William Irvine (Canadian politician)
Encyclopedia
William Irvine was a Canadian
politician, journalist and clergyman. He served in the Canadian House of Commons
on three different occasions, as a representative of Labour
, the United Farmers of Alberta
and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
. During the 1920s, he was active in the Ginger Group
of radical Members of Parliament
(MPs).
Irvine was born at Gletness in Shetland, Scotland
, one of twelve siblings in a working-class family. He became a Christian Socialist in his youth, and worked as a Methodist lay preacher. He moved to Canada in 1907 after being recruited for ministerial work by James Woodsworth
, the father of future CCF leader J.S. Woodsworth.
Irvine was a follower of the social gospel
, and rejected Biblical literalism
. He refused to sign the Articles of Faith when ordained as a Methodist minister, claiming that he accepted the ethical but not the supernatural aspects of Christian
belief. He was nonetheless accepted into the ministry, and was stationed at Emo
in Northern Ontario
in 1914. Irvine was accused of heresy the following year by a more conservative church elder, and, while acquitted of the charge, chose to resign his commission. He left the Methodists, and accepted a call to lead the Unitarian
Church in Calgary, Alberta
in early 1916.
In addition to his work as a Unitarian minister, Irvine became politically active after moving to Alberta. He helped establish an Alberta branch of the radical agrarian Non-Partisan League (NPL) in December 1916, and was an NPL representative at the creation of the Alberta Labor Representation League
(LRL) in April 1917. Irvine himself stood as an LRL candidate in the 1917 provincial election, but was defeated in Calgary. He also founded the Nutcracker newspaper in 1916, and oversaw its later transformations to the Alberta Non-Partisan and the Western Independent.
He unsuccessfully campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons
in 1917, as a Labour candidate opposing Robert Borden
's Unionist
government in the Conscription Crisis
election of 1917. While not a pacifist, Irvine denounced war profiteering and called for the "conscription
of wealth" rather than of men. He was accused of holding pro-German
symphathies and, in addition to losing the election, lost his funding from the American Unitarian Association
in Boston
. Still supported by his local congregation, he set up his own "People's Church" in Calgary in 1919 as part of the Labour church movement
. In the same year, he helped establish the Alberta wing of the Dominion Labor Party
.
Irvine briefly moved to New Brunswick
in 1920, and became a prominent supporter of that province's United Farmers movement during a federal by-election
. After returning to Calgary, he helped convince the United Farmers of Alberta
(UFA) to enter political life. The UFA had previously been divided between members who supported direct political action, and others such as Henry Wise Wood
who wanted to remain an agrarian pressure group. The former position was accepted following a series of public debates between Irvine and Wood at UFA meetings, though Wood was successful in restricting the UFA's membership to farmers. Irvine's first book, Farmers in Politics (1920), endorsed the UFA policies of economic co-operation and group government.
He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1921 federal election
as a Dominion Labour Party candidate in Calgary East
. Irvine was one of two Labour parliamentarians elected in 1921, and caucused with Winnipeg North Centre
MP J.S. Woodsworth, who became one of his closest friends. Defeated in 1925
, he was returned for the rural Alberta
riding of Wetaskiwin
in 1926
as a United Farmers candidate. Despite the change in his party affiliation, he remained a leading ally of Woodsworth and of farmer-labour co-operation. His second book, Co-operative Government, was published in 1929.
In the late 1920s, Irvine introduced an early bill favouring the abolition of capital punishment
in Canada. He also became interested in social credit
monetary theories during the 1920s and early 1930s, but he did not have any involvement with the Social Credit Party
that later formed in Alberta under William Aberhart
.
According to Margaret Stewart, the embryonic meeting at which several radical MPs decided to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was held in Irvine's parliamentary office. Irvine later helped bring the UFA parliamentary caucus into the CCF for the 1935 election
. He was personally defeated (as were all of the UFA's MPs in that election), losing to a Social Credit candidate. He attempted to re-enter parliament later that year through a by-election
in Assiniboia
, Saskatchewan
but was defeated by former Saskatchewan Premier James Garfield Gardiner
.
Irvine remained active in the CCF, becoming the Alberta CCF's first president, and was returned to parliament again in the 1945 election
for the British Columbia
riding of Cariboo
. He served in the CCF caucus for four years, and was defeated in 1949
when the opposition united behind Liberal
candidate George Matheson Murray
. Irvine made three attempts to return to parliament in the 1950s, but was unsuccessful.
Irvine remained a key figure in the CCF throughout its existence. Toward the end of his life, he called for greater cooperation with the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China
.
(1) Stewart, Margaret, Ask no quarter; a biography of Agnes Macphail (1959) page 98.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician, journalist and clergyman. He served in 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...
on three different occasions, as a representative of Labour
Labour candidates and parties in Canada
There have been various groups in Canada that have nominated candidates under the label Labour Party or Independent Labour Party or other variations from the 1870s until the 1960s...
, the United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
. During the 1920s, he was active in the Ginger Group
Ginger group
A ginger group is a formal or informal group within, for example, a political party seeking to inspire the rest with its own enthusiasm and activity....
of radical 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,...
(MPs).
Irvine was born at Gletness in Shetland, 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...
, one of twelve siblings in a working-class family. He became a Christian Socialist in his youth, and worked as a Methodist lay preacher. He moved to Canada in 1907 after being recruited for ministerial work by James Woodsworth
James Woodsworth
Rev. James Woodsworth, D.D. was, in the late 19th century, Superintendent of Methodist Missions in the North-West of Canada, which then included all four of today's western provences...
, the father of future CCF leader J.S. Woodsworth.
Irvine was a follower of the social gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
, and rejected Biblical literalism
Biblical literalism
Biblical literalism is the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible. A literal Biblical interpretation is associated with the fundamentalist and evangelical hermeneutical approach to Scripture, and is used almost exclusively by conservative Christians...
. He refused to sign the Articles of Faith when ordained as a Methodist minister, claiming that he accepted the ethical but not the supernatural aspects of Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
belief. He was nonetheless accepted into the ministry, and was stationed at Emo
Emo, Ontario
Population trend:* Population in 2006: 1305* Population in 2001: 1331* Population in 1996: 1366* Population in 1991: 1275-Emo Walleye Classic:The Emo Walleye Classic is a two-day catch and release fishing tournament held annually in Emo, during the final week of May each year...
in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
in 1914. Irvine was accused of heresy the following year by a more conservative church elder, and, while acquitted of the charge, chose to resign his commission. He left the Methodists, and accepted a call to lead the Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
Church in Calgary, 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...
in early 1916.
In addition to his work as a Unitarian minister, Irvine became politically active after moving to Alberta. He helped establish an Alberta branch of the radical agrarian Non-Partisan League (NPL) in December 1916, and was an NPL representative at the creation of the Alberta Labor Representation League
Alberta Labor Representation League
The Alberta Labor Representation League was a minor provincial political party from Alberta, Canada.-History:The party was formed and led by prominent Labor activist William Irvine before the 1917 general election...
(LRL) in April 1917. Irvine himself stood as an LRL candidate in the 1917 provincial election, but was defeated in Calgary. He also founded the Nutcracker newspaper in 1916, and oversaw its later transformations to the Alberta Non-Partisan and the Western Independent.
He unsuccessfully campaigned for 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 1917, as a Labour candidate opposing Robert Borden
Robert Borden
Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...
's Unionist
Unionist Party (Canada)
The Unionist Party was formed in 1917 by Members of Parliament in Canada who supported the "Union government" formed by Sir Robert Borden during the First World War....
government in the Conscription Crisis
Conscription Crisis of 1917
The Conscription Crisis of 1917 was a political and military crisis in Canada during World War I.-Background:...
election of 1917. While not a pacifist, Irvine denounced war profiteering and called for the "conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
of wealth" rather than of men. He was accused of holding pro-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
symphathies and, in addition to losing the election, lost his funding from the American Unitarian Association
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.According to Mortimer Rowe, the Secretary...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Still supported by his local congregation, he set up his own "People's Church" in Calgary in 1919 as part of the Labour church movement
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
. In the same year, he helped establish the Alberta wing of the Dominion Labor Party
Dominion Labor Party (Alberta)
The Dominion Labor Party provincial branch of the Canadian Labor Party in Alberta was a minor political party. The party was founded on March 29, 1919 as the Federated Labor Party. The party was renamed the Dominion Labor Party later that year.-Early history:...
.
Irvine briefly moved to New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
in 1920, and became a prominent supporter of that province's United Farmers movement during a federal by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
. After returning to Calgary, he helped convince the United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
(UFA) to enter political life. The UFA had previously been divided between members who supported direct political action, and others such as Henry Wise Wood
Henry Wise Wood
Henry Wise Wood was an American-born Canadian agrarian thinker and activist. He became director in 1914 and was elected president of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1916. Under his leadership the UFA became the most powerful political lobby group in the province...
who wanted to remain an agrarian pressure group. The former position was accepted following a series of public debates between Irvine and Wood at UFA meetings, though Wood was successful in restricting the UFA's membership to farmers. Irvine's first book, Farmers in Politics (1920), endorsed the UFA policies of economic co-operation and group government.
He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1921 federal 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...
as a Dominion Labour Party candidate in Calgary East
Calgary East
Calgary East is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1953, 1979 to 1988, and since 1997...
. Irvine was one of two Labour parliamentarians elected in 1921, and caucused with Winnipeg North Centre
Winnipeg North Centre
Winnipeg North Centre was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented by a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 2004...
MP J.S. Woodsworth, who became one of his closest friends. Defeated in 1925
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...
, he was returned for the rural 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...
riding of Wetaskiwin
Wetaskiwin (electoral district)
Wetaskiwin is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925.-Geography:...
in 1926
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 Farmers candidate. Despite the change in his party affiliation, he remained a leading ally of Woodsworth and of farmer-labour co-operation. His second book, Co-operative Government, was published in 1929.
In the late 1920s, Irvine introduced an early bill favouring the abolition of capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in Canada. He also became interested in social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
monetary theories during the 1920s and early 1930s, but he did not have any involvement with the Social Credit Party
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...
that later formed in Alberta under William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
.
According to Margaret Stewart, the embryonic meeting at which several radical MPs decided to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was held in Irvine's parliamentary office. Irvine later helped bring the UFA parliamentary caucus into the CCF for the 1935 election
Canadian federal election, 1935
The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.The central...
. He was personally defeated (as were all of the UFA's MPs in that election), losing to a Social Credit candidate. He attempted to re-enter parliament later that year through 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....
in Assiniboia
Assiniboia (electoral district)
Assiniboia was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1908 to 1988. This riding was created in 1907 following the admission of Saskatchewan into the Canadian Confederation in 1905...
, 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....
but was defeated by former Saskatchewan Premier James Garfield Gardiner
James Garfield Gardiner
James Garfield "Jimmy" Gardiner, PC was a Canadian farmer, educator, and politician...
.
Irvine remained active in the CCF, becoming the Alberta CCF's first president, and was returned to parliament again in the 1945 election
Canadian federal election, 1945
The Canadian federal election of 1945 was the 20th general election in Canadian history. It was held June 11, 1945 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada...
for the British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
riding of Cariboo
Cariboo (electoral district)
Cariboo was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1892.This riding was first created as Cariboo District following British Columbia's admission into the Canadian Confederation in 1871...
. He served in the CCF caucus for four years, and was defeated in 1949
Canadian federal election, 1949
The Canadian federal election of 1949 was held on June 27 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 21st Parliament of Canada. It was the first election in Canada in almost thirty years in which the Liberal Party of Canada was not led by William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had...
when the opposition united behind Liberal
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...
candidate George Matheson Murray
George Matheson Murray
George Matheson Murray, known publicly as George Murray, was a publisher and politician in British Columbia in the first half of the 20th century. Originally a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen he was schooled informally in politics by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, with whom he rode the...
. Irvine made three attempts to return to parliament in the 1950s, but was unsuccessful.
Irvine remained a key figure in the CCF throughout its existence. Toward the end of his life, he called for greater cooperation with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
Footnotes
- Anthony Mardiros, The Life of a Prairie Radical, (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1979), p. 6.
- Mardiros, pp. 9-11.
- Mardiros, pp. 19-21, 26-27.
- Mardiros, pp. 56-60.
- Mardiros, pp. 41, 62, 76.
- Mardiros, pp. 45-47, 64.
- Mardiros, p. 67.
- Mardiros, p. 78.
- Mardiros, p. 81.
- Mardiros, pp. 87-90, 102.
- Mardiros, p. 130.
- Mardiros, p. 144. Irvine had a very low opinion of Aberhart's ideology and political ambitions.
- http://www.ucsaskatoon.org/WE_ARE/WilliamIrvine/MDW-Lecture.html
(1) Stewart, Margaret, Ask no quarter; a biography of Agnes Macphail (1959) page 98.