Sydney Ernest Rogers (November 11, 1888–September 10, 1965) was a

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

politician. Between 1937 and 1941, he was the leader of the province's Social Credit Party.

Biography

Rogers was born in 1888 on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

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, the son of James Alexander Rogers and Elizabeth Spencer. Gordon Goldsborough, "Memorable Manitobans: Sydney Ernest Rogers (1888-1965)", The Manitoba Historical Society.
/ref> Moving to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with his family in 1897, he later worked as a farmer. He was elected reeve of the

Rural Municipality of Shell River The Rural Municipality of Shell River was a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was incorporated as a rural municipality on December 22, 1883. On January 1, 2015 it was amalgamated as a result a provincial government ma ...

in 1920, and held this position for well over a decade, serving two terms. In 1905, he married Georgina Elizabeth Johnston. In 1936, Rogers was a candidate for the newly formed Social Credit League in Manitoba. This party was influenced by the recent victory of

William Aberhart William Aberhart (December 30, 1878 – May 23, 1943), also known as "Bible Bill" for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh premier of Alberta from 1935 to his death in 1943. He was the founder and first leader o ...

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 ...

, and promised a similar program of monetary reform. The party did not have a leader during the election, but nevertheless succeeded in electing five of its candidates. Rogers was elected in the riding of Roblin. The five-member caucus subsequently chose

Stanley Fox Stanley William Fox (June 22, 1906 – March 22, 1984) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, who served as the first leader of the Manitoba Social Credit Party, a party that supported the social credit theories of monetary reform. The son of Th ...

as the party's leader. Fox stepped down in 1937, and was replaced by Rogers. In 1940, Rogers was responsible for bringing Social Credit into the all-party coalition government proposed by

Liberal-Progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

John Bracken John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...

. Rogers did not join cabinet, standing aside for

Norman Turnbull Norman Leslie Turnbull (August 24, 1900 in Binscarth, Manitoba – January 12, 1986) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1936 to 1949 as a representative of the Social Credit League, an ...

to become a

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

. The decision to join government split the Social Credit ranks, and several of the party's candidates in 1941 ran against the coalition. Rogers, Fox and Turnbull (all government supporters) were the only party members re-elected,"Manitoba Social Credit Party", Economic expert.com
/ref> and the group does not seem to have had a leader during the parliament that followed. The Social Credit group, in fact, came to be regarded as little more than an appendage of the Liberal-Conservative coalition. Rogers retired from the legislature in 1945, and died twenty years later.

References

External links

"Memorable Manitobans: Sydney Ernest Rogers (1888-1965)", The Manitoba Historical Society.
1888 births 1965 deaths Manitoba Social Credit Party MLAs {{Manitoba-politician-stub