Accurate News and Information Act
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The ''Accurate News and Information Act'' (complete title: ''An Act to Ensure the Publication of Accurate News and Information'') was a statute passed by 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 ...
, Canada, in 1937, at the instigation 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 ...
's
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 ...
government. It would have required newspapers to print "clarifications" of stories that a committee of Social Credit legislators deemed inaccurate, and to reveal their sources on demand. The act was a result of the stormy relationship between Aberhart and the press, dating to before the 1935 election, in which the Social Credit League was elected to government. Virtually all of Alberta's newspapers—especially the ''
Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...
''—were critical of Social Credit, as were a number of publications from elsewhere in Canada. Even the American media had greeted Aberhart's election with derision. Though the act won easy passage through the Social Credit-dominated legislature,
Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the Viceroy, viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as Lieutenant governor (Canada), the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly ...
John C. Bowen John Campbell Bowen (October 3, 1872 – January 2, 1957) was a clergyman, insurance broker and long serving politician. He served as an alderman in the City of Edmonton and went on to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta fr ...
reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the largest company of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 1,700 retail stores located in ...
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
until the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
evaluated the act's legality. In 1938's ''
Reference re Alberta Statutes ''Reference Re Alberta Statutes'', also known as the Alberta Press case and the Alberta Press Act Reference, is a landmark reference question, reference of the Supreme Court of Canada where several provincial laws, including one restricting the pr ...
'', the court found that it was unconstitutional, and it never became law.


Aberhart and the press


Before the 1935 election

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 ...
's Social Credit League, running candidates for the first time, won a large majority in the 1935 Alberta election on the strength of promises to use a new economic theory called
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 ...
to end depression conditions in the province. It did so against the almost uniform opposition of the news media. Some of the province's major newspapers were loyal to one of the traditional parties: the ''
Edmonton Bulletin The ''Edmonton Bulletin'' was a newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta, published from 1880 until January 20, 1951. It was founded by Edmonton pioneer Frank Oliver, a future Liberal politician and cabinet minister in the Canadian Government. Oliver co-f ...
'', for example, had supported the Liberals since its inception. Aberhart initially laid out his economic agenda in only vague terms, and by early 1935 his opponents, including Premier
Richard Gavin Reid Richard Gavin "Dick" Reid (17 January 1879 – 17 October 1980) was a Canadian politician who served as the sixth premier of Alberta from 1934 to 1935. He was the last member of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) to hold the office, and that par ...
of the
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 ...
, were trying to force him to commit to a specific plan. The ''
Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...
'' took up this call, going so far as to offer Aberhart a full page to lay out his approach in detail. Aberhart refused, on the grounds that he considered the ''Heralds coverage of him to be unfair. He frequently attacked the newspaper in speeches around the province, and on April 28 suggested that his followers boycott it and other unfriendly newspapers. The boycott was successful to the extent that it drove at least one newspaper out of business.Elliott 182 The ''Herald'' responded to the boycott by asking "Is everyone opposed to the political opinions and plans of Mr. Aberhart to be boycotted? He has invoked a most dangerous precedent and has given the people of this province a foretaste of the Hitlerism which will prevail if he ever secures control of the provincial administration." Shortly before the election, the ''Herald'' began to run cartoons by Stewart Cameron, a virulently anti-Aberhart cartoonist. The day before the election, it ran one featuring a car, labelled "the people", travelling along "Aberhart Highway No. 1" and arriving at a railway crossing. A train, labelled "common sense", was approaching from around the bend, along tracks labelled "fundamental facts". Aberhart leans out the "S.C. Signal Tower" advising the car "All's clear. Don't stop, look or listen." Though the ''Herald'' was the most strident in its opposition to Aberhart and Social Credit, the ''Bulletin'', the ''
Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...
'', the ''
Medicine Hat News The ''Medicine Hat News'' is a daily newspaper published in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It features a city news section, a national news section, a world news section, a sports section, a comics section, and a classifieds section. The paper is owned b ...
'', the '' Lethbridge Herald'', and many smaller papers all, in the words of
Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...
historian Alvin Finkel, "attacked Social Credit viciously as a chimera which, if placed in power, would wreck Alberta's chances for economic recovery." Of the province's major papers, only the ''
Calgary Albertan The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was ...
'' provided even lukewarm support. So frustrated were the Social Crediters with the newspapers' hostility that in 1934 they founded their own, the ''Alberta Social Credit Chronicle'', to spread their views. The ''Chronicle'', in addition to acting as Aberhart's mouthpiece, carried guest editorials by such figures as British
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
leader
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
and
anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
priest
Charles Coughlin Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic priest based in the United States near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the ...
.


Post-election

Media reaction to Social Credit's 1935 victory, in which it won 56 of 63 seats 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 singl ...
, was almost uniformly negative. The ''Herald'' opined that "the people of Alberta have made a most unfortunate decision and may soon see the folly of it." Even the ''Albertan'' expressed its wish that social credit be first tried in "Scotland, or Ethiopia or anywhere but Alberta." Reaction across Canada was also negative; the '' St. Catharines Standard'' called the results "a nightmare that passeth all understanding" and the ''
Montreal Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...
'' accused Albertans of voting for "an untried man and a policy whose workings he ostentatiously refused to explain before polling day."Elliott 202 American newspapers were less restrained: the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' asked "Greetings to the Canadians. Who's loony now?" and the ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
s headline screamed "Alberta goes crazy". The relationship did not improve once Aberhart took office. In January 1935, H. Napier Moore wrote two articles for ''
Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...
'' casting doubt on Aberhart's honesty and his ability to follow through on his election promises. The American ''
Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
'' ran a profile that mocked Aberhart's appearance, taking note of his "vast colorless face" and his "narrow, left slanted mouth with soft, extra-heavy, bloodless lips which don't quite meet and through which he breathes wetly." Finkel, finding fault with both sides of the Aberhart-press feud, states
The major newspapers of the province opposed virtually everything the government did. Virtually every reform instituted was made to sound more draconian than it actually was. The conservative views of the owners and editors often interfered with the objective presentation of news reports, although perhaps not to the extent that the government claimed. In many cases, the papers simply concentrated on the very real chaos and confusion in government ranks and required few embellishments to make the government look bad.Finkel 62
The ''Herald'' lured Stewart Cameron away from working on
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's ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
'' to make him its first ever staff cartoonist; Cameron devoted himself full-time to the ridicule of Aberhart. Though Social Credit staffer turned journalistic historian John Barr argues that the media's unswerving hostility to Aberhart may have benefited him politically by allowing him to "depict the press as a mere tool of Eastern financial and commercial interests", by January 1936 Aberhart was telling the listeners of his weekly gospel radio show that he was "glad there will be no newspapers in heaven." To help combat the negative press, Aberhart resolved to gain control of the ''Albertan'', the one paper of note to show him any support. He formed a company that acquired an option to purchase it, and used his radio program to promote the purchase of shares by Social Credit supporters. The other newspapers criticized him for using what was nominally a
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
program to promote stock sales. The plan came to naught, as most Social Credit supporters were too poor to buy newspaper stock, and the only interested buyers were beneficiaries of government patronage, chiefly liquor interests. Even so, the ''Albertan'' became the official organ of Social Credit, an editorial decision that doubled its circulation. Aberhart reacted bitterly to the media's hostility. In a September 20, 1937, radio broadcast, he said of the press "these creatures with mental hydrophobia will be taken in hand and their biting and barking will cease." Four days later, a special session 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 ...
opened, with the ''Accurate News and Information Act'' figuring prominently on its order paper. The bill would be introduced October 1, 1937 by Solon Earl Low and three days later would be passed by the legislature on October 4, 1937, during a marathon session which lasted until 12:30 the next morning.


Statute

The
1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt The 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt took place from March to June 1937 in the Canadian province of Alberta. It was a rebellion against Premier William Aberhart by a group of backbench (not part of the cabinet) members of the Legislative A ...
had forced Aberhart to abdicate a portion of his power to the newly created
Social Credit Board The Social Credit Board was a committee in Alberta, Canada from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, it was created in the aftermath of the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. Its ma ...
, which consisted of five Social Credit backbenchers charged with supervising a commission of experts. While the initial plan was to have this commission headed by C. H. Douglas, social credit's British founder, Douglas did not like Aberhart and did not view his approach to social credit as consistent with its true form. He refused to come. Instead, he sent two subordinates, L. D. Byrne and G. F. Powell. These surrogates were charged with recommending legislation to implement social credit in Alberta. Their first round of proposals, which included measures imposing government control on banks and prohibiting any person from challenging the constitutionality of any Alberta law in court without receiving the approval of the
Lieutenant-Governor in Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...
, was disallowed by the federal government. The second round included the ''Accurate News and Information Act''. The act empowered the chair of the Social Credit Board to require a newspaper to reveal the names and addresses of its sources, as well as the names and addresses of any writers, including of unsigned pieces. Non-compliance would result in fines of up to $1,000 per day, and prohibitions on the publishing of the offending newspaper, of stories by offending writers, or of information emanating from offending sources. The act also required newspapers to print, at the instruction of the chair of the Social Credit Board, any statement "which has for its object the correction or amplification of any statement relating to any policy or activity of the Government of the Province."Elliott 272 The act was attacked by opposition politicians as evidence of the government's supposed fascism, and alienated even the ''Albertan''.Elliott 273 The international press was also cutting: one British paper referred to Aberhart as "a little Hitler".Barr 109 Later commentators have been no more favourable: Finkel calls the act evidence of the "increasingly authoritarian nature of the Aberhart regime", and even Barr, generally sympathetic to Social Credit, calls it "a harsh blow to free speech".
Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
John C. Bowen John Campbell Bowen (October 3, 1872 – January 2, 1957) was a clergyman, insurance broker and long serving politician. He served as an alderman in the City of Edmonton and went on to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta fr ...
, mindful of the federal government's disallowance of the Social Credit Board's earlier legislation,
reserved Reserved is a Polish apparel retailer headquartered in Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania, Poland. It was founded in 1999 and remains the largest company of the LPP (company), LPP group, which has more than 1,700 retail stores located in ...
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
of the act and its companions until their legality could be tested at the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
. This was the first use of the power of reservation in Alberta history, and in the summer of 1938 Aberhart's government announced the elimination of Bowen's
official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...
, his government car, and his secretarial staff. Aberhart biographers David Elliott and Iris Miller and
Ernest Manning Ernest Charles Manning, (September 20, 1908 – February 19, 1996), a Canadian politician, was the eighth Premier of Alberta between 1943 and 1968 for the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served longer than any other premier in Alberta's histor ...
biographer
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attribute this move to revenge for Bowen's reservation of assent.Elliott 278


Aftermath

Bowen put a stop to the ''Accurate News and Information Act'', at least temporarily, but Aberhart's fight against the press continued: on March 25, 1938, a resolution of the Social Credit-dominated legislature ordered that Don Brown, a reporter for the ''Edmonton Journal'', be jailed "during the pleasure of the assembly" for allegedly misquoting Social Credit backbencher
John Lyle Robinson John Lyle Robinson (August 28, 1890 – October 29, 1953) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 until his death in 1953 sitting with the Social Credit caucus. He served in the governmen ...
on the inclusion of
chiropractors Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosc ...
in the ''Workman's Compensation Act''. Brown was never actually jailed; the next day, in response to negative publicity from across Canada, the legislature passed another resolution, ordering "the release of Mr. Don C. Brown from custody." In Barr's view, "the government was made to look less ominous than silly." Around the same time, the Supreme Court ruled on the ''
Reference re Alberta Statutes ''Reference Re Alberta Statutes'', also known as the Alberta Press case and the Alberta Press Act Reference, is a landmark reference question, reference of the Supreme Court of Canada where several provincial laws, including one restricting the pr ...
''. It found that the ''Accurate News and Information Act'', along with the others submitted to it for evaluation, was ''
ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...
'' (beyond the powers of) the Alberta government. In the case of the ''Accurate News and Information Act'', the court found that the
Canadian constitution The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...
included an "
implied bill of rights The Implied Bill of Rights () is a judicial theory in Canadian jurisprudence that recognizes that certain basic principles are underlying the Constitution of Canada. The concept of an implied bill of rights develops out of Canadian federalism. ...
" that protected freedom of speech as being critical to a parliamentary democracy. For its leadership in the fight against the act, the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
committee awarded the ''Edmonton Journal'' a bronze plaque, the first time it honoured a non-American newspaper. Ninety-five other newspapers, including the ''Calgary Albertan'', ''Edmonton Bulletin'', ''Calgary Herald'', ''Lethbridge Herald'', and ''Medicine Hat News'', were presented with engraved certificates.


Notes


References

* * * * * *


External links

* * {{Cite web , url=http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/audio/law_1_9.m3u , title=The Premier vs. the Constitution , access-date=October 15, 2009 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823065949/http://www.albertasource.ca/lawcases/audio/law_1_9.m3u , archive-date=August 23, 2006 , url-status=bot: unknown , df=mdy-all , a radio drama based on the act and subsequent litigation 1937 in Canadian law 1937 in politics 1938 in Canadian law Journalism standards Alberta provincial legislation Freedom of expression law Legal history of Canada Media bias controversies Politics of Alberta 1937 in Alberta 1938 in Alberta