Wilfrid Garfield Case also known as W. Garfield Case, (September 23, 1898 – September 22, 1959), was a Canadian politician who served as a
Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament and Mayor of
Owen Sound, Ontario
Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay.
The primary tourist attractio ...
. He is best known for his upset victory over
Defence Minister General
Andrew McNaughton in the
Grey North
Grey North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867, which divided the County of Grey in ...
federal by-election held on February 5, 1945.
Early years
Case was raised on a farm in
York County and schooled in
Aurora, Ontario
Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridg ...
before attending the
Ontario Agricultural College
The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affili ...
. He enlisted in the Army during
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 transferred to the
Royal Flying Corps. He was discharged after being seriously injured. Before becoming a politician, he worked as a farmer and insurance broker.
Political career
Case was first elected mayor of
Owen Sound
Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay.
The primary tourist attractio ...
in 1942 and was re-elected in 1943 and 1944.
[Canada at War: THE DOMINION: Vital By-Election]
''Time'', January 15, 1945 He also served as president of the Ontario Mayor's Association. He unsuccessfully ran in Grey North in the
1940 federal election as a "
National Liberal Progressive" against both the Liberal and Conservative candidates, placing third. He had earlier, in
1930 federal election, been an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in
Dufferin—Simcoe and was a former president of the Owen Sound Liberal Association.
[
]
Grey North by-election
During 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the Liberals and 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 ...
parties agreed not to run candidates against each other in by-elections and to allow whichever party had held the riding before the by-election to run without opposition. This pact was strained in 1942 when 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 ...
's Liberals allegedly backed Joseph Noseworthy of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (which had refused to agree to the "truce") in his candidacy against new Conservative leader Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...
who was attempting to enter the House of Commons via a by-election in York South
York South was an electoral district (or "riding") in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1979.
The riding is notable for the 1942 federal by-election in which newly elected Conservative leader Ar ...
. Noseworthy upset Meighen in the vote leaving the Tories leaderless.
On November 1, 1944, General McNaughton was appointed to Mackenzie King's cabinet as Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
replacing James Ralston
James Layton Ralston (September 27, 1881 – May 22, 1948) was a Canadian lawyer, soldier and politician.
Biography
Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Ralston graduated from law school at Dalhousie University in 1903 and practised law in Amh ...
who had resigned as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service for men in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but not as politically damaging.
B ...
. Ralston, who was pro-conscription, had quit because the King government refused to go as far as he wanted in sending conscripts overseas and was also encouraged to quit as he was distrusted in Quebec where conscription was unpopular. McNaughton had been a believer in an all volunteer military and was appointed to replace Ralston but soon found himself under pressure from the government to enact a limited conscription policy.
By constitutional convention, McNaughton, as a minister of the crown, needed to seek a seat in parliament as soon as possible. The sitting Liberal MP, William P. Telford, had been unable to attend sittings of the House of Commons for a year due to illness and was persuaded to resign in order to enable McNaugton to contest a seat in a by-election. The Tories, who had renamed themselves the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
decided to stand Wilfrid Case against McNaughton in the by-election.
In June 1944, Case was nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the projected 1945 federal election and when the incumbent Liberal MP resigned his seat in favour of General McNaughton, the Tories decided to run Case in the by-election after party leader 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 ...
decided to not run as a candidate himself.
During the campaign, Case charged that the former Liberal MP had been forced to resign to make way for McNaughton despite the fact that there were several other vacancies in the House of Commons that needed to be filled. He also accused all of his opponents of being outsiders and parachute candidate
A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term for an election candidate who does not live in, and has little connection to, the area they are running to represent. The allegation is thus that the candidate is b ...
s and used the slogan "Send a Grey North man to Ottawa, not an Ottawa man to Grey North" in order to press the point. However, the principal issue of the campaign was conscription.["W. Garfield Case – Upset McNaughton in Conscription Row", ''The Globe and Mail'', September 24, 1959]
The rationale the Conservatives used when deciding to run a candidate against McNaughton was that it had opposed, in the House of Commons, McNaughton's policy of "limited conscription" calling instead for a "full conscription" policy in order to address the shortage of Canadian troops fighting in the war. Thus, the February 5, 1945, by-election became a test of the government's military policy. Case, however, was viewed as a weak candidate and it was thought that McNaughton would easily carry the riding, not having to face the Leader of the Opposition.["I don't choose to run, Bracken says it too", ''Toronto Daily Star'', December 15, 1944]
Despite calls from some quarters of labour that they should not contest the by-election, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation also stood a candidate, retired Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
Albert Earl Godfrey, a World War I flying ace. The CCF shared McNaughton's policy of "limited conscription" thus, arguably, Godfrey acted as a spoiler
Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. Ac ...
in the vote.
Case defeated McNaughton in an upset victory, the margin of which was smaller than the number of votes received by the third place CCF candidate.
After his defeat in Grey North, McNaughton attempted to enter the House of Commons from a Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
riding in the June federal election but was again defeated. He resigned as Minister of Defence in August 1945.
Later political career
Case was re-elected in the 1945 federal election held in June 1945, three months after his by-election victory.
While in Parliament, Case advocated that the position of Governor General of Canada
The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
should be filled by individuals from various countries in the British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
in order to strengthen ties and also advocated improving the status of aboriginal peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
in Canada.[
After Progressive Conservative leader John Bracken resigned, Case announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party and ran on a policy of abolishing ]income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
. He withdrew from the race before the convention to support George Drew, who succeeded in winning the party's leadership.[
Case remained in the Canadian House of Commons until his defeat in the subsequent 1949 federal election by Liberal Colin Emerson Bennett. He attempted to return in the 1953 federal election but was again defeated in Grey North.
]
Death
Case was admitted to Toronto's Sunnybrook Military Hospital on July 29, 1959, for psychiatric treatment. He remained a patient until his death on September 22, 1959.
References
External links
*
Canada at War: THE DOMINION: Vital By-Election
''Time Magazine'', January 15, 1945
''Time Magazine'', February 5, 1945
''Time Magazine'', February 12, 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, W. Garfield
1898 births
1959 deaths
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Mayors of Owen Sound
Canadian military personnel of World War I
Canadian politicians who committed suicide
Suicides by hanging in Ontario