Howard Ferguson














































































The Honourable


George Howard Ferguson


Howard Ferguson.jpg
The Hon. George Howard Ferguson

9th Premier of Ontario

In office
July 16, 1923 – December 15, 1930
Monarch George V
Lieutenant Governor
Henry Cockshutt
William Donald Ross
Preceded by Ernest Charles Drury
Succeeded by George Stewart Henry
Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

In office
1930–1935
Prime Minister
R.B. Bennett,
W.L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by
Lucien Turcotte Pacaud (acting)
Succeeded by Vincent Massey
Ontario MPP

In office
January 25, 1905 – December 15, 1930
Preceded by Robert Joynt
Succeeded by James Alfred Sanderson
Constituency Grenville

Personal details
Born
(1870-06-18)June 18, 1870
Kemptville, Ontario
Died February 21, 1946(1946-02-21) (aged 75)
Toronto, Ontario
Resting place Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Political party Conservative
Alma mater
University of Toronto
Osgoode Hall Law School

George Howard Ferguson, PC (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth Premier of Ontario, Canada from 1923 to 1930. He was a Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to 1930 who represented the eastern provincial riding of Grenville.




Contents






  • 1 Background


  • 2 Early political career


  • 3 Premier


    • 3.1 French policy


    • 3.2 Liquor policy


    • 3.3 Other issues




  • 4 After politics


  • 5 References


  • 6 Further reading


    • 6.1 Bibliography


    • 6.2 Other




  • 7 External links





Background


He was the son of Charles Frederick Ferguson who served in the Canadian House of Commons. Ferguson studied at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall, was called to the Ontario bar in 1894 and returned to Kemptville to practice. Ferguson was elected to the municipal council, serving three years as reeve of Kemptville. He married Ella Cumming in 1896.



Early political career


First elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1905 election, Ferguson served as Minister of Lands, Forest and Mines in the government of William Hearst from 1914 to 1919. As Minister, he approved the reservation of 5,000 square miles (12,950 km2) of pulpwood on Crown land to the Mead Corporation,[1] and a further 1,500 square miles (3,885 km2) to Abitibi Power and Paper Company,[2] despite the Crown Timber Act's requirement that pulp limits must be sold by public tender.[1] He declared, "My ambition has been to see the largest paper industry in the world established in the Province, and my attitude towards the pulp and paper industry has been directed towards assisting in bringing this about."[2] After becoming Premier of Ontario in 1923, Ferguson reserved a further 3,000 square miles (7,770 km2) to Abitibi.[3]


In addition, as Minister he sold timber limits to the Shevlin-Clarke Lumber Company (headed by 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:







Ferguson became leader of the Conservative Party upon the defeat of the Hearst government that year.



Premier


In the 1923 election, the Ontario Conservative Party came to power under Ferguson's leadership by defeating the United Farmers of Ontario-Labour coalition government of Ernest C. Drury. The Tories won 75 of the 111 seats in the legislature. Ferguson's government encouraged private investment in industry and the development of the province's natural resources as a means of achieving prosperity. It was re-elected in the 1926 election with 72 seats, and in 1929 with 90 seats.



French policy




Ferguson (left) with Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (center) and Quebec Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau at the Dominion-Provincial Conference, November 23, 1927.


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," despite the fact that a significant proportion of the population was French-Canadian. Sectarian politics was still rife in Ontario, and the Conservatives relied on a base of Orange support. Ferguson was prepared to pander to the Orangemen with anti-Catholic and anti-French rhetoric.


In 1912, the Ontario government passed Regulation 17, which restricted the use of French language instruction to a minimum. This legislation outraged Quebec, and was an irritant to national unity during the First World War. When Ferguson became Premier, he reversed himself by moderating the legislation and allowing more French language instruction. His government, however, refused to extend funding for the Catholic Separate school system past the 8th grade.


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 (i.e., 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, leading Ferguson's government to permit the sale of beer with an alcohol content of no more than 4.4 Proof, about 2.2% abv. Such brew became known as Fergie's foam.


The 1926 provincial election was fought on the issue of the government's proposal to repeal the Ontario Temperance Act and permit controlled sales of liquor in government owned stores. Attorney-General William Folger Nickle who had supported the government's earlier decision to allow the sale of low-alcohol beer, was opposed to going any further in softening temperance laws and resigned from Cabinet to run against the government as a Prohibitionist candidate against the repeal of the OTA. Ferguson's Conservatives were re-elected with a slightly reduced majority.


In 1927, the government introduced legislation to establish the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and allow the sale of alcohol by government-owned and operated liquor stores. The Tories' moderate stance on temperance allowed them to isolate the Liberals who, until 1930, took a hard prohibitionist stance opposing even regulated liquor sales. The Liberals' position alienated all but the most hard-line temperance advocates.



Other issues


The Tories remained hostile to labour and immigrants, and were not prepared to provide social relief when the Great Depression threw thousands out of work and into poverty. The Ferguson government also opposed federal government plans for an old age pension.



After politics


In December 1930, Premier Ferguson left provincial politics to accept an appointment as Canadian High Commissioner in London. He was succeeded as party leader and Premier by George Stewart Henry.


From 1945 to 1946, he served as Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario.
He also gave his name to the Ferguson Block, an office block in Ontario, Canada, as well as the residence cafeteria at University College in the University of Toronto. It is named the "Howard Ferguson Dining Hall". There is also a University College scholarship named after him.


Ferguson died of heart failure at his home in Toronto in 1946 and is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto (in front of the Mount Pleasant Mausoleum).



References





  1. ^ abc Nelles 2005, p. 387.


  2. ^ ab Nelles 2005, p. 388.


  3. ^ Nelles 2005, p. 395.


  4. ^ Nelles 2005, p. 386.


  5. ^ "Mixed Division on Timber Bill in Legislature". Ottawa Citizen. March 27, 1922. p. 2..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}, discussing the adoption of The Shevlin-Clarke Timber License Act, 1922, S.O. 1922, c. 20



  6. ^ "Lumber Company is Charged with Fraud". Toronto World. November 2, 1920. p. 5.




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.). McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2758-3.


External links



  • Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history


  • Howard Ferguson fonds, Archives of Ontario















Academic offices
Preceded by
Henry Cockshutt

Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario
1945–1946
Succeeded by
Arthur R. Ford
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Lucien Turcotte Pacaud, acting

Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
1930–1935
Succeeded by
Vincent Massey










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