 At the time that Alberta was made a province in 1905 , the federal government retained control of its natural resources ( though it provided financial compensation to the new provincial government for this ) , a fact that set it apart from the older provinces . By 1925 , negotiations to alter this state of affairs had been ongoing for more than a decade , and the two levels of government had an agreement in principle . Despite this , Alberta Liberal leader John R. Boyle sent a letter to his fellow Liberal , Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , pleading with him to delay any agreement until after the expected 1925 election so that the UFA could not claim success . Greenfield and Brownlee attended a series of meetings with federal representatives beginning May 19 in Ottawa ; these continued until June 7 , whereupon Brownlee returned home . Greenfield offered to stay , but on June 11 King told him that the cabinet would need the summer to consider the question and that no agreement would be immediately forthcoming . This decision did not help the Alberta Liberals , who went on to lose the next election soundly , and did not prevent the transfer of resource rights , which took place in 1929 , but was enough to rob Greenfield of his glory ; he left office the next year . 
