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A Wealth ofVoices: TheEdmonton Social Planning Council 1940 - 1990 by Marsha Mildon Acknowledgements The Edmonton Social Planning Council is grateful for the financial contribution received from the United Way ofEdmonton and the Clifford E. Lee Foundation to assist with the publication of this book. copyright © Edmonton Social Planning Council 1990 All rights reserved. No part ofthis production may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. PRINTED IN CANADA Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Mildon, Marsha, 1946­ A wealth of voices ISBN 0921417-00-4 1. Edmonton Social Planning Council-History. 2. Edmonton (Alta.)-Social policy-History. I. Edmonton Social Planning Council. II. Title. HN110.E35M51990 361.2'5'09712334 C90-091708-3 Cover Design: Vern Busby 11 Table ofContents Preface v Section One: 1939 - 49: The Pioneer Years Chapter One - "A Great Day for Edmonton" 3 Chapter Two - Pioneer Work Under Particularly Good Auspices 13 Chapter Three - Recognition of Unmet Needs 22 Chapter Four - Like a Missionary Venture 32 Summary 41 Section Two: 1950 - 59: Transition and Growth Chapter Five - Upset, Transition, and Change 45 Chapter Six - Liaison Work 52 Chapter Seven -A Central Focal Point. 62 Chapter Eight - Central Services and Information 71 Summary 80 Section Three: 1960 - 72: Changing Voices Chapter Nine -A New Outlook, A New Shape 83 Chapter Ten - Planning - For and With Youth 96 Chapter Eleven -A Motivated Council 106 Chapter Twelve - New Voices 115 Chapter Thirteen - The Possible is Irrelevant 127 Summary 145 Section Four: 1972 -79: Strategies for Survival Chapter Fourteen - Urban Gladiators 149 Chapter Fifteen - Under Siege 160 Summary 175 Section Five: 1980 -89: Nurturing Community Chapter Sixteen -A Relevant Middle 179 Chapter Seventeen - Advocacy and the Poor 186 Chapter Eighteen - A Wealth of Voices 200 111 Preface The opportunity to write the history of the first fifty years of the Edmonton Social Planning Council's existence was mentioned to me in September 1989, in a casual meeting in a restaurant. Instantly, I was excited by the prospect and spent most ofthat day's lunch scribbling down ideas and memories that might be part of such a book. The actual project began inJanuary 1990. I have spent the last six months engrossed in the history ofan agency which is really a history ofsocial development in Edmonton, since the Council has both led and been part of the social development of this city and province. It is not a unitary story. Every person I interviewed and every publication, letter, and set ofBoard Minutes I read, has told its own story. The story of the Council is the sum ofmany stories and many voices speaking those stories. In discussing myth, Claude Levi-Strauss suggests that we must abandon a search for the one "true" version, and instead "define the myth as consisting of all its versions" (The Time Falling Bodies Take To Light). I believe the same to be true of history, at least, of the history of the Council. Its strength has been in the very variety of those who have supported it over fifty years; its strength is also in the diversity of its actions and its ability to recognize and adapt to changes in the social, economic, and political environment. While accepting the wealth of stories I have received, I have tried to be as accurate as possible with all the particulars. Any errors offact must be laid at my door. More difficult, for me, has been the necessity to select which stories to tell. The very richness ofthe Council's history has made it necessary to leave out several ofits projects, and even more ofthe people who have had a part in it. Throughout, I wished it could be otherwise, but short ofwriting several volumes, it was inevitable. As much as possible I have tried to let the voices of each era of the Council speak for themselves. lowe a great deal to all those who v patiently allowed me to interview them, to the Edmonton City Archives staffwho allowed me to roam at will through the 32 boxes ofPlanning Council files, and to all the current staff and my editorial committee at the Edmonton Social Planning Council. Thank you. -Marsha Mildon VI Section One 1939 - 49: The Pioneer Years 2 Chapter One A Great Day for Edmonton "This is a great day for Edmonton!" With these words, the EdmontonJournal announced that 50 social agencies had voted to create the Edmonton Council of Social Agencies. It was Tuesday evening, June 27, 1939. The place was the MacDonald Hotel. The exuberant speaker was John Blue, secretary-manager ofthe Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. The vote that evening was the culmination of over a decade of spade work by many Edmonton citizens; it was also the beginning ofa story ofidealism, struggle, innovation and determina­ tion; the story of the Edmonton Social Planning Council. The moving spirit that Tuesday evening was John M. Imrie, Manag­ ing Editor of the Edmonton Journal. Imrie is first noticeable as a major initiator ofthe Council in March of1939 when Mr. Philip Fisher, Vice­ President of Southam Publishing in Montreal and a member of the Canadian Welfare Council's Board of Governors, visited Edmonton and spoke to the organizing group, started by the Junior Chamber ofCommerce. No doubt the Managing Editor oftheJournal, a Southam paper, was interested to hear the views ofone ofhis bosses. Certainly, by April, Imrie was very much involved. He personally called an informal dinner meeting at the MacDonald Hotel, on Friday, April 21 , 1939, for specially invited social agency representatives and interested individuals. Guest List For Dinner and Informal Discussion re Council of Social Agencies in Edmonton invited byJohn Imrie, held at Mac­ Donald Hotel, Friday, April 21, 1939 Mrs. John Gillespie, Mrs. Hugh A. Black, Mrs. Re. Marshall, Mrs. H. A. Friedman, Mrs. Marion Conroy, Mrs. TH. Field, Mrs. P. R Gaboury, Mrs. Ranald D. White, Miss Isabel Munro, Col. Te. Sims, Rev. Canon e.F.A. Clough, Dr. RT Washburn, Hon. IF. Lymburn, K.e., Mr. John Blue, Robert Chapman, 3 Mr. J. Gordon Butler, M.e. Fraser. Dr. H. E. Smith, 1. Lloyd Jones, e.D. Mackenzie, Clyde Hooke, R.H. Settle, James Walker, H. Radcliffe, Rev. Father T. Ryan, Mr. J.K. Hill, Mr. J.H. Wildman, Mr. H.H. Cooper, and Rev.J.T. Stephens (ESPC Files, City of Edmonton Archives) Imrie must have been a man ofstrong motivational talent, the sort !\Tho could describe a concept to others and excite them. His letters indicate he was passionate about the need for a Council, but keenly aware of the difficulties. From his Journal office on Friday, April 21, he wrote to Marjorie Bradford, Executive Assistant, at the Canadian Welfare Council describing his anticipation of the evening's dinner meeting: Tonight is our meeting and I am looking forward to it hopefully, although a bit anxiously. So many previous attempts in Edmon­ ton along similar lines have failed that I must not allow myself to be too optimistic about tonight. But excellent background work has been done at the two meetings which Mr. Philip Fisher addressed and in private conversations since. Then too, the need of something more definite, more comprehensive, and more efficient than exists in Edmonton today is being recognized by an ever widening circle. (ESPC Files, City ofEdmonton Archives) Imrie's background work had been well done; the meeting was a success. In fact, there had been background work done by many people since the late 1920's. As early as 1927, there were people in Edmonton who felt a need for an organization to co-ordinate social service work. On February 4, 1927, the Edmonton Journal reported: The names of Mrs. Arthur Murphy and Bishop Gray, as vice presidents ofthe Social Services Board ofNorthern Alberta have been added to the list of officers, with His Honour Lieutenant Governor Egbert as patron, His Grace, Bishop O'Leary as honorary president, Mrs. W.R. Howey, secretary, and Ald. e.L. Gibbs as treasurer. In order to enlist as wide a circle of interest as possible in the movement for social services, the board will also add to itselftwo representatives from each city church, one representative from each service club, one from the board of trade, Salvation Army, women's organizations and other clubs. 4 This committee, formed as a kind ofbranch ofthe Canadian Council of Child Welfare (shortly to become the Canadian Welfare Council), met several times through 1928 and 1929. There were other such committees and other nascent Councils springing up across the country. The impetus seems to have been a new awareness ofchild welfare needs after the First World War. The Edmontonians wanted to know what others were doing and to be part ofthat national movement. However, their firm conviction was that their city required a community chest to do joint fund-raising, and that this might well solve their social service problems, without the necessity of a Council. The social service community across the country disagreed. In May, 1929,J. Howard Falk, Executive Director ofthe Montreal Council, came to Edmonton and spoke to the committee and other service clubs. His message was first of all a message about the true nature of social work as opposed to mere "reliet": Three pertinent points in the development ofa community chest for Edmonton charities were outlined by J. Howard T. Falk ... Tuesday night. The first of these points was that proper social work does not stop with the clothing, feeding and housing ofa neglected child. The youngster must be educated and developed so he will become an independent citizen rather than a burden.

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