John Hugill
Encyclopedia
John William Hugill was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of the province of Alberta
from 1935 until 1937. Born in England, he came to Canada and studied law before setting up a practice in Calgary
. He became a prominent resident of that city, and served two years on its city council
. In the early 1930s, he was one of the few prominent and respectable Calgarians to support William Aberhart
's Social Credit League
. He ran as a candidate for it in the 1935 provincial election
and, when it won, was named Attorney General by Aberhart.
Hugill's time as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) was dominated by differences of opinion with Aberhart. Hugill did not believe that social credit
could be legally implemented by a provincial government and did not support the government's attempts to do so. When asked by Lieutenant Governor
John Campbell Bowen whether he considered three of the government's acts to be constitutional, he replied honestly that he did not; this prompted Aberhart to request his resignation. Thereafter Hugill was an outspoken opponent of the Aberhart government, though he did not seek re-election in the 1940 election
. He retired from the practice of law in 1949, and died in 1971.
, Yorkshire
, October 3, 1881. He studied at the City of London School
before immigrating to Canada in 1896. Settling in Nova Scotia
, he attended King's Collegiate School to complete his matriculation
, after which he attended King's College
, from which he earned a Bachelor of Civil Law
and later a Doctor of Civil Law
. Beginning in 1898, he worked for Furness-Withy & Company, Limited, a steamship operator, in Canada and England. From 1904 until 1907 he was a political agent
in London
, after which he returned to Canada to read law in the Calgary
office of future Prime Minister of Canada
R. B. Bennett
. He was called to the bars of Alberta
and Saskatchewan in 1910, and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Laws
from the University of Manitoba
.
After being called to the bar, Hugill worked for several years as a lawyer for the Canadian Pacific Railway
. In 1920, he opened his own practice in Calgary, and was made King's Counsel in July 1921. On July 10, 1913, he married Eelen Cameron Templeton, with whom he would have three children.
Hugill was active in Calgary society, and specifically with the Anglican Church of Canada
, the Masons
, the Calgary Board of Trade, the Calgary Ranchmen's Club, the Calgary Polo Club, the Calgary Golf & Country Club, and the Calgary branch of Canadian Authors. He was also a major in the Calgary Highlanders
. Outside of Calgary, he was a member of the Edmonton Club and London's British Empire Club. His hobbies included golf
, polo
, and big game hunting
. He was also held a lifetime membership in the Alpine Club, which he was awarded for reaching the summit of Mount Stephen
. Hugill was consul
to Sweden and vice consul
to the Netherlands for fifteen years.
, the Governor General
.
In the early 1930s, Hugill was one of the few members of Calgary's social and business elite to support William Aberhart
's burgeoning Social Credit League
. Despite this, he was not an adherent of social credit
monetary theories, but joined Social Credit because he viewed it as a vehicle of reform. He was also concerned about the constitutionality of a provincial government legislating on banking and monetary issues, as was advocated by many Social Crediters, and sought (and, by his account, received) assurances from Aberhart that no such legislation would be forthcoming from a Social Credit government. Athabasca University
historian Alvin Finkel suggest that Hugill's initial support of Social Credit was opportunistic, and not born of any belief in its rightness.
If Hugill's allegiance to Social Credit was incongruous, his allegiance to Aberhart was even more so. Aberhart, a radio evangelist, did not share Hugill's taste for fine wines, cigars, or flippant humour. Hugill, for his part, objected to Aberhart's belief in the occult
, and in particular to his practice of numerology
. About his eventual presence in cabinet, McGill University
's J. R. Mallory said "one can imagine the discomfort of an experienced barrister...moderate in his political views and absorbed principally in his departmental duties, confronted by a cabinet of hot gospellers, presided over by the Messianic Mr. Aberhart."
Aberhart found his team lacking both mainstream respectability and legal expertise, and so recruited Hugill to run as a Social Credit candidate in Calgary
. During the campaign, Hugill attracted attention by refusing (on Aberhart's instructions, and like other Social Credit candidates) to accept questions from the floor at political meetings. The Calgary Albertan took note of this practice, commenting "it must be rather irritating for a gentleman like J. W. Hugill, a practitioner at the bar and a King's Counsel withal, skilled and experienced in the art of debate, not to be free to make use of it".
On August 22, Hugill was elected one of Calgary's six Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). On the initial ballot count he was in fifth place of twenty candidates, but after the redistribution of votes in accordance with the single transferable vote
system in use in Calgary at the time, he fell to sixth place, and was not elected until the eighteenth and final count. Aberhart named him Attorney General several days later, and he was sworn in with the rest of Aberhart's cabinet on September 3, 1935.
to meet with Bennett, now Prime Minister, and seek a federal loan to prevent Alberta from defaulting on its bond and payroll obligations. Despite needing C$18 million, they secured only $2.25 million from Bennett. They then set out for Detroit to meet with Henry Ford
—who had financed many of his projects without involving banks, Social Credit's sworn enemies—but, on their arrival, discovered that he was away at his summer home. Returning home still in need of funding, Aberhart authorized Hugill to negotiate for the services of Robert J. Magor, a Montreal
financier who had successfully assisted the government of Newfoundland
in emerging from dire financial straits. Magor's acceptance of a $600 per month appointment raised the ire of Social Crediters loyal to C. H. Douglas
, the originator of social credit, and of Douglas himself, who saw Mahor as a tool of eastern financial interests and Hugill as their man inside the government.
Magor's financial advice led to the government tabling a very conservative 1936 budget that was decidedly not in keeping with social credit ideals. Partly in response to the situation, British social crediter John Hargrave
visited Alberta to advise the government on how it might implement social credit. At a cabinet meeting with Hargrave present, Hugill expressed that the Canadian Constitution did not give to the provinces sufficient powers to implement social credit, and that doing so would necessitate the use of the federal power over banking and currency. Hargrave, referring to Social Credit's election promises to implement social credit, responded, "surely the public ought to be told". After the meeting, Hargrave—by his account, at Aberhart's request—prepared an eleven point plan on implementing social credit in Alberta; Aberhart rejected it, but the Social Credit caucus
invited Hargrave to explain it. That meeting featured the following exchange between Hugill and Hargrave:
Much of the caucus, frustrated by the government's failure to implement social credit or even take tangible steps towards doing so, sided with Hargrave, and Hugill's cabinet colleagues did not come to his defense. Hargrave's presentation to Social Credit MLAs precipitated the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
, in which much of the Social Credit caucus threatened to bring down the government over its failure to introduce social credit. The revolt was muted with the creation of the Social Credit Board
, which was to oversee the introduction of social credit.
The first legislation recommended by the Social Credit Board included the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, which provided for provincial licensing and supervision of banks, the Bank Employees Civil Rights Act, which prohibited unlicensed banks and their employees from instigating legal proceedings, and the Judicature Act, which prohibited challenges to the constitutionality of Alberta legislation. Hugill did not believe that the acts were within the province's legislative competence, but avoided saying so publicly. In response to a question posed in the legislature on the province's authority over banking, he said that he could not conclusively answer such an academic question, but referred the questioner to the British North America Act, 1867. In a caucus meeting, in response to a request from Aberhart that he "[assure] us that he feels in a position on every count to recommend that the Lieutenant-Governor gives his assent to every Social Credit Measure", Hugill was more open in his beliefs.
On August 6, 1937, after the three acts were approved by the legislature, John Campbell Bowen, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
requested a meeting with Aberhart and Hugill before he granted royal assent
to the legislation. He asked Hugill whether he considered the bills constitutional, and Hugill replied in the negative. Aberhart immediately said that he would take personal responsibility for the legislation's constitutionality, and Bowen granted assent. In journalist John Barr's telling, as Aberhart and Hugill left the meeting the premier said "your resignation is accepted, Hugill", while according to Elliott and Miller he said only "you know what this means, don't you?" Whatever the words used, Hugill resigned later that afternoon.
Historians have debated the propriety of Hugill's actions in undercutting his own government's legislation. Elliott and Miller believe that he could have refused to answer Bowen's question, but that by not doing so he "obeyed the letter of the Alberta law that set out his duties". They see his cabinet duties conflicting with his responsibility as a legal adviser, and that by giving Bowen his honest opinion he was upholding the oath he took as a barrister. Mallory disagrees, citing rules dating from 1882 stating that the Lieutenant Governor should use—or consider using—his powers of reservation only as a Dominion officer, and never on the advice of his ministers, including the Attorney General. He speculates that neither Bowen nor Hugill was aware of this rule, and criticizes the federal government for not monitoring the situation and advising Bowen as to the proper use of his power of reservation.
. He joined the People's League
, a collection of all mainstream elements opposed to Aberhart which ran nominally independent candidates in the 1940
and 1944 elections
, and denounced Aberhart's government as a "tyrannical dictatorship" and the premier as the most sadistic man he had ever met.
One of Hugill's last acts as Attorney General had been attending a Toronto
meeting of the Canadian Bar Association
. In response to Hugill's comments about his government, Aberhart refused reimbursement of Hugill's expenses from that trip. Later, when Aberhart received word that Ryerson Press was going to publish an expose of his government authored by Hugill, he threatened to cancel Ryerson's contracts to print Alberta's school textbooks unless the company reconsidered. The expose was not published.
in 1949, the year after the death of his wife, and died there in 1971.
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
from 1935 until 1937. Born in England, he came to Canada and studied law before setting up a practice in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. He became a prominent resident of that city, and served two years on its city council
Calgary City Council
The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The Council consists of two offices; Office of the Mayor and Office of the Alderman. Naheed Nenshi was elected to the Office of the Mayor in October 2010 as the city's 36th chief executive...
. In the early 1930s, he was one of the few prominent and respectable Calgarians to support William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
's Social Credit League
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
. He ran as a candidate for it in the 1935 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
and, when it won, was named Attorney General by Aberhart.
Hugill's time as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) was dominated by differences of opinion with Aberhart. Hugill did not believe that social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
could be legally implemented by a provincial government and did not support the government's attempts to do so. When asked by Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the nine other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
John Campbell Bowen whether he considered three of the government's acts to be constitutional, he replied honestly that he did not; this prompted Aberhart to request his resignation. Thereafter Hugill was an outspoken opponent of the Aberhart government, though he did not seek re-election in the 1940 election
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. He retired from the practice of law in 1949, and died in 1971.
Early life
John Hugill was born in West HartlepoolWest Hartlepool
This article refers to the place; for the Rugby Football Club see West Hartlepool R.F.C.West Hartlepool refers to the western part of the what has since the 1960s been known as the borough of Hartlepool in North East England...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, October 3, 1881. He studied at the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
before immigrating to Canada in 1896. Settling in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, he attended King's Collegiate School to complete his matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
, after which he attended King's College
University of King's College
The University of King's College is a post-secondary institution in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. King's is a small liberal arts university offering mainly undergraduate programs....
, from which he earned a Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree...
and later a Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
. Beginning in 1898, he worked for Furness-Withy & Company, Limited, a steamship operator, in Canada and England. From 1904 until 1907 he was a political agent
Political officer (British Empire)
In the British Empire, a Political officer or Political Agent was an officer of the imperial Civil Administration , as opposed to the Military administration , usually operating outside imperial territory from a base outside or inside imperial territory...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, after which he returned to Canada to read law in the Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
office of future Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
R. B. Bennett
R. B. Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
. He was called to the bars of Alberta
Law Society of Alberta
The Law Society of Alberta is the self-regulating body for lawyers in Alberta, Canada.-Purpose:The Law Society is created and governed by the . As a law society, the Law Society is much more than a professional association and every lawyer who practices in Alberta must belong to it...
and Saskatchewan in 1910, and subsequently earned a Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
.
After being called to the bar, Hugill worked for several years as a lawyer for the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. In 1920, he opened his own practice in Calgary, and was made King's Counsel in July 1921. On July 10, 1913, he married Eelen Cameron Templeton, with whom he would have three children.
Hugill was active in Calgary society, and specifically with the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
, the Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, the Calgary Board of Trade, the Calgary Ranchmen's Club, the Calgary Polo Club, the Calgary Golf & Country Club, and the Calgary branch of Canadian Authors. He was also a major in the Calgary Highlanders
The Calgary Highlanders
The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Forces Land Force Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada...
. Outside of Calgary, he was a member of the Edmonton Club and London's British Empire Club. His hobbies included golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, and big game hunting
Big game hunting
Big game hunting is the hunting of large game. The term is historically associated with the hunting of Africa's Big Five game , and with tigers and rhinos on the Indian subcontinent. In North America, animals such as bears and bison were hunted...
. He was also held a lifetime membership in the Alpine Club, which he was awarded for reaching the summit of Mount Stephen
Mount Stephen
Mount Stephen is a mountain located in the Kicking Horse River Valley of Yoho National Park, ½ km east of Field. The mountain was named in 1886 for George Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway....
. Hugill was consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
to Sweden and vice consul
Vice Consul
A vice consul is a subordinate officer, authorized to exercise consular functions in some particular part of a district controlled by a consulate....
to the Netherlands for fifteen years.
Political career
Hugill served as Calgary alderman from 1921–1923. During this term, he was twice acting Mayor of Calgary. One of these occasions included a visit to Calgary by Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of VimyJulian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since Canadian Confederation....
, the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
.
In the early 1930s, Hugill was one of the few members of Calgary's social and business elite to support William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
's burgeoning Social Credit League
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
. Despite this, he was not an adherent of social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
monetary theories, but joined Social Credit because he viewed it as a vehicle of reform. He was also concerned about the constitutionality of a provincial government legislating on banking and monetary issues, as was advocated by many Social Crediters, and sought (and, by his account, received) assurances from Aberhart that no such legislation would be forthcoming from a Social Credit government. Athabasca University
Athabasca University
Athabasca University is a Canadian university in Athabasca, Alberta. It is an accredited research institution which also offers distance education courses and programs. Courses are offered primarily in English with some French offerings. Each year, 32,000 students attend the university. It offers...
historian Alvin Finkel suggest that Hugill's initial support of Social Credit was opportunistic, and not born of any belief in its rightness.
If Hugill's allegiance to Social Credit was incongruous, his allegiance to Aberhart was even more so. Aberhart, a radio evangelist, did not share Hugill's taste for fine wines, cigars, or flippant humour. Hugill, for his part, objected to Aberhart's belief in the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, and in particular to his practice of numerology
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
. About his eventual presence in cabinet, McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
's J. R. Mallory said "one can imagine the discomfort of an experienced barrister...moderate in his political views and absorbed principally in his departmental duties, confronted by a cabinet of hot gospellers, presided over by the Messianic Mr. Aberhart."
Election as MLA
Whatever the surface incompatibilities between Hugill and the Social Credit movement, in the runup to the 1935 provincial electionAlberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
Aberhart found his team lacking both mainstream respectability and legal expertise, and so recruited Hugill to run as a Social Credit candidate in Calgary
Calgary (provincial electoral district)
Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada that existed from 1905 to 1913 and was recreated from 1921 to 1959. The district returned from one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
. During the campaign, Hugill attracted attention by refusing (on Aberhart's instructions, and like other Social Credit candidates) to accept questions from the floor at political meetings. The Calgary Albertan took note of this practice, commenting "it must be rather irritating for a gentleman like J. W. Hugill, a practitioner at the bar and a King's Counsel withal, skilled and experienced in the art of debate, not to be free to make use of it".
On August 22, Hugill was elected one of Calgary's six Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). On the initial ballot count he was in fifth place of twenty candidates, but after the redistribution of votes in accordance with the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
system in use in Calgary at the time, he fell to sixth place, and was not elected until the eighteenth and final count. Aberhart named him Attorney General several days later, and he was sworn in with the rest of Aberhart's cabinet on September 3, 1935.
Attorney General
Hugill's service as Attorney General was brief and eventful. Three days after their swearing-in, he and Aberhart embarked for OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
to meet with Bennett, now Prime Minister, and seek a federal loan to prevent Alberta from defaulting on its bond and payroll obligations. Despite needing C$18 million, they secured only $2.25 million from Bennett. They then set out for Detroit to meet with Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
—who had financed many of his projects without involving banks, Social Credit's sworn enemies—but, on their arrival, discovered that he was away at his summer home. Returning home still in need of funding, Aberhart authorized Hugill to negotiate for the services of Robert J. Magor, a Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
financier who had successfully assisted the government of Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
in emerging from dire financial straits. Magor's acceptance of a $600 per month appointment raised the ire of Social Crediters loyal to C. H. Douglas
C. H. Douglas
Major C. H. Douglas MIMechE, MIEE, , was a British engineer and pioneer of the Social Credit economic reform movement.-Education and engineering career:...
, the originator of social credit, and of Douglas himself, who saw Mahor as a tool of eastern financial interests and Hugill as their man inside the government.
Magor's financial advice led to the government tabling a very conservative 1936 budget that was decidedly not in keeping with social credit ideals. Partly in response to the situation, British social crediter John Hargrave
John Hargrave
John Gordon Hargrave , nicknamed 'White Fox', was one of the leading figures in the Social Credit movement in British politics.-Early life:...
visited Alberta to advise the government on how it might implement social credit. At a cabinet meeting with Hargrave present, Hugill expressed that the Canadian Constitution did not give to the provinces sufficient powers to implement social credit, and that doing so would necessitate the use of the federal power over banking and currency. Hargrave, referring to Social Credit's election promises to implement social credit, responded, "surely the public ought to be told". After the meeting, Hargrave—by his account, at Aberhart's request—prepared an eleven point plan on implementing social credit in Alberta; Aberhart rejected it, but the Social Credit caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
invited Hargrave to explain it. That meeting featured the following exchange between Hugill and Hargrave:
Hugill: You realise, Mr. Hargrave, that this scheme you are putting forward would not be legal?
Hargrave: I am not interested in legal arguments.
Hugill: What would you do if your legislation was disallowed and your parliament dissolved?
Hargrave: There is only one way in which such a government could be "dissolved", and that is by sending in troops to throw it out, physically, neck and crop, down the steps of this parliament house. Does the Attorney-General suggest that any authority anywhere in Ottawa or elsewhere would, in those circumstances, march troops into Alberta?
Much of the caucus, frustrated by the government's failure to implement social credit or even take tangible steps towards doing so, sided with Hargrave, and Hugill's cabinet colleagues did not come to his defense. Hargrave's presentation to Social Credit MLAs precipitated the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
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 members of the Legislative Assembly from his Social Credit League...
, in which much of the Social Credit caucus threatened to bring down the government over its failure to introduce social credit. The revolt was muted with the creation of the Social Credit Board
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 mandate was to oversee the implementation of social...
, which was to oversee the introduction of social credit.
The first legislation recommended by the Social Credit Board included the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, which provided for provincial licensing and supervision of banks, the Bank Employees Civil Rights Act, which prohibited unlicensed banks and their employees from instigating legal proceedings, and the Judicature Act, which prohibited challenges to the constitutionality of Alberta legislation. Hugill did not believe that the acts were within the province's legislative competence, but avoided saying so publicly. In response to a question posed in the legislature on the province's authority over banking, he said that he could not conclusively answer such an academic question, but referred the questioner to the British North America Act, 1867. In a caucus meeting, in response to a request from Aberhart that he "[assure] us that he feels in a position on every count to recommend that the Lieutenant-Governor gives his assent to every Social Credit Measure", Hugill was more open in his beliefs.
On August 6, 1937, after the three acts were approved by the legislature, John Campbell Bowen, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the nine other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
requested a meeting with Aberhart and Hugill before he granted royal assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
to the legislation. He asked Hugill whether he considered the bills constitutional, and Hugill replied in the negative. Aberhart immediately said that he would take personal responsibility for the legislation's constitutionality, and Bowen granted assent. In journalist John Barr's telling, as Aberhart and Hugill left the meeting the premier said "your resignation is accepted, Hugill", while according to Elliott and Miller he said only "you know what this means, don't you?" Whatever the words used, Hugill resigned later that afternoon.
Historians have debated the propriety of Hugill's actions in undercutting his own government's legislation. Elliott and Miller believe that he could have refused to answer Bowen's question, but that by not doing so he "obeyed the letter of the Alberta law that set out his duties". They see his cabinet duties conflicting with his responsibility as a legal adviser, and that by giving Bowen his honest opinion he was upholding the oath he took as a barrister. Mallory disagrees, citing rules dating from 1882 stating that the Lieutenant Governor should use—or consider using—his powers of reservation only as a Dominion officer, and never on the advice of his ministers, including the Attorney General. He speculates that neither Bowen nor Hugill was aware of this rule, and criticizes the federal government for not monitoring the situation and advising Bowen as to the proper use of his power of reservation.
Post-resignation
Having left the government, Hugill also left the Social Credit caucus, and served the rest of his term as an independentIndependent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
. He joined the People's League
People's League (Alberta)
The People's League was a political organization in Alberta, Canada in the 1930s and 1940s. It was a coalition of groups opposed to Alberta's governing Social Credit League, primarily the Alberta Liberal Party and the Conservative Party of Alberta....
, a collection of all mainstream elements opposed to Aberhart which ran nominally independent candidates in the 1940
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
and 1944 elections
Alberta general election, 1944
The Alberta general election of 1944 was the tenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. The Assembly was dissolved on July 8, 1944 and the vote for was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, and denounced Aberhart's government as a "tyrannical dictatorship" and the premier as the most sadistic man he had ever met.
One of Hugill's last acts as Attorney General had been attending a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
meeting of the Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.-History:The Association's first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in 1896. However, the CBA has been in continuous existence in its present form since 1914...
. In response to Hugill's comments about his government, Aberhart refused reimbursement of Hugill's expenses from that trip. Later, when Aberhart received word that Ryerson Press was going to publish an expose of his government authored by Hugill, he threatened to cancel Ryerson's contracts to print Alberta's school textbooks unless the company reconsidered. The expose was not published.
Later life
Hugill did not seek re-election at the conclusion of his term in 1940, and returned to practicing law in Edmonton and Calgary. During the Second World War, he served on the mobilization board. He retired to VictoriaVictoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
in 1949, the year after the death of his wife, and died there in 1971.