Richard W. Craig (August 26, 1877 – July 16, 1966) was Canadian lawyer and politician who 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. He later served as a

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’, � ...

in the government of

John Bracken John Bracken (June 22, 1883 – March 18, 1969) was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–19 ...

Early life and education

Craig was born in

Underwood Underwood may refer to: People *Underwood (surname), people with the surname Places United States * Underwood, Shelby County, Alabama * Underwood, Indiana * Underwood, Iowa * Underwood, Minnesota * Underwood, New York * Underwood, North Dakota * ...

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 ...

, and was educated in Port Elgin and

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 ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1897 and an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1904, both from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.

Career

He worked as a barrister-at-law, and was appointed to the bench of the Law Society of Manitoba in 1916. From 1912 to 1916, he was Crown Prosecutor for the city of Winnipeg. In 1916, he was named

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. Craig also served as chair of the Winnipeg School Board, the Social Service Council of Canada, and the Winnipeg Canadian Club. Craig was initially

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 ...

, and endorsed the Manitoba Conservative Party in the 1915 election on the grounds that it was more supportive of higher education than was the

Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral du Manitoba) is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. Origins and early development (to 1883) Origina ...

. He later left the Conservatives, and was elected to Manitoba's legislature in the 1922 provincial election as a candidate of the newly formed Progressive Association in Winnipeg. During this period, Winnipeg was a single constituency which elected ten members via 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 ...

. Despite finishing twelfth in the count of first preferences and being in the middle of the pack for much of the counting process, his voting totals stayed solid till the end when he was declared elected. Eight Progressive candidates ran in Winnipeg, but Craig was the only one elected. Winnipeg's Progressive MLA aligned with the

United Farmers of Manitoba The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM), an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I. See also * List of political parties in Canada ...

(UFM), which swept the rural constituencies to emerge as the largest party in the legislature. The Progressive party was a force in federal politics at this time and the UFM took the name the Progressive, when it formed government.Morton, The Progressive Party in Canada, p.229 As the government's only Winnipeg representative, Craig was assured of a cabinet position. He was appointed as the province's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

on August 8, 1922. Craig emerged as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

's most trusted confidante during the parliament that followed, and became known as the government's strongest voice in the legislature. Like the premier, Craig believed that Manitoba should be governed in a non-partisan, efficient and business-like manner. On January 12, 1925, he was given a secondary portfolio of Minister of Telephones and Telegraphs. Although a successful minister and a young man, Craig chose to retire from the legislature after only a single term. He resumed his practice as a lawyer, and provided legal services for Bracken's ministry in 1929.

Personal life

Craig was married to Marguerite Maud Hogg. He died in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

at the age of 88 in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Richard 1877 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Canadian legislators Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba People from Markham, Ontario Canadian King's Counsel