John Hugill

Who was John Hugill?

John William Hugill was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General of the province of Alberta from 1935 until 1937. Born in England, he came to Canada and studied law before setting up a practice in Calgary. He became a prominent resident of that city, and served two years on its city council. In the early 1930s, he was one of the few prominent and respectable Calgarians to support William Aberhart's Social Credit League. He ran as a candidate for it in the 1935 provincial election and, when it won, was named Attorney General by Aberhart.

Hugill's time as Member of the Legislative Assembly was dominated by differences of opinion with Aberhart. Hugill did not believe that social credit could be legally implemented by a provincial government and did not support the government's attempts to do so. When asked by Lieutenant Governor John Campbell Bowen whether he considered three of the government's acts to be constitutional, he replied honestly that he did not; this prompted Aberhart to request his resignation. Thereafter Hugill was an outspoken opponent of the Aberhart government, though he did not seek re-election in the 1940 election.