- Thomas Crerar
Thomas Alexander Crerar, PC, CC, LL.D (
June 17 ,1876 –April 11 ,1975 ) was a western Canadian politician and a leader of the short-livedProgressive Party of Canada . He was born in Molesworth,Ontario , and moved toManitoba at a young age.Crerar rose to prominence as leader of the
Manitoba Grain Growers association in the 1910s. Although he had no experience as an elected official, he was appointed asMinister of Agriculture inRobert Laird Borden 's Union government onOctober 12 ,1917 , to provide a show of national unity during the First World War. He was easily elected to theCanadian House of Commons for Marquette in the election of 1917.On
June 6 ,1919 , Crerar resigned from his position in protest against the hightariff policies of the Conservative-dominated government. He was strongly in favour offree trade with theUnited States , which would have benefited the western farmers.In 1920, he was selected as leader of the Progressive Party. In the 1921 election, he led the party to a landslide victory in western Canada, giving them 65 seats in the House of Commons. Crerar failed to hold the party together, however. He resigned as leader in 1922, and the party collapsed shortly thereafter.
Crerar spent some time in the private sector before returning to politics in 1929, as a member of
William Lyon Mackenzie King 's Liberal Party. Although once again not holding a seat in parliament, he was appointedMinister of Railways and Canals (Canada) onDecember 30 ,1929 , and won a by-election in Brandon onFebruary 5 ,1930 . King's government was defeated in the general election that followed, however, and Crerar was personally defeated in his riding.He returned to parliament in the 1935 election, as the member for the northern
Manitoba riding of Churchill. He was once again appointed to King's cabinet, serving asMinister of Immigration and Colonization ,Minister of Mines ,Minister of the Interior andSuperintendent-General of Indian Affairs fromOctober 23 ,1935 toNovember 30 ,1936 . OnDecember 1 ,1936 , he was removed from most of his responsibilities and became simplyMinister of Mines and Resources , holding the position untilApril 17 ,1945 .Crerar was appointed to the
Canadian Senate onApril 18 ,1945 , and remained a Senator until his retirement onMay 31 ,1966 . In 1973, he was made a Companion of theOrder of Canada . He died in 1975.External links
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=2350&s=M Political biography from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=1907 Order of Canada Citation]Persondata
NAME= Crerar, Thomas Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Western Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=June 17 ,1876
PLACE OF BIRTH=Molesworth,Ontario ,Canada
DATE OF DEATH=April 11 ,1975
PLACE OF DEATH=
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.