Thomas Crerar

Thomas Alexander Crerar PC CC (17 June 1876 – 11 April 1975) was a western Canadian politician and a leader of the short-lived Progressive Party of Canada. He was born in Molesworth, Ontario, and moved to Manitoba at a young age.

The Honourable Thomas Crerar PC CC
Crerar, August 1919
Minister of Mines and Resources
In office 1 December 1936 – 17 April 1945
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	James Allison Glen
Minister of the Interior Minister of Mines Minister of Immigration and Colonization Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs
In office 23 October 1935 – 30 November 1936
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Thomas Gerow Murphy (as Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs) Wesley Ashton Gordon (as Minister of Mines and Minister of Immigration and Colonization)
Succeeded by	Office Abolished
Minister of Agriculture
Acting 25 October 1935 – 3 November 1935
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Robert Weir
Succeeded by	James Garfield Gardiner
In office 12 October 1917 – 11 June 1919
Prime Minister	Sir Robert Borden
Preceded by	Martin Burrell
Succeeded by	James Alexander Calder (acting)
Minister of Railways and Canals
In office 30 December 1929 – 6 August 1930
Prime Minister	W. L. Mackenzie King
Preceded by	Charles Avery Dunning (acting)
Succeeded by	Robert James Manion
Senator for Churchill, Manitoba
In office 18 April 1945 – 31 May 1966
Appointed by	W. L. Mackenzie King
Member of Parliament for Churchill
In office 14 October 1935 – 17 April 1945
Preceded by	Bernard Stitt
Succeeded by	Ronald Moore
Member of Parliament for Brandon
In office 5 February 1930 – 27 July 1930
Preceded by	Robert Forke
Succeeded by	David Wilson Beaubier
Member of Parliament for Marquette
In office 17 December 1917 – 28 October 1925
Preceded by	William James Roche
Succeeded by	Henry Mullins
Personal details
Born	Thomas Alexander Crerar (1876-06-17)17 June 1876 Molesworth, Ontario, Canada
Died	11 April 1975(1975-04-11) (aged 98) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Political party	Unionist (1917–1922) Progressive (1921–1925) Liberal (1930–1966)
Spouse	Jessie Hamilton ​ ​ (m. 1906; died 1967)​
Children	2
Education	University of Manitoba (LLD)
Profession	Farmer grain merchant managing director teacher

Early career

Crerar rose to prominence as leader of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association in the 1910s. Although he had no experience as an elected official, he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in Robert Laird Borden's Union government on October 12, 1917, to provide a show of national unity during the First World War. He was easily elected to the House of Commons of Canada for Marquette in the election of 1917.

On June 6, 1919, Crerar resigned from his position in protest against the high tariff policies of the Conservative-dominated government. He was strongly in favor of free trade with the United States, which would have benefited the western farmers.

Progressive Party of Canada

In 1920, he was selected as leader of the Progressive Party. In the 1921 election, he led the party to a landslide victory in western Canada, giving them 65 seats in the House of Commons. Crerar failed to hold the party together, however. He resigned as leader in 1922, and the party collapsed shortly thereafter.

Private sector work

Crerar spent some time in the private sector before returning to politics in 1929, as a member of William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party. Although once again not holding a seat in parliament, he was appointed Minister of Railways and Canals (Canada) on December 30, 1929, and won a by-election in Brandon on February 5, 1930. King's government was defeated in the general election that followed, however, and Crerar was personally defeated in his riding.

Return to politics

Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King inspecting No. 110 (City of Toronto) Squadron, R.C.A.F. The aircraft in the background is Westland 'Lysander' II 417. [L-R]: Hon. T.A. Crerar, Air Marshal G.M. Croil, Rt. Hon. W.L. Mackenzie King, W/C W.D. Van Vliet, Hon. Norman Rogers, 13 January 1940.

He returned to parliament in the 1935 election, as the member for the northern Manitoba riding of Churchill. He was once again appointed to King's cabinet, serving as Minister of Immigration and Colonization, Minister of Mines, Minister of the Interior and Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs from October 23, 1935, to November 30, 1936. On December 1, 1936, he was removed from most of his responsibilities and became simply Minister of Mines and Resources, holding the position until April 17, 1945.

Crerar was appointed to the Senate of Canada on April 18, 1945, and remained a Senator until his retirement on May 31, 1966. In 1962, Crerar considered it an "error" to give voting rights to Inuit and advocated revoking this right for Inuit in the eastern Arctic to vote. In 1973, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He died in 1975.

Electoral history

1940 Canadian federal election: Churchill
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Crerar	8,276	62.5	+22.5
	National Government	Will Blakeman Scarth	4,963	37.5	+3.2
Total valid votes			13,239	100.0

Note: "National Government" vote is compared to Conservative vote in 1935 election.

1935 Canadian federal election: Churchill
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Thomas Crerar	3,603	40.0
	Conservative	Barney M. Stitt	3,091	34.3
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alexander Stewart	2,313	25.7
Total valid votes			9,007	100.0

External links

• Thomas Crerar – Parliament of Canada biography
• Office of the Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada citation. Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 26 May 2010