Edgar Nelson Rhodes, (January 5, 1877 – March 15, 1942), was a Canadian parliamentarian from

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 ...

who served as

Premier of Nova Scotia The premier of Nova Scotia is the first minister to the lieutenant governor of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and presides over the Executive Council of Nova Scotia. Following the Westminster system, the premier is normally the leader of ...

from 1925 to 1930. He was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in 1908 as a member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In January 1917, he became

Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada The speaker of the House of Commons (french: président de la Chambre des communes) is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. A member of Parliament (MP), they are elected at the beginning of each new parliament b ...

when his predecessor,

Albert Sévigny Albert Sévigny, (December 31, 1881 – May 14, 1961) was a Canadian politician. Life and career Sévigny was born in Tingwick, Quebec. He opened a law practice in Quebec City in 1905. Two years later, he was a candidate for the Quebec Cons ...

, was appointed to the

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Ca ...

. Rhodes was retained in the position following the 1917 election that fall, becoming the third Speaker since James Cockburn to preside over more than one Parliament. In 1921, he was made a member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

before retiring from politics to become president of the

British-American Nickel Company British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or histor ...

, whose previous president had been

James Hamet Dunn Sir James Hamet Dunn, 1st Baronet (October 29, 1874 – January 1, 1956) was a Canadian financier and industrialist during the first half of the 20th century. He is recognized chiefly for his 1935 rescue and subsequent 20-year presidency and propri ...

. The company failed in 1925, and he returned to provincial politics. Prior to the 1925 provincial election, he was asked to become leader of the

Nova Scotia Conservative Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia (formerly Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia), is a moderate political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically as ...

after the leader of the party, W. L. Hall, was assaulted on the waterfront. Rhodes took over the party and led it to victory in the 1925 election. The Conservatives defeated a

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 ...

government that had been in power for forty-three years but had been, in its last years, wracked by an economic downturn and severe labour unrest among miners in

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. Rhodes ran on a

Maritime Rights Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

platform, promising to curtail federal influence and stop the exodus of people from the province. The

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

more than doubled their seats in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

, winning forty out of forty-three seats. An important factor in their victory was the failure of the governing Liberals to resolve a long strike by the province's coal miners. When Cape Breton coal miner William Davis was killed by company police in a confrontation on June 11, voters looked to the Tories for solutions. Rhodes engineered a settlement of the dispute and appointed a royal commission. The new government later introduced

pensions A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

for teachers and allowances for widowed mothers. His government also abolished the Legislative Council, the province's appointed

Upper House An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

, but first had to go to the

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to obtain permission to appoint enough new members to the Council to secure a vote for its abolition. The Rhodes government was re-elected in 1928 with a reduced

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

R.B. Bennett. From 1932 to 1935, he served as federal

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, and, despite the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, handed down austere

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

s that increased taxes and reduced spending. He was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

three months before the 1935 federal election that routed Bennett's government. He remained a Senator until his death in 1942 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. He is buried in Ottawa's

Beechwood Cemetery Beechwood Cemetery, located in the former city of Vanier in Ottawa, Ontario, is the National Cemetery of Canada. It is the final resting place for over 82,000 Canadians from all walks of life, such as important politicians like Governor Genera ...

. On July 12, 1905, he married Mary Grace Pipes, daughter of

William Thomas Pipes William Thomas Pipes (April 15, 1850 – October 7, 1909) was a politician in Nova Scotia, Canada. Biography Pipes was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia. He ran in the 1878 federal election against Charles Tupper, but was unable to wrest aw ...

, Rhodes' law partner and Premier of Nova Scotia from 1882 to 1884. They had one son, Edgar Nelson, and one daughter, Helen Sybil.

Electoral Record

References

*
Edgar Nelson Rhodes fonds, Library and Archives Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Edgar 1876 births 1942 deaths Canadian Baptists Canadian Ministers of Finance Canadian senators from Nova Scotia Canadian people of English descent Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs People from Amherst, Nova Scotia Premiers of Nova Scotia Speakers of the House of Commons of Canada Unionist Party (Canada) MPs Nova Scotia political party leaders