Stuart Sinclair Garson (December 1, 1898 – May 5, 1977) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th

premier of Manitoba The premier of Manitoba (french: premier ministre du Manitoba) is the first minister (i.e., head of government or chief executive) for the Canadian province of Manitoba—as well as the ''de facto'' President of the province's Executive Counci ...

from 1943 to 1948, and later became a Federal cabinet minister.

Life and career

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, the son of William Garson and Margaret Annable, Garson came to Manitoba with his parents in 1901. He received a Bachelor of Law degree 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.Ashern, Manitoba AshernCanada 2016 Censuspopulation 565) is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Municipality of West Interlake in Manitoba's Interlake Region. The RM of Siglunes was incorporated in 1917. Ashern was named ...

, from 1919 to 1928. Garson was first elected to 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected ...

for the riding of Fairford in 1927 as a Progressive, defeating incumbent Liberal Albert Kirvan. He defeated again Kirvan in 1932, and faced only minor competition for the remainder of his time in the Manitoba legislature. In early 1932, Garson was one of the founding members of the province's Liberal-Progressive coalition. Garson was sworn in as provincial

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

on September 21, 1936. He also became minister of the Manitoba Power Commission on November 4, 1940, and

Minister of Public Utilities Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

on May 15, 1941. He continued to hold all of these positions after succeeding

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 ...

as Premier on January 14, 1943. He resigned the MPC and Utilities portfolios in 1944. Garson's government was perhaps slightly more interventionist than those of Bracken and his eventual successor Douglas Campbell. Garson's ministry began a program of rapid

rural electrification Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Rural communities are suffering from colossal market failures as the national grids fall short of their demand for electricity. As of 2017, over 1 billi ...

, and made some effort to service the needs of returning soldiers after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. All the same, he rejected demands from the

Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Manitoba) (CCF), known informally as the Manitoba CCF, was a provincial branch of the national Canadian party by the same name. The national CCF was the dominant social-democratic party in Canada from th ...

to introduce programs in public housing and old-age pensions. Under Garson's leadership, the "Liberal-Progressive" alliance became a united party—albeit one that was dominated by former Progressive politicians. His ministry also retained close ties to the federal Liberal government of

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

. Garson moved to federal politics in 1948, at the behest of new Liberal Prime Minister

Louis St. Laurent Louis Stephen St. Laurent (''Saint-Laurent'' or ''St-Laurent'' in French, baptized Louis-Étienne St-Laurent; February 1, 1882 – July 25, 1973) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 19 ...

. On November 15, 1948, Garson was sworn in as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

and

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 ...

; he was elected to the federal parliament in a by-election for the rural seat of Marquette the next month. For the next nine years, Garson would be the dominant cabinet minister from Manitoba in St. Laurent's government. He also served as Solicitor General of Canada from August 7, 1950, to October 14, 1952. Garson lost his seat in 1957, the year that Progressive Conservative leader

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...

formed a minority government. Indeed, Diefenbaker's Tories won victory mainly by ousting many Liberal MPs from the Prairies, including Garson. He retired from political life. In 1971, he was made a Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

External links

*
Stuart Sinclair Garson
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

University of Manitoba profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garson, Stuart 1898 births 1977 deaths Companions of the Order of Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Lawyers in Manitoba Canadian King's Counsel Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Members of the United Church of Canada Politicians from St. Catharines Premiers of Manitoba University of Manitoba alumni Canadian people of Scottish descent Solicitors General of Canada Robson Hall alumni Finance ministers of Manitoba Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba