Lorne Proudfoot (October 8, 1880 – January 10, 1977) was a farmer, teacher and a provincial politician 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. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

from 1921 to 1935 sitting with the United Farmers caucus in government.

Early life

Lorne Proudfoot was born in 1880 on a farm outside of

Vankleek Hill Vankleek Hill is a town in Champlain Township in Eastern Ontario. It has a population of 1,996. The town was named after Simeon Vankleek, a United Empire Loyalist who settled there near the end of the 18th century. The agricultural-based communi ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He came out west in 1903, and attended normal school in Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He later moved to Alberta and began his teaching career at a rural school near the towns of Carstairs and Didsbury. He moved to Chinook,

in 1909 and began farming. He married his wife Hilda Mary Roberts in 1917.

Political career

Proudfoot ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature as an Independent candidate 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 ...

in the electoral district of Acadia. The group Proudfoot was a part of known formally as the Independent Political Association, Constituency of Acadia was affiliated with the

Alberta Non-Partisan League The Alberta Non-Partisan League was a minor provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The League changed its name to the Non-Partisan Political League of Canada: Alberta Branch in 1917 as it prepared to move into federal politics. The party ch ...

. He finished a distant third place losing to incumbent John McColl. Proudfoot ran for his second time in 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 ...

as a candidate for the United Farmers of Alberta. He won the two-person race with a landslide majority to pick up the district for his party. Proudfoot ran for a second term in office in the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

. He faced two other candidates. Despite losing a large portion of his popular vote from 1921 he still won the district with a solid majority. Proudfoot ran for his third term in office in the

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

. He won the two way race easily over an Independent candidate. Proudfoot ran for his fourth term in office in 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 ...

. He was defeated in the three way race finishing a distant second losing to Social Credit candidate Norman James.

Late life

After his defeat from office Proudfoot continued to farm, specializing in raising sheep. Like many of his neighbors in the arid southeastern Alberta region, he came close to bankruptcy during the 1930s. He eventually expanded his farming operation to 18,000 acres by the time of his retirement in 1962. He also continued to have active political involvement. He continued to work in organizations to elect independent candidates in 1940, 1944, and 1963. Though no candidates were successful, the Independent Electors of the Acadia-Coronation Constituency almost managed to get former Speaker of the Legislature George Johnston re-elected in the 1940 general election. Proudfoot served on numerous local municipal boards, usually related to education and agriculture. He was always an advocate of the "principles of cooperation" and worked hard to maintain the economic viability of the small village of Chinook. His experiences in politics gave him greater knowledge of legal and financial matters than most of his neighbors. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Chinook Consolidated School District during the entire period of its existence, 1916-1961. He was secretary-treasurer of the Village of Chinook from 1943 to 1968. He died in 1977.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proudfoot, Lorne 1880 births 1977 deaths United Farmers of Alberta MLAs