John Campbell Bowen (October 3, 1872 – January 2, 1957) was a clergyman, insurance broker and long serving politician.
He took his post-secondary education at Brandon Baptist College, where he earned a degree in theology, and also at McMaster University.
[1] Bowen joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War, serving as a military chaplain.
[3] Bowen ran for mayor in the 1928 Edmonton municipal election after serving only one year of his two-year term as alderman.
[5] In his maiden speech to the legislature, Bowen brought attention to the need for increased government assistance for the unemployed and for adjustment to the taxation system to reduce the financial burdens facing urban centres.
Bowen defeated Joseph Clarke for the right to stand as a Liberal candidate on December 19, 1930, at a convention attended by almost 200 delegates with a vote of 98 to 54.
[6] A few weeks after taking office, Bowen became involved in a constitutional crisis when he refused to give royal assent to three government bills passed by the governing Social Credit Party, which was accused of exceeding its constitutional powers.
Mindful of the federal government's disallowance of some of the Social Credit Board's earlier legislation, Bowen initially reserved royal assent of the act and its companions until their legality could be tested at the Supreme Court of Canada as Reference Re Alberta Statutes.
All three bills were later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Eventually, however, after being forced to sign an order-in-council closing Government House, Bowen moved to a suite at the Hotel Macdonald.
[12][13] The building, the furniture, and fixtures were subsequently sold, and Bowen was the last lieutenant governor to officially reside at Government House.