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 The
Fall of Emperor Pic has all the ingredients of a spectacle—a car chase,
shooting, manhunt, trial and execution. Perhaps because of this it received
a sensational amount of attention at the time. That it has endured as the
subject of contemporary historical studies and dramatic interpretations
(most recently the 2003 opera Filumena, a collaborative production
of The Banff Centre and the Calgary Opera) reflects the capacity of the
case to illuminate a dramatic period in Alberta’s past.
Drama aside, the case exposes a turbulent time when discrimination coloured the attitudes
of many Albertans concerning Italian immigrants. This stemmed from a general
distrust and concern over “foreigners” as well as more specific notions
about the links between the immigrant population in the Crowsnest Pass,
bootlegging and Prohibition—t he mining communities of the Pass, with its
large immigrant population had voted against Prohibition in the 1915 and 1920 provincial plebiscites. As
well, when illegal brewing operations were discovered in the area it was
often run by someone with a “foreign” name.1
It would be hard
to imagine that the resulting impression held by many Albertans about the
Italian community as lawbreakers
was one without impact in their perception of guilt and innocence of the
two accused. This bias was not lost on defence counsel John McKinley Cameron,
who in his lengthy summation, pled for the jury to keep discrimination out
of their deliberations.
 In
the end, the case holds a curious and somewhat ironic place in the end of
Prohibition. When Constable Lawson was shot in 1923, the buying and selling
of illegal liquor was occurring and successfully
enforcing the Liquor Act had proved to be difficult and dangerous for the
APP. Constable Lawson was not the only police casualty of the enforcement
of the Alberta Liquor Act, and, in fact, was the third victim in three years
to die in the attempt. Many in the
 public simply chose to turn a blind eye
and not get involved and overall, Albertans had grown weary of the Prohibition
debate.2
As historian Frank Anderson noted, it was “entirely
possible that
many persons, appalled by the tragedy and the violence that seemed to accompany
all efforts to enforce Prohibition, both in the United States and Canada,
willingly signed the petition [to end Prohibition] in order to prevent more
disorder and breaking of laws.”3
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Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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