John Bracken: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 02:10, 25 October 2010
The Hon. John Bracken | |
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11th Premier of Manitoba | |
In office August 8, 1922 – January 14, 1943 | |
Preceded by | Tobias Norris |
Succeeded by | Stuart Garson |
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Neepawa | |
In office 1945–1949 | |
Preceded by | Frederick Donald Mackenzie |
Succeeded by | The electoral district was abolished in 1947. |
Leader of the Official Opposition | |
In office 1945–1948 | |
Preceded by | Gordon Graydon |
Succeeded by | George A. Drew |
Personal details | |
Born | Ellisville, Ontario | June 22, 1883
Died | March 18, 1969 Ottawa, Ontario | (aged 85)
Political party | Progressive Party of Manitoba, Progressive Conservative |
Cabinet | President of the Council (1922–1943) Minister of Education (1922–1923) Provincial Lands Commissioner (1922–1923) Railway Commissioner (1922–1923 & 1935-1940) Minister of Agriculture (1923-1925 & 1936) Provincial Treasurer (1925–1932) Minister of Public Utilities (1927–1928) Minister of Mines & Natural Resources (1928–1930) Provincial Secretary (1935–1939) Minister Manitoba Power Commission (1936–1940) Minister, Dom. Prov. Relations (1939-1940 & 1941-1943) |
John Bracken, PC (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was an agronomist, the 11th Premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–1948).
Bracken was born in Ellisville, Ontario, and was educated at the Ontario Agricultural College. He was professor of animal husbandry at the University of Saskatchewan from 1910 to 1920 when he became President of the Manitoba Agricultural College.
The United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM) won the provincial election of 1922 but did not have a leader, so they asked Bracken to head the party and become Premier of Manitoba. (A similar situation had occurred with Ernest C. Drury when the United Farmers of Ontario won the 1919 election in that province.)
Bracken was a political outsider, and gave the UFM the professional grounding it needed. The United Farmers generally rejected the partisanship of the Liberal and Conservative parties, and favoured government policies based on independence and principles of business management. Bracken accepted the UFM's request, and won a deferred election in the northern riding of The Pas. The UFM governed as the Progressive Party of Manitoba, and Bracken served as Manitoba's Premier for over twenty years.
Bracken's government was in most respects conservative and cautious. It was dominated by rural interests, who controlled the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba through an outmoded system of representation. Labour did not fare well under Bracken's leadership; the Premier had little sympathy for the leaders of the Winnipeg General Strike, and once fired a number of government workers to show his independence from organized labour.
In keeping with the UFM's "anti-party" philosophy, Bracken favoured non-partisan government. In 1931, his Progressives formed an alliance with the Manitoba Liberal Party, and the two parties eventually merged into one. In 1940, Bracken formed a wartime coalition government that included the Conservative, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and Social Credit parties.
When Bracken left provincial politics in 1943, there were only 5 opposition Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in a 57-member parliament. His coalition remained intact until 1950, although the CCF left in 1943.
Despite having co-operated with the Liberals at the provincial level, Bracken was asked by a number of senior federal Conservatives (including Arthur Meighen) to take over the leadership of the weak national Conservative Party in 1942. He agreed to seek the party's leadership on the condition that it change its name to the Progressive Conservative Party. He was elected leader at the party's 1942 leadership convention. Bracken stepped down as Manitoba premier shortly thereafter, and was succeeded by Stuart S. Garson.
Bracken did not seek a seat in the House of Commons until the 1945 Canadian election, which the Progressive Conservatives lost. Bracken became Leader of the Opposition and remained leader of the Tories until he was pushed to resign in 1948.
It has been argued, with some credibility, that Bracken never succeeded in impressing his personal authority over the national PC organization. As a western populist, he was distrusted by the party's eastern establishment. There are reports that some senior Conservatives wanted him removed as leader as early as 1944.
Bracken lost his riding to Liberal James Matthews in the 1949 federal election, and did not return to political life thereafter.
Electoral record
- Federal
Template:Canadian federal election, 1949/Electoral District/Brandon (electoral district)
Template:Canadian federal election, 1945/Electoral District/Neepawa (electoral district)
External links
- 1883 births
- 1969 deaths
- Leaders of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons
- Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Manitoba
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Members of the United Church of Canada
- Premiers of Manitoba
- Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs
- University of Saskatchewan faculty