Henry Elvins Spencer

Our People - The Politician

1882-1972

Description

Henry came to Edgerton in 1908 and established a homestead with his brother. He soon became active in the United Farmers of Alberta, acting as the director and provincial secretary from 1917 to 1921. Spencer was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Progressive movement in 1921, 1925, 1926 and 1930, acting as the party's caucus whip. In the words of D'Albertanson, Spencer “received the mandate from the voters to carry the case of the farmer to Ottawa... and did much to awaken the powers in the East to the fact that there was a West, and that the man on the land was a very important factor in its economy.” A member of the UFA and the Progressives' radical Ginger Group faction, Spencer's unorthodox politics led him to become a founding member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1932.