Robert Cruise (11 December 1868 – 19 June 1932) was a Canadian
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Dauphin,
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
.
Born in
Lachute
Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, the son of Peter and Margaret (Mill) Cruise, he was a farmer in Quebec until 1893 when he moved to
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
settling in
Dauphin where he acquired a farm of . He later sold this land and purchased of land.
Cruise was elected as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
in the
1911 federal election, however, as a result of the
Conscription Crisis of 1917 he and many other English-Canadian Liberals
crossed the floor
Crossed may refer to:
* ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis
* ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie
* "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead''
S ...
to support the
Union government
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
formed by
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden (June 26, 1854 – June 10, 1937) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. He is best known for his leadership of Canada during World War I.
Borde ...
in 1917. The Conscription question split the Liberal party with loyalists to party leader Sir
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...
styling themselves
Laurier Liberals
Prior to the 1917 federal election in Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada split into two factions. To differentiate the groups, historians tend to use two retrospective names:
* The Laurier Liberals, who opposed conscription of soldiers to supp ...
and supporters of the Borden government calling themselves
Liberal Unionists
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
.
Cruise stood for re-election in the
1917 election and was acclaimed as a Government supporter. He sat in parliament as a Unionist (Conservative and Liberal). He did not return to the Liberal Party following
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 ...
but ran for re-election in
1921 as a
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 in ...
(technically, the Tories ran in this election as the
National Liberal and Conservative Party in an unsuccessful attempt to retain the support of Liberals who had defected from the party during the war.) Cruise was soundly defeated by
William John Ward
William John Ward (October 25, 1880 – August 18, 1971) was a Canadian politician, farmer, insurance agent, and real estate agent from Dauphin, Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = ...
, a candidate for the new
Progressive Party of Canada.
References
*
The story of Manitoba (Volume 3)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruise, Robert
1868 births
1932 deaths
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Liberal-Unionist MPs in Canada
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba