Ferguson ministry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Governor
- Henry Cockshutt
(1923-1927) - William Donald Ross
(1927-1930)
Ferguson ministry | |
|---|---|
 9th ministry of Ontario | |
_1926.jpg) Ferguson Ministry (at 1926 election) | |
| Date formed | July 16, 1923 |
| Date dissolved | December 15, 1930 |
| People and organisations | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Lieutenant Governor |
|
| Premier | Howard Ferguson |
| No. of ministers | 13 (max) |
| Total no. of members | 22 |
| Member party | Conservative Party |
| History | |
| Elections | 1923, 1926, 1929 |
| Legislature term | parliaments |
| Predecessor | Drury ministry |
| Successor | Henry ministry |
The Ferguson ministry was the cabinet (formally the Executive Council of Ontario) of the Government of Ontario July 16, 1923, to December 15, 1930. It was led by the 9th Premier of Ontario, (styled as Prime Minister of Ontario at that time) Conservative Howard Ferguson. For the entire tenure of the ministry, the Conservative Party led by Ferguson held majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Accordingly, all members of the ministry were members of the Conservative Party.
The ministry was formed following the 1923 Ontario general election. The Conservative Party was previously in office from 1905 until it was ousted in the 1919 election by the upstart United Farmers of Ontario. Ferguson was a minister in the ousted Hearst ministry and was the campaign manager for the Conservative Party in that election campaign. He was chosen to rebuild the party after the catastrophic defeat, and led his party to back to power after just one term in opposition, securing a majority government.
The Ferguson ministry replaced the Drury ministry of the United Farmers, and governed through the 16th, 17th, and the beginning of the 18th Parliament of Ontario. It renewed it governing mandate twice, respective in the 1926 election and 1929 election, retaining its majority status in both instances. While the United Farmers rebranded its parliamentary wing as the Progressive Party and contested those elections, they were mostly a spent force, winning less than a tenth of the vote both times. The Conservative under Ferguson won not only the majority of the seats in those two elections but also a majority share of the popular votes both times. The Conservative Party led by Ferguson in 1929 was the last time any party having won a majority share of the popular vote in Ontario.
The Ferguson ministry dissolved in December 1930, upon Ferguson's appointment as Canada's High Commissioner in London. George Stewart Henry, Ferguson's long time designated deputy, and the only other remaining member of the ministry with cabinet experience from prior ministry, succeeded Ferguson as Prime Minister. The successor Henry ministry was largely a continuation of the incumbent industry. All eleven members of the Ferguson ministry at its dissolution aside from Ferguson continued to served in the new ministry, with many holding the same portfolio. With the exception of Dunlop and Monteith who died within ten days of each other, The other nine members all served until the end of the Henry ministry.
Changes
The Ferguson ministry was formed on July 16, 1923 with thirteen members. While a new Department of Health was created during the ministry's tenure, the cabinet at no point grew larger than twelve members after its first departure in May 1924. Of the thirteen original members, three including Ferguson has previous cabinet experience. Adam Beck the chair of Ontario Hydro was given a seat in cabinet as a minister without portfolio and served for the entire duration of the Whiney and Hearst ministries. Ferguson was appointed to cabinet soon after William Hearst assumed the premiership and took over the portfolio previously held by the Premier. Henry entered cabinet in 1918 at the same time as Henry John Cody, Ferguson's university roommate and close personal confidant for whom he orchestrated a direct entry into cabinet as education minister without holding a seat or ever served in government prior. Six other members have served as backbench members (then referred to as private members) of the previous Whitney-Hearst Conservative government.
Despite sweeping all ten seats in Toronto in 1923 and all fifteen in 1926 and 1929, Treasurer William Herbert Price (later Attorney General) was the only cabinet member representing a Toronto district after Thomas Crawford's departure within the first year of the ministry, though the members for the two surrounding York Township districts, George Henry and Forbes Godfrey, were both in cabinet.
For he duration of the 16th parliament, the ministry experienced only minor changes, and three fairly innocuous departures. Thomas Crawford, who served as speaker of the legislative assembly in the early Whitney era and was already 76 when the Ferguson ministry was formed, resigned in May 1924 to accept the appointment as registrar of deeds for the City of Toronto. Sir Adam Beck, the long serving hydro chairman died late summer of 1925.
On March 1st 2016 Ferguson announced the ministry's first significant resignation by reading in the legislature the resignation letter from land and forest minister James Lyons addressed to him and his reply. Lyon operated a successful fuel and supply company that had been doing business with the government and many operators in the north long before he joined the government. As concerns for the conflict of interests grew and became untenable, he opted to resign in order to protect his business interest. Being very familiar with the department himself, the premier took on the portfolio on as its interim minister.
On the eve of the 1926 election, Attorney General William Nickle resigned over the government's policy on temperance and ran for re-election as a Prohibition Union's candidate, becoming the highest profile candidate nominated solely by the union. That triggered a major shuffle of the ministry and introduced three new members into cabinet. Among them were Joseph Montieth, who represented a midwestern riding, a region where the opposition is the strongest. One of the three new minister, David Jamison of Grey South, was defeated by a 22-year old Farquhar Oliver, a future Liberal minister and party leader, and thus resigned shortly after.
