Alberta Premiers of the Twentieth Century

Paul G. Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the
University of Manitoba, the author of Parliamentary Reform Through
Political Parties, and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration:
Problematical Perspectives.

Two of Canada’s smaller provinces, which were also relatively poor
during their early years, have managed to produce some of the most
influential and most colourful actors to stride across the Canadian
political stage. I am talking about Alberta and Saskatchewan and about
provincial premiers like William Aberhart, Ralph Klein, Tommy Douglas,
and Roy Romanow. Although the political traditions of the two provinces
are significantly different, their citizens have shared an attraction
for populist leaders.

These two books provide scholarly and readable portraits of the 13 men
who have served as premier in Alberta and the 12 who have performed that
role in Saskatchewan. There have been no women premiers in either
province. Written by historians, political scientists, journalists, and
insiders, these chapter-length biographies seek to place each premier in
the context of his times and to assess his effectiveness as a party
leader and a leader of government. Names like those mentioned above will
be recognizable to residents of each province, but other former
occupants of the highest political post will be all but forgotten. The
better-known former premiers usually dominated both the political life
of their times and their governments, often succeeding in gaining
re-election for two or more terms in office. Others were far less
successful on either the political or the governing front. No attempt is
made to draw lessons from the 25 cases about what it takes to succeed in
political life on the prairies, apart perhaps from being lucky in terms
of the economic times and the quality of your political opponents.

Well-written and nicely illustrated with photographs and cartoons,
these two books will be useful sources for academics, students,
journalists, and general readers.