49 Facts About Herbert Greenfield

Herbert W Greenfield was a Canadian politician and farmer who served as the fourth premier of Alberta from 1921 until 1925.

Herbert Greenfield soon became involved in the United Farmers of Alberta, a farmers' lobby organization that was in the process of becoming a political party, and was elected as the organization's vice president.

Herbert Greenfield relied extensively on his Attorney General, John E Brownlee, for counsel on policy and strategy.

Herbert Greenfield was unable to control his caucus, which did not generally believe in party discipline, and his government almost lost several votes in the Legislature despite its majority.

Herbert Greenfield was unable to effectively address the problems facing farmers, bitter labour disputes in the coal industry, or the pronounced divisions in public opinion that had sprung up around prohibition.

Herbert Greenfield named Irene Parlby as the province's first female cabinet minister.

Herbert Greenfield had not wanted the job in the first place, and agreed to resign in Brownlee's favour.

Herbert Greenfield attended Wesleyan School in Dalston, but dropped out as a result of his father's bankruptcy.

Herbert Greenfield worked aboard a cattle boat in 1892 before emigrating to Canada in 1896.

Herbert Greenfield found work in a lumber mill and later turned to farming.

In 1922, while Herbert Greenfield was Premier, Elizabeth died suddenly as a result of routine surgery.

Herbert Greenfield remarried in 1926, to Marjorie Greenwood Cormack, who brought two children of her own into the marriage.

Herbert Greenfield entered public life on a local level soon after moving to his new farm.

Herbert Greenfield was elected to the local school board, where he spent twelve years, including stints as chair, secretary, and treasurer.

Herbert Greenfield was an officer of the province-wide Association of Local Improvement Districts, which advocated for reforms such as a change from a ten-hour to an eight-hour work day, on the grounds that many Local Improvement Districts were having trouble competing with railways for labour.

Provincially, Herbert Greenfield was originally a Liberal, but along with many other farmers, began to grow dissatisfied with the Liberal government's treatment of farmers.

Herbert Greenfield became involved with the United Farmers of Alberta, which prior to 1919 was a non-partisan lobby group that eschewed direct involvement in the political process.

Herbert Greenfield was elected to the organization's executive in 1919 and chaired its mass conventions in 1920 and 1921.

Herbert Greenfield headed an extremely successful membership drive, Despite this involvement, he did not seek election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1921 election.

Herbert Greenfield meanwhile had been named interim Vice President of the organization after the death of Percival Baker.

Herbert Greenfield took office without a seat in the legislature.

Once in the legislature Herbert Greenfield faltered in his leadership of his caucus.

When Herbert Greenfield selected his cabinet and was about to announce it to his caucus for their vetting, he was interrupted by Lorne Proudfoot who asked whether, in addition to the rumoured inclusion of Labour members, the cabinet would include any of the fourteen Liberal MLAs.

Herbert Greenfield had not intended this, and suggested that no Liberals would likely be amenable to it.

Herbert Greenfield went on to name the seven member cabinet he had intended, including Labour MLA Alex Ross as Minister of Public Works, Parlby as Minister Without Portfolio, and Herbert Greenfield himself as Provincial Treasurer.

Herbert Greenfield, devastated by the sudden death of his wife, turned in a poor performance.

The session got off to an inauspicious start: Herbert Greenfield nominated the government's preferred candidate for speaker, Oran McPherson, only to have one of his backbenchers, Alex Moore, nominate Independent Conservative John Smith Stewart; Stewart spared the government embarrassment by declining the nomination.

Many UFA backbenchers wanted to see it repealed all together, but because of their objection to caucus discussions Herbert Greenfield was not aware of this by the time his amendments came to the floor of the legislature.

Herbert Greenfield, lacking the counsel of the vacationing Brownlee and wanting to avoid trouble, proposed upping the amount to $200.

Herbert Greenfield became Premier at a time of agricultural depression, especially in the province's south.

However, this effort was driving the province close to bankruptcy, and in 1923 Herbert Greenfield announced an end to the handouts.

The situation was still unsettled after Herbert Greenfield became premier in autumn 1921.

Herbert Greenfield was at a loss as to how to respond to this crisis, complaining that both employees and employers were the most difficult people in the province to deal with and that they showed "very little spirit of compromise".

Herbert Greenfield tried to be balanced in his approach to this labour-employer friction but was not aided by his own Minister of Public Works, Labour MLA Alex Ross, who took the side of the miners and objected to the government's provision of police escorts for strikebreakers.

The Liberal version of prohibition was weak, and Herbert Greenfield came into office intending to strengthen the legislation.

Herbert Greenfield attempted to make the move more palatable to prohibitionists by proposing that liquor profits be shared with impoverished municipalities.

At the outset of his premiership, Herbert Greenfield served as Provincial Treasurer as well as Premier.

Herbert Greenfield wanted to sell the lines to the Canadian Pacific Railway, a course of action that was endorsed by Brownlee, but many farmers despised the CPR and most UFA MLAs preferred to keep the lines government-operated.

Brownlee advocated deep cuts in spending to bring them under control, and, when Herbert Greenfield demurred, began to cut staff in his own department.

Herbert Greenfield found an ally in Richard Gavin Reid in 1923 when Greenfield, exhausted by his responsibilities, appointed the latter to replace him as Provincial Treasurer.

Brownlee's opposition stemmed in part from investigations that Herbert Greenfield's government had already undertaken into the subject: information was gathered from similar experiments in New Zealand and New South Wales, leading to the conclusion that, while there would be some benefit to a provincially owned bank, Alberta "had neither the economic nor constitutional base to consider such a scheme".

Herbert Greenfield's arrival was heralded with great expectations of economic and political reform.

Herbert Greenfield initially agreed, but then vacillated long enough for Brownlee to pledge his loyalty to the Premier.

In 1927, Herbert Greenfield was appointed Alberta's Agent General in London, England.

In 1931, the Agent General's office closed, and Herbert Greenfield returned to Alberta, settling in Calgary.

Herbert Greenfield served as managing director of the British Dominion Land Settlement Corporation and as president of the Calgary Board of Trade.

Herbert Greenfield spent the rest of his life in the city, maintaining an office in the General Trusts Building.

Herbert Greenfield died at 8:25 in the morning of August 23,1949.

Herbert Greenfield's funeral took place at Grace Presbyterian Church and he is buried in Union Cemetery, both of which are in Calgary.