The question of whether Alberta is a culturally distinct region has been raised recently by the authors of the Buffalo Declaration, and by others in the past. Over the years, a number of scholars have written about this issue, attempting to explain how and why Alberta differs politically and culturally from the other provinces. .For the most part, these scholars do not approve of Alberta’s uniqueness, since a common theme in their work is the influence of religious and political conservativism on the province. .What is it about Alberta that makes it different? One answer would be the people that originally settled here..That is to say, a key influence on the culture of any newly settled community – such as Alberta – is immigration. Early in its history, the province’s identity was shaped by the cultures of the early settlers who founded it. With this in mind, it is significant that Alberta welcomed a particularly large number of American immigrants, much more so than other provinces..Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, has probably written more about the political effect of American immigration on Alberta than anyone. Wiseman specializes in the study of “political culture.” He has carefully studied the political cultures of Canada’s various regions and provinces, and he has highlighted the impact of American immigration on Alberta, especially during its formative years. .The effect of American immigration according to Wiseman, has been substantial. As he writes in his 2007 book In Search of Canadian Political Culture, “In 1911, American-born Albertans (22 per cent of the population) outnumbered the British-born, Ontario-born, and European-born. Almost certainly, this was the largest concentration of Americans in any jurisdiction outside the US.” .He adds that, “Americans and their ideas helped shape provincial politics because they settled in the politically determinative rural areas. Their influence was particularly pronounced in the south.”.After the discovery of oil in 1947, more Americans came north to help in the development of the province’s petroleum industry. According to Wiseman, “Between 1955 and 1970, nine of the fifteen presidents of Calgary’s exclusive and influential Petroleum Club were Americans. In no other province were Americans so prominent as captains of industry.”.Besides the over-sized influence on the oil industry, something similar occurred in the realm of religion. Wiseman writes that, “Alberta has been the province most receptive to Christian evangelicalism. As early as 1908, the Calgary Daily Herald reported that American and central Canadian ‘evangelists seem to have a grip on the city.’”.To a certain degree, this religious influence has carried over into politics because “Alberta resembles the US” in that “evangelical Christians have played leading political roles there.” .Wiseman points out that the connection between religion and politics is not just a phenomenon of the distant past, either: “That conservative religious influence lingers in Alberta can be seen in the federal party leaders recently produced by the province: Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, and Stephen Harper are all evangelical Christians.”.Wiseman is not alone in emphasizing the crucial role of immigration patterns on the province. In 1990, historians Howard and Tamara Palmer published a one-volume history of Alberta entitled Alberta: A New History. Among other things, the Palmers wanted to explain Alberta’s conservative political culture, and like Wiseman, they root their explanation in immigration. However, their analysis differs somewhat from his because they suggest that, besides the Americans, certain Europeans also contributed to the right-leaning orientation of Alberta’s political environment..As a general point, the Palmers argue that the post-World War Two wave of immigration that flowed into the province, “contributed to the rightward shift in Alberta’s political culture.” In particular, they write that the political perspectives of eastern and central European immigrants escaping communism, “were among the many factors that helped to shift Alberta’s political culture to the right during the 1950s and 1960s.”.But movement in the conservative direction didn’t come just from eastern Europeans. Besides that group, there were also, “British immigrants fleeing socialism, conservative rural Dutch Calvinist immigrants, and the small-business oriented Germans, Austrians, and Scandinavians, who were usually leery of government regulation.”.Like Wiseman, however, the Palmers also note the disproportionate influence of Americans in the post-war period. Although their numbers were not large, a considerable number were prominent oilmen and, “Like their counterparts in the United States, they often held strong right-wing views.”.It should not be surprising that the culture of early settlers – and even the arrival of later immigrants – can have a profound impact on the culture of any society. The fact that Quebec was originally settled by people from France affects Canadian culture and politics every day..Although Alberta was not founded by Americans in the way that Quebec was settled by the French, Americans constituted a disproportionate number of early settlers – and later pioneers of the oil industry. Their cultural and political influence helped to make Alberta different from the other provinces to some degree. In other words, the large numbers of American immigrants in the province’s early decades, as well as during the post-war oil rush, helps to explain why Alberta is a culturally distinct region within Canada..Michael Wagner is columnist for the Western Standard. He has a PhD in political science from the University of Alberta. His books include ‘Alberta: Separatism Then and Now’ and ‘True Right: Genuine Conservative Leaders of Western Canada.’
The question of whether Alberta is a culturally distinct region has been raised recently by the authors of the Buffalo Declaration, and by others in the past. Over the years, a number of scholars have written about this issue, attempting to explain how and why Alberta differs politically and culturally from the other provinces. .For the most part, these scholars do not approve of Alberta’s uniqueness, since a common theme in their work is the influence of religious and political conservativism on the province. .What is it about Alberta that makes it different? One answer would be the people that originally settled here..That is to say, a key influence on the culture of any newly settled community – such as Alberta – is immigration. Early in its history, the province’s identity was shaped by the cultures of the early settlers who founded it. With this in mind, it is significant that Alberta welcomed a particularly large number of American immigrants, much more so than other provinces..Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, has probably written more about the political effect of American immigration on Alberta than anyone. Wiseman specializes in the study of “political culture.” He has carefully studied the political cultures of Canada’s various regions and provinces, and he has highlighted the impact of American immigration on Alberta, especially during its formative years. .The effect of American immigration according to Wiseman, has been substantial. As he writes in his 2007 book In Search of Canadian Political Culture, “In 1911, American-born Albertans (22 per cent of the population) outnumbered the British-born, Ontario-born, and European-born. Almost certainly, this was the largest concentration of Americans in any jurisdiction outside the US.” .He adds that, “Americans and their ideas helped shape provincial politics because they settled in the politically determinative rural areas. Their influence was particularly pronounced in the south.”.After the discovery of oil in 1947, more Americans came north to help in the development of the province’s petroleum industry. According to Wiseman, “Between 1955 and 1970, nine of the fifteen presidents of Calgary’s exclusive and influential Petroleum Club were Americans. In no other province were Americans so prominent as captains of industry.”.Besides the over-sized influence on the oil industry, something similar occurred in the realm of religion. Wiseman writes that, “Alberta has been the province most receptive to Christian evangelicalism. As early as 1908, the Calgary Daily Herald reported that American and central Canadian ‘evangelists seem to have a grip on the city.’”.To a certain degree, this religious influence has carried over into politics because “Alberta resembles the US” in that “evangelical Christians have played leading political roles there.” .Wiseman points out that the connection between religion and politics is not just a phenomenon of the distant past, either: “That conservative religious influence lingers in Alberta can be seen in the federal party leaders recently produced by the province: Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, and Stephen Harper are all evangelical Christians.”.Wiseman is not alone in emphasizing the crucial role of immigration patterns on the province. In 1990, historians Howard and Tamara Palmer published a one-volume history of Alberta entitled Alberta: A New History. Among other things, the Palmers wanted to explain Alberta’s conservative political culture, and like Wiseman, they root their explanation in immigration. However, their analysis differs somewhat from his because they suggest that, besides the Americans, certain Europeans also contributed to the right-leaning orientation of Alberta’s political environment..As a general point, the Palmers argue that the post-World War Two wave of immigration that flowed into the province, “contributed to the rightward shift in Alberta’s political culture.” In particular, they write that the political perspectives of eastern and central European immigrants escaping communism, “were among the many factors that helped to shift Alberta’s political culture to the right during the 1950s and 1960s.”.But movement in the conservative direction didn’t come just from eastern Europeans. Besides that group, there were also, “British immigrants fleeing socialism, conservative rural Dutch Calvinist immigrants, and the small-business oriented Germans, Austrians, and Scandinavians, who were usually leery of government regulation.”.Like Wiseman, however, the Palmers also note the disproportionate influence of Americans in the post-war period. Although their numbers were not large, a considerable number were prominent oilmen and, “Like their counterparts in the United States, they often held strong right-wing views.”.It should not be surprising that the culture of early settlers – and even the arrival of later immigrants – can have a profound impact on the culture of any society. The fact that Quebec was originally settled by people from France affects Canadian culture and politics every day..Although Alberta was not founded by Americans in the way that Quebec was settled by the French, Americans constituted a disproportionate number of early settlers – and later pioneers of the oil industry. Their cultural and political influence helped to make Alberta different from the other provinces to some degree. In other words, the large numbers of American immigrants in the province’s early decades, as well as during the post-war oil rush, helps to explain why Alberta is a culturally distinct region within Canada..Michael Wagner is columnist for the Western Standard. He has a PhD in political science from the University of Alberta. His books include ‘Alberta: Separatism Then and Now’ and ‘True Right: Genuine Conservative Leaders of Western Canada.’
