James J. Morrison

James J. (J.J.) Morrison (1861-1936) was a farm leader in Ontario, Canada, a founder of the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) in 1914, and a leader of the co-operative movement. He was the UFO's general secretary during the period in which it became a political party and took power in the province following the 1919 provincial election.

Morrison was born on his family's homestead in Peel Township, Wellington County. He worked in manufacturing in Toronto for twelve years but returned to his family's farm in 1900. Morrison became active in the agrarian movement and helped found the UFO in 1914 as a farm advocacy organization and remained its secretary until 1933. He also served as secretary of the United Farmers Co-operative Company Ltd. (UFCC) from 1914 to 1935. The UFCC was the purchasing co-operative that the UFO operated on behalf of its members.

The UFO entered party politics in the 1919 provincial election. To everyone's surprise, it won enough seats to form a government in coalition with Labour MLAs. Morrison had hoped the UFO would be able to hold the balance of power and thus win legislation favourable to farmers, but he had reservations about it forming government. The party ran without a leader and had no designated individual to serve as Premier of Ontario. Morrison was offered the position, but declined in favour of E.C. Drury. Morrision contained as UFO general secretary.

Morrison became a thorn in the side of the Drury government by opposing its alliance with urban workers and the labour movement and was instead an advocate of group government, a position rejected by Drury. Morrison objecting to initiatives by the Drury government such as a superannuation scheme for civil servants which was denounced by farmers. He also opposed attempts by the government to establish a marketing system. The lack of support by Morrison and his faction of the UFO was a contributing factor to the Drury government's defeat in the 1923 election after one term.

Morrison's daughter, Rae Luckock, became a politician and served as a Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Provincial Parliament in the 1940s. Morrison was a mentor to Agnes Macphail who served as an MP in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1920s and 1930s. Macphail and Luckock were the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature in 1943.

ources

* [http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000360.htm Biographical sketch] from York University archives.
* [http://www.publicpower.ca/the_party/history.htm Labour and Famers in Ontario, 1919-1923]