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==Trial==
==Trial==


Aberhart, who was Attorney-General besides being Premier, tried to prevent the trial from proceeding by withdrawing the [[Crown prosecutor]] from the trial. Either trial judge [[William Carlos Ives]]<ref name="Elliott 274">Elliott 274</ref> or a [[justice of the peace]]<ref>Brenna 54</ref> countered by appointing a private prosecutor so the case could go ahead. Both defendants were held on $20,000 [[bail]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/criminal/bankerstoadies/bankerstoadies_significance.htm |title=Bankers' Toadies: Significance |accessdate=October 23, 2009 |publisher=Alberta Online Encyclopedia}}</ref>
On October 27, both men appeared before police magistrate A. Gibson for their [[preliminary hearing]]s on the criminal libel charge (the counselling to murder charge had been dropped). Unwin opted for a [[jury trial]], while Powell chose to be tried by judge alone.

On October 27, both men appeared before police magistrate A. Gibson for their [[preliminary hearing]]s on the criminal libel charge (the counselling to murder charge had been dropped). Unwin opted for a [[jury trial]], while Powell chose to be tried by judge alone. Unwin's trial proceeded first. He testified that he had ordered the pamphlets, which were paid for by the government, and then circulated circulated as a publication of the "United Democrats", a fictitious organization that listed its address as that of Unwin's home. According to Unwin, the leaflet's text, minus the named individuals, had been provided to him by Powell, and that he had sent it to the printer's in exactly that form and was surprised to see the names of individuals printed on the final version.<ref name="Elliott 274"/> Though his testimony was vague and apparently evasive,<ref name="inside">{{cite web |url=http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/criminal/bankerstoadies/bankerstoadies_trial_courtroom.htm |title=Bankers' Toadies: Inside the courtroom |accessdate=October 23, 2009 |publisher=Alberta Online Encyclopedia}}</ref> he admitted to destroying 4,000 copies of the leaflet on the day of the police raid.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/criminal/bankerstoadies/bankerstoadies_trial_courthouse.htm |title=Bankers' Toadies: Outside the courtroom |accessdate=October 23, 2009 |publisher=Alberta Online Encyclopedia}}</ref> The jury convicted him and Ives, dismissing his role in the affair as that of an "errand boy", sentenced him to three months hard labour.<ref>Brennan 54</ref>

Powell's trial proceeded immediately after Unwin's, and his testimony contradicted much of what Unwin had said. Powell claimed that Unwin had put the list of names on the pamphlet,<ref name="Elliott 274"/> and that Powell had expected that it would list organizations rather than individuals.<ref name="inside"/> Ives found Unwin's testimony more credible, convicted Powell, and sentenced him to six months hard labour. He also recommended that he be deported following his sentence.<ref name="Elliott 274"/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 19:08, 23 October 2009

The Bankers' Toadies incident took place in 1937 in Alberta, Canada when a pamphlet was discovered advocating the "extermination" of nine men identified as "Bankers' Toadies". As a result, Joseph Unwin, Social Credit Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and George Frederick Powell, advisor to the Social Credit Board were charged with criminal libel and counselling to murder. Both were convicted of the former charge and sentenced to prison.

Background

William Aberhart's Social Credit League won a substantial victory in the 1935 Alberta provincial election on the strength of its promise to implement social credit, an economic theory proposed by British engineer C. H. Douglas.[1] Social credit held that the poverty of the Great Depression was in part the fault of bankers, who kept the cost of credit, and by extension of production, high.[2] Aberhart's solution involved, among other things, monthly "credit dividends" to Albertans in the amount of C$25.[3]

By 1937, Aberhart's failure to implement these dividends or make other progress towards implementing social credit made many of his backbenchers suspect that he was either unwilling or incapable of doing so. This belief, combined with a suspicion that he didn't properly understand Douglas's theories, led to the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt.[4] One outcome of the revolt was Aberhart's ceding a number of the government's powers to the Social Credit Board, made up of five Social Credit backbenchers.[5] Glenville MacLachlan, chair of the Social Credit Board, travelled to the United Kingdom where he asked Douglas to come to Alberta and serve as its advisor. Douglas declined, but in his stead sent two of his lieutenants, L. D. Byrne and George Frederick Powell.[6]

In response to what they saw as the radically anti-business views of the Aberhart government and the Social Credit Board, Alberta's mainstream opposition parties—chiefly the Liberals and the Conservatives—began to cooperate under the auspices of the newly formed People's League.[7]

Leaflet

In October 1937, Conservative leader David Duggan rose in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to draw its attention to a pamphlet distributed in and around the legislature building that called for his "extermination".[8] The front of the leaflet read as follows:

My child, you should NEVER say hard or unkind things about Bankers' Toadies. God made snakes, slugs, snails and other creepy-crawly, treacherous, and poisonous things. NEVER, therefore, abuse them—just exterminate them! And to prevent all evasion demand the RESULT you want—$25.00 a month and a lower cost to live.[9]

The back of the pamphlet listed nine men identified as "toadies". Besides Duggan, they were

  • S. W. Field, lawyer and president of the People's League
  • H. H. Parlee, lawyer and president of the Liberals' Edmonton constituency association
  • John Lymburn, lawyer, member of the People's League, and former Attorney-General of Alberta
  • H. R. Milner, lawyer and president of the Conservatives' Edmonton constituency association
  • G. D. Hunt, investment broker
  • L. Y. Cairns, lawyer, member of the Conservatives' provincial executive
  • G. W. Auxier, lawyer and secretary of the People's League
  • William Antrobus Griesbach, lawyer, member of the Canadian Senate, former member of the Canadian House of Commons, and former mayor of Edmonton[10]

Below this list of names were the words "Exterminate Them. And to prevent all Evasion, Demand the Result You Want—$25.00 a MONTH and a lower cost to live."[10]

On October 3, the police raided the Social Credit League's Edmonton office and seized 4,000 copies of the pamphlet.[8] Griesbach pressed charges against Powell and Social Credit whip Joseph Unwin for criminal libel and counselling to murder.[11]

Trial

Aberhart, who was Attorney-General besides being Premier, tried to prevent the trial from proceeding by withdrawing the Crown prosecutor from the trial. Either trial judge William Carlos Ives[12] or a justice of the peace[13] countered by appointing a private prosecutor so the case could go ahead. Both defendants were held on $20,000 bail.[14]

On October 27, both men appeared before police magistrate A. Gibson for their preliminary hearings on the criminal libel charge (the counselling to murder charge had been dropped). Unwin opted for a jury trial, while Powell chose to be tried by judge alone. Unwin's trial proceeded first. He testified that he had ordered the pamphlets, which were paid for by the government, and then circulated circulated as a publication of the "United Democrats", a fictitious organization that listed its address as that of Unwin's home. According to Unwin, the leaflet's text, minus the named individuals, had been provided to him by Powell, and that he had sent it to the printer's in exactly that form and was surprised to see the names of individuals printed on the final version.[12] Though his testimony was vague and apparently evasive,[15] he admitted to destroying 4,000 copies of the leaflet on the day of the police raid.[16] The jury convicted him and Ives, dismissing his role in the affair as that of an "errand boy", sentenced him to three months hard labour.[17]

Powell's trial proceeded immediately after Unwin's, and his testimony contradicted much of what Unwin had said. Powell claimed that Unwin had put the list of names on the pamphlet,[12] and that Powell had expected that it would list organizations rather than individuals.[15] Ives found Unwin's testimony more credible, convicted Powell, and sentenced him to six months hard labour. He also recommended that he be deported following his sentence.[12]

References

  • Barr, John J. (1974). The Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Social Credit in Alberta. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited. ISBN 077101015X.
  • Brennan, Brian (2008). The Good Steward: The Ernest C. Manning Story. Calgary, Alberta: Fifth House Ltd. ISBN 978-1-897252-16-1.
  • Elliott, David R.; Miller, Iris (1987). Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart. Edmonton: Readmore Books. ISBN 091909144X.

Notes

  1. ^ Elliott 198
  2. ^ Barr 26–27
  3. ^ Elliott 157
  4. ^ Elliott 249
  5. ^ Elliott 261
  6. ^ Elliott 264
  7. ^ Elliott 270
  8. ^ a b Barr 109
  9. ^ Barr 109–110
  10. ^ a b Barr 110
  11. ^ "Bankers' Toadies". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
  12. ^ a b c d Elliott 274
  13. ^ Brenna 54
  14. ^ "Bankers' Toadies: Significance". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  15. ^ a b "Bankers' Toadies: Inside the courtroom". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  16. ^ "Bankers' Toadies: Outside the courtroom". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  17. ^ Brennan 54
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