15th Manitoba Legislature

The members of the 15th Manitoba Legislature were elected in the Manitoba general election held in August 1915. The legislature sat from January 6, 1916, to March 27, 1920.^[1]

The Liberal Party led by Tobias Norris formed the government.^[1]

Albert Prefontaine of the Conservatives was Leader of the Opposition.^[2]

On January 16, 1916, a bill was passed to amend the Manitoba Election Act to grant women the right to vote. Manitoba became the first Canadian province where women were allowed to vote and hold office.^[3]

In a referendum held on March 13, 1916, the province's voters supported prohibition. On June 1, the Manitoba Temperance Act came into effect, which banned the sale of liquor in the province, except by pharmacists for medical purposes. However, bringing alcohol into the province for personal use or for wholesale outside the province was still legal.^[4]

Also in 1916, the Workers Compensation Act was passed, which established the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. The act established an employer-funded compensation system for work-related injuries or illness and, in exchange, employers were granted protection against lawsuits by workers for these occurrences.^[5]

In 1918, a Minimum Wage Act was passed. Manitoba and British Columbia were the first provinces in Canada to introduce minimum wage legislation.^[6] In 1921, the minimum hourly wage in Manitoba was $0.25. Up until 1931, the minimum wage only applied to female workers.^[7]

James Bryson Baird served as speaker for the assembly.^[1]

There were five sessions of the 15th Legislature:^[1]

Session	Start	End
1st	January 6, 1916	April 1, 1916
2nd	January 11, 1917	March 9, 1917
3rd	January 17, 1918	March 6, 1918
4th	January 21, 1919	March 14, 1919
5th	January 22, 1920	March 27, 1920

Douglas Colin Cameron was Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba until August 3, 1916, when James Albert Manning Aikins became lieutenant governor.^[8]

Members of the Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1915:^[1]

	Member	Electoral district	Party^[9]
John Williams	Arthur	Liberal
John W. Wilton	Assiniboia	Liberal
William Robertson Wood	Beautiful Plains	Liberal
George Malcolm	Birtle	Liberal
Stephen Emmett Clement	Brandon City	Liberal
Albert Prefontaine	Carillon	Conservative
Andrew Watson Myles	Cypress	Liberal
William Harrington	Dauphin	Liberal
Robert Stirton Thornton	Deloraine	Liberal
Edward August	Dufferin	Liberal
Thomas Glendenning Hamilton	Elmwood	Liberal
John David Baskerville	Emerson	Liberal
William Findlater	Gilbert Plains	Liberal
Taras Ferley	Gimli	Liberal
James William Armstrong	Gladstone	Liberal
James Breakey	Glenwood	Liberal
John Henry McConnell	Hamiota	Liberal
Aimé Bénard	Iberville	Conservative
George Prout	Kildonan and St. Andrews	Liberal
Samuel Hayden	Killarney	Liberal
Charles Duncan McPherson	Lakeside	Liberal
Tobias Norris	Lansdowne	Liberal
Philippe Talbot	La Verendrye	Liberal
George Thomas Armstrong	Manitou	Liberal
George Grierson	Minnedosa	Liberal
Valentine Winkler	Morden and Rhineland	Liberal
Jacques Parent	Morris	Conservative
James Bryson Baird	Mountain	Liberal
John Graham	Norfolk	Liberal
Ewan McPherson	Portage la Prairie	Liberal
Frederic Newton	Roblin	Conservative
Arthur Lobb	Rockwood	Liberal
William Wilber Wilfred Wilson	Russell	Liberal
Joseph Dumas	St. Boniface	Liberal
Donald A. Ross	St. Clements	Liberal
Skuli Sigfusson	St. George	Liberal
Joseph Hamelin	Ste. Rose	Conservative
William Henry Sims	Swan River	Liberal
Edward Brown	The Pas^{[nb 1]}^[10]	Liberal
George William McDonald	Turtle Mountain	Liberal
George Clingan	Virden	Liberal
Thomas Herman Johnson	Winnipeg Centre A	Liberal
F. J. Dixon	Winnipeg Centre B	Independent
Robert Newton Lowery	Winnipeg North A	Liberal
Richard Rigg	Winnipeg North B	Social Democratic
Albert Hudson	Winnipeg South A	Liberal
William Parrish	Winnipeg South B	Liberal

Notes:

^ Election held August 25, 1915

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:

Electoral district	Member elected	Affiliation	Election date	Reason
Rupertsland	John Morrison	Independent-Liberal	September 16, 1916^[10]	New riding created
Iberville	Arthur Boivin	Conservative	November 1, 1917	A Bénard named to Senate of Canada^[10]
Roblin	William James Westwood	Independent-Liberal	November 19, 1917	F Newton resigned seat^[10]
Killarney	George Grierson	Liberal	November 30, 1917	G Grierson appointed Minister of Public Works^[10]
Winnipeg North B	Robert Jacob	Union	January 15, 1918	R Rigg ran for federal seat^[10]

Notes:

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Members of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1916-1920) (1914-1915)". Memorable Manitobans. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
^ "Leaders of the Opposition - Manitoba". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
^ "Women's Right to Vote in Canada". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2012-12-21.
^ Woolley, Jon (2003). "A century of integrity: Manitoba Justice, 1870-1970" (PDF). Government of Manitoba. pp. 31–2. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
^ "Overview". Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
^ "Minimum wage laws – the state of pay in Canada". CBC News. January 23, 2009.
^ "Historical Summary of Minimum Wage Rates in Manitoba". Government of Manitoba.
^ "Past lieutenant governors". Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
^ "Historical Summaries" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "MLA Biographies - Deceased". Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

[10] Election held August 25, 1915

[mhs-1] "Members of the Fifteenth Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (1916-1920) (1914-1915)". Memorable Manitobans. Manitoba Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-12-13.

[2] "Leaders of the Opposition - Manitoba". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2012-12-13.

[3] "Women's Right to Vote in Canada". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2012-12-21.

[4] Woolley, Jon (2003). "A century of integrity: Manitoba Justice, 1870-1970" (PDF). Government of Manitoba. pp. 31–2. Retrieved 2012-12-22.

[5] "Overview". Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba. Retrieved 2014-07-21.

[6] "Minimum wage laws – the state of pay in Canada". CBC News. January 23, 2009.

[7] "Historical Summary of Minimum Wage Rates in Manitoba". Government of Manitoba.

[8] "Past lieutenant governors". Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. Retrieved 2014-07-21.

[9] "Historical Summaries" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved 2012-09-23.

[members-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "MLA Biographies - Deceased". Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

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