Elmer Knutson
{{Short description|Canadian businessman (1914–2001)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elmer Knutson
| image = ElmerKnutson.png
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =Elmer Stanley Knutson
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|10|30}}
| birth_place =near Torquay, Saskatchewan, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|8|9|1914|10|30}}
| death_place =Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| other_names =
| known_for = Activism, Fringe politics
| occupation =
}}
Elmer Stanley Knutson (October 30, 1914 – August 9, 2001) was a Canadian businessman, activist and fringe politician.{{Cite web|url=http://obits.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/obit.cgi?Surname=hyrick%252Belmer+&type=Keyword&Start=13050|title=Obituary Daily Times Results|website=obits.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=2016-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611042527/http://obits.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/obit.cgi?Surname=hyrick%2Belmer+&type=Keyword&Start=13050|archive-date=2016-06-11|url-status=dead}} Knutson was a strong supporter of creating an independent western Canada, in which the west would become sovereign from Canada's federal government.{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6HNkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z34NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4078,3565620&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=West-Fed Plans Using $4 Million | work=The Calgary Herald | date=January 8, 1981 | accessdate=April 27, 2012 | author=Wischnewski, Nino}}{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3GUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oqQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=922,5093988&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=Separatism in the West: How Far Does it Really Go? | work=The Montreal Gazette | date=March 20, 1980 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}} He has been credited with "whip[ping] Western alienation into a political movement."{{cite news
| title = Elmer Knutson plans 'second try'
| newspaper =Leader-Post
| location =Regina, Saskatchewan
| pages =4
| date =December 30, 1982
| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dplVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MUANAAAAIBAJ&pg=3888,3182065&dq=elmer-knutson&hl=en
| accessdate =May 3, 2012 }}
Politics and activism
With the advent Canada's National Energy Program in 1980, which gave the federal government more control over oil and gas resources in western Canada, he founded the Western Canada Federation (West-Fed),{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EyNlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SYgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3530,3729593&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=Knutson-Nickle Attack Sways Big B.C. Crowd | work=Edmonton Journal | date=January 9, 1981 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}} a non-partisan organization to fight the federal Liberal Party.{{cite web
|url=http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/article.php?id=2979&start=1
|title=The Alberta separatist movement that wasn’t
|date=2009-05-09
|work=Western Standard
|accessdate=2012-04-27
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011174708/http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/article.php?id=2979
|archivedate=2012-10-11
}}
Knutson held the belief that the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which granted legislative equality with the United Kingdom to Canada, also granted sovereignty to the provinces, because the provinces had not individually signed on to confederation. This view was criticized by constitutional experts.{{cite news
| title =West-Fed policy criticized
| newspaper =The Phoenix
| location =Saskatoon
| pages =7
| date =January 31, 1981
| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2DhgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LHANAAAAIBAJ&pg=2729,5044234&dq=elmer+knutson+westminster&hl=en
| accessdate =1 May 2012 }}
Many West-Fed members eventually left the organization to join the Victoria-based Western Canada Concept (WCC) party which, unlike West-Fed, fielded candidates in elections.
Knutson was defeated in 1983 in his attempt to win the leadership of the Social Credit Party of Canada. In 1984, he founded the Confederation of Regions Party to advocate for a new Canadian constitution with more regional autonomy. He stepped down as leader a little more than a year later, saying, "If I can't get my message across, I had better give up trying."{{cn|date=March 2022}}
He tried his hand at provincial politics in two by-elections as well as the 1986 Alberta General Election in the Olds-Didsbury riding, and came up second.
Personal life
Knutson was born on the family farm in Torquay, Saskatchewan. He worked on road gangs, in lumber camps and mines until he won a baseball scholarship to a Lutheran college in North Dakota, USA. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, he opened a garage in Saskatoon.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} He later moved to Edmonton to form his own tractor parts company. In 1969, he established Derrick Dodge Chrysler, a car dealership, and ran it until 1976.
Knutson died at the age of 86 in Edmonton.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Additional sources=
- {{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hvZlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G4wNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5215,1116631&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=Elmer Knutson Risks his Credibility | work=The Vancouver Sun | date=January 22, 1981 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
- {{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yK4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5O4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=5669,3161891&dq=elmer+knutson&hl=en | title=Convention Often Resembled Theatre of the Absurd | work=Ottawa Citizen | date=July 19, 1982 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
- {{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UoJWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NEENAAAAIBAJ&pg=3754,29568&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=Elmer's Tune? | work=The Leader-Post | date=June 16, 1984 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
- {{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lylmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U4gNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1137,724709&dq=elmer-knutson+-wikipedia&hl=en | title=Knutson Laughing Off Rumors on Resignation | work=Edmonton Journal | date=June 12, 1985 | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
{{Canadian federal election, 1988A}}
{{Canadian federal election, 1984A}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knutson, Elmer}}
Category:Leaders of political parties in Canada
Category:Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II
Category:Canadian people of Norwegian descent
Category:Confederation of Regions Party of Canada candidates in the 1988 Canadian federal election