View source for Ken Sweigard

{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Ken and Audrey Sweigard.jpg
| name = Ken Sweigard
| caption = Ken and Audrey Sweigard
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|9|21}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|7|11|1919|9|21}}
| death_place=[[Grande Prairie]], [[Alberta]]
| residence = 
| office = Leader of the [[Social Credit Party of Canada]]
| term_start = 1983
| term_end = 1986
| predecessor = [[Martin Hattersley]]  
| successor = [[Harvey Lainson]]
| party =
| occupation = Evangelist
}}
'''Kenneth Sweigard''' (September 21, 1919 – July 11, 2005) was a [[Pentecostal]] [[Evangelism|evangelist]] from Grande Prairie, [[Alberta]], and politician who led the [[Social Credit Party of Canada]] from 1983 to 1986.

In the [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980 election]], Social Credit's five remaining Members of Parliament (all from Quebec) were defeated. The party had not had any MPs from its old base of [[Alberta]] and [[British Columbia]] since 1968.

Sweigard first ran as a Social Credit candidate in the 1980 federal election. Standing in [[Peace River (federal electoral district)|Peace River]], [[Alberta]], he came in fifth place with 462 votes. He placed behind the three major parties and the candidate for the [[Rhinoceros Party of Canada (1963–1993)|Rhinoceros Party of Canada]] candidate, Allan Cavanagh.<ref>[http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=2375 History of Federal Ridings since 1867<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Sweigard first sought the party's leadership in 1982, when he lost to [[Martin Hattersley]]. Sweigard attended the [[Social Credit Party of Canada leadership conventions|party's leadership convention]] dressed as U.S. president [[Abraham Lincoln]], wearing a top hat and carrying a walking stick. His entourage, dressed in 1860s style, held placards reading "Free the Slaves" and chanted "Free the economic slaves", a reference to the [[social credit]] theory of monetary reform and opposition to the charging of interest on borrowed money.<ref>{{cite news 
  |author=Canadian Press
  | title =Monetary system not part of jet age, Socred leader says
  | work =Globe and Mail
  | date =July 5, 1982
  }}</ref> Hattersley resigned as leader in June 1983 when the party would not expel three outspoken party members from Alberta, including [[Jim Keegstra]] who had been accused of [[anti-Semitism|antisemitism]]. Sweigard, who described Keegstra as a "fine Christian gentleman",<ref>{{cite news 
  |author=Canadian Press
  | title =Socred defends Keegstra
  | work =Globe and Mail
  | date =July 19, 1983
  }}</ref> was elected interim leader by means of a telephone conference call of 17 party members, with 9 votes to 5 votes for party vice-president Richard Lawrence and three for Adrien Lambert.<ref>{{cite news 
  |author=Canadian Press
  | title =Scoreds pick new leader the easy way - use 1½-hour conference call to anoint Alberta evangelist 
  | work =Globe and Mail
  | date =July 16, 1983
  }}</ref> As leader, he ran in the [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984 election]] in [[Timiskaming (electoral district)|Timiskaming]], placing last with 151 votes. Nationally, under his leadership, the party suffered what was its worst performance to date receiving only 16,659 votes nationwide.

Sweigard attempted to win the leadership on a permanent basis at the party's [[Social Credit Party of Canada leadership conventions#1986 leadership convention|national convention in 1986]] but fared poorly, despite telling delegates that he had been visited by an [[angel]] who had endorsed his candidacy.<ref name=Star>{{cite news 
  | last = Bilodeau
  | first =Paul
  | title =Minister to lead Socreds as Keegstra loses in vote 
  | work =Toronto Star
  | date =June 22, 1986
  }}</ref> Sweigard received only 9 of 114 votes,<ref name=Star/> finishing well behind winning candidate [[Harvey Lainson]] and runner-up [[Jim Keegstra]].<ref>{{cite news 
  | last = Oziewicz
  | first =Stanley
  | title =Bloody but unbowed Socreds gather as Keegstra seeks helm
  | work =Globe and Mail
  | date =June 20, 1986
  }}</ref>

After losing the leadership, he ran again in the [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 election]] in Peace River, where he came in last in a field of six candidates with 354 votes.<ref>[http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=9487 History of Federal Ridings since 1867<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He died at Grande Prairie in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gp.abgensoc.ca/cemeteries/GrandePrairie/RtoS/pages/SWEIGARD%2C%20Kenneth.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222173359/http://gp.abgensoc.ca/cemeteries/GrandePrairie/RtoS/pages/SWEIGARD%2C%20Kenneth.html |archive-date=2014-02-22 |title=SWEIGARD, Kenneth}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Social Credit Party of Canada}}
{{Social Credit}}
{{Canadian federal election, 1984A}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweigard, Ken}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian Christian clergy]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:Social Credit Party of Canada leaders]]
[[Category:Angelic visionaries]]