John Kensington Downes (1879 – January 28, 1944) 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 1922 to 1927, as an independent member. Born in

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Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he was educated at St. Mark's College in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Downes taught English and history at Diocesan College in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, later returning to England and teaching in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and

Somersetshire ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In 1912, he moved to

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 ...

. Downes served with the 184th Battalion and later as an officer with the 11th Canadian Railway Corps during

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 ...

. After the war, he worked for the Soldiers Settlement Board. Downes's election to the Manitoba legislature occurred during a period of provincial controversy over the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

. Although Downes was listed on the ballot as an independent candidate, he campaigned as a representative of the province's "Moderation League", supporting restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages. He called for beer to be sold only "by the glass" in licensed establishments for on-premises consumption, and opposed efforts to permit sales "by the bottle" for home consumption. It is not clear what views Downes held on other political issues. He was elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1922 provincial election for the constituency of

, which elected ten members 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 ...

. Downes finished third on the first ballot, and was declared elected on the eleventh count. After serving as an opposition member for the next five years, Downes again ran as a "Moderation League" candidate in the 1927 provincial election. He narrowly missed re-election, finishing in eleventh place on the final count. After leaving politics, he worked for the Provincial Liquor Control Commission until his retirement in 1939. Downes sought a return to the legislature in the 1941 provincial election, running as an independent opposing the province's

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. He was a marginal political force by this time, and finished next-to-last in a field of twenty-seven candidates. He died at Deer Lodge hospital in Winnipeg after a short illness.

References

Independent MLAs in Manitoba Politicians from Winnipeg 1879 births 1944 deaths {{Manitoba-politician-stub