Edwin Arnold Hansford (December 1, 1895
– March 12, 1959
) was a politician in
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, Canada, and served as leader of that province's
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 ...
between 1948 and 1952.
Hansford was born in the
Annapolis Valley
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy. St ...
region of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. He served overseas in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
for four-and-a-half years, and subsequently worked for
Canadian National Railways
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
.
Hansford ran as a candidate of the
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
in the federal riding of
St. Boniface, in the
1930 federal election, but was defeated. Five years later, he was again defeated as a candidate of the
CCF (successor party to the ILP in Manitoba). Hansford was more successful in municipal politics — he became a
St. Boniface alderman in 1931, and served until 1945.
Hansford was also a member of the provincial CCF executive, although his first attempt to enter provincial politics was unsuccessful. The CCF had joined Premier
John Bracken
John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...
's coalition ministry in 1940, but was subsequently marginalized by the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
-
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
alliance that dominated the government. Demoralized, the party won only three seats members in the
1941 election. Running in provincial
St. Boniface riding, Hansford was defeated
by almost 1000 votes.
In 1943, the CCF left the coalition and was enjoying a higher level of popular support. The party posed a credible threat to the Liberal-Conservative coalition in the
1945 election, and while the overall results were disappointing (only ten
Members of the Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
(MLAs) elected out of 57 seats), Hansford was able to carry St. Boniface
by more than 2000 votes over his nearest opponent.
Seymour Farmer
Seymour James Farmer (June 20, 1878 – January 16, 1951) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as Winnipeg MLA from 1922 to 1949. During this time he also served as mayor of Winnipeg 1923-1924 and later as city councillor in the l ...
resigned as party leader in 1947. The CCF caucus chose Hansford to lead the CCF in the legislature and, the following year, Hansford was confirmed leader at the party's convention without opposition. Five others were nominated from the floor for the position but all declined to stand.
He was the first leader of Manitoba's "parliamentary left" from outside of the City of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
proper.
The late 1940s were a period of decline for most left-wing groups within Canada, and the Manitoba CCF did not escape this pattern. The party was particularly plagued by divisions over cooperation with the province's
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
. The party leadership was universally against such cooperation, but many rank-and-file members (and some MLAs) supported it. The result was that the party was viewed with suspicion by both "centre-left" voters and more committed leftists. Hansford himself was not regarded as a strong leader, often being upstaged by MLAs
Donovan Swailes
Donovan Swailes (August 12, 1892 – December 10, 1984) was a Canadian politician and musician in Manitoba. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation from 1945 to 1959.
Swailes was bo ...
and
Lloyd Stinson
Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (February 29, 1904 – August 28, 1976) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he ...
.
Prior to the
1949 election, Hansford publicly rebuked two members of his caucus (
Wilbert Doneleyko
Wilbert George Doneleyko (February 13, 1913 – January 27, 1990), last name also spelled Doneley, was a politician in Manitoba, Canada.
Born in Rossburn, Manitoba, he was educated there and worked for the Manitoba Co-operative Honey Producers L ...
and
Beresford Richards) who had condemned international negotiations for what became the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
. This resulted in a backlash from the left wing of the CCF, which generally opposed the foreign policies of American President
Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
.
The CCF ran only 26 candidates in the election of 1949, and won seven seats. Hansford was re-elected in St. Boniface,
but finished a discouraging second in what was now a two-member
riding (members elected by preferential balloting). He resigned as party leader in 1952, and did not seek re-election in 1953. He subsequently returned to municipal politics, serving as mayor of St. Boniface.
Hansford died in Winnipeg in 1959.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansford, Edwin
1895 births
1959 deaths
Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs
20th-century Canadian politicians
Manitoba CCF/NDP leaders
Mayors of Saint Boniface, Winnipeg