William Neelands Chant (July 13, 1895 – September 25, 1976) was a farmer and political figure in

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

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He represented Camrose in 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 sin ...

from 1935 to 1940 as a

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 ...

and then Independent member and Victoria City in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1953 to 1972 as a

member. He was born in

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

, the son of John Daniel Chant and Mary Abigail Neelands, and was educated there. In 1921, he married Ella Victoria Langbell. Chant was a member of the municipal council and a school trustee for

Camrose, Alberta Camrose ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Camrose County. Located along Highway 13 it had its beginnings as a railroad hub. History The area around Camrose was first settled by Europeans around 1900. At that time t ...

. He served during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Chant was Minister of Agriculture in the Alberta cabinet but resigned from his cabinet post in the Social Credit backbenchers' revolt of 1937. He was defeated when he ran for re-election to the Alberta assembly as an Independent Progressive Party candidate in 1944. Chant ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the British Columbia assembly in 1952 before being elected in 1953; he served as Minister of Public Works in the British Columbia cabinet.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chant, William N 1895 births 1976 deaths Alberta Social Credit Party MLAs British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia 20th-century Canadian legislators