Vernor Smith

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Vernor Winfield Smith (1864–1932) was a Canadian politician in Alberta. He was born in Prince Edward Island, worked in railways as an accountant in British Columbia, and moved to Camrose, Alberta in 1915 to farm. He married Lily Bury and they had five children.

In 1921, Smith was elected to the Alberta Legislature for the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) in Camrose. He became Minister of Railways and Telephones, and he tried to fix several money-losing railways that the government owned, especially the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway (ED&BC). He favored government ownership, while Premier Herbert Greenfield preferred selling them to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

In 1923, Smith publicly criticized the CPR over a contract, which caused a rift with Greenfield. In 1925 Greenfield resigned and John Edward Brownlee became premier. Brownlee and Smith worked to resolve the railway problems. They went to Ottawa in 1926 to urge the federal government to take over the railways, but that didn’t work. In Montreal, they arranged for the Royal Bank of Canada to sell its ED&BC shares to the province for $1.3 million, giving the government full ownership. They also looked to sell to the CPR or Canadian National Railway (CNR), but neither was interested.

Back in Edmonton, Smith pushed for direct government operation of the railways. John Callaghan was appointed Superintendent of Railways and helped turn the railways profitable. In 1928 the Lacombe and North Western line was sold to the CPR for $1.5 million, and in 1929 the CPR bought all remaining lines for $25 million.

Smith was re-elected in 1926 and 1930 and remained minister until his death. He passed away on July 19, 1932, in Edmonton from angina. His great-grandson is musician Mac DeMarco, who was given the name Vernor Winfield McBriare Smith IV in his honor.