VanEgmond would throw in his lot with rebel forces and die a traitor's death in a Toronto jail. In 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, William Aberhart rode the crest of prai- rie anger at the federal govern- ment into the Alberta premier's office. He became the first Social Credit premier in Cana- dian history. Nearly every Aberhart biogra- phy contains the phrase he "was born on a farm near Kippen" on December 30, 1878. He spent his formative years attending Seaforth Collegiate Institute. A rare school rugby team photograph shows Aberhart as a handsome young man, with an athletic build and an almost patrician demeanor. He became a teacher in a one - room schoolhouse in Morris Township by the time he was 19. At 26, he was appointed principal at the Brantford Cen- tral Public School. After graduating from Queen's University in 1911, he moved his family to Calgary, Alberta to become a principal in one of that city's fastest growing schools. In Calgary, Aberhart and his wife were for- mally baptized into the Baptist church. They soon became prominent leaders in that denominations' evangelical wing. Aberhart's bible study classes were so popular that they had to be moved to down- town Calgary's 2,000 seat Huron History David Yates Palace Theatre. Every Sunday, he preached to capacity crowds until he became premier. However, it was the advent of the new medium of radio that Aberhart hit his stride. Remem- bering his youth and early teaching years in remote rural southern Ontario, Aberhart was quick to see radio's tremendous potential in breaking down the loneliness and isolation of prai- rie living. Calgary's CFCN radio began to broadcast Aberhart's Back to the Bible Hour. It was a mixture of folk wisdom, revivalism and politics. His voice was carried into homes across the Cana- dian prairies and American mid -west. For a public new to radio, 'Bible Bill' was a wel- come weekly visitor into their living rooms. Aberhart found his calling as a pioneer radio evangelist. Money raised from his radio broadcast founded the Calgary Pro- phetic Bible Institute in 1927. 'Bible Bill' as he was now known combined his life's two main interests, education and religion, as he became the institute's first dean. However, the onset of the economic catastrophe known letters to the editor Another unnecessary gift from Mr.Harper to those who need it the (east Dear editor, Mr. Harper>s most recent pre-election tax break proposal allows Canadians to double their TSFA contributions to $11,000 per year. as the Great Depression would arouse Aberhart to political activism. His listening audi- ence, the hard-working prairie farmers, were devastated by the economic collapse. At the depression's depth, almost half of Alberta's popula- tion was collecting relief pay- ments. In neighbouring Sas- katchewan, more than 80 per cent of the farms went 'bust' in the dustbowl '30s. Traditional political solutions to the crisis were not work- ing. Bible Bill would become a political radical on a messianic mission to save the country. He rejected mainstream Liberal and Conservative politics but could not embrace the Social- ism of fellow Baptist Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan. Equally suspicious of the power of big business and athe- istic Socialism, Aberhart used his radio pulpit to promote the economic theories of Major Clifford Douglas' 'Social Credit.' Damning both the corporate greed of the Canadian banking system and the Socialist demand to confiscate private businesses, Aberhart argued that the government should guarantee every family a $25 monthly allowance to increase their purchasing power. Aberhart's inflammatory ser- mons broadcast over the air- waves of western Canada ignited a firestorm of political upheaval. His anti-establish- ment rhetoric combined with a zealous respect for biblical val- ues appealed to the rising tide of western Canadian anger. The discontented and This proposal is an unnecessary gift to the financially privileged members of our soci- ety. Furthermore, this most recent tax break, together with an earlier pre election tax break, which allowed two parent families to income split for income tax purposes, is another pro- posed change in tax laws which benefits those who least need a reduction in taxes. Numerous needy Canadians, who live below the poverty line, are neglected by such proposed legislation. As a family physi- cian, I have witnessed first hand how pov- Submitted. 'Bible Bill' Aberhart c. 1943 impoverished prairie masses had found their Elijah. In the 1935 Alberta provincial election, Aberhart's Social Credit Parry won a stunning landslide victory, winning all but five of the provincial legislature's 63 seats. No one was more surprised than Aberhart. Strangely, he did not even run for a seat, even though he was leader of the party. He had to be acclaimed in a later by-election. Aberhart's legislative agenda was revolutionary. He immediately drafted bills that would put banks and the money supply under provincial control. Aberhart began fulfilling his promise to issue $25 credit vouchers to each household. Not surprisingly, the Social Credit agenda was on a colli- sion course with the federal government. Responsibility for banks and printing money belonged to Ottawa. Many of Aberhart's laws were over- turned by the courts. So alarmed was Prime Minis- ter King about prairie radical- ism that he seriously discussed Aberhart's removal with the erty can adversely affect the health of Cana- dian children and their families. Secondly, it is a tax break which current and future taxpayers can ill afford. Last week, a report from the federal Parliamentary Budget Office projected that, if the proposed changes to the TSFA rules were imple- mented, the federal government would lose $14.7 billion in revenue ayear and that the provinces would lose $7.6 billion a year in revenue by the year 2060. For 2015, the pro- jected cost of the changes to the TSFA rules lieutenant -governor. Bible Bill's popularity and the fear of fur- ther inflaming prairie rage forced King to reject the idea. Other elements in the Aber - hart program were just plain bizarre. True to his rural devoutly Protestant Huron County roots, Aberhart was a teetotaler. After prohibition, he reluctantly allowed the sale of beer and whiskey but not vodka. Odorless vodka could not be detected so its sale was banned in Alberta. Laws enforcing the segrega- tion of the sexes in drinking establishments were strictly enforced. It was the law of the land that if a husband and wife wanted to go out for a drink they would enter separate doors to separate rooms and not see each other until it was time to leave. Aberhart believed that no man would go home if he could enjoy a meal at the bar so places that sold liquor were not permitted to sell food. Yet, despite Aberhart's popular- ity, a dark side brewed beneath the surface as laws that would have restricted free speech were also disallowed. Social Credit's hostility to the banking system also carried shades of anti-Semi- tism although Aberhart, himself, never engaged in anti-Semitic demagoguery. Amazingly, Aberhart won a second resounding majority. His sudden death in 1943 while in office ended the career of one the most successful radi- cals in Canadian history. Wil- liam 'Bible Bill' Aberhart went far for someone who was 'born on a farm near Kippen. by this proposal to federal and provincial gov- ernments is estimated to be $1.3 billion. Hopefully, concerned and compassionate Canadians will oppose Mr. Harper>s most recent planned changes to taxation law. Changes which fail to address the plight of the most needy in our midst. Respectfully submitted, Jim Hollingworth, MD. Goderich.