William Morton (July 3, 1884, in Gladstone,

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 ...

– January 28, 1958) was a politician in Manitoba,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He 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 gen ...

from 1927 to 1958, and was a cabinet minister in the governments 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 ...

, Stuart Garson and Douglas Campbell. His father, Thomas Lewis Morton, was a member of the assembly from 1888 to 1903. Morton was educated at St. John's College in

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, ...

, and was prominent in athletics, notably football, hockey and curling. He was a councillor in the municipality of Westbourne from 1913 to 1917, and was its reeve from 1917 to 1927. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1927 provincial election as a Progressive, in the rural constituency of Gladstone. He was returned as a

Liberal-Progressive Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existe ...

in the 1932 election, after the two parties formed an alliance. Re-elected again in the 1936 election, Morton was promoted to cabinet on November 22, 1939, as Municipal Commissioner in John Bracken's government. On February 14, 1944, he was given additional cabinet responsibilities as Minister under the Manitoba Telephone Act. When Douglas Campbell became

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 Council ...

on December 14, 1948, he relieved Morton of the Municipal Affairs portfolio, but kept him as minister under the Manitoba Telephone Act, Minister under the Manitoba Power Commission Act, and Minister of Public Utilities under the Municipal and Public Utility Board Act. His title was later simplified to

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

and Minister of Public Utilities. In these portfolios, Morton continued Campbell's work in providing electricity to the rural areas of the province. In 1952, Morton approved a motion which gave aboriginal Canadians in Manitoba the right to vote in provincial elections. Morton holds the unique distinction of having been returned without opposition in four consecutive elections: 1941,

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

, 1949 and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

. Morton stepped down from his ministerial portfolios on January 28, 1955, and served as a minister without portfolio until his death in

in early 1958.

Manitoba Cooperative 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 ...

leader

Lloyd Stinson Lloyd Cleworth Stinson (February 29, 1904 – August 28, 1976) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada, and the leader of that province's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1953 to 1959. Although widely regarded as a capable leader, he ...

described Morton as the "strong silent" man of Campbell's administration. He was a loyal supporter of Campbell, and often used his extensive ties to municipal politicians for the government's benefit. In 1907, he married Mary Mathilda Manwaring. Morton's son, William Lewis Morton, was a prominent Canadian historian. There is currently a William Morton Collegiate in

Gladstone, Manitoba Gladstone is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of WestLake – Gladstone within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway at the intersection with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, William 1884 births 1958 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba