George Hoadley (May 16, 1867 – December 14, 1955) was a long serving popular provincial politician and rancher from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. Hoadley served a legendary career in the

Alberta legislature The Legislature of Alberta is the unicameral legislature of the province of Alberta, Canada. The legislature is made of two elements: the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta,. and the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The legislature has existed sinc ...

during the early years when he led the Alberta

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in opposition and his effect in shaping policy in the province is widely remembered to this day as he served a broad range of portfolios during his years in the United Farmers government.

Early political career

Hoadley was born at Abbey, England and came to Canada in 1890. Hoadley first ran for public office in the 1902 Northwest Territories general election. He was defeated in the

High River High River is a town within the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23. High River had a population of 14,324 in 2021. History The community take ...

electoral district by Richard Wallace Hoadley ran again for a seat in the Alberta Legislature seven years later. He won his seat in

1909 Alberta general election The 1909 Alberta general election was the second general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on March 22, 1909, to elect 41 members of the Alberta legislature to the 2nd Alberta Legislature. The incumbent Liberal Party led by Premi ...

in the newly created electoral district of Okotoks. Hoadley won a hotly contested and very close election against Liberal candidate M. McHardy. He served his first term in the Legislative Assembly in the opposition Conservative caucus. Hoadley sought a second term in office standing for re-election in the

1913 Alberta general election The 1913 Alberta general election was held in March 1913. The writ was dropped on 25 March 1913 and election day was held 17 April 1913 to elect 56 members to the 3rd Alberta Legislature. Elections in two northern districts took place on 30 July ...

. He retained his seat, increasing his margin of victory. Hoadley was re-elected to a third term in office again with increased plurality in the

1917 Alberta general election The 1917 Alberta general election was held on 7 June 1917 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Liberals won a fourth term in office, defeating the Conservative Party of Edward Michener. Because of World War I, eleven Mem ...

. His third term saw him assume the reins as the Conservative Party leader and become Leader of the Official Opposition.

Opposition leader

Hoadley having been one of the most senior Conservative MLAs led the Alberta Conservative Party and became leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Alberta for three years. He took over the party's leadership from

Edward Michener Edward Michener (August 18, 1869 – June 16, 1947) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and senator from Alberta. Early life Edward Michener was born on August 18, 1867, to Jac ...

in 1917 after Michener resigned from the Legislature to take a seat in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

. Hoadey was stripped of his leadership of the Conservatives at a caucus meeting in 1920. Members of the Conservative caucus decided James Ramsey should temporarily be the new leader.

United Farmers

Hoadley switched party affiliations in 1921 after being removed as leader of the Conservatives. He crossed the floor to the unproven

United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...

political party. He was acclaimed at a nomination meeting as the Okotoks candidate on July 9, 1921. Hoadley would stand for re-election in his Okotoks district for the

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments. The Liberal Party, which had governed the province since it ...

under the United Farmer banner. He was re-elected with a landslide taking about 74% of the popular vote. The switch in parties had worked to his favor and he was the only member from the Conservative caucus that had kept his seat in that election.. Hoadley's prior years of experience in the legislature made him a very valuable asset to the new government and he was sworn into his first cabinet post. Hoadley was given the Minister of Agriculture portfolio in the new United Farmers government by Premier

Herbert Greenfield Herbert W. Greenfield (November 25, 1869 – August 23, 1949) was a Canadian politician and farmer who served as the fourth premier of Alberta from 1921 until 1925. Born in Winchester, Hampshire, in England, he immigrated to Canada in his late tw ...

. He was re-elected by acclamation in a Ministerial By-election in December 1921. Hoadley's Okotoks electoral district would be abolished prior to the 1930 Alberta general election to form the Okotoks—High River electoral district, along with the northern portion of the

electoral district, and a small portion of the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

electoral district. Hoadley would contest, and win a decisive victory in the new district against former Mayor of Okotoks from 1928 to 1929 and Liberal candidate Malcolm MacGougan. Hoadley served as Minister of Agriculture (1921-1934), Minister of Public Health (1923-1935), Provincial Secretary (1925-1926), and Minister of Railways and Telephones (1935-1936) during the 15 years of the UFA government.

Sexual sterilization

Hoadley was one of the primary architects behind the ''

Sexual Sterilization Act In 1928, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada, enacted the ''Sexual Sterilization Act''. The Act, drafted to protect the gene pool, allowed for sterilization of mentally disabled people in order to prevent the transmission of traits to o ...

'' one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in Alberta history.

Defeat

With the

sagging in popular support in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Hoadley attempted to run for a record 7th term in office. When the returns of the

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farmer ...

had come in Hoadley in his Okotoks riding that he had held since its inception in 1909. The result of the vote had him defeated in a landslide. The plurality

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

candidate William Morrison was just over 2000 votes, putting Hoadley a distant second place in the standings out of four candidates. His career of a record 26-consecutive years in the legislature came to an end. Hoadley served as an elected member of the executive for the Western Livestock Union. He died in 1955 in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

. The hamlet of

Hoadley, Alberta Hoadley is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within Ponoka County. It is located on Highway 20, approximately west of Wetaskiwin. History The community name was established as a watering stop on the now defunct Lacombe and Blindman Valley ...

was named in his honor. In addition to the town the Hoadley Post Office in Haverigg, Alberta was also renamed in his honor in 1924.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoadley, George 1866 births 1955 deaths Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs United Farmers of Alberta MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Canadian eugenicists English emigrants to Canada