Joseph Pattulo Earngey (February 9, 1872 – May 26, 1939) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician."J. P. Earngey, Kenora, Dies". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', May 27, 1939. He served as mayor of the town of

Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

from 1915 to 1918, and as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1926 to 1929.

Background

Born and raised near

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

, Earngey learned the printing trade before moving to what was then known as Rat Portage, where he launched the '' Rat Portage Miner'' in 1897. He acquired the competing ''The News'', merging the two publications into one under the name ''Rat Portage Miner and News'' in 1904, and renaming it to the ''

Kenora Miner and News The ''Kenora Miner and News'' is a weekly publication based in Kenora, Ontario. The ''Miner and News'' is delivered free throughout the region every Thursday. The ''Miner and News'' is owned by Postmedia. The paper was formerly known as the ''Ke ...

'' when the town was renamed. He owned the publication until his death in 1939, and it still operates today.

Political career

Earngey served on Kenora's town council from 1911 to 1914, and as mayor from 1915 to 1918. In 1922, he served as one of Ontario's representatives to the Canada-Ontario-Manitoba Tripartite Agreement committee regarding water management on the

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,55 ...

. In 1926, he was selected as the

Ontario Conservative Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

's candidate for

in the

1926 Ontario general election The 1926 Ontario general election was the 17th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on December 1, 1926, to elect the 112 Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). Background The United Farmer ...

. He won the election, and served in the

17th Parliament of Ontario The 17th Legislative Assembly of Ontario was in session from December 1, 1926, until September 17, 1929, just prior to the 1929 general election. The majority party was the Ontario Conservative Party led by George Howard Ferguson. William David B ...

. In 1928, he was selected by premier

Howard Ferguson George Howard Ferguson, PC (June 18, 1870 – February 21, 1946) was the ninth premier of Ontario, from 1923 to 1930. He was a Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1905 to 1930 who represented the eastern provincia ...

to move the government's motion to accept the

Speech from the Throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

. In his speech, he applauded the government's decisions on the development of the English River corridor, and spoke in support of the expansion of rail service in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

. During the session, he introduced a bill to support the construction of a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line from Kenora to the mining development site at Red Lake, but soon withdrew the bill for unspecified reasons. At the Conservative party convention in 1928, he spoke in support of the establishment of an educational

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

for students in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

. During the final session of the 17th parliament, he opposed the construction of a railway line northerly from Goldpines, on the grounds that any new transportation lines into the Patricia District should be built directly from Kenora. Earngey ran for reelection in the

1929 Ontario general election The 1929 Ontario general election was the 18th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on October 30, 1929, to elect the 112 Members of the 18th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The Ontario Conservative Pa ...

, but lost to

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate

Earl Hutchinson Earl Hutchinson (October 23, 1888 – August 17, 1976) was a railroad engineer and political figure from Ontario, Canada. He represented Kenora in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Labour member from 1929 to 1934. He was re-electe ...

. The Conservative Party had some hope that votes for Earngey in Red Lake would overcome his loss in the town of Kenora itself, although the final certified results from Red Lake actually widened Hutchinson's margin of victory from 350 votes to 404. During Hutchinson's term in the legislature, he sued the ''Kenora Daily Miner and News'' for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

, with the suit settled out of court."Kenora Libel Action Settled Out of Court". '' The Globe'', April 7, 1932.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earngey, Joseph 1872 births 1939 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Mayors of Kenora