John Edward Brownlee

John Edward Brownlee was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of Alberta from 1925 to 1934 as leader of the United Farmers of Alberta party. After studying at the University of Toronto's Victoria College he moved west to practise law in Calgary, where his clients included the United Farmers of Alberta, and through that connection he was involved in founding the United Grain Growers, a major farmer-owned grain marketing cooperative. When the United Farmers entered electoral politics and won the 1921 election, incoming premier Herbert Greenfield made Brownlee his attorney general, and Brownlee succeeded him as premier in 1925. As premier he gained provincial control over Alberta's natural resources from the federal government, though his government's standing declined after the 1930 election as the Great Depression took hold, and he resigned in 1934 following a personal scandal.