Allan Emrys Blakeney (September 7, 1925 – April 16, 2011) was a Canadian politician who served as the tenth premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982. Originally from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Blakeney moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, and worked in the province's civil service before running for office with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) under Tommy Douglas. Blakeney became leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1970. Altogether, he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1960 to 1988.
Before he was premier, Blakeney played a key role in the implementation of the first Canadian public health insurance program (Medicare) in 1962. As premier, Blakeney's government nationalized the potash industry, created a range of new crown corporations such PotashCorp and SaskOil, and fought with the federal government over resource rights and taxation. Blakeney's NDP reformed labour legislation and introduced the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Blakeney was also a key figure in the negotiations surrounding Patriation of the Canadian Constitution in the early 1980s, and in the development of the Constitution's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. After retiring from politics, Blakeney taught and wrote about constitutional law for more than two decades.
Blakeney was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia on September 7, 1925. He attended Dalhousie University in Halifax and earned a degree in history and political science, followed by a law degree from Dalhousie Law School, winning a gold medal. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Queen's College, Oxford, where he played for the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club, making an appearance at the 1948 Spengler Cup tournament. At Oxford, he earned a bachelor's degree, second class, in politics, philosophy. and economics. Although he grew up in a conservative household—his father worked as an election scrutineer for the Conservatives in Nova Scotia—Blakeney's time in law school, the events of the Second World War, and his experience in postwar England, where Clement Atlee's Labour government was actively building the British welfare state, all inclined him towards government intervention in meeting the needs of citizens. His eventual embrace of the CCF is said to have caused a "mild scandal in Bridgewater."
After graduating from Oxford, Blakeney returned to Canada and passed the Nova Scotia bar exam in 1950. That same year he married and took a job with the Saskatchewan civil service, prompting a move to Regina. Blakeney was attracted to the province due to the innovation of Tommy Douglas' CCF administration, which in 1944 had become the first social democratic government elected in North America. Blakeney later stated that he initially intended to stay in Saskatchewan for only a couple of years, explaining that "Saskatchewan was the end of the Earth to me in 1950". However, he found the work engaging, and during the 1950s he became a senior civil servant. His first wife, Molly, with whom he had two children, died suddenly in 1957. He married his second wife, Anne, in 1959, and the couple would raise four children altogether.
Early political career (1960–1971)
By the end of the 1950s, Blakeney decided to enter politics himself. He first ran as a CCF candidate in the 1960 election at a time when electoral districts elected multiple members for the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Blakeney was one of four MLAs elected for Regina City—he would go on to represent a Regina-based riding without interruption until his retirement in 1988, including Regina Elphinstone from 1975 onward.
Blakeney served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Douglas and—when Douglas resigned to become leader of the federal New Democratic Party—Woodrow Lloyd, until the government was defeated in the 1964 election. In cabinet, he served as minister of education, provincial treasurer, and most prominently as minister of health. In that role, he helped implement Medicare in the province, including helping to resolve the 1962 Saskatchewan doctors' strike.
In 1969, Blakeney was elected national president of the federal NDP, succeeding James Renwick. He held the position until 1971, when he was succeeded by Donald MacDonald.
In 1964, the party was defeated by Ross Thatcher's Liberals after five consecutive terms in government. The defeat, coming on the heels of the protracted Medicare battle, prompted a transition period for the party, now in Opposition. In 1967, the party fully adopted the NDP name. Around the same time, the party—both provincially and nationally—became gripped with a factional dispute with a growing left-wing movement called "The Waffle". The Waffle advocated for a return to the party's socialist roots, including through the nationalization of key industries. The movement had a strong base in Saskatchewan, the historic NDP stronghold. However, it was divisive. While its Manifesto for an Independent Socialist Canada was defeated in a vote at the 1969 federal NDP convention, Woodrow Lloyd voted in support of it, believing in the manifesto's potential to revitalize debate in the party. That episode, and resistance to Lloyd's willingness to open the party to debate, contributed to Lloyd's decision to resign as leader in 1970. Blakeney decided to run in the 1970 leadership election to succeed Lloyd.
Blakeney was joined in the race by young lawyer Roy Romanow, who had joined the caucus in 1967; Waffle candidate Don Mitchell; and labour candidate George Taylor. Blakeney's motivation was principally to continue the legacy of the CCF in building and maintaining the welfare state. While Mitchell had a strong showing in the leadership election, Blakeney ultimately defeated Romanow on the final ballot. The result was seen as a victory for the party establishment over the Waffle. However, once he became leader, a priority for Blakeney was uniting the party and he would prove open to some of the movement's proposals.
Premier of Saskatchewan (1971–1982)
Blakeney's first election platform as leader was titled "A New Deal for People", and it offered an ambitious social democratic agenda premised on state intervention in the economy and strong support for organized labour, and promising expanded health and social programs, including drug and children's dental programs, housing development, and increased supports for the poor and elderly. In the 1971 provincial election, Blakeney defeated Thatcher's Liberals and led the NDP to power with their highest ever share of the popular vote at 55%.
One of Blakeney's key priorities was putting together a strong cabinet and building a robust civil service, which had been significantly weakened by Thatcher, who had prioritized a smaller government. Blakeney believed in evidence-based policy and relied heavily on the professional civil service and delegation to cabinet ministers. In terms of policy, the government quickly enacted extensive labour reforms, for example making it easier for workers to organize and guaranteeing the right to collectively bargain. The NPD also established legal aid and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
One of the NDP's earliest and most controversial initiatives was the creation of a Land Bank for agricultural land. An attempt to address rural decline, driven in part through agricultural consolidation and the weakening of the family farm, the Bank could purchase available land and then lease it to young farmers, guaranteeing them tenure but also providing the option to purchase the land after a five-year term. Blakeney also introduced programs to stabilize crop prices, retain transportation links, and modernize rural life. Blakeney later stated that he looked back "ruefully" on the government's uneven efforts to stem the tide of corporatization in agriculture, citing the extremely high costs—such as those borne by many European states—as a barrier to true success.
Blakeney's government was resource nationalist, and he saw mineral resource development as a key to achieving the government's goals. The advent of the Energy Crisis in the 1970s, which resulted in a rapid rise in energy commodity prices, made resource development a priority, and Blakeney relied on a state-led model of development. Above all, Blakeney believed that the primary beneficiaries of resource development in the province needed to be its citizens rather than the corporate sector. The NDP created new crown corporations such as SaskOil, a relatively small enterprise mainly concerned with exploration, and the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation, which became a key developer of the province's significant uranium reserves. The province also went to court with the federal government over resource taxation, and joined with Alberta in its opposition to the federal National Energy Program, which exacerbated a new wave of western alienation sentiment. The province's most significant decision was to nationalize the potash industry in 1976. These developments were not without controversy. The potash industry was initially shocked by nationalization, but the province managed to arrange purchase agreements and never had to expropriate any mines. Uranium development, meanwhile, proved contentious within the NDP as environmental and peace activists favoured a moratorium on the resource. However, the Blakeney government also created a Department of the Environment, introduced environmental assessment standards, and held a number of public inquiries into resource projects.