The ''Ontario Temperance Act'' was a law passed in 1916 that led to 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 ...

of alcohol in

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 C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. When the Act was first enacted, the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but liquor could still be manufactured in the province or imported. Strong support for prohibition came from religious elements of society such as the Ontario

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international Temperance movement, temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social ref ...

, which sought to eliminate what it considered the societal ills and vices associated with liquor consumption, including violent behaviour and familial abuse. Historically, prohibition advocates in Ontario drew inspiration from the temperance movements in Britain and the United States. The Act was repealed in 1927.

History

Prior to the Act, two attempts failed to control or eliminate the sale of alcohol in the province. A non-binding plebiscite in 1894 failed because

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

rulings disallowed provincial control over the importation of alcohol. Another attempt in 1902 failed because of low voter turnout, with less than half of those eligible participating. However, in 1864, the ''Dunkin Act'' enabled any municipality or county in the united

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on t ...

to hold a majority vote to prohibit the sale of alcohol. In 1878, the '' Scott Act'' extended "local option" to the whole Dominion of Canada. In the early 20th century, an increasing number of Ontario localities went "dry"; by 1914, 520 localities had banned the sale of alcohol, and only 322 were "wet". When the ''Ontario Temperance Act'' was passed, three Ontarian counties had used the ''Scott Act'' to implement their own prohibition laws. When William Hearst became

premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typ ...

in September 1914, the temperance movement gained an ally, despite complaints from wet elements of Hearst's own Conservative Party. The onset of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

gave advocates further impetus to push the cause by arguments that temperance would reduce waste, inefficiency, and distractions. In 1916, the Hearst government unanimously passed the ''Ontario Temperance Act''. In March 1918, the Government of Canada passed an order-in-council that prohibited the manufacture, importation, and transportation of alcohol into Ontario and other provinces in which the purchase was illegal. Nonetheless, Ontarians could still acquire alcohol from doctors' offices, and drugstores. In 1920 alone, Ontario doctors wrote more than 650,000 prescriptions for alcohol. After the end of the war, federal prohibition was repealed at the end of 1919. That year, a province-wide referendum saw support of the Ontario ban on sales by a majority of 400,000 votes. The manufacture and the export of liquor was made legal. In 1921, another referendum showed a slight slip in support for prohibition, but the province now became "bone dry" by banning the importation of alcohol. Another referendum two years later showed a greater slip in support for the Act, with 51.5 percent for and 48.5 against. In 1926, Howard Ferguson's Conservatives won a general election after it had promised the introduction of liquor sales by the province.

Repeal and government as alcohol retailer

In 1927, the ''Liquor Control Act'' overturned prohibition as legislated in the ''Ontario Temperance Act'' and established the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), through which the province managed liquor distribution with government-run stores. Nonetheless, drinking in public establishments remained illegal until seven years later. Some communities maintained a ban on the sale of liquor under local option until the 1970s and The Junction neighbourhood of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

remained "dry" until 2000, largely because of the efforts of former

Ontario CCF The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) – The Farmer-Labor Party of Ontario, or more commonly known as the Ontario CCF, was a democratic socialist provincial political party in Ontario that existed from 1932 to 1961. It was th ...

Member of Provincial Parliament for High Park, "Temperance Bill" William Temple. The ''Ontario Temperance Act'' failed because of changing public opinion and the inability of the Government of Ontario to effectively control consumption and importation of alcohol into the province. According to one historian, "the legislation seemed to be too drastic for the average citizen and not harsh enough to stop the large bootleggers." It has been also noted that prohibition deprived the Government of Ontario of significant tax revenue and the getting those revenues back was a motivation in repealing it.

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History

Repeal and government as alcohol retailer

See also

References

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Further reading