United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta (UFA, dt United Farmers of Alberta ) is a cooperative headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. She specializes in the sale of agricultural implements and operates in Alberta department stores for the needs of farms and ranches and stations in three provinces. The UFA was during two decades also politically active and made from 1921 to 1935, the provincial government.
Foundation
1909, after the merger of the Alberta Farmers' Association ( Society of Alberta Farmer ) and the Canadian Society for Equity ( Canadian corporation), the UFA was founded as a lobbying organization. Their goal was to work for the interests of the farmers of the province. She turned to high interest rates on loans for farmers, protective tariffs and party politics in government. In 1913 she forced the Liberal provincial government to establish the cooperative silo society Alberta Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company (now United Grain Growers ).
The rooted in the cooperative movement UFA became increasingly politically active and called for the introduction of women's suffrage. In 1912, she founded the parallel organization United Farm Women's Association (United society of farmers ) and in 1914, women received within the same UFA members rights. By 1920, the UFA grew at the strongest lobby group in Alberta.
Political history
Entry into politics
Under the pressure of losing influence to the non-partisan movement Alberta Non -Partisan League, which had won in 1917 in elections to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, two seats, and dissatisfied with the then political parties, the UFA decided in 1919, the political process become more participate. Many prominent members as UFA President Henry Wise Wood rejected but because of the non -partisan roots a political mandate from. The end of 1919 a seat won the UFA at a by-election for the first time in the provincial legislature in 1921 won Robert Gardiner for UFA the first seat in the Canadian House of Commons.
Encouraged by these successes, were candidates of the UFA in the provincial elections in 1921 in 45 of 61 constituencies. Quite surprisingly won the UFA 38 seats, the Alberta Liberal Party sparked the strongest party from and was able to form a majority government.
Majority governments
Since none of the newly elected deputies seemed willing to assume the office of the Prime Minister, the UFA was looking outside the Parliament for a suitable candidate. She even tried to win the Liberal Prime Minister Charles Stewart for themselves. However, this declined as he moved into federal politics. Finally, Herbert Greenfield, president of the Association of Municipalities declared ready. Irene Parlby was the first woman who held a ministerial post at the provincial level.
Despite their inexperience the UFA government initiated several reforms. In 1923 she established a State Grain Fund and picked up the alcohol prohibition. John Edward Brownlee, the many as the real leader of the UFA considered, entered 1925, the successor Greenfields as Prime Minister and led the movement in the following year for the second election victory.
After years of negotiations succeeded Brownlee Government in 1929 to transfer control of the natural resources of the federal government to the province. The eastern provinces had already been granted in 1867 at the founding of the Canadian Confederation, while the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905 formed initially had it to forego this right.
On a wave of success led Brownlee UFA in 1930 for the third election in a row. In its early years the movement had sporadically socialist characteristics, but under Mr. Brownlee's leadership they turned increasingly to conservatism.
Political decline
On the global economic crisis, which led to a collapse in grain prices, the UFA was poorly prepared. The province had gone into debt with the purchase of the bankrupt cereal funds and as the banks took the land of many highly indebted farmers in possession, the resistance grew. Brownlee was forced to resign due to a staged scandal, which resulted in a court found him guilty of seducing a secretary in July 1934.
His successor Richard Gavin Reid failed to halt the disintegration of the political movement. Many members turned away disappointed and substitute for the conservative Social Credit Party of Alberta or to the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF ) in the provincial elections in 1935, UFA lost all seats. Of the nine MPs of the UFA, who had been elected in 1930, alternated eight founded the CCF in 1932 and to the Conservatives. At the general election in 1935 all nine were not re-elected. The UFA decided in 1939 to complete withdrawal from politics.
Election results
The modern cooperative
After the dissolution of the political arm, the UFA focused on their economic activities. In 1935 she was a co-operation with a Maple Leaf Fuels, a subsidiary of Imperial Oil to deliver fuel at favorable terms to their members. The following year, the opening of the first filling station for UFA members with the brand name Maple Leaf followed.
In 1948, the merger with the Alberta Farmer's Union. 1954 opened the UFA in Calgary, the first department store for agricultural needs. In 1957 she took over the assets of Maple Leaf Fuels, whereby the cooperative gained greater influence on their second core business. In 1996 she expanded her retail network to British Columbia in 1998 to Saskatchewan.
2006 decreed the 120,000 members of the UFA over 35 stores throughout Alberta and over 110 service stations in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. In 2005, she first achieved a turnover of more than 1 billion Canadian dollars.