John Edward Brownlee served as Attorney-General of the province of Alberta from 1921 until 1926. He was the only lawyer in a caucus formed almost entirely of farmers. His role extended beyond the traditional expectations of an attorney-general. He opposed radical changes to the structure of government and urged thrift in public spending.
About John Edward Brownlee as Attorney-General of Alberta in brief
John Edward Brownlee served as Attorney-General of the province of Alberta from 1921 until 1926. He was the only lawyer in a caucus formed almost entirely of farmers. His role extended beyond the traditional expectations of an attorney-general, and ranged from providing legal advice to explaining how to write a business letter. He also became the government’s de facto leader in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He opposed radical changes to the structure of government and urged thrift in public spending. He favoured selling its money-losing railways and concluding an agreement with the federal government to give Alberta control over its natural resources. Brownlee was also involved in attempts to alleviate drought-induced poverty in southern Alberta and in investigations into the establishment of a provincial wheat pool. He did not view himself as part of the UFA’s political branch, and did not run as a candidate in the 1921 provincial election. The UFA contested the election without a leader, so when it won 38 of the 61 seats in the Legislature it did not know who it would recommend to form a government as Premier. It chose Herbert Greenfield, who became premier November 23, 1925. The position went to Brownlee after Greenfield was persuaded to resign in favour of Brownlee. He became Premier of Alberta on December 9, 1926, and was acclaimed as Ponoka’s MLA on December 10, 1926. His term ended on January 1, 1927, and he died in office on January 17, 1927.
He is buried in Ponoka, Alberta. His son, John Edward Brown, was a lawyer and a former mayor of Calgary. He died in a car crash in 2007. He has been described as “the most successful lawyer in the history of Alberta” and “one of the most successful lawyers in the world”. He is also known for his work with the United Grain Growers, of whose securities division he was general manager in 1919. He had a son, James Brownlee, who died in 2008, and a son-in-law, David Brown, who was a former vice-president of the Canadian Bankers’ Association. His great-grandson, John Brown, is a former president of the Bank of Canada, and served as the first chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Bankers of Canada. He served as a member of the board of governors of the Royal Society of Canada until his death in 2009. He wrote a book about his experiences, “The Law of John Brownlee”, which has been published by the University of Alberta Press. The book is available in hard copy and electronic versions, and is available on Kindle and other formats. It is also available in audio and video versions, including the audio version of the book, which is available from The University of Calgary Press, and from the Library of Canada Press, as well as on the Internet. It has been translated into English and has been made into a number of editions, including a Spanish version, and has appeared in the United Farmers of Alberta guidebook.
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