Robert Forke
Encyclopedia
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(April 6, 1860 – February 2, 1934) was a Canadian politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Brandon
Brandon (electoral district)
Brandon was a federal electoral district in the province of Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons from 1896 to 1953.It was created in 1892 from parts of Marquette and Selkirk ridings....
in 1921. In 1922, he replaced Thomas Crerar
Thomas Crerar
Thomas Alexander Crerar, 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....
as leader of the Progressive Party of Canada
Progressive Party of Canada
The Progressive Party of Canada was a political party in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces and, in Manitoba, ran candidates and formed governments as the Progressive Party of Manitoba...
. Later, Forke served as a cabinet minister in the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
.
Forke was born at Gordon
Gordon, Scotland
Gordon was formerly was one of five local government districts inthe Grampian region of Scotland.The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1973 from part of the former county of Aberdeenshire, namely:*The burghs of:**Ellon...
in Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and was educated at public school in Westruther. He moved to Canada in 1882, and worked as a farmer. Forke was the reeve of Pipestone
Pipestone, Manitoba
Pipestone, Manitoba is a community in South Western Manitoba. Located at the corner of highways 2 and 83, Pipestone is approximately half an hour from either Virden or Melita, approximately to the United States border and approximately to the Saskatchewan border...
in Manitoba for twenty years before entering federal politics, and served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities for eleven years.
He was initially a supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, and campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
as a candidate of the provincial Liberal Party
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held on January 9, 1909. He lost to Harvey Simpson
Harvey Simpson
Harvey Cathcart Simpson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1909 to 1914, as a member of the Conservative Party....
of the Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
by 206 votes. Forke later became involved in the agrarian political movement, and joined the Progressive Party.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in the 1921 election
Canadian federal election, 1921
The Canadian federal election of 1921 was held on December 6, 1921 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader...
, defeating his Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
and Liberal opponents in Brandon
Brandon (electoral district)
Brandon was a federal electoral district in the province of Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons from 1896 to 1953.It was created in 1892 from parts of Marquette and Selkirk ridings....
by a significant majority. The Progressives won 63 seats in a 235 member parliament, and held the potential balance of power in an evenly divided house. Soon after the election, Forke was part of delegation to Ottawa led by party leader Thomas Crerar, seeking policy concessions from the governing Liberals in return for parliamentary support. He was named parliamentary Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
for the Manitoba Progressives in early 1922.
In his classic study of the Progressive Party in Canada, historian W.L. Morton described Forke as "a bluff amiable Scots Canadian of transparent honest and transcendent modesty", and "a western agrarian Liberal who hoped to redeem the federal Liberal party but who thought continued Progressive independence a necessary means to that end". This moderate position was shared by Crerar, but opposed by the more radical wing of the party based in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
After Crerar proved unable to hold the Progressive Party together, Forke was as the party's executive chairman and house leader on November 11, 1922. Some reports indicate that he defeated Joseph Shaw
Joseph Shaw
Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw was the editor of Black Mask magazine from 1926 to 1936.Prior to becoming Black Mask editor, Shaw had worked as a newspaper reporter and as a soldier in World War I, attaining the...
in a vote of assembled delegates, though Shaw claimed he withdrew before a vote took place. The change in leadership brought little change in policy direction, and Crerar remained an important organizer for the party.
In 1923, Forke moved an amendment to W.S. Fielding's budget, called for dramatic reductions in tariff rates. This was defeated, although two backbench Liberals voted with the Progressives. One year later, Forke refused to support a similar motion from J.S. Woodsworth which could have brought the government down.
Forke served as Progressive Party leader at a time when the party, which never had a strong central organization to begin with, was fragmenting into a series of smaller factions. Several Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
left the Progressive caucus between 1922 and 1925, including the radical "Ginger Group" on the left and tacit Liberal Party supporters on the right. Forke attempted to maintain party unity, although the party's internal contradictions may have ultimately made this task impossible.
For the 1925 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1925
The Canadian federal election of 1925 was held on October 29 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 15th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party formed a minority government. This precipitated the "King-Byng Affair".The Liberals under...
, Forke issued a party manifesto which described both of the "old parties" as ineffective, and opposed formal alignment with the Liberals. Forke himself only campaigned in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and the Progressive effort as a whole was weaker than in 1921. The party fell to 24 seats, all of which located west of Ontario. Forke was personally re-elected in Brandon, though by a greatly reduced margin.
The Conservative Party emerged as the largest parliamentary group in the election but did not win a majority of seats, leaving the Progressives in a kingmaker position. After a series of negotiations, and with Forke's personal encouragement, the Progressive caucus agreed to support the Liberals under Mackenzie King. Forke favoured cabinet representation for his party, but this was rejected by the Alberta wing. Forke was retained as Progressive house leader at a meeting in early 1926, although Alberta representative Henry Elvins Spencer
Henry Elvins Spencer
Henry Elvins Spencer was a Canadian politician.Born in England, Spencer worked as a printer and publisher in Paris from 1906 to 1907 before emigrating to Canada in 1908. Settling in Alberta, he worked as a farmer. From 1917 to 1921, he was the provincial secretary of the United Farmers of Alberta...
was chosen as the new party secretary.
Morton speculates that Forke and the Manitoba Progressive MPs were reconciled to a Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1926 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no formal Liberal-Progressive party, but it was an alliance between two separate parties...
fusion by this time, and argues that it was only the Customs Scandal which prevented this from happening in the 1925-26 parliament. Forke resigned as Progressive house leader on June 30, 1926, one day after Mackenzie King resigned as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
.
Conservative leader Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
was nominated by the Governor-General to replace King as Prime Minister, but Meighen's government soon fell on a confidence measure when the Progressive refused to support him. The Progressive Party did not fight the 1926 election
Canadian federal election, 1926
The Canadian federal election of 1926 was held on September 14 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called following an event known as the King-Byng Affair...
as a united force, and instead fragmented into a series of provincial organizations which followed different strategies. The Manitoba Progressives forged an electoral alliance with the Liberals, elected seven members on a "Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive
Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1926 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no formal Liberal-Progressive party, but it was an alliance between two separate parties...
" ticket, and made arrangements in other ridings to avoid vote-splitting against the Conservatives.
Forke was one of the seven Liberal-Progressives returned for Manitoba. This bloc of MPs insisted on remaining a separate parliamentary group, but caucused with the Liberals and were seated as a group on the Liberal benches. The alliance of the two parties was confirmed on September 25, 1926, when Forke was appointed Minister of Immigration and Colonization with the consent of the Liberal-Progressive caucus. He held this position for over three years, and was appointed by Mackenzie King to the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
on December 30, 1929.
Forke served as a "Liberal-Progressive" Senator until his death in 1934.