Born in Scotland, Gardiner settled in the Excel region of eastern Alberta in 1909, raising grain and purebred horses. Two months after arriving, he joined UFA, and became active in political affairs. In the 1921 federal election, Gardiner was elected Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat with the UFA backed Progressive Party of Canada party; he became the house leader of the UFA caucus. He was reelected in 1925 and then again in 1926 as a candidate for the United Farmers of Alberta. As a politician, he lobbied for the retention of the Crows Nest Pass Agreement and led an investigation into corruption in the hydro industry. In 1931, while still in parliament, Gardiner was elected UFA president. Defeated in the 1935 federal election, Gardiner presided over UFA's departure from politics in 1939. Known for his fairness and impartiality Gardiner turned the organization from politics to advocacy and marketing. He died shortly after retiring as UFA chairman in 1945.
To see more historic UFA materials, visit the United Farmers Historical Society at archives.ufa.com.
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0CC BY 2.0 Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 truetrue