R. G. Reid Proposes Sterilization of the "Mentally Defective" in Alberta

R. G. Reid Proposes Sterilization of the "Mentally Defective" in Alberta

1922. R.G. Reid was Minister of Health and Municipalities under the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) Government from its electoral victory in 1921 until 1923. One of the new UFA government’s priorities was the significant improvement of health care in the province. At his inauguration, Reid stated that “the control of public health is practically a new sphere of work for the Government of Alberta, but there has been a very rapid growth in the work since its inauguration.” (Reid, 1922, p.3)

In 1922, Reid declared that the government was in favour of sterilization of those citizens deemed “mentally defective,” however the government was waiting for public opinion to “catch up”. It would take six more years before the government would develop formal sterilization legislation (McLaren, 1990).

-Sheila Gibbons

  • McLaren, A. (1990). Our Own Master Race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.

  • Mikkel Dack, W. (2011). The Alberta Eugenics Movement and the 1937 Amendment to the Sexual Sterilization Act. Past Imperfect, 17, 90-113.

  • Reid, R. G. (1922, April 15). Hon. R.G. Reid. The UFA. Peel Newspaper Collection, University of Alberta Library Archives (Item PC00302). Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/UFA/1922/04/15/3/Ar00301.html

R. G. Reid Proposes Sterilization of the "Mentally Defective" in Alberta

R. G. Reid Proposes Sterilization of the "Mentally Defective" in Alberta

1922. R.G. Reid was Minister of Health and Municipalities under the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) Government from its electoral victory in 1921 until 1923. One of the new UFA government’s priorities was the significant improvement of health care in the province. At his inauguration, Reid stated that “the control of public health is practically a new sphere of work for the Government of Alberta, but there has been a very rapid growth in the work since its inauguration.” (Reid, 1922, p.3)

In 1922, Reid declared that the government was in favour of sterilization of those citizens deemed “mentally defective,” however the government was waiting for public opinion to “catch up”. It would take six more years before the government would develop formal sterilization legislation (McLaren, 1990).

-Sheila Gibbons

  • McLaren, A. (1990). Our Own Master Race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.

  • Mikkel Dack, W. (2011). The Alberta Eugenics Movement and the 1937 Amendment to the Sexual Sterilization Act. Past Imperfect, 17, 90-113.

  • Reid, R. G. (1922, April 15). Hon. R.G. Reid. The UFA. Peel Newspaper Collection, University of Alberta Library Archives (Item PC00302). Retrieved from http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/UFA/1922/04/15/3/Ar00301.html