Howard Ferguson
Ontario MPP | |
|---|---|
| In office January 25, 1905 – December 15, 1930 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Joynt |
| Succeeded by | James Alfred Sanderson |
| Constituency | Grenville |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 18, 1870 Kemptville, Ontario |
| Died | February 21, 1946 (aged 75) Toronto, Ontario |
| Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Ella Cumming |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto Osgoode Hall Law School |
George Howard Ferguson,
Background
The son of
Early political career
First elected to the
In addition, he sold timber limits to the Shevlin-Clarke Lumber Company (headed by the fellow Conservative James Arthur Mathieu) for less than half the price they would have normally fetched,[4] and the company later paid a fine of $1.5 million for breaching the Crown Timber Act.[5] The transactions were criticized in a subsequent inquiry,[6] in which the commission reported:
We are of the opinion that no officer, Minister or otherwise, should have the power to grant rights over large areas of the public domain at will without regard to Regulation; that power was never contemplated by the statutes; it does not at present exist, and should not be given to any individual. Such an arbitrary power subject to no control is obviously open to abuse.[1]
Ferguson became leader of the Conservative Party upon the defeat of the Hearst government that year.
Premiership
In the
French policy
In 1911, Ferguson argued in the legislature that "no language other than English should be used as a medium of instruction in the schools of this Province" although that a significant proportion of the population was
In 1912, the Ontario government passed
Ferguson's reversal on Regulation 17 was a concession needed for his alliance with Quebec Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau. Ferguson and Taschereau formed an axis against the federal government to demand more provincial rights and defend the provinces' ownership of natural resources such as water power (hydro-electric generation).
Liquor policy
The Ferguson government, eager for new tax revenue, held a plebiscite in 1924 to soften the province's temperance laws. A slim majority voted against prohibition, which led Ferguson's government to permit the sale of beer with an alcohol content of no more than 4.4 proof, about 2.2%. Such brew became known as Fergie's foam.
The
In 1927, the government introduced legislation to establish the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and to allow the sale of alcohol by government-owned and operated liquor stores. That moderate stance on temperance allowed the government to isolate the Liberals, who until 1930 took a hard prohibitionist stance by opposing even regulated liquor sales and so alienated all but the most hardline temperance advocates.
Other issues
The Tories remained hostile to
Later life
In December 1930, Ferguson left provincial politics to accept an appointment as Canadian
From 1945 to 1946, he served as Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario.
He also gave his name to the
Ferguson died on February 21, 1946, in Toronto.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Nelles 2005, p. 387.
- ^ a b Nelles 2005, p. 388.
- ^ Nelles 2005, p. 395.
- ^ Nelles 2005, p. 386.
- ^ "Mixed Division on Timber Bill in Legislature". Ottawa Citizen. March 27, 1922. p. 2., discussing the adoption of The Shevlin-Clarke Timber License Act, 1922, S.O. 1922, c. 20
- Toronto World. November 2, 1920. p. 5.
- newspapers.com.
Further reading
Bibliography
- Oliver, Peter. G. Howard Ferguson : Ontario Tory. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1977.
- Oliver, Peter. Public & private persons : the Ontario political culture 1914–1934. Toronto : Clarke Irwin, 1975.
- Chambers, EJ Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1916
Other
- Nelles, H.V. (2005). Politics of Development: Forests, Mines, and Hydro-Electric Power in Ontario, 1849–1941 (2nd ed.). ISBN 0-7735-2758-3.
External links
- Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
- Howard Ferguson fonds, Archives of Ontario
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