William Thomas Lucas (1875–1973) was a Canadian farmer and a federal politician. He was born in Bailieboro, Ontario, on July 26, 1875, to John William and Margaret (née Fair) Lucas, both of Irish descent. He attended public schooling in the Bailieboro area as well as 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 ...

. On 9 January 1903, Lucas married Charlotte "Lottie" Perrin, of Bailieboro. With her he had three children. His religion was listed as Anglican. Lucas was first 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 Canadian federal election as a

United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...

candidate. He defeated two other candidates including former Alberta MLA

James Bismark Holden James Bismark Holden (October 4, 1876 – April 10, 1956) was a businessman and a municipal and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1906 to 1913, sitting with the Liberal ...

in a landslide where he captured 81 percent of the vote to win his first term in office. His electoral district was abolished due to redistribution and he ran for re-election in the new Camrose riding in the 1925 Canadian federal election. He defended his incumbency less than a year later when the

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

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 ...

fell. Lucas won a third term in the 1926 Canadian federal election defeating Liberal candidate Donald McIvor. McIvor and Lucas would face each other again in the 1930 Canadian federal election he would be re-elected increasing his margin of victory over McIvor. In 1932, the other eight United Farmers of Alberta MPs joined the newly founded Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and ran as CCF candidates in the 1935 Canadian federal election. Lucas refused to join the CCF and ran instead 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 ...

and finished third behind

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

candidate

James Alexander Marshall James Alexander Marshall (September 16, 1888 – June 30, 1977) was a secretary, teacher and a Canadian federal politician. Born in Ireland, Marshall came to Canada in 1912. Marshall first ran for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the ...

and George Smith of the Liberal Party. During his terms in office, he resided at

Lougheed, Alberta Lougheed is a village in central Alberta, Canada. It is located 94 km south-east of Camrose, along Highway 13. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Lougheed had a population of 225 ...

, where he also farmed. When his son, John W. (Jack) died in January 1960, William T. Lucas and Charlotte Perrin, his parents were listed as survivors. William Thomas Lucas died March 27, 1973, in Peterborough.

Electoral history

References

External links

* 1875 births 1973 deaths Canadian Anglicans Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta United Farmers of Alberta MPs {{Alberta-politician-stub