George Hara Williams (November 17, 1894 – September 12, 1945) 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 ...

farmer activist and politician.Dale-Burnett, Lisa
Williams, George (1894–1945)
, ''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, accessed February 12, 2008

Biography

Born in

Binscarth, Manitoba Binscarth is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Russell – Binscarth, Manitoba. It is located approximately northwest of Brandon, south from Russell, and east of the Saskatchewan border. Prior to 1 January 2015, it was ...

, Williams attended

Manitoba Agricultural College , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

after serving 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 ...

. Upon graduating, he moved to

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 ...

to become director of livestock and equipment in the province for the

Soldier Settlement Board The Soldier Settlement Board was established in Canada in 1917 to assist returned servicemen to set up farms. The Board would give assistance to any man who had served abroad with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, to any former Canadian service ...

. He began farming himself and joined and became an organizer for the Farmers Union of Canada in 1923. He served as president of its successor, the

United Farmers of Canada The United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association.MacPh ...

, from 1929 to 1931, and steered it towards political action. Williams brought a militant

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

perspective to the organization.Conway, John Frederick,
The West: The History of a Region in Confederation
', James Lorimer & Company, 1994, page 127 He was also involved with the Marxist Farmers' Educational League and was founder and secretary of the short-lived Farmers’ Political Association formed in 1924. In 1932, he and M.J. Coldwell cochaired a convention that brought together the

United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) The United Farmers of Canada was a radical farmers organization. It was established in 1926 as the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) as a merger of the Farmers' Union of Canada and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association.MacPhe ...

and 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 ...

to form the new Farmer-Labour Group (FLG) with Coldwell as party leader. The party was recognized as the unofficial provincial branch of the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) shortly after the CCF was formed. The FLG contested the 1934 provincial election. Williams tried to deal with claims by the Liberals and Conservatives that the FLG/CCF in power would expropriate farmers' land in order to collectivize agriculture by stating repeatedly that "the basis of CCF land policy was a recognition of the family farm as the fundamental unit."Conway, John Frederick,
The West: The History of a Region in Confederation
', James Lorimer & Company, 1994, page 135 The FLG elected five MLAs to the Saskatchewan legislature, including Williams in the constituency of Wadena, and he formed the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

to the Liberal government. Coldwell did not win a seat in the legislature and Williams became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. The FLG officially affiliated with the national CCF and became the

Saskatchewan CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the a ...

. In 1935, with Coldwell's election 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 ...

, Williams became acting party leader and officially became party leader and president in 1936. In 1931, Williams had served as a Canadian delegate to the World Wheat Conference and subsequently, under the auspices of the United Farmers of Canada, he visited the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The Soviet tour resulted in accusations that he was a

Communist 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 s ...

, and some CCFers came to believe he would be unable to take the party to powerSaskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists,
Social Democracy in the Depression
, ''Saskatchewan's 1944 CCF election'', accessed February 12, 2008 even after it doubled its share of seats in the 1938 general election under his leadership. The party moderated several of its policies and limited its policy on

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of industry to

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

, communications and

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

. Williams's style and militancy alienated some party activists, who called on

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 ...

, a popular CCF MP in the House of Commons, to take over the provincial party leadership. In 1941 Williams resigned his seat in the legislature to serve in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists,
Tommy Douglas and the Election of 1944
, ''Saskatchewan's 1944 CCF election'', accessed February 12, 2008 with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC; french: Corps royal canadien des munitions, ''CRCM'') was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps RCOC can trace its roots back to the Canadian Stores Department. ...

John Hewgill Brockelbank John Hewgill Brockelbank (June 24, 1897 - May 30, 1977) was a politician in Saskatchewan, Canada, who served as leader of the opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. Born in Grey County, Ontario, Brockebank moved to Saskatchewan ...

, a Williams loyalist, became the CCF's house leader while Williams retained the party presidency and leadership. Douglas challenged Williams for the position of Saskatchewan CCF president at the 1941 party convention and was elected. In 1942, Douglas was elected party leader.Quiring, Brett,
Douglas, Thomas Clement (1904–86)
", ''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan'', accessed February 12, 2008 Williams returned to Canada prior to the 1944 Saskatchewan election and helped rally rural support for the party in its successful election campaign. Williams was appointed

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

in the new CCF government, but he resigned in February 1945 for ill health. He died later that year in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, George Hara Leaders of the Saskatchewan CCF/NDP Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs 20th-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Saskatchewan Canadian activists Farmers from Saskatchewan 1894 births 1945 deaths Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian Army officers Royal Canadian Army Ordnance Corps officers