Arthur Meighen, PC, QC (June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was the ninth Prime
Minister of Canada from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921 and June 29 to
September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born
after Confederation, and also the first (and to date only) to represent a riding in Manitoba
(notwithstanding that he was born and lived most of his life in Ontario). Both of his terms of office were brief, the second
unprecedently so (partially due to the conflicts between the Governor General of
Canada and Meighen's rival, William Lyon Mackenzie King).
Background
Meighen was born in Anderson, Ontario, Canada to Joseph Meighen and Mary Jane Bell. Meighen attended high school in St. Marys, Ontario at North Ward Public School, but what is now known as Arthur Meighen Public
School. The grandson of the schoolmaster of the first school in St. Marys, Meighen was an exemplary student. In 1892 in his final
year at St. Marys Collegiate Institute, Meighen was elected secretary of the Literary Society and was a member of the school
Debating Society. He received first class honours in Mathematics, English, and Latin and went on to tertiary education at the
University of Toronto. He graduated from the University of Toronto, earning a B.A.
in Mathematics in 1896. In 1904
he married Isabel J. Cox (1882 - 1985) with whom he had two sons and one daughter. In 1990, one of his grandsons, Michael Meighen, was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the
recommendation of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
Meighen experimented in several professions, including those of teacher, lawyer and businessman, before becoming involved in
politics as a member of the Conservative Party. In public,
Meighen was a first class debater, said to have honed his oratory by delivering lectures to empty desks after class. He was
renowned for his sharp wit.
Cabinet
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1908, defeating incumbent John Crawford in the Manitoba riding of Portage la Prairie. He was re-elected
in 1908 and 1911, and again in 1913 after being appointed Solicitor General (at the time, newly appointed Ministers had to seek re-election).
Meighen served as Solicitor-General from June 26, 1913, until
August 25, 1917, when he was appointed Minister of Mines and Secretary of State for Canada.
In 1917, he was mainly responsible for implementing conscription. Noteworthy
was the government's decision to give votes to conscription supporters (soldiers and their families), while denying that right to
potential opponents of conscription such as immigrants. Meighen's portfolios were again shifted on October 12, 1917, this time to the positions of Minister of the Interior and Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
He was re-elected in the December 1917 federal election in which
Borden's Unionist (wartime coalition) government defeated the opposition Laurier
Liberals over the conscription issue.
As Minister of the Interior, Meighen steered through Parliament the largest piece of legislation ever enacted in the
British Empire - creating the Canadian
National Railway Company, which continues today. Meighen was re-appointed Minister of
Mines on the last day of 1920. In 1919, as acting
Minister of Justice and senior Manitoban in the government of Sir
Robert Borden, Meighen helped put down the Winnipeg General Strike by force. Though Meighen has often been credited by historians with
instigating the prosecution of the Winnipeg strike leaders, in fact, he rejected demands from the Citizens' Committee that Ottawa
step in when the provincial government of Manitoba refused to prosecute. Only with the return to Ottawa, in late July 1919, of
Charles Doherty, Minister of Justice, did the Citizens' get federal money to carry forward their campaign against
labour.[citation needed]
First term
Meighen became leader of the Conservative and
Unionist Party and Prime Minister on
July 7, 1920, when Borden resigned. He quickly called an
election.
Meighen fought the 1921 election under the banner of the
National Liberal and Conservative Party in an attempt to keep
the allegiance of Liberals who had supported the wartime Unionist government. However, his
actions in implementing Conscription hurt his party's already-weak support in Quebec, while the Winnipeg General Strike and farm tariffs made him unpopular among labour and farmers alike. The
party was defeated by the Liberals, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. Meighen was personally defeated in Portage la Prairie, falling to third place behind the newly-formed Progressive Party. He continued to lead the Conservative Party (which had reverted to its
traditional name), and returned to Parliament in 1922 for the eastern Ontario riding of Grenville.
Opposition leader
Meighen's term as opposition leader was most marked by his response to the crisis at
Chanak, in which Colonial secretary Winston Churchill leaked to the newspapers
that the Dominions might be called upon to help British forces in the area. King refused to commit to sending troops, resenting
the way Churchill went above the Dominion leaders' heads. King used the rationale that Parliament should decide, and that the
matter was not important enough to recall Parliament. Meighen strongly condemned his action, stating in a Toronto hotel, "When
Britain's message came, then Canada should have said, 'Ready, aye ready, we stand by you.'" The crisis subsided within days, and
Meighen was left with a reputation as blindly in favour of Britain's interests.
Unlike Laurier and Borden, there existed between Meighen and King a very personal distrust and animosity. Meighen looked down
on King, whom he called "Rex" (King's old University nickname), and considered him unprincipled.
The Liberal government of Mackenzie King was soon beset with scandals and corruption. Much of this was uncovered in a Royal
Commission established to probe wrongdoing in Quebec, and in particular, in connection with the construction of the Beauharnois
Canal. The Tories won a plurality of seats in the inconclusive election of 1925, but King was able to retain power until 1926 through an alliance with the Progressives. Meighen denounced King staying in power, saying he was holding on
to office like a "lobster with lockjaw."
A scandal in the Customs department was soon discovered, making the Progressives wary of supporting King. When King was on the
verge of losing a vote in the Commons in 1926, he asked the Governor General, Lord Byng, to call an election. Despite every effort to cling to power, Mackenzie
King's shaky government was defeated in the House of Commons. King resigned and Meighen was invited to form a government, having
secured a measure of support from the opposition farm parties. This became known as the "King-Byng Affair". Historians have been divided in their interpretation of this event. Some have
regarded it as an attack by Mackenzie King on the Governor General's constitutional prerogatives, including the right to refuse
an election request by a prime minister; others have regarded it as an unwarranted intrusion into Canadian Parliamentary affairs
by an unelected figurehead, and hence a violation of the principle of responsible government and the longstanding tradition of
non-interference.
Second term
Because of the possibility of losing a vote in the Commons while Meighen and his ministers were re-elected (a relic of British
law dating to 1701 that was repealed in Canada in 1938), Meighen made his ministers "acting" ones, and did not give them the oath
of office. King created an uproar about this tactic, attracting Progressive support to take down the government. In the event,
the government lost the confidence of the House by one vote. With no other parliamentary grouping to call upon, Byng called an
election. Meighen's party was swept from office, and Meighen himself was again defeated in Portage la Prairie. He resigned as Conservative Party leader shortly
thereafter.
Afterward
Meighen was appointed to the Senate in 1932 on the recommendation of Prime Minister
Richard Bennett. He served as Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister without
Portfolio from February 3, 1932, to October 22, 1935.
In 1941, Meighen was prevailed upon to become leader of the Conservative Party again. He resigned his Senate seat on
January 16, 1942, and campaigned in a by-election for the
Toronto riding of York South. According to custom, the
Liberals did not run a candidate in the riding. Still harbouring a deep hatred for the Conservative leader and thinking that the
return to the Commons of the ardently conscriptionist Meighen would further inflame the conscription crisis, King sent resources to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's Joseph Noseworthy. Meighen was defeated, and once again withdrew from public life.
Arthur Meighen died in Toronto, Ontario, aged 86, on August
5, 1960, and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, St. Marys, Ontario, near his birthplace. As
of 2007, he had the longest retirement of any Canadian Prime Minister, at 33 years, 10 months, 11 days.
Legacy
There are schools in St. Marys, Ontario and Portage La Prairie,
Manitoba named for Arthur Meighen.
Mount Arthur Meighen is a 3205 m (10515 ft) peak located at co-ordinates 52.48.12° N 119.33.12° W in the Premier Range of the
Cariboo Mountains in the east-central interior of British Columbia, Canada. The mountain is south of the head of the McClennan
River and immediately west of the town of Valemount, British Columbia.
External links
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