George Waldron Prout (June 5, 1878 – ca. 1980) 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. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1915 to 1920, as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Prout was born to a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

family in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, and was educated privately. He came to Canada in 1896, and worked as a financial agent in

Selkirk, Manitoba Selkirk is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba, located on the Red River about northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg. It has a population of 10,504 as of the 2021 census. The mainstays of the local economy are tourism, ...

. He married Emma Evans McKinley in 1914. In religion, Prout was a member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

., He first sought election to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1914, and lost to

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 ...

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

Walter Montague Walter Humphries Montague, (November 21, 1858 – November 14, 1915) was a Canadian politician. He was a federal cabinet minister in the governments of Mackenzie Bowell and Charles Tupper, and subsequently a provincial cabinet minister in ...

by only one vote in the constituency of Kildonan and St. Andrews. Montague was not a candidate in the 1915 provincial election, and Prout defeated his new Conservative opponent by 541 votes to win a seat in the legislature. The Liberals won a landslide majority government in this election, and Prout served as a backbench supporter of

Tobias Norris Tobias Crawford Norris (September 5, 1861 – October 29, 1936) was a Canadian politician who served as the tenth premier of Manitoba from 1915 to 1922. Norris was a member of the Liberal Party.J. M. Bumsted"Tobias Crawford Norris" ''The Cana ...

's administration for the next five years. In 1917, he introduced the Rural Credits Act which provided for the establishment of rural credit societies that could obtain short term loans on behalf of members to purchase seed, livestock, implements, machinery and other supplies., Prout sought re-election in the Winnipeg constituency in the 1920 provincial election. Prior to this election, a change in Manitoba's electoral system redesigned Winnipeg as a ten-member constituency, with members chosen by a

single transferable ballot Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

. Prout was not selected as a Liberal candidate, and ran for re-election as an independent. He fared poorly, finishing in 31st place on the first count with only 219 votes, and was eliminated on the eleventh count. Prout attempted to return to the legislature in the 1927 provincial election, running as a Liberal candidate in the

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia *Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elect ...

constituency. He finished a distant third against

Nicholas Bachynsky Nicholas Volodymir (Val) Bachynsky (September 16, 1887 in Eastern Galicia – August 14, 1969) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1922 to 1958, and was Speaker of the Assembly for most ...

of the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

. He died in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prout, George 1878 births Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs Year of death missing Barbadian emigrants to Canada