Thomas Langton "Tommy" Church (1873 – February 7, 1950) 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. After serving as

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

from 1915 to 1921, he was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1921 election 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 i ...

from the riding of

Toronto North Toronto North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1925. It was located in the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1903 from parts of Toronto Centre, West To ...

. He was defeated in the 1930 election in

Toronto West Centre Toronto West Centre was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1935. It was located in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. This riding was creat ...

, but returned to Parliament as

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 of ...

(MP) for

Toronto East Toronto East (called East Toronto until 1903) was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1935. It was located in the city of Toronto in the provinces and territories of ...

in a 1934

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. He remained in the House of Commons until his death in 1950. As mayor, Church was strongly backed by the ''

Toronto Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed wit ...

'' and opposed by the ''

Toronto Daily Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

''. He was occasionally mocked in the pages of the ''Star'' by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

who was, at the time, a reporter for the paper. Late in his career as an MP, Church denounced the newly formed

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

as "modern tower of Babel", for "which Canada and Great Britain should not allow their interests to be the play thing." In the House of Commons in June 1936, he protested against the requirement of bilingual banknotes in the

Bank of Canada Act The ''Bank of Canada Act'' (the Act) is a statute that sets out the governance structure and powers of the Bank of Canada, which was created in 1934 as Canada's central bank. Prior to 1934, Canada had no central bank and fragmented control of t ...

for banknotes to be introduced as the 1937 Series, stating there was no authority for it in the

British North America Act The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of Parliament that were at the core of the constitution of Canada. Most were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and some by the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some ...

, and that it had not been an issue during the 1935 federal election. He favoured printing dual-language banknotes (distinct English and French banknotes) as had been done for the 1935 Series. He was also a member of the

Orange Order in Canada The Grand Orange Lodge of British America, more commonly known as the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada or simply Orange Order in Canada, is the Canadian branch of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization that began in County Armagh in Ire ...

Notes

References

External links

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Thomas Langton Church fonds
Archives of Ontario {{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Thomas Langton 1870 births 1950 deaths Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs Mayors of Toronto Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario