Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > William James Stewart

William James Stewart was a Canadian politician.

Stewart served as Mayor of Toronto from 1931 until 1934. He entered provincial politics in 1936 when he he ran for the leadership of the Conservative coming in third place behind Earl Rowe and George Drew. the 1937 Ontario election and was able to buck Mitchell Hepburn's Liberal landslide by being elected as Conservative MPP for Parkdale in Toronto's west end.

Following the 1943 Ontario election that brought the Tories to power, Stewart became Speaker of the legislature, a difficult task as the Progressive Conservatives (as they were known by then) had only a minority government. He was reappointed Speaker following the 1945 Ontario election . until he suddenly resigned in March 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na to become a backbench MPP.

In March 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours,, George Doucett , the Minister of Public Works and Highways had asked Stewart for tickets to seats in the Speaker's Gallery so that some visiting officials, including a federal Cabinet minister, could observe the proceedings of the legislature. Stewart told Doucett there were no seats left. When the legislature's day began, however, Doucett noticed that the Speaker's Gallery was almost empty and tried to bring the matter to Stewart's attention. According to Roderick Lewis, who had just begun work as an assistant clerk and whse father was Clerk of the legislature at the time:

Stewart just exploded. He told the Minister to take it up with him in his chambers and when he left the Chair he told Mr. Doucett to come in. After some time Doucett emerged, returned to the Chamber and whispered something to Premier George Drew. Mr. Drew looked very angry. A few minutes later an envelope from the Speaker's office arrived on the Clerk's table addressed to my father. He did not open it but said to me I think I've got the Speaker's resignation here but I'm going to give him time to cool off". He stuck the envelope in his pocket.

A few minutes later a note came down from the press gallery asking my father if he had the Speaker's resignation. He sent a note back up saying he had not seen any resignation. This went on all afternoon but the letter stayed in his pocket. That evening Speaker Stewart spoke to the press and there was no way out.

In the morning my father called Premier Drew to tell him he had received the Speaker's resignation and that he would hold an election for a new Speaker. The Premier decided to nominate James de Congalton Hepburn and asked Opposition Leader Farquhar Oliver to second the motion. Oliver said, 'No, no. I think we may have some ideas of our own."

That afternoon, March 24, 1947, my father informed members of the House of the resignation. Mr. Oliver objected saying the Speaker had been elected by a vote of the House and the resignation should be dealt with by resolution of the House. My father ruled this out of order and advised the House that his opinion was backed up by Arthur Beauchesne, noted parliamentary expert in Ottawa.

Oliver then moved that the House refuse to accept the resignation. Again my father said it was out of order. Mr. Oliver appealed the ruling which was sustained by a vote of 53-17. George Drew then moved the nomination of Hepburn. Oliver moved an amendment saying the House still had confidence in Stewart. To avoid dividing on the issue Drew asked if Mr. Stewart accepted the nomination. Stewart said he did not wish to provoke controversy and withdrew.[1]

Stewart became a backbencherA backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislature who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition. A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive high office, a senior figure dropped fro and went on to serve on various committees, serving as Chairman of the Select Committee on Reform Institutions from 19531953 is a common year starting on Thursday (click on link for the calendar). Events January events January 7 President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. January 13 Marshal Josip Broz Tito chosen President of Yugosl to 19551955 is a common year starting on Saturday. see link for calendar) Events January events January 2 Panama president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. January 19 The Scrabble board game debuts. February events February 8 Nikolai Bulganin ousts Georgi Mal. He remained a member of the legislature until the 1959 Ontario election when his Parkdale seat was won by a Liberal.

Stewart, William James

Read more »

<Hide>

Topics: William James Stewart, William Kidd, William Crookes...

William KiddWilliam "Captain" Kidd ( 1645 May 23, 1701), was born in Greenock, Scotland. He later emigrated to America settling in New York. There he married Sarah Bradley Cox Oort. They had two daughters: Elizabeth and Sarah Kidd. The marriage brought to Kidd a cons	William CrookesSir William Crookes ( June 17 1832 April 4 1919) was an English chemist and physicist. Working on spectroscopy, in 1861 he discovered a previously unknown element with a bright green emission line in its spectrum. He named the element thallium, from the G	William Jones (philologist)Sir William Jones ( September 28, 1746 April 27, 1794) was a British philologist and student of ancient India, particularly known for his discovery of the Indo-European languages family. Jones was born in London, his father (also named Sir William Jones)
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 ( O. May 3, 1616 ( N. has a reputation as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Indeed, the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespe	William AlstonWilliam P. Alston is a Syracuse University philosophy professor, and has been influential as a Christian epistemologist of the twentieth century. His views on Foundationalism and Internalism vs. Externalism, among many other topics, have been very influen	William WitheringWilliam Withering ( March 17, 1741 October 6, 1799) was a British physician and the discoverer of digitalis. Trained as a doctor at Edinburgh University, he worked at Birmingham General Hospital from 1779. The story is that one of his patients with dropsy
William Barnes	William Gibson (novelist)	William Shockley
William Blake	William Somerset Maugham	William deVries
William I	William Crossing	William Morris

Non User