Clarence Melvin Fines (August 16, 1905 – October 27, 1993) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, teacher and union leader. He was provincial treasurer of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

during the

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

era, and also served as Deputy Premier. Born in Darlington, Manitoba, Fines was educated at both the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) is a professional association and trade union representing over 13,500 schoolteachers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan . The organization's headquarters is located in Saskatoon Saskatoon ( ...

. While serving as an assistant principal at the same school as

Major James Coldwell Major James William Coldwell (December 2, 1888 – August 25, 1974), usually known as M. J. Coldwell, was a Canadian democratic socialist politician, and leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party from 1942 to 1960. Bor ...

, Fines became involved with the Independent Labour Party (ILP), which Coldwell headed.Johnson, p. 13 In 1931, Fines was elected president of the ILP, at the Western Conference of Labour Political Parties.Johnson, p. 15 He strived to merge the farmer and the labour political movements under one party. In July 1932, he succeeded in merging the two movements into the Saskatchewan Farmer-Labour Party. In August, he helped organize the founding meeting of the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

(CCF) in Calgary. Fines served as a

Regina City Council Regina City Council is the governing body of Regina, the capital city of the central Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The council, which meets in Henry Baker Hall at Queen Elizabeth II Court, consists of the mayor, who is elected city-wide, an ...

lor from 1934 to 1939 and from 1942 to 1944. During this time he was the chair of the Regina General Hospital, director of the Regina Exhibition Board, and a member of the parks board. Fines was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

in the June 15, 1944 Saskatchewan general election that saw the CCF sweep the province, becoming Canada's first

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

government. He represented the

Regina City Regina City was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 to 1968. This riding was created in 1933 from parts of Regina riding. It consisted initially of the city of ...

constituency continuously from 1944 to 1960. Fines had a tremendous influence over the reforms made by the CCF government over the following years. As treasurer, Fines made sure that these reforms were made while producing balanced budgets. In 1944, Saskatchewan had a debt of $218 million, 38% of Saskatchewan's GDP. With successive balanced budgets, Fines brought this number down to $70 million by 1949. In 1953, Saskatchewan was debtless. For the next 16 years, all of Fines' budgets had surpluses. During his tenure as an MLA, Fines also served as the minister responsible for the Bureau of Publications, Queen's Printer Office, Government Purchasing Agency, the Liquor Board, and Saskatchewan Government Insurance. In 1960, he retired and became a corporate financial advisor, eventually going to

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. In 1963 he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he lived the rest of his life. When he died there on October 27, 1993, he was the last surviving member of Douglas's first cabinet. In 2006, Fines appeared as a prominent character in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's docu-drama mini-series ''

Prairie Giant ''Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story'' is a CBC Television miniseries first aired in two consecutive parts on March 12 and March 13, 2006. It dramatizes and fictionalizes the life and career of Tommy Douglas, the Canadian politician who oversaw ...

: The Tommy Douglas Story'', and was portrayed by Canadian actor

Don McKellar Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing the ...

. The C.M. Fines Building is named in his honour.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan hansard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fines, Clarence 1905 births 1993 deaths Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian politicians Canadian schoolteachers 20th-century Canadian educators Canadian socialists Trade unionists from Saskatchewan Regina, Saskatchewan city councillors University of Saskatchewan alumni University of Manitoba alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States